Locating method and arrangement

• US 6,484,031 B1
• Filed: 08/26/1999
• Issued: 11/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Telecommunications Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Telecommunications Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Rantalainen, Timo, Ruutu, Ville
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Persino, Ray B.
• Application Number:
  US09/355,145
• Time in Patent Office: 1,181 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456, 455/457, 455/404, 342/450, 342/451, 342/417, 342/350, 342/367, 342/385, 342/408, 342/419, 342/457, 342/463, 370/336, 370/337, 370/345, 370/347, 370/350, 701/207
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/44 Rotating or oscillating beam beacons defining directions in the plane of rotation or oscillation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/08 Position of single direction-finder fixed by determining direction of a plurality of spaced sources of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The invention relates to a locating method and an arrangement for determining the location of a terminal in a radio system comprising a plurality of base stations and terminals. At least two base stations with known locations transmit a signal used in locating the terminal, and the signals are transmitted in beams with directional antenna patterns and the direction of the beams is changed as a function of time. The terminal determines the location of the base station and the transmission direction of the signal used in location determination by means of the beam transmitted by said at least two base stations. Since the terminal is located at the intersection of the beams of the base stations transmitting from known locations, the location of the terminal can easily be determined. The solution takes multipath propagation into account.

Claims

1. A locating method for determining the location of a terminal in a radio system comprising a plurality of base stations and terminals, the method comprising:

at least two base stations with known locations transmit a signal used in locating the terminal;

the signals are transmitted in beams with directional antenna patterns;

the direction of the beam is changed as a function of time;

the terminal measures the signals transmitted by said at least two base stations, wherein on the basis of the terminal measurements, both a location of the at least two base stations and the transmission direction of the signals used in location determination are determined; and

the location of the terminal is determined on the basis of the location of the base stations and the transmission direction of the signal used in location determination.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the direction of the beam of the signals used in location determination is changed as a function of time by rotating the beam around the base station at the cell level.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the terminal measures the signal used in location determination during at least one full 360°

turn and, by means of the timing of the received signals, the signal that has propagated via the most direct route from the base station to the terminal is determined in order to reduce the effects caused by multipath propagation.

4. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the angular velocity ω

of the rotation of the beam is steady, in which case the direction of the beam at an initiating rotational turn is ω

T at moment T, and at the beginning of at least one of the rotational turns that follows the directioning of the beam is changed by phase shift φ

, the direction of the beam being ω

T+φ

at moment T.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the terminal measures the intensity distribution or the like of the beam during one turn in order to determine the direction of the main axis of the beam, which main axis is used in determining the location of the terminal.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the terminal measures the intensity distribution or the like of the beam in order to determine the direction of the main axis during several turns, which main axis is used in determining the location of the terminal.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base station transmits in time-divisional TDMA frames, when the beam rotates a full circle around the base station during one TDMA frame.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signals used in location determination comprise information on the base station and on the angle information of the direction of the signal in order to determine the location of the terminal.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signals used in location determination comprise information on the base station, the base stations and the terminals are synchronized so as to make the reception moment and the transmission angle depend on each other and the terminal measures the reception moment of the signal used in location determination in order to determine the transmission angle.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the network part comprises the other parts of the radio system except the terminal and when the terminal transfers its measurement information to the network part, the location of the terminal is determined in the network part.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the location information is transferred from the network to the terminal over a radio path.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the terminal determines its location itself.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in a GSM radio system, the signal used in location determination is transmitted over a BCCH channel or the information on the frequency and time slots of the signal used in location determination is provided over the BCCH channel.

14. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signal used in location determination is transmitted at one frequency in one or more time slots.

15. A locating arrangement for determining the location of a terminal in a radio system comprising a plurality of base stations and terminals, the arrangement comprising:

at least two base stations with known locations comprise a transmitter for transmitting a signal used in locating the terminal and having a directed beam, and the transmitter is arranged to change the direction of the beam as a function of time;

the terminal comprises means in a receiver which are arranged to measure the signals which are arranged to determine the location of the base station and the transmission angle of the signal used in location determination, and

the radio system comprises means for determining the location of the terminal on the basis of the measurement performed by the terminal.

16. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the transmitter of the base station is arranged to change the direction of the beam of the signals as a function of time by rotating the beam around the base station at the cell level.

17. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the terminal is arranged to measure the signal used in location determination during at least one full 360°

turn and the arrangement is arranged to determine, by means of the timing of the received signals, the signal that has propagated via the most direct route from the base station to the terminal in order to reduce the effects caused by multipath propagation.

18. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the transmitter of the base station is arranged to rotate the antenna beam steadily in regard to the angular velocity ω

in which case the direction of the beam at an initiating rotational turn is ω

T, at moment T, and at the beginning of at least one of the rotational turns that follows the transmitter is arranged to change the directioning of the beam by phase shift φ

, the direction of the beam being ω

T+φ

at each moment T.

19. An arrangement as claimed in claim 18, wherein the terminal is arranged to measure the intensity distribution or the like of the beam during one turn in order to determine the direction of the main axis and to determine the location of the terminal.

20. An arrangement as claimed in claim 18, wherein the terminal is arranged to measure the intensity distribution or the like of the beam in order to determine the direction of the main axis during several turns and to determine the location of the terminal.

21. An arrangement as claimed in claim 18, wherein when the network part comprises the other parts of the radio system except the terminal and when the terminal transfers its measurement information to the network part, the network part comprises the means to determine the location of the terminal.

22. An arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the network part is arranged to transfer the information on the location of the terminal over a radio path.

23. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein when the base station transmits in time-divisional TDMA frames, the transmitter of the base station is arranged to rotate the beam a full circle around the base station during one TDMA frame.

24. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the signal used in location determination and transmitted by the transmitter of the base station comprise information on the base station and on the angle information of the direction of the signal in order to determine the location of the terminal.

25. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the signals transmitted by the transmitter of the base station and used in location determination comprise information on the base station, the base stations and the terminals are arranged to operate in a synchronized manner so as to make the reception moment and the transmission angle of the signal depend on each other in a known manner, and the terminal is arranged to measure the reception moment of the signal used in location determination.

26. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the terminal comprises the means to determine its location itself.

27. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein in a GSM radio system, the transmitter of the base station is arranged to transmit the signal used in location determination over a BCCH channel or provide the information on the frequency and time slots of the signal used in location determination over the BCCH channel.

28. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the transmitter of the base station is arranged to transmit the signal used in location determination at one frequency in one or more time slots.