Mobile-station-assisted low-cost-internet-base-station-(LCIB) location determination

• US 7,831,216 B1
• Filed: 11/27/2007
• Issued: 11/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Deal, William H., Moll, Keith E., Barbee, Bryan T., Sill, Timothy W., Yenney, Christopher M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza; Thomas H
• Assistant Examiner(s): LIU, HARRY K
• Application Number:
  US11/945,964
• Time in Patent Office: 1,078 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357, 342/357.09, 455/88
• US Class Current: 455/88
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for implementing mobile-station-assisted low-cost-Internet-base-station—(LCIB) location determination. In an embodiment, an LCIB receives location information over an air interface from a mobile station, the location information reflecting a location of the mobile station. In response to receiving the location information, the LCIB uses the location information to determine its location.

Claims

1. A low-cost Internet base station (LCIB) comprising:

a communication interface for providing an air interface to at least one mobile station;

a location module comprising a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver;

a processor; and

data storage comprising instructions executable by the processor to;

use the GPS receiver to attempt to acquire a GPS fix;

in response to failing to acquire the GPS fix, send a location query via the air interface to a mobile station, the location query requesting location information;

receive a reply to the query from the mobile station over the air interface, the reply comprising the requested location information, the location information reflecting a location of the mobile station; and

in response to receiving the reply, use the location information to determine a location of the LCIB.

2. The LCIB of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises at least one of a latitude, a longitude, a street address, a city, a state, a zip code, a country, a Global Positioning System (GPS) pseudorandom code, GPS ephemeris data, and GPS almanac data.

3. The LCIB of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises a distance-traveled indication, and wherein using the location information to determine the location of the LCIB comprises using the location information to determine the location of the LCIB only if the distance-traveled indication is less than a threshold distance.

4. The LCIB of claim 1, wherein the location of the mobile station is one of the current location of the mobile station and the last-known location of the mobile station.

5. The LCIB of claim 1, wherein the air interface operates according to at least one technology selected from the group consisting of CDMA, EV-DO, iDEN, TDMA, AMPS, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, EDGE, WiMAX, IEEE 802.16, LTE, microwave, satellite, MMDS, Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, and infrared.

6. The LCIB of claim 1, wherein the instructions to use the location information to determine the location of the LCIB comprise instructions to set the location of the LCIB equal to the location information.

7. The LCIB of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises Global Positioning System (GPS) data received from multiple GPS satellites, and wherein the instructions to use the location information to determine the location of the LCIB comprise instructions to compute the location of the LCIB based on the GPS data.

8. The LCIB of claim 1, further comprising a backhaul connection to at least one of a position determining entity (PDE) and a mobile positioning center (MPC), wherein the instructions to use the location information to determine the location of the LCIB comprise instructions to query at least one of the PDE and the MPC over the backhaul connection using the location information, and to receive the location of the LCIB from at least one of the PDE and the MPC in reply.

9. The LCIB of claim 1, wherein the data storage further comprises instructions executable by the processor to use the determined location of the LCIB to obtain at least one operational parameter of the LCIB.

10. A method comprising:

providing an air interface to at least one mobile station;

using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to attempt to acquire a GPS fix;

in response to failing to acquire the GPS fix, sending a location query via the air interface to a mobile station, the location query requesting location information;

receiving a reply to the query from the mobile station over the air interface, the reply comprising the requested location information, the location information reflecting a location of the mobile station; and

in response to receiving the reply, using the location information to determine a location of the LCIB.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the mobile station receiving the query and responsively checking whether the mobile station has a sufficient Global Positioning System (GPS) signal for producing the location information;

in response to determining that it does not have a sufficient GPS signal for producing the location information, the mobile station caching the query; and

after caching the query, the mobile station later determining that it has a sufficient GPS signal for producing the location information, and responsively (a) producing the location information and (b) sending the location information to the LCIB over the air interface.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the mobile station determining at least one of (a) that the mobile station has detected the LCIB over the air interface, (b) that the mobile station is registered with the LCIB, and (c) that the mobile station is associated with the LCIB, and responsively sending the location information to the LCIB over the air interface.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the location information comprises at least one of a latitude, a longitude, a street address, a city, a state, a zip code, a country, a Global Positioning System (GPS) pseudorandom code, GPS ephemeris data, and GPS almanac data.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the location of the mobile station is one of the current location of the mobile station and the last-known location of the mobile station.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the mobile station using dead reckoning to update a last-known location of the mobile station with at least one of direction and distance traveled from the last-known location of the mobile station, so as to produce the location information; and

the mobile station sending the location information to the LCIB over the air interface.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the location information comprises a timestamp, and wherein using the location information to determine the location of the LCIB comprises using the location information to determine the location of the LCIB only if the timestamp indicates that the location information was stored less than a threshold amount of time before a current time.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the mobile station engaging in a location-determination session with at least one macro-network entity, so as to produce the location information; and

the mobile station sending the location information to the LCIB over the air interface.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the air interface operates according to at least one technology selected from the group consisting of CDMA, EV-DO, iDEN, TDMA, AMPS, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, EDGE, WiMAX, IEEE 802.16, LTE, microwave, satellite, MMDS, Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, and infrared.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the location information comprises Global Positioning System (GPS) data received from multiple GPS satellites, and wherein using the location information to determine the location of the LCIB comprises computing the location of the LCIB based on the GPS data.

20. The method of claim 10, wherein using the location information to determine the location of the LCIB comprises querying at least one of a position determining entity (PDE) and a mobile positioning center (MPC) over a backhaul connection using the location information, and receiving the location of the LCIB from at least one of the PDE and the MPC in reply.

21. The method of claim 10, further comprising the LCIB using the determined location of the LCIB to obtain at least one operational parameter of the LCIB.