Satellite positioning system receivers and methods

• US 7,969,356 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2005
• Issued: 06/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola Mobility, Inc. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Heng, Mark, King, Thomas M., Geier, George J., Harbour, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Issing; Gregory C
• Application Number:
  US11/225,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20060181452A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,114 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.15, 342/357.02, 342/357.09, 342/357.66
• US Class Current: 342/357.66
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption

Abstract

A satellite positioning system receiver programmed to determine information for a satellite using ephemeris data (710), determine information for the same satellite using almanac data (722), which may have been previously stored on the receiver, to determine an error between the satellite information determined from the ephemeris data and the satellite information determined from the stored almanac data (730), and to update the stored almanac data based upon the error (734).

Claims

1. A method in a satellite positioning system receiver having stored almanac data, the method comprising:

determining information for a satellite using ephemeris data;

determining information for the same satellite using the stored almanac data;

determining an error between the satellite information determined from the ephemeris data and the satellite information determined from the stored almanac data;

updating the stored almanac data based upon the error.

2. The method of claim 1,

determining satellite information for the same satellite includes determining satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the stored almanac data;

determining the error includes determining an error between the satellite location and velocity information determined from the ephemeris data and from the stored almanac data.

3. The method of claim 2, determining satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the stored almanac data during a common epoch.

4. The method of claim 2, determining satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the stored almanac data within a specified time interval of Time of Ephemeris (TOE) for the ephemeris data.

5. The method of claim 2,

determining satellite information for the same satellite includes determining satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the updated almanac data;

determining the error includes determining a revised error between the satellite location and velocity information determined from the ephemeris data and from the updated almanac data;

updating the updated almanac data based upon the revised error.

6. A method in a satellite positioning system receiver having stored almanac data, the method comprising:

determining, at corresponding time periods, location and velocity information for a satellite based on a plurality of issues of ephemeris data for the satellite;

determining location and velocity information for the satellite based on the stored almanac data for the satellite at the same time periods for which the location and velocity information based on the plurality of issues of ephemeris data was determined;

for each time period, determining error between the location and velocity information for the satellite based on the ephemeris data and the location and velocity information for the satellite based on the stored almanac data;

updating the stored almanac data based upon the error.

7. A satellite positioning system receiver, comprising:

the receiver programmed to determine information for a satellite using ephemeris data and using almanac data;

the receiver programmed to determine an error between the satellite information determined from the ephemeris data and the satellite information determined from the almanac data;

the receiver programmed to update the almanac data based upon the error.

8. The receiver of claim 7,

the receiver programmed to determine satellite information for the same satellite includes determining satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the almanac data;

the receiver programmed to determine the error by determining an error between the satellite location and velocity information determined from the ephemeris data and from the almanac data.

9. The receiver of claim 8, the receiver programmed to determine satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the almanac data during a common epoch.

10. The receiver of claim 8, the receiver programmed to determine satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the almanac data within a specified time interval of Time of Ephemeris (TOE) for the ephemeris data.

11. The receiver of claim 8,

the receiver programmed to determine satellite information for the same satellite by determining satellite location and velocity information for the same satellite using the ephemeris data and using the updated almanac data;

the receiver programmed to determine the error by determining a revised error between the satellite location and velocity information determined from the ephemeris data and from the updated almanac data;

the receiver programmed to update the updated almanac data based upon the revised error.