System and method for providing location information for a mobile handset

• US 9,265,023 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2013
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Copeland, Jeanette Christine-Deason, Albanes, Stalin, Cantrell, Herbert R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shen, Qun
• Application Number:
  US13/758,635
• Publication Number:
  US 20130150080A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,107 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 342/357.2, 342/423, 342/450
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Location of a mobile handset is facilitated. A system includes three or more location measurement units that each correspond to a sector of the cell site. The location measurement units transmit location related information to a computation component. The computation component receives the location related information and performs a triangulation calculation on the information to define the location of the mobile handset.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by a system comprising a processor, location related information, associated with a mobile device, and received from a location measurement device within a defined coverage area of a base station device;

determining, by the system, additional location related information, associated with the mobile device, and received from other location measurement devices within the defined coverage area of the base station device,

wherein the location measurement device and the other location measurement devices are located in and configured to measure parameters for different respective sectors of the defined coverage area, and wherein the location measurement device and the other location measurement devices are separate devices that are located at least 0.5 miles from one another within the defined coverage area; and

determining, by the system, latitude information and longitude information associated with the mobile device based on a triangulation performed as a function of the location related information received from the location measurement device and the additional location related information received from the other location measurement devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the latitude information and the longitude information comprises determining the latitude information and the longitude information associated with the mobile device based on time difference of arrival information of signals generated by the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the time difference of arrival information is represented according to an enhanced observed time difference of arrival format.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the latitude information and the longitude information comprises determining the latitude information and the longitude information associated with the mobile device based on angle of arrival information of signals generated by the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the system, that the location related information and the additional location related information relate to a signal generated by the mobile device, wherein the signal is retrieved by the location measurement device and the other location measurement devices upon commencement of a call from the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location related information comprises receiving the location related information from the location measurement device as a microwave signal.

7. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

determining location related information, associated with a mobile device, received from a location measurement device within a defined coverage area of a base station device;

determining additional location related information, associated with the mobile device, received from two other location measurement devices within the defined coverage area of the base station device;

determining a latitude coordinate and a longitude coordinate associated with the mobile device based on the location related information received from the location measurement device and the additional location related information received from the two other location measurement devices,

wherein the location measurement device and the two other location measurement devices are physically positioned within and configured to measure parameters for three respective sectors of the defined coverage area of the base station device, wherein the location measurement device and the other two location measurement devices are separate devices that are located at least 0.5 miles from one another, and wherein the determining the latitude coordinate and the longitude coordinate is via triangulation of the location related information received from the location measurement device and the additional location related information received from the two other location measurement devices.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the location related information and the additional location related information comprise time difference of arrival information of a signal generated by the mobile device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the time difference of arrival information is represented according to an enhanced observed time difference of arrival standard.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the triangulating is further based on angle of arrival information of a signal generated by the mobile device.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise determining that the location related information and the additional location related information relate to a common signal generated by the mobile device.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the location related information and the additional location related information are received in a microwave format.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the system is associated with a base station controller device in communication with the location measurement device and the two other location measurement devices.

14. The system of claim 7, wherein the location measurement device is assigned by a network device to provide communications for the mobile device while the additional location measurement devices fail to be assigned by the network device to provide communications for the mobile device.

15. The system of claim 7, wherein the location related information is generated by the location measurement device and wherein the additional location related information is generated by the two other location measurement devices in response to detection of commencement of a call from the mobile device at the location measurement device and the two other location measurement devices.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving respective location related information from respective location measurement devices located at and configured to measure variables for respective ones of three different sectors of a defined coverage area of a base station device,

wherein the respective location measurement devices are located at least 0.5 miles from one another,

wherein the respective location measurement devices are physically separate devices that are located a particular distance from one another,

wherein the respective location related information relate to timing measurements associated with a mobile device assigned to one of the respective location measurement devices, and

wherein the mobile device is located within a substantially triangular region of coverage formed by line of sight boundaries between the respective location measurement devices; and

determining latitude data and longitude data for the mobile device based on the respective location related information received from the respective location measurement devices.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the respective location related information comprise respective time difference of arrival information of signals generated by the mobile device.