Method and system for femtocell positioning

• US 8,825,077 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Soliman, Samir Salib, Chakraborty, Kaushik, Song, Bongyong, Das, Soumya
• Primary Examiner(s): Karikari, Kwasi
• Application Number:
  US13/360,463
• Publication Number:
  US 20130196680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/422.1, 455/444, 455/448, 455/456.1, 455/63.1, 455/524, 455/502, 455/62, 455/552.1
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks

Abstract

Method and system for femtocell positioning are disclosed. An apparatus includes one or more processors, a femtocell positioning module configured to determine position of a femtocell, and a memory configured to store position of the femtocell. The femtocell positioning module, working with the one or more processors, includes logic configured to identify one or more wireless terminals and receive location information from the one or more wireless terminals via a first communication channel and determine position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information from the one or more wireless terminals. The femtocell positioning module further includes logic configured to obtain multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals, logic configured to determine position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information and the multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals.

Claims

1. A method for determining position of a femtocell, comprising:

identifying one or more wireless terminals through a first communication channel, wherein each wireless terminal has obtained an initial position and performs repeated position updates with respect to one or more base stations, and wherein the first communication channel includes an out-of-band link between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals;

receiving location information from the one or more wireless terminals via the first communication channel;

determining position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information from the one or more wireless terminals; and

receiving provisioning information from a network based on the position of the femtocell, wherein the receiving provisioning information from the network comprises receiving a list of authentication credentials associated with the one or more wireless terminals from the network, and authenticating the one or more wireless terminals using the list of authentication credentials.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more wireless terminals through a first communication channel further comprises at least one of:

verifying the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell are located in a same subnet; and

verifying the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell are located in a same macro cell area.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining position of the femtocell comprises:

obtaining multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals; and

determining position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information and the multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprises:

transferring data between the network and the one or more wireless terminals using a second communication channel, wherein the second communication channel includes a broadband network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the out-of-band link includes at least one of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and wherein the out-of-band link includes Remote IP Access (RIPA) connections between the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the range measurements comprises:

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a third point in time.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a second wireless terminal at the first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the second wireless terminal at the second point in time.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time; and

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a second wireless terminal at the first point in time.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the second wireless terminal at the second point in time.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprises:

determining position of the femtocell in accordance with a weighted average position of the one or more wireless terminals.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the authenticating the one or more wireless terminals comprises:

matching hashed output of identities produced by the one or more wireless terminals against the list of authentication credentials; and

identifying the one or more terminals to be genuine when the hashed output of identities is found in the list of authentication credentials.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving provisioning information from the network further comprises:

receiving one or more frequencies from the network for operating the femtocell, wherein the one or more frequencies are selected based on the position of the femtocell to minimize interference between the femtocell and surrounding base stations.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining position of the femtocell further comprises:

assigning a location of the one or more wireless terminals as the position of the femtocell.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors;

a femtocell positioning module, working with the one or more processors, includes

logic configured to identify one or more wireless terminals and receive location information from the one or more wireless terminals via a first communication channel, wherein each wireless terminal has obtained an initial position and performs repeated position updates with respect to one or more base stations, and wherein the first communication channel includes an out-of-band link between a femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals; and

logic configured to determine position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information from the one or more wireless terminals;

logic configured to receive provisioning information from a network based on the position of the femtocell, wherein the logic configured to receive provisioning information from the network comprises logic configured to receive a list of authentication credentials associated with the one or more wireless terminals from the network, and logic configured to authenticate the one or more wireless terminals using the list of authentication credentials; and

a memory configured to store position of the femtocell.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein logic configured to identify one or more wireless terminals through a first communication channel further comprises at least one of:

logic configured to verify the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell are located in a same subnet; and

logic configured to verify the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell are located in a same macro cell area.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein logic configured to determine position of the femtocell comprises:

logic configured to obtain multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals; and

logic configured to determine position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information and the multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprises:

logic configured to transfer data between the network and the one or more wireless terminals using a second communication channel, wherein the second communication channel includes a broadband network.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the out-of-band link includes at least one of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and wherein the out-of-band link includes Remote IP Access (RIPA) connections between the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the range measurements comprises:

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a third point in time.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a second wireless terminal at the first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the second wireless terminal at the second point in time.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time; and

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a second wireless terminal at the first point in time.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the second wireless terminal at the second point in time.

25. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprises:

logic configured to determine position of the femtocell in accordance with a weighted average position of the one or more wireless terminals.

26. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein logic configured to determine position of the femtocell further comprises:

logic configured to assign a location of the one or more wireless terminals as the position of the femtocell.

27. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the logic configured to authenticate the one or more wireless terminals comprises:

logic configured to match hashed output of identities produced by the one or more wireless terminals against the list of authentication credentials; and

logic configured to identify the one or more terminals to be genuine when the hashed output of identities is found in the list of authentication credentials.

28. A computer program product for determining position of a femtocell, comprising a non-transitory medium storing computer programs for execution by one or more computer systems, the computer program product comprising:

code for identifying one or more wireless terminals through a first communication channel, wherein each wireless terminal has obtained an initial position and performs repeated position updates with respect to one or more base stations, and wherein the first communication channel includes an out-of-band link between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals;

code for receiving location information from the one or more wireless terminals via the first communication channel;

code for determining position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information from the one or more wireless terminals; and

code for receiving provisioning information from a network based on the position of the femtocell, wherein the code for receiving provisioning information from the network comprises code for receiving a list of authentication credentials associated with the one or more wireless terminals from the network, and code for authenticating the one or more wireless terminals using the list of authentication credentials.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein code for identifying one or more wireless terminals through a first communication channel further comprises at least one of:

code for verifying the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell are located in a same subnet; and

code for verifying the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell are located in a same macro cell area.

30. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein code for determining position of the femtocell comprises:

code for obtaining multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals; and

code for determining position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information and the multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals.

31. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprises:

code for transferring data between the network and the one or more wireless terminals using a second communication channel, wherein the second communication channel includes a broadband network.

32. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the out-of-band link includes at least one of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and wherein the out-of-band link includes Remote IP Access (RIPA) connections between the one or more wireless terminals and the femtocell.

33. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the range measurements comprises:

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a third point in time.

34. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and a second wireless terminal at the first point in time;

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated range measurement between the femtocell and the second wireless terminal at the second point in time.

35. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time;

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time.

36. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a first wireless terminal at a first point in time; and

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and a second wireless terminal at the first point in time.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the range measurements further comprises:

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the first wireless terminal at a second point in time; and

estimated direction and range measurement between the femtocell and the second wireless terminal at the second point in time.

38. The computer program product of claim 28 further comprises:

code for determining position of the femtocell in accordance with a weighted average position of the one or more wireless terminals.

39. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein code for determining position of the femtocell further comprises:

code for assigning a location of the one or more wireless terminals as the position of the femtocell.

40. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the code for authenticating the one or more wireless terminals comprises:

code for matching hashed output of identities produced by the one or more wireless terminals against the list of authentication credentials; and

code for identifying the one or more terminals to be genuine when the hashed output of identities is found in the list of authentication credentials.

41. A system for determining position of a femtocell, comprising:

means for identifying one or more wireless terminals through a first communication channel, wherein each wireless terminal has obtained an initial position and performs repeated position updates with respect to one or more base stations, and wherein the first communication channel includes an out-of-band link between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals;

means for receiving location information from the one or more wireless terminals via the first communication channel;

means for determining position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information from the one or more wireless terminals; and

means for receiving provisioning information from a network based on the position of the femtocell, wherein the means for receiving provisioning information from the network comprises means for receiving a list of authentication credentials associated with the one or more wireless terminals from the network, and means for authenticating the one or more wireless terminals using the list of authentication credentials.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein means for determining position of the femtocell comprises:

means for obtaining multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals; and

means for determining position of the femtocell in accordance with the location information and the multiple set of range measurements between the femtocell and the one or more wireless terminals.

43. The system of claim 41, further comprises:

means for transferring data between the network and the one or more wireless terminals using a second communication channel, wherein the second communication channel includes a broadband network.

44. The system of claim 41 further comprises:

means for determining position of the femtocell in accordance with a weighted average position of the one or more wireless terminals.

45. The system of claim 41, wherein means for determining position of the femtocell further comprises:

means for assigning a location of the one or more wireless terminals as the position of the femtocell.

46. The system of claim 41, wherein the means for authenticating the one or more wireless terminals comprises:

means for matching hashed output of identities produced by the one or more wireless terminals against the list of authentication credentials; and

means for identifying the one or more terminals to be genuine when the hashed output of identities is found in the list of authentication credentials.