MOBILE UNIT LOCATION USING MOBILE UNITS IN PROXIMITY
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Abstract
A wireless location system/method is disclosed having one or more location centers for locating mobile units. Mobile unit location requests can utilize Internet communication between a network of location centers. A plurality of mobile unit locating technologies may be used, including those based on: TOA, TDOA, GPS, locations of other mobile units in proximity of the mobile unit being located, indoor wireless signal detection units; and reduced coverage base stations. Location determination strategies disclosed: adapting and calibrating system performance according to environmental and geographical changes, using location signal data for enhancing a database of predictive location data, heuristically evaluating mobile unit estimates related to terrain, mobile unit velocity and path, and adjusting mobile unit location estimations adaptively or statistically. The system/method is useful for emergency calls, tracking, routing, people and animal location, including applications for confinement to and exclusion from certain areas.
32 Citations
40 Claims
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1-39. -39. (canceled)
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40. A method for providing a location estimate for a mobile unit comprising:
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decoding by the mobile unit at least one of;
(a) a wireless signal received from a wireless transmitter not supported on the Earth, the transmitter included in a constellation of a plurality of wireless transmitters not supported on the Earth whose corresponding wireless signals can be decoded by the mobile unit when available to the mobile unit, and (b) at least one communications signal received from at least one of a plurality of communication station of a communications network, each of the communication stations operatively configured for two way wireless communication with the mobile unit;determining, by the mobile unit, a timing delay for at least one of the wireless signal and the at least one communications signal; determining geolocation indicative information, the geolocation indicative information for locating the mobile unit, and obtained using the timing delay as input to a computational machine that uses the timing delay to determine a geographical extent for a location of the mobile unit; obtaining additional geolocation information determined using data indicative of the locations of a plurality of additional mobile units configured to wirelessly communicate with the communication stations, wherein for each of the additional mobile units, the data indicative of the location of the additional mobile unit is for a geographic extent defined according to a course location estimate of the mobile unit; and estimating a more precise location of the mobile unit using the geolocation indicative information and the additional geolocation information, the estimating performed by a computational machine that determines the more precise location by combining geographical location extents for the mobile units obtained from each of the geolocation indicative information and the additional geolocation information.
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Specification