Position location using ghost canceling reference television signals

• US 6,879,286 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2003
• Issued: 04/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TruePosition Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Rosum Corporation (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Inventors: Rabinowitz, Matthew, Spilker, Jr., James J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Dao
• Application Number:
  US10/353,669
• Publication Number:
  US 20030142017A1
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• Field of Search: 342/450, 342/457, 342/458, 342/463, 342/465, 342/464
• US Class Current: 342/458
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/205 for detecting the geographical location of the game platform
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• 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 5/0215 Interference
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• 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 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• 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 analog television signal comprising a chirp-type signal; and generating a pseudorange based on the chirp-type signal; and wherein the location of the user terminal is determined based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

Claims

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

a receiver to receive, at the user terminal, a broadcast analog television signal comprising a chirp-type signal; and

a pseudorange unit to generate a pseudorange based on the chirp-type signal; and

wherein

the location of the user terminal is determined based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the chirp-type signal is a vertical interval test signal, a ghost canceling reference signal A, ghost canceling reference signal B, or ghost canceling reference signal C.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a processor to determine the location of the user terminal based on the pseudorange and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position of the user terminal is determined by adjusting the pseudoranges based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal and a known time reference, and determining the position of the user terminal based on the adjusted pseudorange and the location of the TV transmitter.

5. A The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pseudorange unit:

determines a further pseudorange based on a further broadcast analog television signal; and

projects the pseudorange and the further pseudorange to an instant of time, thereby eliminating any first order term in the clock of the user terminal.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a time-gated delay-lock loop to track the chirp-type signal.

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

means for receiving, at the user terminal, a broadcast analog television signal comprising a chirp-type signal; and

means for generating a pseudorange based on the chirp-type signal; and

wherein

the location of the user terminal is determined based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the chirp-type signal is a vertical interval test signal, a ghost canceling reference signal A, ghost canceling reference signal B, or ghost canceling reference signal C.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

means for determining the location of the user terminal based on the pseudorange and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the position of the user terminal is determined by adjusting the pseudoranges based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal and a known time reference, and determining the position of the user terminal based on the adjusted pseudorange and the location of the TV transmitter.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the means for generating:

determines a further pseudorange based on a further broadcast analog television signal; and

projects the pseudorange and the further pseudorange to an instant of time, thereby eliminating any first order term in the clock of the user terminal.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

means for tracking the chirp-type signal using a time-gated delay-lock loop.

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

receiving, at the user terminal, a broadcast analog television signal comprising a chirp-type signal; and

generating a pseudorange based on the chirp-type signal; and

wherein

the location of the user terminal is determined based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the chirp-type signal is a vertical interval test signal, a ghost canceling reference signal A, ghost canceling reference signal B, or ghost canceling reference signal C.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining the location of the user terminal based on the pseudorange and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the position of the user terminal is determined by adjusting the pseudoranges based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal and a known time reference, and determining the position of the user terminal based on the adjusted pseudorange and the location of the TV transmitter.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining a further pseudorange based on a further broadcast analog television signal; and

projecting the pseudorange and the further pseudorange to an instant of time, thereby eliminating any first order term in the clock of the user terminal.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

tracking the chirp-type signal using a time-gated delay-lock loop.

19. Computer-readable media embodying instructions executable by a computer to perform a method for determining the position of a user terminal, the method comprising:

receiving, at the user terminal, a broadcast analog television signal comprising a chirp-type signal; and

generating a pseudorange based on the chirp-type signal; and

wherein

the location of the user terminal is determined based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

20. The media of claim 19, wherein the chirp-type signal is a vertical interval test signal, a ghost canceling reference signal A, ghost canceling reference signal B, or ghost canceling reference signal C.

21. The media of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

determining the location of the user terminal based on the pseudorange and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal.

22. The media of claim 19, wherein the position of the user terminal is determined by adjusting the pseudoranges based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast analog television signal and a known time reference, and determining the position of the user terminal based on the adjusted pseudorange and the location of the TV transmitter.

23. The media of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

determining a further pseudorange based on a further broadcast analog television signal; and

projecting the pseudorange and the further pseudorange to an instant of time, thereby eliminating any first order term in the clock of the user terminal.

24. The media of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

tracking the chirp-type signal using a time-gated delay-lock loop.