Method and mobile station for autonomously determining an angle of arrival (AOA) estimation

• US 6,978,124 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2002
• Issued: 12/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gutowski, Gerald, Benes, Stanley J., Downing, Lawrence
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Pablo N.
• Application Number:
  US10/316,692
• Publication Number:
  US 20040203539A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,105 Days
• Field of Search: 455272-276, 455/561.1, 455/506, 455/101, 455/115.1, 455/115.3, 455/456.1, 455/440, 455/456.2, 455/456.6, 455/562.1, 455/517, 455102-111, 455/91, 342/442, 342368-384, 342/453
• US Class Current: 455/101
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/24 Cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method (900) and a mobile station (160) for autonomously determining an angle of arrival (AOA) estimation are described herein. The mobile station (160) may receive information associated with a plurality of sectors (200) from a base station (140) having a plurality of antennas. Each of the plurality of antennas may provide communication service to one of the plurality of sectors (200). The information associated with the plurality of sectors (200) may be an antenna pattern, a boresight, a downtilt, and a signal strength value associated with each of the plurality of antennas. Based on the information associated with the plurality of sectors (200), the mobile station (160) may determine an antenna gain difference, which in turn, is used to determine the angle of arrival (AOA) estimation.

Claims

1. In a wireless communication system, wherein a communication cell includes a plurality of sectors, a method for autonomously determining an angle of arrival (AOA) estimation of a mobile station, the method comprising:

requesting within the mobile station information associated with the plurality of sectors from a base station having a plurality of antennas, each of the plurality of antennas providing communication service to one of the plurality of sectors in the communication cell;

receiving the requested information associated with the plurality of sectors;

determining a signal difference between a first downlink signal and a second downlink signal based on the requested information associated with the plurality of sectors, the first downlink signal being associated with a first antenna of the base station and the second downlink signal being associated with a second antenna of the base station;

normalizing the first and second downlink signals to determine an antenna gain difference between the first and second downlink signals; and

determining a bearing along the first downlink signal in which the signal difference matches the antenna gain difference, the first downlink signal having greater signal strength than the second downlink signal.