APPARATUS, SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MOBILE NETWORK POSITIONING OF MTC DEVICES USING COMMON REFERENCE OR SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNALS

• US 20160295374A1
• Filed: 07/22/2015
• Published: 10/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Persson, Magnus, Priyanto, Basuki, Karlsson, Peter C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,877,161 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/06 Position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements G01S5/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Embodiments improve User Equipment (UE) positioning accuracy in a mobile communication system by providing for a UE configured to listen for Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmissions within an operating bandwidth around Direct Current (DC) sub-carrier and at least one non-PRS transmission including, for example, a CRS or PSS/SSS; receiving, at the UE, PRS and non-PRS(s) transmissions transmitted from base stations within the operating bandwidth; performing, at the UE, Time of Arrival (TOA) measurements for each of the plurality of base stations, wherein the TOA measurements are determined based on the at least one non-PRS transmission; obtaining Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) measurements by subtracting TOA for the plurality of base stations from a TOA for a reference base station, and transmitting, from the UE to a Location Server (LS), the OTDOA measurements, wherein the LS performs a positioning estimation of the UE based on the OTDOA measurements.

Claims

1. A method for improved User Equipment (UE) positioning accuracy in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:

providing for a UE configured to listen for Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmissions within an operating bandwidth around Direct Current (DC) sub-carrier and at least one non-PRS transmission;

receiving, at the UE, PRS and non-PRS transmissions transmitted from base stations within the operating bandwidth;

performing, at the UE, Time of Arrival (TOA) measurements for each of the plurality of base stations, wherein the TOA measurements are determined based on the at least one non-PRS transmission;

obtaining Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) measurements by subtracting the TOA measurements for each of the plurality of base stations from a TOA for a reference base station, and transmitting, from the UE to a Location Server (LS), the OTDOA measurements, wherein the LS performs a positioning estimation of the UE based on the TDOA measurements.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing for the UE comprises providing for a Machine Type Communications (MTC) UE configured to listen for the PRS and non-PRS transmissions within a Machine Type Communication (MTC) MTC operating bandwidth of approximately 1.4 MHz.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-PRS transmission comprises a Common Reference Signal (CRS).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the non-PRS transmission comprises a plurality of sub-frames and wherein each of the plurality of sub-frames of the non-PRS transmission comprises the CRS.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-PRS signal comprises a synchronization signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the synchronization signal comprises a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and/or a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS).

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the non-PRS transmission comprises a plurality of sub-frames successive in time and wherein every fifth (5^th) sub-frame comprises the synchronization signal.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-PRS transmission further comprises a positioning reference signal and wherein performing the OTDOA measurements are further based on the positioning reference signal.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, at the UE from the LS, a request for enhanced positioning accuracy; and

initiating, at the UE and in response to the request from the LS, performing the OTDOA measurements based on the at least one non-PRS transmission.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, at the UE from the LS, a window length for performing measurements based on the at least one non-PRS transmission; and

wherein performing measurements is further based on the received window length.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, at the UE from the LS, an early/late start indicator, wherein the early/late start indicator indicates an early or late start in relation to a predetermined reference point for a window for performing measurements based on the at least one non-PRS transmission; and

wherein performing measurements is further based on the received early/late start indicator.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the non-PRS transmissions comprise a first non-PRS signal and a second non-PRS signal;

performing the OTDOA measurements is based on the first non-PRS signal and the second non-PRS signal.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, at the UE from the LS, a request for enhanced positioning accuracy; and

initiating, at the UE and in response to the request from the LS, performing the OTDOA measurements based on the first non-PRS signal and the second non-PRS signal.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, at the UE from the LS, a first window length for performing measurements based on the first non-PRS signal;

receiving, at the UE from the LS, a second window length for performing measurements based on the second non-PRS signal; and

wherein performing measurements is further based on the received first window length and the received second window length.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, at the UE from the LS, an early/late start indicator, wherein the early/late start indicator indicates an early or late start in relation to a predetermined reference point for a window for performing measurements based on the first non-PRS signal or the second non-PRS signal; and

wherein performing measurements is further based on the received early/late start indicator.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the PRS transmission further comprises a positioning reference signal and wherein performing the OTDOA measurements comprises:

determining a PRS positioning measurement based on the positioning reference signal;

determining a non-PRS positioning measurement based on the non-PRS signal;

wherein the method further comprises;

determining a non-PRS measurement quality corresponding to the non-PRS positioning measurement;

comparing the non-PRS measurement quality to a measurement quality threshold;

wherein transmitting the OTDOA measurements comprises;

transmitting the PRS positioning measurement; and

if the non-PRS measurement quality is greater than the measurement quality threshold, transmitting the non-PRS measurement.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a PRS measurement quality corresponding to the PRS positioning measurement; and

wherein the measurement quality threshold is the determined PRS measurement quality.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

transmitting, from the UE to the LS, the PRS measurement quality and information indicating the PRS measurement quality corresponds to the PRS positioning measurement; and

transmitting, from the UE to the LS, the non-PRS measurement quality and information indicating the non-PRS measurement quality corresponds to the non-PRS positioning measurement.

19. A mobile communication system for improved User Equipment (UE) positioning accuracy, the system comprising:

a plurality of base stations (BS);

a location server (LS);

a user equipment (UE) operably connected to at least one of the base stations, the user equipment configured to;

listen for Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmissions within an operating bandwidth around Direct Current (DC) sub-carrier and at least one non-PRS transmission;

receive PRS and non-PRS transmissions transmitted from at least one of the base stations within the operating bandwidth;

perform Time of Arrival (TOA) measurements for each of the plurality of base stations, wherein the TOA measurements are determined based on the at least one non-PRS transmission;

obtain Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) measurements by subtracting the TOA for each of the plurality of base stations from a TOA for a reference base station, and

transmit, from the UE to the LS, the OTDOA measurements,

wherein the LS is configured to perform a positioning estimation of the UE based on the OTDOA measurements.

20. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for improved User Equipment (UE) positioning accuracy in a mobile communication system, the instructions comprising:

instructions for providing for a UE configured to listen for Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmissions within an operating bandwidth around Direct Current (DC) sub-carrier and at least one non-PRS transmission;

instructions for receiving, at the UE, PRS and non-PRS transmissions transmitted from base stations within the operating bandwidth;

instructions for performing, at the UE, Time of Arrival (TOA) measurements for each of the plurality of base stations, wherein the TOA measurements are determined based on the at least one non-PRS transmission;

instructions for obtaining Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) measurements by subtracting TOA from each of the plurality of base stations from a TOA of a reference base station, and

instructions for transmitting, from the UE to a Location Server (LS), the OTDOA measurements, wherein the LS performs a positioning estimation of the UE based on the OTDOA measurements.