GPS-based positioning system for mobile GPS terminals

• US 8,164,516 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2008
• Issued: 04/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), CSR Technology Incorporated (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsujimoto, Ikuo, Suzuki, Junichi, Chang, Chiayee Steve, Garin, Lionel Jacques, Pande, Ashutosh
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Dao
• Application Number:
  US12/033,000
• Publication Number:
  US 20090033553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,527 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.4, 342/357.42, 342/357.43, 342/357.64, 701/213, 701/215
• US Class Current: 342/357.43
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/09 providing processing capability normally carried out by the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/25 involving aiding data received from a cooperating element, e.g. assisted GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236

Abstract

The present invention discloses a GPS system that uses call-processor intelligence to determine the mode of operation of a GPS receiver located in a GPS terminal. The modes are selected based on the availability of network facilities, the GPS information that can be acquired, or user input requirements.

Claims

1. A GPS terminal comprising:

a GPS section for receiving and processing a GPS signal;

a processing section for receiving and processing network data from a network;

a user interface for receiving user data from a user;

a strategy selector, external to and coupled to the GPS section and the processing section, that determines a positioning strategy based upon a positioning state of the GPS section received from the GPS section, a state of a network server received from the network, and positioning requirements received from the user through the user interface,

wherein the positioning strategy determines data required to compute the position of the GPS terminal and the positioning requirements received from the user selectively allow or disallow use of the network server.

2. The GPS terminal of claim 1, wherein the strategy selector includes a mode determinator for selecting a positioning mode that determines if the GPS terminal requires aid from a network.

3. The GPS terminal of claim 2, wherein the mode determinator calculates a positioning time for a plurality of positioning modes.

4. The GPS terminal of claim 1, wherein the strategy selector includes an aiding data determinator for determining aiding data required to compute the position of the GPS terminal.

5. The GPS terminal of claim 4, wherein the aiding data determinator calculates a positioning time with and without approximate positioning data provided by a server.