METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING AUXILLIARY INFORMATION AND LOCATION INFORMATION BETWEEN A CELLULAR TELEPHONE NETWORK AND A GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM RECEIVER FOR REDUCING CODE SHIFT SEARCH TIME OF THE RECEIVER

• US 6,415,154 B1
• Filed: 10/06/1998
• Issued: 07/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ericsson, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Original Assignee: Ericsson, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Wang, Yi-Pin Eric, Chennakeshu, Sandeep
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Lee
• Application Number:
  US09/167,077
• Time in Patent Office: 1,365 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456, 455/457, 342/357.15, 342/357.01, 342/357.02, 342/357.03, 342/357.05, 342/357.06, 342/357.09, 342/357.1, 342/357.12, 342/457
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/25 involving aiding data received from a cooperating element, e.g. assisted GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/37 Hardware or software details of the signal processing chain
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/008 using a mobile telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station

Abstract

A method and apparatus for communicating auxiliary information between a cellular telephone network and a GPS receiver positioned within a mobile station and identifying the location of the mobile station. A dedicated channel between the mobile station and the network is assigned by the network and uplink timing between the mobile station and the network is adjusted. The network requests auxiliary information and also requests the GPS receiver to perform a GPS code shift search at a common reference time. Upon receiving the auxiliary information, the network transmits the auxiliary information to the GPS receiver which then performs the GPS code shift search. The GPS receiver incorporates a bank of correlators and accumulators to perform multiple parallel searches for various Doppler frequency shifts resulting from a moving GPS receiver. The mobile station subsequently transmits the location information to the cellular telephone network.

Claims

1. A method for communication auxiliary information and location information between a cellular telephone network and a GPS receiver positioned within a mobile station comprising the steps of:

assigning a dedicated channel between the mobile station and the cellular telephone network;

adjusting uplink timing between the mobile station and the cellular telephone network;

requesting auxiliary information including a list of GPS satellites listed according to their respective elevation angles in descending order;

requesting the GPS receiver to perform a GPS code shift search at a common reference time;

transmitting the auxiliary information to the GPS receiver within the mobile station;

performing the GPS code shift search; and

transmitting the location information to the cellular telephone network.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the transmitted location information is a physical location of the GPS receiver.

3. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the transmitted location information is time-measurement information which indicates the location of the GPS receiver.

4. The method recited in claim 1, further including the step of identifying an incoming call to the cellular telephone network as an emergency call.

5. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of assigning a dedicated channel further comprises the step of sending a signal burst in response to a request from the mobile station on another channel.

6. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of assigning a dedicated channel further comprises the step of sending an Access Grant CHannel burst in response to a request from the mobile station on a Random Access CHannel.

7. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of requesting the GPS receiver to perform a GPS code shift search at a common reference time comprises the step of requesting the GPS receiver to perform the GPS code shift search at a common reference time.

8. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the auxiliary information to the GPS receiver comprises the step of transmitting the auxiliary information on a Stand alone Dedicated Control CHannel in a Global System for Mobile communication cellular telephone network.

9. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the auxiliary information to the GPS receiver comprises the step of transmitting the auxiliary information on a Digital Control CHannel in a Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service cellular telephone network.

10. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the auxiliary information to the GPS receiver comprises the step of transmitting the auxiliary information on a Short Message Service message.

11. A method for reducing code shift search times of a Global Positioning System Receiver within a mobile station, comprising the steps of:

requesting from a cellular telephone network auxiliary information for the Global Positioning System receiver within the mobile station, said auxiliary information including a list of satellites in view of the GPS receiver and at least one of Doppler corrections for each satellite, nominal code shift positions, degree of code shift uncertainty for each of the GPS satellites, and elevation angles of the plurality of satellites;

transmitting the auxiliary information from the cellular telephone network to the GPS receiver within the mobile station;

performing a GPS code shift search using the provided auxiliary information to determine location information for the mobile station;

transmitting the location information to the cellular telephone network; and

wherein the GPS satellites included in the auxiliary information are listed according to their respective elevation angles in descending order.

12. A method for emergency call setup in a cellular telephone network, the method comprising:

receiving a call request from a mobile station;

determining if the call request is an emergency call request; and

performing the following setup procedures if the call request is an emergency call request;

initiating adjustment of a timing advance for the mobile station to synchronize the mobile station with a timing of the network;

assigning a dedicated channel between the mobile station and the network;

estimating a propagation delay between the mobile station and the network based on communications from the mobile station;

providing auxiliary information related to GPS position determination to the mobile station using the assigned dedicated channel;

initiating a GPS code shift search, using the provided auxiliary information, by the mobile station at a common reference time determined based on the estimated propagation delay and the timing of the network to provide location information;

receiving the location information from the mobile station; and

then

executing normal call setup procedures for the emergency call after receipt of the location information.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the cellular telephone network is a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) network and wherein the received call request comprises a request on a Ransom Access Channel (RACH) and wherein assigning a dedicated channel between the mobile station and the network comprises sending an Access Grant Channel (ACCH) burst to assign the dedicated channel and wherein providing auxiliary information related to GPS position determination to the mobile station using the assigned dedicated channel comprises providing the auxiliary information to the mobile station using a Stand alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH).

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the cellular telephone network is a Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service (DAMPS) network and wherein providing auxiliary information related to GPS position determination to the mobile station using the assigned dedicated channel comprises providing the auxiliary information to the mobile station using a Digital Control Channel (DCCH).

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the location information comprises time-measurement information and wherein the method further comprises converting the time-measurement information into a range measurement to determine a location of the mobile terminal.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the common reference time is specified as an uplink absolute frame number (AFN).

17. A method for emergency call setup in a cellular telephone network, the method comprising:

determining if a call request input to a mobile station from a user comprises an emergency call; and

performing the following setup procedures if the call request input is an emergency call;

transmitting an emergency call request to the network;

adjusting a timing advance for the mobile station to synchronize the mobile station with a timing of the network;

establishing a dedicated channel between the mobile station and the network;

receiving auxiliary information related to GPS position determination at the mobile station using the assigned dedicated channel;

performing a GPS code shift search, using the provided auxiliary information, at the mobile station at a common reference time determined based on information received from the network to provide location information;

transmitting the location information from the mobile station to the network; and

then

executing normal call setup procedures for the emergency call after receipt of the location information.