Method and apparatus for locating a mobile station by comparing calculated location area with GPS coordinates
First Claim
1. A method for locating a mobile telephone within the geographic serving area of a mobile telephone system, wherein said mobile telephone is capable of sending signals to and receiving signals from antennas located in cells within the geographic serving area, and wherein said mobile telephone comprises a GPS receiver/processor, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving signal strength data representing the signal strengths of signals being received by the mobile telephone from a first plurality of antennas;
calculating a first location area of the mobile telephone as the geographic coverage area of a serving cell cite;
calculating a second location area of the mobile telephone using said signal strength data;
receiving GPS coordinates representing a GPS location of the mobile telephone; and
comparing the first and second calculated location areas with the GPS location to determine the location of said mobile telephone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining the location of a mobile telephone within the serving area of a mobile telephone system. A mobile switching center analyzes the calling mobile telephone number and called telephone number to determine if a location function is required. Upon initiation of the location function by the mobile switching center, a mobile location module calculates a location estimate of the mobile telephone. The mobile location module receives a list of signal strengths received by the mobile telephone from cell site antennas within the serving area. The distance between the mobile telephone and a plurality of cell site antennas is calculated using a technique which reduces the error component of the calculated distances. These reduced error distances are used to geometrically determine an estimate of the location area. In addition, the mobile telephone comprises a GPS receiver/processor for sending the most recent GPS coordinates of the mobile telephone which are within a predetermined confidence level to the mobile location module. These GPS coordinates are compared with the calculated location area to increase the accuracy of the location determination.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for locating a mobile telephone within the geographic serving area of a mobile telephone system, wherein said mobile telephone is capable of sending signals to and receiving signals from antennas located in cells within the geographic serving area, and wherein said mobile telephone comprises a GPS receiver/processor, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving signal strength data representing the signal strengths of signals being received by the mobile telephone from a first plurality of antennas; calculating a first location area of the mobile telephone as the geographic coverage area of a serving cell cite; calculating a second location area of the mobile telephone using said signal strength data; receiving GPS coordinates representing a GPS location of the mobile telephone; and comparing the first and second calculated location areas with the GPS location to determine the location of said mobile telephone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for locating a mobile telephone within the geographic serving area of a mobile telephone system, wherein said mobile telephone is sending signals to and receiving signals from antennas located within the geographic serving area, and wherein said mobile telephone comprises a GPS receiver/processor, the apparatus comprising:
a processor executing stored instructions for performing the functions of; calculating the distances between the mobile telephone and each of a plurality of antennas using received signal strength data representing the signal strengths of the signals being received by the mobile telephone from the plurality of antennas; calculating a first location area of the mobile telephone as the geographic coverage area of a serving cell cite; calculating a second location area of the mobile telephone using said calculated distances; and comparing the first and second location areas with received GPS coordinates representing a GPS location of the mobile telephone to determine the location of said mobile telephone. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for locating a mobile station within the geographic serving area of a mobile communication system, wherein said mobile station is capable of sending signals to and receiving signals from antennas located in cells within the geographic serving area, and wherein said mobile station comprises a GPS receiver/processor, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving signal strength data representing the signal strengths of signals being received by the mobile station from a first plurality of antennas; calculating a first location area of the mobile station as the geographic coverage area of a serving cell cite; calculating a second location area of the mobile station using said signal strength data; receiving GPS coordinates representing a GPS location of the mobile station; and comparing the first and second calculated location areas with the GPS location to determine the location of said mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for locating a mobile station within the geographic serving area of a mobile communication system, wherein said mobile station is sending signals to and receiving signals from antennas located within the geographic serving area, and wherein said mobile station comprises a GPS receiver/processor, the apparatus comprising:
a processor executing stored instructions for performing the functions of; calculating the distances between the mobile station and each of a plurality of antennas using received signal strength data representing the signal strengths of the signals being received by the mobile station from the plurality of antennas; calculating a first location area of the mobile station as the geographic coverage area of a serving cell cite; calculating a second location area of the mobile station using said calculated distances; and comparing the first and second location areas with received GPS coordinates representing a GPS location of the mobile station to determine the location of said mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
Specification