Dual mode uplink/downlink location measurement and multi-protocol location measurement
First Claim
1. A method of locating mobile devices, the method comprising:
- measuring times of arrival of an uplink signal from a first mobile device at each of at least three measurement units;
computing a location of the first mobile device based on the measured times of arrival of the uplink signal;
measuring at the at least three measurement units times of arrival of downlink signals from each of at least three base stations;
receiving time of arrival measurements of the downlink signals from a second mobile device; and
computing a location of the second mobile device based on the measured times of arrival of the downlink signals and the received time of arrival measurements from the second mobile device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to combining uplink and downlink location technologies into a single location-service system, to obtain the benefits offered by both of technologies while eliminating many of their individual shortcomings. Mobile devices that support downlink can then be located using the downlink mode, and mobile devices that do not support downlink can be located using the uplink mode. A mobile device may even be located based on a combination of uplink measurements and downlink measurements. Other aspects of the disclosure relate to providing a single location-service system to locate mobile devices that communicate using a plurality of different communication protocols.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of locating mobile devices, the method comprising:
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measuring times of arrival of an uplink signal from a first mobile device at each of at least three measurement units; computing a location of the first mobile device based on the measured times of arrival of the uplink signal; measuring at the at least three measurement units times of arrival of downlink signals from each of at least three base stations; receiving time of arrival measurements of the downlink signals from a second mobile device; and computing a location of the second mobile device based on the measured times of arrival of the downlink signals and the received time of arrival measurements from the second mobile device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of locating a mobile device, the method comprising:
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determining at each of at least two measurement units times of arrival of an uplink signal from the mobile device; determining at the at least two measurement units times of arrival of downlink signals from each of at least two base stations; receiving from the mobile device time of arrival determinations for the downlink signals from the at least two base stations; and computing a location of the mobile device based on the determined times of arrival. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for determining the location of a mobile device comprising:
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an uplink processor to implement an uplink location algorithm; a downlink processor to implement a downlink location algorithm; at least three base stations, located at known locations, to communicate with the mobile device; and at least three measurement units, having an uplink mode and a downlink mode, wherein, in the uplink mode, each of the measurement units determines a time of arrival of an uplink signal that originated from the mobile device and reports the determined time of arrival to the uplink processor, and the uplink processor determines the location of the mobile device using the uplink location algorithm based on the times of arrival reported to the uplink processor by the measurement units, and wherein, in the downlink mode, the mobile device determines times of arrival of downlink signals arriving from each of the at least three base stations and reports the determined times of arrival to the downlink processor, the measurement units collectively determine a time of arrival of downlink signals that originated from each of the at least three base stations and report the determined times of arrival to the downlink processor, and the downlink processor determines the location of the mobile device using the downlink location algorithm based on the times of arrival reported to the downlink processor by the mobile device and by the measurement units. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus comprising:
a receiver to note a time of arrival of an uplink signal arriving from a mobile device at an unknown location, to forward the noted time of arrival of the uplink signal to an uplink processor, to note a time of arrival of a downlink signal arriving from a base station at a known location, and to forward the noted time of arrival of the downlink signal to a downlink processor. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
Specification