Location of wideband OFDM transmitters with limited receiver bandwidth

• US 7,844,280 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2006
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skyhook Holding, Inc. (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Original Assignee: TruePosition Incorporated
• Inventors: Anderson, Robert J., Mia, Rashidus S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Afshar; Kamran
• Assistant Examiner(s): Choo; Munsoon
• Application Number:
  US11/609,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20080137524A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,449 Days
• Field of Search: 370/203, 455/404.2, 455/456.1, 455/456.5, 455/456.6, 455/67.11, 455/115.1
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0205 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/06 Position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements G01S5/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2647 Arrangements specific to the receiver only equalisation H04L27/01

Abstract

One illustrative embodiment takes the form of a system for locating wireless transmitters employing an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme. The OFDM scheme comprises transmitting signal components over narrowband frequency channels spanning a wideband channel. The system includes a first receiving system configured to receive a fraction of the signal components transmitted by a first wireless transmitter to be located in a fraction of the narrowband frequency channels, and to process the fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements. The system further includes at least a second receiving system configured to receive the fraction of the signal components transmitted by the first wireless transmitter, and to process this fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements. The system also includes a processing system configured to use location related measurements from the first and second receiving systems to compute the location of the wireless transmitter.

Claims

1. A system for locating wireless transmitters employing an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme, wherein said OFDM scheme comprises transmitting signal components over a plurality of narrowband frequency channels spanning a wideband channel, comprising:

a first receiving system configured to receive a fraction of the signal components transmitted by a first wireless transmitter to be located in a fraction of the narrowband frequency channels, and to process said fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements, wherein said fraction of the narrowband frequency channels includes at least one pilot channel in which said first wireless transmitter transmits energy, and wherein the first receiving system is configured to use signal components in said pilot channel to aid in signal acquisition and demodulation;

wherein said first receiving system comprises a first frequency conversion circuit configured to convert a first received RF signal component to a first digital baseband OFDM signal;

a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) circuit configured to perform an FFT of the first digital baseband OFDM signal provided by the first frequency conversion circuit;

a demodulation circuit configured to produce coded bits based on the output of the FFT circuit;

a first reconstruction circuit configured to reconstruct the first digital baseband OFDM signal based on the coded bits produced by the demodulation circuit; and

a first correlation processing system configured to correlate the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal with the first digital baseband OFDM signal, wherein a correlation function peak is indicative of a first time of arrival for the first received RF signal component;

a second receiving system configured to receive said fraction of the signal components transmitted by said first wireless transmitter, and to process said fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements, wherein the second receiving system is configured to use signal components in said pilot channel to aid in signal acquisition and demodulation;

wherein said second receiving system comprises a second reconstruction circuit configured to receive the coded bits produced by the first demodulation circuit of the first receiving system and to produce the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal; and

a second correlation processing system configured to correlate the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal with a second digital baseband OFDM signal derived by the second receiving system, wherein a peak of the correlation function is indicative of a second time of arrival for the RF signal as received at the second receiving system; and

a processing system, operatively coupled to said first and second receiving systems, wherein said processing system is configured to use location related measurements from said first and second receiving systems, including the first and second times of arrival, to compute the location of said first wireless transmitter.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said location related measurements derived by said first and second receiving systems comprise time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements.

3. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said location related measurements derived by said first and second receiving systems comprise time of arrival (TOA) measurements.

4. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said location related measurements derived by said first and second receiving systems comprise angle of arrival (AOA) measurements.

5. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said location related measurements derived by said first and second receiving systems comprise round trip time measurements.

6. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said location related measurements derived by said first and second receiving systems comprise received power measurements.

7. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said fraction of the predefined narrowband frequency channels excludes guard channels in which said first wireless transmitter transmits minimal energy.

8. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include a radio frequency (RF) filter, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are each configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said RF filter.

9. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include an intermediate frequency (IF) filter, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are each configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said IF filter.

10. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include an analog to digital converter (ADC) characterized by a sample rate, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are each configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate.

11. A system as recited in claim 10, wherein said ADCs are further characterized by a sample rate after decimation, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate after decimation.

12. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include available memory for storing data representing received signal components, and wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said available memory.

13. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include digital signal processors (DSPs) characterized by DSP processing throughput, and wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said DSP processing throughput.

14. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with a current load on the receiving system.

15. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to tune to a plurality of channels to receive signals from a plurality of wireless transmitters to be located.

16. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to tune to a plurality of selected channels, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon interference levels.

17. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon measurements of received signals.

18. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon spectrum usage.

19. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured for collection of multiple slices of spectrum for bandwidth synthesis.

20. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured for use of a sequential pattern of re-tuning a frequency agile receiver to cover a substantial part of an OFDM waveform spectrum.

21. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said system is configured for use of a bandwidth synthesis process to provide increased resolution in a cross-correlation function to reduce multipath delay spread.

22. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said system is configured to use a station-based processing method.

23. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first or second receiving systems include means for performing OFDM receiving and demodulation processing.

24. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems include narrowband receivers.

25. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second receiving systems include wideband receivers.

26. A method for locating wireless transmitters employing an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme, wherein said OFDM scheme comprises transmitting signal components over a plurality of narrowband frequency channels spanning a wideband channel, comprising:

at a first receiving system, receiving a fraction of the signal components transmitted by a first wireless transmitter to be located in a fraction of the narrowband frequency channels, and processing said fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements including a first time of arrival for a first received RF signal component;

wherein the processing at the first receiving system comprises;

converting the first received RF signal component to a first digital baseband OFDM signal;

performing a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the first digital baseband OFDM signal provided by the first frequency conversion circuit

producing coded bits based on the output of the FFT circuit;

reconstructing the first digital baseband OFDM signal based on the coded bits; and

correlating the reconstructed first digital baseband OFDM signal with the first digital baseband OFDM signal, wherein a correlation function peak is indicative of the first time of arrival for the first received RF signal component;

at a second receiving system which is geographically separated from said first receiving system, receiving said fraction of the signal components transmitted by said first wireless transmitter, and processing said fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements including a second time of arrival for the RF signal as received at the second receiving system;

wherein the processing at the second receiving system comprises;

receiving the coded bits produced by the first receiving system and producing the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal; and

correlating the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal with a second digital baseband OFDM signal derived by the second receiving system, wherein a peak of the correlation function is indicative of a second time of arrival for the RF signal as received at the second receiving system; and

processing said location related measurements from said first and second receiving systems to compute the location of said wireless transmitter;

wherein said fraction of the narrowband frequency channels includes at least one pilot channel in which said first wireless transmitter transmits energy, and wherein the first and second receiving systems use signal components in the pilot channel for signal acquisition and demodulation.

27. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said location related measurements comprise time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements.

28. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said location related measurements comprise time of arrival (TOA) measurements.

29. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said location related measurements comprise angle of arrival (AOA) measurements.

30. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said location related measurements comprise round trip time measurements.

31. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said location related measurements comprise received power measurements.

32. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein signal components in said pilot channel are used to aid in signal acquisition and demodulation.

33. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said fraction of the narrowband frequency channels excludes guard channels in which said first wireless transmitter transmits minimal energy.

34. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include a radio frequency (RF) filter, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said RF filter.

35. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include an intermediate frequency (IF) filter, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said IF filter.

36. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include an analog to digital converter (ADC) characterized by a sample rate, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate.

37. A method as recited in claim 36, wherein said ADCs are further characterized by a sample rate after decimation, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate after decimation.

38. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include available memory for storing data representing received signal components, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said available memory.

39. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include digital signal processors (DSPs) characterized by DSP processing throughput, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said DSP processing throughput.

40. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method includes, at the first receiving system, receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with a current load on the first receiving system.

41. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method includes, at the first and second receiving systems, tuning to a plurality of channels to receive signals from a plurality of wireless transmitters to be located.

42. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method includes, at the first and second receiving systems, tuning to a plurality of selected channels, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon interference levels.

43. A method as recited in claim 42, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon measurements of received signals.

44. A method as recited in claim 42, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon spectrum usage.

45. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method further comprises, at the first and second receiving systems, collection of multiple slices of spectrum for bandwidth synthesis.

46. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method further comprises, at the first and second receiving systems, use of a sequential pattern of re-tuning a frequency agile receiver to cover a substantial part of an OFDM waveform spectrum.

47. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method further comprises, at the first and second receiving systems, use of a bandwidth synthesis process to provide increased resolution in a cross-correlation function to reduce multipath delay spread.

48. A method as recited in claim 26, further comprising the use a station-based processing method.

49. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method further comprises, at the first or second receiving systems, performing OFDM receiving and demodulation processing.

50. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method further comprises, at the first and second receiving systems, the use of narrowband receivers.

51. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the method further comprises, at the first and second receiving systems, the use of wideband receivers.

52. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising executable instructions for use by a receiving system deployed in a system for locating wireless transmitters employing an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme, wherein said OFDM scheme comprises transmitting signal components over a plurality of predefined narrowband frequency channels spanning a predefined wideband channel, the computer readable medium comprising executable instructions for causing a receiving system to carry out a method comprising the steps of:

at a first receiving system, receiving a fraction of the signal components transmitted by a first wireless transmitter to be located in a fraction of the narrowband frequency channels, and processing said fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements including a first time of arrival for a first received RF signal component;

wherein the processing at the first receiving system comprises;

converting the first received RF signal component to a first digital baseband OFDM signal;

performing a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the first digital baseband OFDM signal provided by the first frequency conversion circuit;

producing coded bits based on the output of the FFT circuit

reconstructing the first digital baseband OFDM signal based on the coded bits; and

correlating the reconstructed first digital baseband OFDM signal with the first digital baseband OFDM signal, wherein a correlation function peak is indicative of the first time of arrival for the first received RF signal component;

at a second receiving system which is geographically separated from said first receiving system, receiving said fraction of the signal components transmitted by said first wireless transmitter, and processing said fraction of the signal components to derive location related measurements including a second time of arrival for the RF signal as received at the second receiving system;

wherein the processing at the second receiving system comprises;

receiving the coded bits produced by the first receiving system and producing the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal; and

correlating the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal with a second digital baseband OFDM signal derived by the second receiving system, wherein a peak of the correlation function is indicative of a second time of arrival for the RF signal as received at the second receiving system; and

processing said location related measurements from said first and second receiving systems to compute the location of said wireless transmitter;

wherein said fraction of the narrowband MHz frequency channels includes at least one pilot channel in which said first wireless transmitter transmits energy, and wherein the first and second receiving systems use signal components in the pilot channel for signal acquisition and demodulation.

53. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said location related measurements comprise time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements.

54. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said location related measurements comprise time of arrival (TOA) measurements.

55. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said location related measurements comprise angle of arrival (AOA) measurements.

56. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said location related measurements comprise round trip time measurements.

57. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said location related measurements comprise received power measurements.

58. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said fraction of the narrowband frequency channels includes at least one pilot channel in which said first wireless transmitter transmits energy, and wherein signal components in said pilot channel are used to aid in signal acquisition and demodulation.

59. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said fraction of the narrowband frequency channels excludes guard channels in which said first wireless transmitter transmits minimal energy.

60. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said receiving system includes a radio frequency (RF) filter, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said RF filter.

61. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said receiving system includes an intermediate frequency (IF) filter, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said IF filter.

62. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said receiving system includes an analog to digital converter (ADC) characterized by a sample rate, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate.

63. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 62, wherein said ADCs are further characterized by a sample rate after decimation, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate after decimation.

64. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said receiving system includes available memory for storing data representing received signal components, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said available memory.

65. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein said receiving system includes digital signal processors (DSPs) characterized by DSP processing throughput, and wherein the method includes receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said DSP processing throughput.

66. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method includes, at the receiving system, receiving signal components within a bandwidth compatible with a current load on the receiving system.

67. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method includes, at the receiving system, tuning to a plurality of channels to receive signals from a plurality of wireless transmitters to be located.

68. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method includes, at the receiving system, tuning to a plurality of selected channels, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon interference levels.

69. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 68, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon measurements of received signals.

70. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 68, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon spectrum usage.

71. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method further comprises, at the receiving system, collection of multiple slices of spectrum for bandwidth synthesis.

72. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method further comprises, at the receiving system, use of a sequential pattern of re-tuning a frequency agile receiver to cover a substantial part of an OFDM waveform spectrum.

73. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method further comprises, at the receiving system, use of a bandwidth synthesis process to provide increased resolution in a cross-correlation function to reduce multipath delay spread.

74. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method further comprises the use a station-based processing method.

75. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method further comprises, at the receiving system, performing OFDM receiving and demodulation processing.

76. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method further comprises, at the receiving system, the use of narrowband receivers.

77. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the method further comprises, at the receiving system, the use of wideband receivers.

78. A network-based system for locating wireless transmitters employing an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme, wherein said OFDM scheme comprises transmitting signal components over a plurality of narrowband frequency channels spanning a wideband channel, wherein the narrowband frequency channels have a bandwidth on the order of 3-5 MHz and the wideband channel has a bandwidth on the order of 20 MHz, comprising:

(a) a first receiving system configured to receive a fraction of the signal components transmitted by a first wireless transmitter to be located in a fraction of the narrowband 3-5MHz frequency channels, wherein said fraction of the narrowband 3-5 MHz frequency channels includes at least one pilot channel in which said first wireless transmitter transmits energy;

wherein said first receiving system comprises;

(a1) a first frequency conversion circuit configured to convert a first received RF signal component to a first digital baseband OFDM signal having a sample rate which is substantially lower than the 48 MHz required to properly sample a 20 MHz signal, wherein the first frequency conversion circuit includes a filter bandwidth which is substantially less than 20 MHz;

(a2) a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) circuit configured to perform an FFT of the first digital baseband OFDM signal provided by the first frequency conversion circuit;

(a3) a demodulation circuit configured to produce coded bits based on the output of the FFT circuit;

(a4) a first reconstruction circuit configured to reconstruct the first digital baseband OFDM signal based on the coded bits produced by the demodulation circuit, wherein the first reconstruction circuit is configured to modulate the coded bits into one of PSK or QAM symbols, and to perform an inverse FFT (IFFT) of the symbols to produce a first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal; and

(a5) a first correlation processing system configured to correlate the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal with the first digital baseband OFDM signal, wherein a correlation function peak is indicative of a first time of arrival (TOA) for the first received RF signal component;

(b) a second receiving system configured to receive said fraction of the signal components transmitted by said first wireless transmitter, wherein said second receiving system comprises;

(b1) a second reconstruction circuit configured to receive the coded bits produced by the first demodulation circuit of the first receiving system and to produce the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal; and

(b2) a second correlation processing system configured to correlate the first reconstructed digital baseband OFDM signal with a second digital baseband OFDM signal derived by the second receiving system, wherein a peak of the correlation function is indicative of a second time of arrival (TOA) for the RF signal as received at the second receiving system; and

(c) a processing system, operatively coupled to said first and second receiving systems, wherein said processing system is configured to use the first and second TOA values from said first and second receiving systems to compute the location of said wireless transmitter.

79. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein the system is configured to use signal components in said pilot channel to aid in signal acquisition and demodulation.

80. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein the second reconstruction circuit is configured to modulate the coded bits into one of PSK or QAM symbols in the form of baseband sample data, and to perform an inverse FFT (IFFT) of the symbols to produce a second reconstructed OFDM signal.

81. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein the system is configured to locate WiFi transmitters.

82. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein the system is configured to locate WiMAX transmitters.

83. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said location related measurements derived by said first and second receiving systems comprise time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements.

84. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said fraction of the predefined narrowband frequency channels excludes guard channels in which said first wireless transmitter transmits minimal energy.

85. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include a radio frequency (RF) filter, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are each configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said RF filter.

86. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include an intermediate frequency (IF) filter, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are each configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said IF filter.

87. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include an analog to digital converter (ADC) characterized by a sample rate, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are each configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate.

88. A system as recited in claim 87, wherein said ADCs are further characterized by a sample rate after decimation, and wherein the first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said sample rate after decimation.

89. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include available memory for storing data representing received signal components, and wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said available memory.

90. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems each include digital signal processors (DSPs) characterized by DSP processing throughput, and wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with said DSP processing throughput.

91. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to receive signal components within a bandwidth compatible with a current load on the receiving system.

92. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to tune to a plurality of channels to receive signals from a plurality of wireless transmitters to be located.

93. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured to tune to a plurality of selected channels, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon interference levels.

94. A system as recited in claim 93, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon measurements of received signals.

95. A system as recited in claim 93, wherein said selected channels are determined based upon spectrum usage.

96. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured for collection of multiple slices of spectrum for bandwidth synthesis.

97. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said first and second receiving systems are configured for use of a sequential pattern of re-tuning a frequency agile receiver to cover a substantial part of an OFDM waveform spectrum.

98. A system as recited in claim 78, wherein said system is configured for use of a bandwidth synthesis process to provide increased resolution in a cross-correlation function to reduce multipath delay spread.