Position determination for a wireless terminal in a hybrid position determination system

• US 7,917,156 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2009
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sheynblat, Leonid
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng; George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller; Brandon J
• Application Number:
  US12/625,241
• Publication Number:
  US 20100173647A1
• Time in Patent Office: 490 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.6, 455/456.2, 455/456.5, 455/12.1, 455/13.2, 455/67.11, 455/456.3, 342/358, 342/357.03, 342/351, 342/357.01, 342/357.07, 342/357.08, 342/357.09, 342/356, 342/357.2, 342/357.39, 342/118
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/026 of associated receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/25 involving aiding data received from a cooperating element, e.g. assisted GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/40 Correcting position, velocity or attitude
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Techniques to determine a position estimate for a wireless terminal. An accurate position estimate for the terminal is initially obtained (e.g., based on a first (accurate) position determination sub-system). For each of one or more transmitters (e.g., base stations) in a second (less accurate) position determination sub-system, an “expected” pseudo-range is computed based on the accurate position estimate for the terminal and the base station location, a “measured” pseudo-range is also obtained, and a pseudo-range residual is then determined based on the expected pseudo-range and the measured pseudo-range. Thereafter, to determine an updated position estimate for the terminal, measured pseudo-ranges are obtained for a sufficient number of transmitters. The measured pseudo-range for each base station may be corrected based on the associated residual. The updated position estimate is then determined based on the corrected pseudo-ranges for these transmitters.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a mobile device, receiving signals from a first more accurate position determination sub-system;

generating information indicative of a position of the mobile device based on the signals received from the first more accurate position determination sub-system;

at a first time, receiving signals at the mobile device from at least a first transmitter included in a second less accurate position determination sub-system, wherein the first transmitter is located at an associated position;

at a different time, receiving signals at the mobile device from the first transmitter in response to selecting a position solution type using the second less accurate position determination sub-system;

accessing pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter, wherein the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter is derived from the information indicative of the position of the mobile device based on the signals received from the first more accurate position determination sub-system, the associated position of the first transmitter, and the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the first time; and

using the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the different time and the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter to determine information indicative of the position of the mobile device at the different time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information indicative of the position of the mobile device based on the signals received from the first more accurate position determination sub-system comprises pseudoranges to a plurality of satellites.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first time, receiving signals from one or more additional transmitters included in the second less accurate position determination sub-system, wherein each of the one or more additional transmitters included in the second less accurate position determination sub-system is located at an associated position, and wherein the one or more additional transmitters included in the second less accurate position determination sub-system comprises a second transmitter.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, at the different time:

receiving signals at the mobile device from the second transmitter;

accessing pseudorange residual information for the second transmitter, wherein the pseudorange residual information for the second transmitter is derived from the information indicative of the position of the mobile device based on the signals received from the first more accurate position determination sub-system, the associated position of the second transmitter, and the signals received at the mobile device from the second transmitter at the first time; and

wherein using the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the different time and the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter to determine information indicative of the position of the mobile device at the different time comprises using the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the different time, the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter, the signals received at the mobile device from the second transmitter at the different time, and the pseudorange residual information for the second transmitter to determine information indicative of the position of the mobile device at the different time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first more accurate position determination sub-system comprises a satellite positioning sub-system, the second less accurate position determination sub-system comprises a terrestrial positioning sub-system, and wherein selecting a position solution type using the second less accurate position determination sub-system comprises selecting a terrestrial position solution utilizing only terrestrial transmitters or selecting a hybrid position solution utilizing terrestrial transmitters and satellite transmitters.

6. A mobile device comprising:

a satellite signal receiver including satellite processing circuitry to process received satellite signals to derive satellite information for position determination;

a terrestrial signal receiver including terrestrial processing circuitry to process received terrestrial signals to derive terrestrial information for position determination;

a controller to select a position solution type;

wherein the mobile device is configured to;

use the satellite processing circuitry to generate information indicative of a position of the mobile device based on satellite signals received at the satellite signal receiver;

at a first time, receive signals at terrestrial signal receiver from at least a first terrestrial transmitter, wherein the first transmitter is located at an associated position;

at a different time, receive signals at the mobile device from the first transmitter in response to controller selection of a position solution type using at least terrestrial positioning techniques;

access pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter, wherein the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter is derived from the information indicative of the position of the mobile device based on satellite signals received at the satellite signal receiver, the associated position of the first transmitter, and the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the first time; and

using the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the different time and the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter to determine information indicative of the position of the mobile device at the different time.

7. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the terrestrial processing circuitry comprises a rake receiver including a plurality of finger processors.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the mobile device is configured to assign different ones of the plurality of finger processors to process different multipath components of the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the different time.

9. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the mobile device is configured to communicate with a location server.

10. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the first transmitter is a base station selected from the group consisting of a cellular base station and an access point.

11. A mobile device comprising:

means for receiving signals from a first more accurate position determination sub-system at a mobile device;

means for generating information indicative of a position of the mobile device based on the signals received from the first more accurate position determination sub-system;

means for receiving signals at the mobile device from at least a first transmitter included in a second less accurate position determination sub-system at a first time, wherein the first transmitter is located at an associated position;

means for receiving signals at the mobile device from the first transmitter at a different time, in response to selecting a position solution type using the second less accurate position determination sub-system;

means for accessing pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter, wherein the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter is derived from the information indicative of the position of the mobile device based on the signals received from the first more accurate position determination sub-system, the associated position of the first transmitter, and the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the first time; and

means for using the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the different time and the pseudorange residual information for the first transmitter to determine information indicative of the position of the mobile device at the different time.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the information indicative of the position of the mobile device based on the signals received from the first more accurate position determination sub-system comprises pseudoranges to a plurality of satellites.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein the means for receiving signals at the mobile device from at least a first transmitter included in a second less accurate position determination sub-system at a first time comprises terrestrial processing circuitry to process signals from terrestrial transmitters.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the terrestrial processing circuitry comprises a rake receiver including a plurality of finger processors.

15. The device of claim 14, further comprising means for assigning different ones of the plurality of finger processors to process different multipath components of the signals received at the mobile device from the first transmitter at the different time.

16. The device of claim 11, further comprising means for communicating with a location server.