Subscriptionless location of wireless devices
First Claim
1. A method for locating a wireless device, comprising:
- (a) providing, to a location processing node, key information for one or more base station transmitters of one or more wireless communications networks, wherein said key information includes at least one of cell identification information, transmitter location information, signal timing information, signal transmit power information, and signal propagation information;
(b) at a wireless device to be located, measuring signals transmitted by said one or more base station transmitters;
(c) communicating information representative of said signal measurements via a communication link to said location processing node, wherein said communication link is not provided by said one or more wireless communications networks, and wherein said signal measurements include at least one of signal time of arrival (TOA) measurements, signal time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and power level measurements; and
(d) at said location processing node, computing the location of the wireless device to be located, wherein the wireless device is located using downlink signal measurements made by the wireless device and without consuming communication resources of the one or more wireless communications networks.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for locating wireless devices involve a wireless device making measurements of signals transmitted by geographically distributed base stations within a wireless network. If some key site information is known about these transmitters, such as the transmitter location, transmit signal power, signal propagation, and transmit signal timing, measurements of these transmit signals by a device to be located can be used to determine the position of the device. In this example, all information exchange between the device and the location node is facilitated by a data link that is not provided by the wireless network providing signals used in the location estimation process. Accordingly, devices may be located based on downlink signal measurements made by the devices, where the devices are not part of the wireless network, are not provided wireless service by the network, and do not possess the ability to transmit signals to the wireless network, and where communication resources of the wireless network are not consumed to facilitate location.
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Citations
58 Claims
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1. A method for locating a wireless device, comprising:
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(a) providing, to a location processing node, key information for one or more base station transmitters of one or more wireless communications networks, wherein said key information includes at least one of cell identification information, transmitter location information, signal timing information, signal transmit power information, and signal propagation information; (b) at a wireless device to be located, measuring signals transmitted by said one or more base station transmitters; (c) communicating information representative of said signal measurements via a communication link to said location processing node, wherein said communication link is not provided by said one or more wireless communications networks, and wherein said signal measurements include at least one of signal time of arrival (TOA) measurements, signal time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and power level measurements; and (d) at said location processing node, computing the location of the wireless device to be located, wherein the wireless device is located using downlink signal measurements made by the wireless device and without consuming communication resources of the one or more wireless communications networks. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A system for locating a wireless device, comprising:
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a first node comprising a location processor and key information for one or more base station transmitters of one or more wireless communications networks, wherein said key information includes at least one of cell identification information, transmitter location information, signal timing information, signal transmit power information, signal propagation information; a wireless device to be located, wherein the wireless device to be located is configured to measure signals transmitted by said one or more base station transmitters and to communicate signal measurements via a communication link to said first node, wherein the signal measurements include at least one of signal time of arrival (TOA) measurements, signal time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and power level measurements, and wherein said communication link is not provided by said one or more wireless communications networks;
wherein said communication link comprises at least one of an Ethernet link, the Internet, a dial-up telephone link, and a Wi-Fi link; andwherein the system is configured to locate the wireless device to be located using downlink signal measurements made by the wireless device. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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Specification