Method and system for determining position using a satellite system

• US 9,134,424 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2011
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kosolobov, Andrei, Lundgren, David Albert, Malkos, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Dao
• Application Number:
  US13/313,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20120075141A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,378 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.21, 342/357.31, 342/357.46, 342/357.62, 342/357.63, 342/357.64, 701/468, 701/469
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/12 wherein the cooperating elements are telecommunication base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system

Abstract

A GNSS enabled handset receives signals from different resources comprising GNSS satellites and/or from a wireless network. The GNSS enabled handset acquires location information comprising various positioning resource data comprising GPS data and/or WiFi data from the received signals. The GNSS enabled handset calculates a plurality of possible position fixes based on the acquired location information using various positioning approaches. A current position fix associated with the GNSS enabled handset is determined based on the plurality of calculated possible position fixes via running a location-based service (LBS) client on the GNSS enabled handset. The LBS client determines the plurality of possible position fixes using various positioning approaches in a particular or determined order. Confidence levels for each of the calculated plurality of possible positions are determined and used to refine the current position fix. The refined current position fix is used for a location-based service from a LBS application server.

Claims

1. A method of processing signals, the method comprising:

in a GNSS enabled device;

receiving location information of said GNSS enabled device from a plurality of different wireless resources;

determining a position fix for said GNSS enabled device utilizing said received location information from each of said plurality of different wireless resources, said determining being performed in a pre-determined order according to a complexity of computing each of said position fixes; and

selecting one of said computed position fixes as a current position of said GNSS enabled device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said received location information for each of said plurality of wireless resources comprises GNSS data, GNSS assistance data, LTO data, reference positions, reference time, FEMTOCELL data, wireless PAN data, WLAN data, WiMAX data and/or cellular data.

3. The method according to claim 2, comprising determining said position fix for said GNSS enabled device based on one or more of said GNSS data, said GNSS assistance data, said LTO data, said reference positions, said reference time, said FEMTOCELL data, said wireless PAN data, said WLAN data, said WiMAX data, said cellular data, and/or said user input.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said location information for one of said plurality of different wireless resources is different from said location information for another of said plurality of different wireless resources.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a confidence level for each of said determined position fixes.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising refining a current position based on one or more of said determined confidence level for each of said determined position fixes.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising refining a current position based on a previously determined position fix and/or subsequently determined position fix based on said pre-determined order.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising selecting one of said current position and said previously determined position fix to represent said refined current position.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising combining said current position and said previously determined position fix to represent said refined current position.

10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising communicating said refined current position to a location-based server.

11. A system of processing signals, the system comprising:

a memory for use in a GNSS enabled device; and

a processor and/or circuit, coupled to the memory, for use in said GNSS enabled device, said processor and/or circuit configured to;

receive location information of said GNSS enabled device from a plurality of different wireless resources;

determine a position fix for said GNSS enabled device utilizing said received location information from each of said plurality of different wireless resources in a pre-determined order according to a complexity of computing each of said position fixes; and

select one of said computed position fixes as a current position of said GNSS enabled device.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said received location information for each of said plurality of resources comprises GNSS data, GNSS assistance data, LTO data, reference positions, reference time, FEMTOCELL data, wireless PAN data, WLAN data, WiMAX data, and/or cellular data.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said one or more processors and/or circuits are configured to determine said position fix for said GNSS enabled device based on one or more of said GNSS data, said GNSS assistance data, said LTO data, said reference positions, reference time, FEMTOCELL data, wireless PAN data, WLAN data, WiMAX data, cellular data, and/or user input.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein said location information for one of said plurality of different wireless resources is different from said location information for another of said plurality of different wireless resources.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein said processor and/or circuit is further configured to determine a confidence level for each of said determined position fixes.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein said processor and/or circuit is further configured to refine a current position based on one or more of said determined confidence level for each of said determined position fixes.

17. The system according to claim 11, wherein said processor and/or circuit is further configured to refine a current position based on a previously determined position fix and/or a subsequently determined position fix based on said pre-determined order.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said processor and/or circuit is further configured to select one of said current position and said previously determined position fix to represent said refined current position.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein said processor and/or circuit is further configured to combine said current position and said previously determined position fix to represent said refined current position.

20. A system of processing signals, the system comprising:

a memory for use in a GNSS enabled device; and

a processor and/or circuit, coupled to the memory, for use in said GNSS enabled device, said processor and/or circuit being configured to;

receive location information of said GNSS enabled device from a plurality of different wireless resources;

determine a position fix for said GNSS enabled device utilizing said received location information from each of said plurality of different wireless resources in a pre-determined order according to a complexity of computing each of said position fixes;

select one of said computed position fixes as a current position of said GNSS enabled device; and

communicate said refined current position to a location-based server.

21. A method of processing signals, the method comprising:

in a GNSS enabled device;

receiving location information of said GNSS enabled device from a plurality of different wireless resources;

determining position fixes for said GNSS enabled device based on each of said plurality of different wireless resources utilizing said received location information;

determining a mean of said position fixes;

determining, based on said mean, a confidence level for each position fix for each of said plurality of different wireless resources; and

selecting a position fix with a highest confidence level as a current position of said GNSS enabled device.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein said determining based on said mean comprises determining a difference between a position fix and said mean.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein said determining based on said mean comprises normalizing said difference.