Almanac maintenance for mobile station positioning

• US 9,063,222 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Marshall, Grant Alexander, Moeglein, Mark Leo
• Primary Examiner(s): McGue, Frank J
• Application Number:
  US12/789,926
• Publication Number:
  US 20110291885A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,852 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.66
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/258 relating to the satellite constellation, e.g. almanac, ephemeris data, lists of satellites in view
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/27 creating, predicting or correcting ephemeris or almanac data within the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac

Abstract

An almanac data management system at a location remote from a cell phone (20) has an almanac memory (44) for containing at least a current version of almanac data (52). A mobile device information memory (48) contains an identification of a version of almanac data held by the cell phone (20). A downloading system (56) selectively downloads at least a subset of the current version of almanac data (52) to the cell phone (20) if the current version of almanac data (52) is later than the version of almanac data held by the cell phone (20).

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

means for storing almanac data;

means for receiving information indicative of an up-to-date almanac version from a server;

means for determining whether said almanac data stored by said mobile device is up-to-date;

means for requesting up-to-date almanac data in response to a notification from a server, said notification from said server to be based, at least in part, on said server comparing changes to said almanac data with a known data subset of almanac data previously transmitted to said mobile device, said known data subset including almanac data for one or more selected base stations and excluding almanac data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming; and

means for storing said up-to-date almanac data for said one or more selected base stations in a memory.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein said means for receiving information indicative of an up-to-date almanac version from said server comprises a receiver for receiving a notification from a location server that almanac data stored in said memory is not up-to-date.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein said information indicative of an up-to-date almanac version comprises information indicative of a version identifier of said up-to-date almanac version.

4. The mobile device of claim 3 wherein said means for determining whether said almanac data stored by said mobile device is up-to-date comprises means for comparing a version identifier of said almanac data stored by said mobile device with said version identifier of said up-to-date almanac version.

5. A mobile device, comprising:

a transmitter and a receiver;

memory to store almanac data;

means for receiving a notification from a location server that said almanac data stored in said memory is not up-to-date, said notification from said location server to be based, at least in part, on said location server comparing changes to almanac data with a known data subset of almanac data with said almanac data stored in said memory, said known data subset including almanac data for one or more selected base stations and excluding almanac data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming;

means for storing information indicative of said notification;

means for requesting up-to-date almanac data in response to said notification; and

means for receiving up-to-date almanac data for said one or more selected base stations based, at least in part, on one or more base stations currently serving said mobile device.

6. The mobile device of claim 5 wherein said means for requesting up-to-date almanac data comprises means for checking whether a notification has been received.

7. The mobile device of claim 5, wherein said means for storing information indicative of said notification comprises memory coupled to a receiver to receive a notification from a location server that almanac data stored in memory is not up-to-date.

8. The mobile device of claim 5, wherein said means for receiving a notification from a location server comprises means for accessing information received from said location server by said receiver and means for processing said information received from said location server to determine if said information received from said location server includes said notification.

9. A mobile device comprising:

a transmitter and a receiver;

a memory to store almanac data;

a receiver to access a received network message that said almanac data in said memory is not up-to-date;

an validity tester to determine whether said almanac data is not current based, at least in part, on a notification received from one or more servers based, at least in part, on said one or more servers comparing changes to said almanac data with said almanac data stored in said memory; and

an requester to request up-to-date almanac data in response to said determination, said receiver being configured to receive up-to-date almanac data for one or more selected base stations, said up-to-date almanac data excluding almanac data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming.

10. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein said network message comprises a network overhead message.

16. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein said changes to said almanac data comprise an indication of removal of one or more of said one or more selected base stations.

17. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein said changes to said almanac data comprise an indication of movement of at least one base station of said one or more selected base stations to a new location.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a location server to access current base station almanac (BSA) data and an identification of a version of BSA stored by a mobile device;

said location server to determine whether said current BSA comprises a version different from said version of BSA stored by said mobile device, and, if so, to provide said current BSA for one or more selected base stations to said mobile device in response to a request from said mobile device, said one or more selected base stations based, at least in part, on one or more base stations serving said mobile device and excluding BSA data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming, said location server to provide said current BSA in response to, at least in part, said location server comparing changes to said BSA with a known data subset of BSA previously transmitted to said mobile device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said location server is configured to set a flag associated with said mobile device in response to a change in said current BSA, and to clear said flag in response to providing said current BSA for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said location server provides at least a subset of said current BSA for one or more selected base stations to said mobile device on a scheduled basis if said current BSA is later than said version of BSA stored by said mobile device.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said location server provides said current BSA for one or more selected base stations to said mobile device if said current BSA is later than said version of BSA stored by said mobile device in response to requesting almanac data by said mobile device.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said location server provides said current BSA for one or more selected base stations to said mobile device in response to detecting said mobile device in a network if said current BSA is later than said version of BSA stored by said mobile device.

18. An almanac data management system, comprising:

memory to store a current version of almanac data;

memory to store an identification of a version of almanac data stored by a mobile device; and

one or more processors to provide said current version of almanac data to said mobile device if said current version of almanac data is later than said version of almanac data stored by said mobile device in response to said mobile device requesting up-to-date almanac data, said one or more processors to provide almanac data for one or more selected base stations based, at least in part, on one or more base stations currently serving said mobile device and excluding almanac data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming, said one or more processors providing said current version at least partially in response to on one or more servers comparing changes to said almanac data with a known data subset of said almanac data provided to said mobile device.

19. The system of claim 18, said one or more processors additionally to compare said version of almanac data stored in said mobile device with said current version of almanac data in said memory.

20. The system of claim 18 further comprising memory to store version information of said almanac data.

21. The system of claim 18, said one or more processors additionally to set a flag associated with said mobile device at least partially in response to a change in said current version of almanac data, and to clear said flag in at least partially in response to providing said changed almanac data for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein said almanac data comprises base station almanac data.

23. The system of claim 18 wherein said almanac information is base station almanac data.

24. The system of claim 18 wherein said almanac information is almanac data for a satellite positioning system.

25. The system of claim 18 further comprising a comparator to compare said almanac data version stored in said mobile device with said current version of almanac data.

26. The system of claim 18 wherein said one or more processors are additionally to provide said current version of almanac data to said mobile device on a scheduled basis.

27. The system of claim 18 wherein said one or more processors are additionally to provide said current version of almanac data to said mobile device at least partially in response to said request from said mobile device for almanac data.

28. The system of claim 18 wherein said one or more processors are additionally to provide said current version of almanac data to said mobile device at least partially in response to a detection of said mobile device in a network.

29. The almanac data management system of claim 18, wherein, said changes to said almanac data comprise an indication of removal of at least one base station from a network.

30. The almanac data management system of claim 18, wherein said changes to said almanac data comprise an indication of movement one or more base stations to a new location.

31. The system of claim 18 further comprising memory to store parameters of a home system for said mobile device.

32. An almanac data management system, comprising:

means for maintaining at least a current version of almanac data;

means for assigning a version identification to one or more almanac data versions;

means for identifying a version of almanac data stored by a mobile device;

means for updating almanac data, for one or more selected base stations, stored by said mobile device if said current version of almanac data is later than said version of almanac data stored by said mobile device in response to receiving a request for an up-to-date base station almanac (BSA) from said mobile device, said almanac data being updated at least partially in response to one or more servers comparing changes to said almanac data with a known data subset of almanac data transmitted to said mobile device, said known data subset including almanac data for one or more selected base stations and excluding almanac data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming; and

means for receiving up-to-date BSA for said one or more selected base stations based, at least in part, on said one or more base stations currently serving said mobile device.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein said almanac data comprises base station almanac data.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein said almanac data comprises almanac data for a satellite positioning system.

35. The system of claim 32 wherein said means for updating comprises means for comparing said version of almanac data stored by said mobile device with said current version of almanac data.

36. The system of claim 32 wherein said means for updating comprises means for providing, from a location remote from said mobile device, said current version of almanac data, for one or more selected base stations, to said mobile device on a scheduled basis.

37. The system of claim 32 wherein said means for updating comprises means for providing from a location remote from said mobile device said current version of almanac data, for one or more selected base stations, to said mobile device in response to one or more requests from said mobile device.

38. The system of claim 32 wherein said means for updating comprises means for providing said current version of almanac data, for one or more selected base, to said mobile device in response to detection of said mobile device in a network.

39. The system of claim 32 wherein said means for maintaining at least a current version of almanac data comprises memory for a home system for said mobile device.

40. A method for managing almanac data, comprising:

assigning a version identifier to a version of almanac data;

maintaining at least a current version of almanac data and said assigned version identifier;

maintaining a version identifier of an almanac data version stored by a mobile device, said version identifier corresponding to said version identifier assigned to said version of almanac data stored by said mobile device; and

updating almanac data in said mobile device if said version identifier assigned to said current version of almanac data is later than said version identifier for said version of almanac data stored by said mobile device and if a request for up-to-date almanac data is received, wherein said almanac data is updated for one or more selected base stations based, at least in part, on one or more base stations currently serving said mobile device, and wherein said almanac data is updated, at least in part, in response to one or more servers comparing changes to said almanac data with a known data subset of said almanac data transmitted to said mobile device, said known data subset including almanac data for one or more selected base stations and excluding almanac data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming.

41. The method for managing almanac data of claim 40 wherein said almanac data comprises base station almanac data.

42. The method for managing almanac data of claim 40 wherein said almanac data comprises almanac data for a satellite positioning system.

43. The method for managing almanac data of claim 40 wherein said updating comprises comparing said version identifier for said version of almanac data stored by said mobile device with said version identifier of said current version of almanac data.

44. The method for managing almanac data of claim 40 wherein said updating comprises providing said current version of almanac data for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device on a scheduled basis.

45. The method for managing almanac data of claim 40 wherein said updating comprises providing said current version of almanac data for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device in response to said request from said mobile device for up-to-date almanac data.

46. The method for managing almanac data of claim 40 wherein said updating comprises providing said current version of almanac data for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device in response to detection of said mobile device in a network.

47. The method for managing almanac data of claim 40 wherein said method is performed at a location remote from said mobile device corresponding to a home system location for said mobile device.

48. A non-transitory medium, comprising:

instructions executable by a computer to maintain base station almanac data versions, and to assign an identifier to an almanac data version;

instructions executable by a computer to maintain said identifier of a version of almanac data stored by a mobile device, and an identifier of a current version of almanac data; and

instructions executable by a computer to update almanac data, for one or more selected base stations, in said mobile device if said identifier of said current version of almanac data is later than said identifier of said version of almanac data stored by said mobile device and if a request for an up-to-date BSA is received, wherein said one or more selected base stations correspond to one or more base stations currently serving said mobile device, and wherein said almanac data is updated, at least in part, in response comparing changes to said almanac data with a known data subset of almanac data transmitted to said mobile device, said known data subset including almanac data for one or more selected base stations and excluding almanac data for at least one unselected base station of a wireless communication system in which said mobile device is currently roaming.

49. The non-transitory medium of claim 48, further comprising instructions executable by said computer to manage at least base station almanac data.

50. The non-transitory medium of claim 48 wherein said almanac information comprises almanac data for a satellite positioning system.

51. The non-transitory medium of claim 48 further comprising instructions that are executable by said computer to compare said identifier of said version of almanac data in said mobile device with said identifier of said current version of almanac data.

52. The non-transitory medium of claim 48 wherein said instructions to update almanac data, for said one or more selected base stations, in said mobile device comprise instructions that are executable by said computer to provide said current version of almanac data for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device on a scheduled basis.

53. The non-transitory medium of claim 48 wherein said instructions to update almanac data comprise instructions to provide said current version of almanac data for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device in response to said mobile device requesting almanac data.

54. The non-transitory medium of claim 48 wherein said instructions to update almanac data comprise instructions to provide said current version of almanac data for said one or more selected base stations to said mobile device in response to detection of said mobile device in a network.