Method and system for maintaining a GNSS receiver in a hot-start state

• US 8,854,259 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: van Diggelen, Frank, Abraham, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Dao
• Application Number:
  US13/619,571
• Publication Number:
  US 20130009811A1
• Time in Patent Office: 753 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.25, 342/357.63, 342/357.71, 342/357.74, 701/468
• US Class Current: 342/357.25
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption

Abstract

A GNSS receiver in a wake up state during a standby mode may acquire ephemeris from received GNSS signals such as GPS signals and/or GLONASS signals. When subsequently transitioning from the standby mode to a normal mode operating at a high frequency clock, the acquired ephemeris may be utilized to generate a navigation solution for the GNSS receiver. The GNSS receiver in the wake up state during the standby mode may be switched to operate at the high frequency clock in order to receive GNSS signals. The GNSS receiver may extract complete ephemeris from the received GNSS signals, and may subsequently transition from the wake up state to a sleep state during the standby mode to save power. Radio frequency front-end components of the GNSS receiver may only be turned on to receive the GNSS signals. The GNSS receiver may transition between the standby mode and the normal mode.

Claims

1. A method for satellite communication utilizing a navigation satellite system receiver, the method comprising:

acquiring ephemeris data;

adjusting a clock frequency at which the navigation satellite system receiver operates following the acquisition of the ephemeris data;

utilizing the acquired ephemeris data to generate a navigation solution for the navigation satellite system receiver while operating at the adjusted clock frequency, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver is configured to operate in a low-power mode, a moderate-power mode, and a high-power mode.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the high-power mode during the generation of the navigation solution.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the moderate-power mode during the acquisition of the ephemeris data.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, while operating in the low-power mode, the navigation satellite system receiver is configured to power off a component related to the acquisition of the ephemeris data.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transitioning from the low-power mode to the moderate-power mode to acquire the ephemeris data.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver operates at a same clock frequency while operating in the low-power mode and the moderate-power mode.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the component related to the acquisition of the ephemeris data includes a satellite signal front-end unit.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting of the clock frequency comprises increasing the clock frequency at which the navigation satellite system receiver operates following the acquisition of the ephemeris data.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the clock frequency is a first clock frequency while the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the high-power mode, and is a second clock frequency while the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the low-power mode and the moderate-power mode.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first clock frequency is greater than the second clock frequency.

11. A navigation satellite system receiver comprising:

a satellite signal front-end unit configured to acquire ephemeris data; and

a processor configured to;

generate a navigation solution for the navigation satellite system receiver based on the acquired ephemeris data, and

adjust a clock frequency at which the navigation satellite system receiver operates based on an operational mode of the navigation satellite system receiver, wherein the operational mode of the navigation satellite system receiver is selected from a low-power mode, a moderate-power mode, and a high-power mode.

12. The navigation satellite system receiver according to claim 11, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the high-power mode during the generation of the navigation solution.

13. The navigation satellite system receiver according to claim 11, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the moderate-power mode during the acquisition of the ephemeris data.

14. The navigation satellite system receiver according to claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to power off the satellite signal front-end unit during the low-power mode.

15. The navigation satellite system receiver according to claim 11, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver operates at a same clock frequency while operating in the low-power mode and the moderate-power mode, and operates at a different clock frequency while operating at the high-power mode, wherein the different clock frequency is greater than the same clock frequency.

16. The navigation satellite system receiver according to claim 11, further comprising:

a user display to display the navigation solution, wherein the user display is powered off during the low-power mode and the moderate-power mode.

17. A method for satellite communication utilizing a navigation satellite system receiver, the method comprising:

transitioning from a low-power mode to a moderate-power mode;

acquiring ephemeris data following the transition to the moderate-power mode;

transitioning to a high-power mode;

generating a navigation solution for the navigation satellite system receiver utilizing the acquired ephemeris data following the transition to the high-power mode; and

adjusting a clock frequency at which the navigation satellite system receiver operates during the transition to the high-power mode.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the clock frequency is a first clock frequency while the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the high-power mode and is a second clock frequency while the navigation satellite system receiver operates in the low-power mode and the moderate-power mode, and wherein the first clock frequency is greater than the second clock frequency.

19. A navigation satellite system receiver, comprising:

a satellite signal front-end unit configured to acquire ephemeris data, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver is configured to transition from operating in a low-power operational mode to an intermediate-power operational mode, and to operate in the intermediate-power operational mode during the acquisition of the ephemeris data; and

a processor configured to generate a navigation solution based on the acquired ephemeris data, wherein the navigation satellite system receiver is configured to operate in a high-power operational mode during the generation of the navigation solution.

20. The navigation satellite system receiver according to claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to adjust a clock frequency at which the navigation satellite system receiver operates based on the operational mode of the navigation satellite system receiver.