Positioning of a wireless device served by a femto cell

• US 8,700,051 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2010
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Burroughs, Kirk Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Siddiqui, Kashif
• Application Number:
  US12/783,923
• Publication Number:
  US 20100298008A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,426 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 455/422.1, 4554351-436, 455/440, 455/444, 4554561-4566, 455/561, 455/562.1
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/11 wherein the cooperating elements are pseudolites or satellite radio beacon positioning system signal repeaters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0054 of actual mobile position, i.e. position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

Techniques for supporting positioning are described. In an aspect, positioning of mobile stations served by femto cells may be supported by having the femto cells transmit at least one identity used to differentiate the femto cells from other cells/sectors in a wireless network. The at least one identity may also convey certain information for the femto cells, which may be pertinent for positioning of the mobile stations. In one design, a femto cell may send the at least one identity assigned to the femto cell and the location of the femto cell to mobile stations as an aid for positioning. A mobile station may receive and forward the least one identity and the location of the femto cell to a location server. The mobile station and the location server may then perform positioning based on the at least one identity and the location of the femto cell.

Claims

1. A method of performing positioning, comprising:

obtaining at least one identity assigned to a femto cell and used to differentiate the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network, wherein the at least one identity assigned to the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity;

sending the at least one identity of the femto cell to a location server; and

performing positioning with the location server to obtain a location estimate for a mobile station, the location server differentiating the femto cell from the sectors in the wireless network based on the at least one identity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining location of the femto cell; and

sending the location of the femto cell to the location server, and wherein positioning is performed based on the location of the femto cell.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving an overhead message transmitted by the femto cell, and wherein the at least one identity of the femto cell and the location of the femto cell are obtained from the overhead message.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the performing positioning comprises receiving assistance data determined by the location server based on the location of the femto cell.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the performing positioning comprises

sending pseudo-range measurements to the location server, and

receiving a location estimate determined by the location server based on the location of the femto cell and the pseudo-range measurements.

6. An apparatus for performing positioning, comprising:

means for obtaining at least one identity assigned to a femto cell and used to differentiate the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network, wherein the at least one identity assigned to the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity;

means for sending the at least one identity of the femto cell to a location server; and

means for performing positioning with the location server to obtain a location estimate for a mobile station, the location server differentiating the femto cell from the sectors in the wireless network based on the at least one identity.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

means for obtaining location of the femto cell; and

means for sending the location of the femto cell to the location server, and wherein positioning is performed based on the location of the femto cell.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

means for receiving an overhead message transmitted by the femto cell, and wherein the at least one identity of the femto cell and the location of the femto cell are obtained from the overhead message.

9. An apparatus for performing positioning, comprising:

at least one processing unit configured to obtain at least one identity assigned to a femto cell and used to differentiate the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network, wherein the at least one identity assigned to the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity, to send the at least one identity of the femto cell to a location server, and to perform positioning with the location server to obtain a location estimate for a mobile station, the location server differentiating the femto cell from the sectors in the wireless network based on the at least one identity.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to obtain location of the femto cell and to send the location of the femto cell to the location server, and wherein positioning is performed based on the location of the femto cell.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to receive an overhead message transmitted by the femto cell and to obtain the at least one identity of the femto cell and the location of the femto cell from the overhead message.

12. A non-transitory computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising;

code to cause at least one processing unit to obtain at least one identity assigned to a femto cell and used to differentiate the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network, wherein the at least one identity assigned to the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity,

code to cause the at least one processing unit to send the at least one identity of the femto cell to a location server, and

code to cause the at least one processing unit to perform positioning with the location server to obtain a location estimate for a mobile station, the location server differentiating the femto cell from the sectors in the wireless network based on the at least one identity.

13. A method of supporting positioning, comprising:

determining at least one identity assigned to a femto cell and used to differentiate the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network, wherein the at least one identity assigned to the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity; and

sending the at least one identity of the femto cell to at least one mobile station.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining location of the femto cell; and

sending the location of the femto cell to the at least one mobile station as an aid for positioning.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one identity comprises an identity having a value within a range of values reserved for femto cells, and wherein the femto cell is differentiated from the sectors in the wireless network based on the value of the identity.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein each range of values is associated with a particular maximum antenna range (MAR).

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one identity comprises a Network Identification (NID) used in a 3GPP2 network.

18. An apparatus for supporting positioning, comprising:

means for determining at least one identity assigned to a femto cell and used to differentiate the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network, wherein the at least one identity assigned to the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity; and

means for sending the at least one identity of the femto cell to at least one mobile station.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

means for determining location of the femto cell; and

means for sending the location of the femto cell to the at least one mobile station as an aid for positioning.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein each range of values is associated with a particular maximum antenna range (MAR).

21. A method of supporting positioning, comprising:

receiving at least one identity of a femto cell from a mobile station, wherein the at least one identity of the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity;

differentiating the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network based on the at least one identity of the femto cell; and

performing positioning for the mobile station based on information for the femto cell.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the at least one identity comprises an identity having a value within a range of values reserved for femto cells, and wherein the differentiating the femto cell comprises identifying the femto cell as being of a femto cell type based on the value of the identity being within the range of values.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

obtaining location of the femto cell, and wherein positioning is performed based further on the location of the femto cell.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the location of the femto cell is obtained from the mobile station, or by performing positioning with the femto cell, or by looking up a database based on the at least one identity.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

determining a maximum antenna range (MAR) of the femto cell based on the at least one identity of the femto cell, and wherein positioning is performed based further on the MAR of the femto cell.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the location of the femto cell comprises a latitude and a longitude, the method further comprising:

determining an altitude of the femto cell based on the latitude and longitude of the femto cell, and wherein positioning is performed based further on the altitude of the femto cell.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the performing positioning comprises

determining assistance data for the mobile station based on the location of the femto cell, and

sending the assistance data to the mobile station.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein the performing positioning comprises

receiving pseudo-range measurements from the mobile station,

determining a location estimate for the mobile station based on the location of the femto cell and the pseudo-range measurements, and

sending the location estimate to the mobile station.

29. An apparatus for supporting positioning, comprising:

means for receiving at least one identity of a femto cell from a mobile station, wherein the at least one identity of the femto cell is within a range of values reserved for femto cells, wherein each range of values being reserved for femto cells of a different type and a type of the femto cell is determined based on the value of the identity;

means for differentiating the femto cell from sectors in a wireless network based on the at least one identity of the femto cell; and

means for performing positioning for the mobile station based on information for the femto cell.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising:

means for obtaining location of the femto cell, and wherein positioning is performed based further on the location of the femto cell.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising:

means for determining a maximum antenna range (MAR) of the femto cell based on the at least one identity of the femto cell, and

wherein positioning is performed based further on the MAR of the femto cell.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the location of the femto cell comprises a latitude and a longitude, the apparatus further comprising:

means for determining an altitude of the femto cell based on the latitude and longitude of the femto cell, and wherein positioning is performed based further on the altitude of the femto cell.