Locating method

• US 9,002,368 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2008
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Axel Kupper, Claudia Linnhoff-Popien, Georg Treu, Oliver Neukum
• Inventors: Treu, Georg, Neukum, Oliver, Linnhoff-Popien, Claudia, Kpper, Axel
• Primary Examiner(s): SAMS, MATTHEW C
• Application Number:
  US12/671,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20100285815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,441 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-457
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0289 of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for locating a first mobile terminal within a radio network. Said method comprises the following steps: a first locating process is carried out to determine an initial position of the first terminal; the first locating process is deactivated; a second locating process is carried out to at least approximately determine the current position of the first terminal relative to the initial position; and the first locating process is activated and carried out again to determine a new initial position of the first terminal when the current position reaches a minimum distance from the initial position. The invention also relates to a method for determining cliques of mobile terminals in a radio network encompassing a plurality of mobile terminals. Said method comprises the following steps: one or more independent numbers of terminals is determined, each couple of terminals of each of the independent numbers being located at a distance from each other that is greater than a predetermined threshold value; and at least one clique of terminals is determined, the couples of which are located at a shorter distance from each other than a predetermined threshold value, each independent number containing a maximum of one terminal of the clique.

Claims

1. A method for locating a first mobile terminal within a radio network, comprising:

a first locating process is carried out to determine an initial position of the first terminal;

the first locating process is deactivated;

a second locating process is carried out to at least approximately determine the current position of the first terminal relative to the initial position; and

the first locating process is activated and carried out again to determine a new initial position of the first terminal when the current position reaches a minimum distance from the initial position, wherein the second locating process determines the current position by determining an indicator (eCBS), which depends on the number of joint base stations from which the first terminal receives signals in consecutive passes and/or on quality features of the radio signals, which are received from base stations by the terminal, wherein the indicator (eCBS) is determined using the following formula;

2. A method for locating a first mobile terminal within a radio network, comprising:

a first locating process is carried out to determine an initial position of the first terminal;

the first locating process is deactivated;

a second locating process is carried out to at least approximately determine the current position of the first terminal relative to the initial position; and

the first locating process is activated and carried out again to determine a new initial position of the first terminal when the current position reaches a minimum distance from the initial position, wherein the current position and/or the distance from the initial position are derived from the indicator (eCBS) by means of a hyperbolic tangent.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

storing a plurality of values of a map function comprising the hyberbolic tangent at the first mobile terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the values of the map function are independent of hardware parameters of the first mobile terminal.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of values of the map function are specific to a region, a radio network topography, or a network operator.