Position location using broadcast television signals and mobile telephone signals

• US 6,859,173 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2003
• Issued: 02/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TruePosition Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Rosum Corporation (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Inventors: Rabinowitz, Matthew, Spilker, James J. Jr., Omura, Jimmy K.
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAN, DAO LINDA
• Application Number:
  US10/747,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20040207556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 421 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.01, 342/357.06, 342/453, 342/457, 342/463, 342/464, 455/456.1, 455/456.6, 455/457
• US Class Current: 342/464
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/205 for detecting the geographical location of the game platform
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/09 providing processing capability normally carried out by the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/10 providing dedicated supplementary positioning signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0054 of actual mobile position, i.e. position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0081 Transmission between base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0218 Multipath in signal reception
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02216 Timing or synchronisation of the receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/145 Using a supplementary range measurement, e.g. based on pseudo-range measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41422 located in transportation means, e.g. personal vehicle arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/615 Signal processing at physical level signal processing in analog two-way television systems H04N7/173
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer-readable media for determining the position of a user terminal comprises receiving at the user terminal a broadcast television signal from a television signal transmitter; determining a first pseudo-range between the user terminal and the television signal transmitter based on a known component of the broadcast television signal; receiving at the user terminal a mobile telephone signal from a mobile telephone base station; determining a second pseudo-range between the user terminal and the mobile telephone base station based on a known component of the mobile telephone signal; and determining a position of the user terminal based on the first and second pseudo-ranges, a location of the television signal transmitter, and a location of the mobile telephone base station; wherein the mobile telephone signal is selected from the group consisting of a EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Evolution) signal; a Code-Division Multiple Access 2000 (cdma2000) signal; and a Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) signal.

Claims

1. A method for determining the position of a user terminal, comprising:

receiving at the user terminal a broadcast television signal from a television signal transmitter; and

receiving at the user terminal a mobile telephone signal from a mobile telephone base station;

wherein the position of the user terminal is determined based on the broadcast television signal, the mobile telephone signal, a location of the television signal transmitter, and a location of the mobile telephone base station; and

wherein the mobile telephone signal is selected from the group consisting of

a EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Evolution) signal;

a Code-Division Multiple Access 2000 (cdma2000) signal; and

a Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) signal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the position of the user terminal based on the broadcast television signal, the mobile telephone signal, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

3. The method of claim 1:

wherein the mobile telephone signal comprises a timing advance parameter; and

wherein the position of the user terminal is determined based on the broadcast television signal, the timing advance parameter, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining the position of the user terminal based on the broadcast television signal, the timing advance parameter, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

5. An apparatus for determining the position of a user terminal, comprising:

a first receiver to receive at the user terminal a broadcast television signal from a television signal transmitter; and

a second receiver to receive at the user terminal a mobile telephone signal from a mobile telephone base station;

wherein the position of the user terminal is determined based on the broadcast television signal, the mobile telephone signal, a location of the television signal transmitter, and a location of the mobile telephone base station; and

wherein the mobile telephone signal is selected from the group consisting of

a EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Evolution) signal;

a Code-Division Multiple Access 2000 (cdma2000) signal; and

a Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) signal.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:

a processor to determine the position of the user terminal based on the broadcast television signal, the mobile telephone signal, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

7. The apparatus of claim 5:

wherein the mobile telephone signal comprises a timing advance parameter; and

wherein the position of the user terminal is determined based on the broadcast television signal, the timing advance parameter, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

a processor to determine the position of the user terminal based on the broadcast television signal, the timing advance parameter, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

9. An apparatus for determining the position of a user terminal, comprising:

first receiver means for receiving at the user terminal a broadcast television signal from a television signal transmitter; and

second receiver means for receiving at the user terminal a mobile telephone signal from a mobile telephone base station;

wherein a position of the user terminal is determined based on the broadcast television signal, the mobile telephone signal, a location of the television signal transmitter, and a location of the mobile telephone base station; and

wherein the mobile telephone signal is selected from the group consisting of

a EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Evolution) signal;

a Code-Division Multiple Access 2000 (cdma2000) signal; and

a Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

processor means for determining the position of the user terminal based on the broadcast television signal, the mobile telephone signal, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

11. The apparatus of claim 9:

wherein the mobile telephone signal comprises a timing advance parameter; and

wherein the position of the user terminal is determined based on the broadcast television signal, the timing advance parameter, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

processor means for determining the position of the user terminal based on the broadcast television signal, the timing advance parameter, the location of the television signal transmitter, and the location of the mobile telephone base station.