Passive positioning utilizing beacon neighbor reports

• US 9,661,603 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2014
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Aldana, Carlos Horacio
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hasan, Mahmudul
• Application Number:
  US14/268,931
• Publication Number:
  US 20150063228A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• Field of Search: 370328, 370329
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0081 Transmission between base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/10 Position of receiver fixed by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements , e.g. omega or decca systemsG01S5/12 takes precedence ; beacons and receivers cooperating therewith G01S1/306, G01S1/308
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/20 between access points

Abstract

Techniques for providing neighbor reports for use in passive positioning of a client station are disclosed. An example method for broadcasting network neighbor reports according to the disclosure includes generating a beacon transmission, determining a neighbor report count value, if the neighbor report count value is greater than zero, then broadcasting the beacon transmission including at least a beacon frame and the neighbor report count value, and decrementing the neighbor report count value; if the neighbor report count value is equal to zero, then broadcasting the beacon transmission including at least a beacon frame and a neighbor report, and resetting the neighbor count value.

Claims

1. A wireless transceiver for providing network information to a broadcast area, comprising:

a memory;

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

periodically broadcast a beacon transmission with a neighbor report count value at a first interval of time, wherein the neighbor report count value indicates a number of subsequent beacon transmissions to be broadcast before a neighbor report element is provided; and

periodically broadcast the beacon transmission with the neighbor report element and an Access Point to Access Point (AP-to-AP) signaling parameter format information element at a second interval of time, wherein the neighbor report element includes one or more neighbor record elements comprising a Basic Service Set Identification (BSSID) associated with an access point, and a visitation index to indicate an order in which the wireless transceiver will send Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) packets to the respective access point, and the AP-to-AP signaling parameter format information element includes a AP-to-AP switch period to indicate a duration when the wireless transceiver will switch to a next access point in the visitation index, wherein the AP-to-AP switch period is greater than the first interval of time.

2. The wireless transceiver of claim 1 wherein the neighbor report count value is an integer value.

3. The wireless transceiver of claim 1 wherein the beacon transmission with the neighbor report count value and the beacon transmission with the neighbor report element comprise a Media Access Control (MAC) control frame format.

4. The wireless transceiver of claim 1 wherein the beacon transmission with the neighbor report element includes a latitude value and a longitude value.

5. A method for broadcasting network neighbor reports with an access point, comprising:

generating a beacon transmission;

determining a neighbor report count value, wherein the neighbor report count value indicates a number of subsequent beacon transmissions to be broadcast before a neighbor report is provided;

if the neighbor report count value is greater than zero, then broadcasting the beacon transmission including at least a beacon frame and the neighbor report count value;

decrementing the neighbor report count value;

if the neighbor report count value is equal to zero, then broadcasting the beacon transmission including at least the beacon frame an Access Point to Access Point (AP-to-AP) signaling parameter format information element and the neighbor report, wherein neighbor report includes one or more neighbor report elements comprising a Basic Service Set Identification (BS SID) associated with an access point, and a visitation index to indicate an order in which Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) packets will be sent to the respective access point and the AP-to-AP signaling parameter format information element includes a AP-to-AP switch period to indicate a duration when the wireless transceiver will switch to a next access point in the visitation index, wherein the AP-to-AP switch period is greater than a first interval of time; and

resetting the neighbor report count value.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the one or more neighbor report elements includes a latitude value, longitude value, and Z axis information.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the AP-to-AP signaling parameter element includes an AP-to-AP Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) burst timeout value.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the AP-to-AP signaling parameter element includes a Minimum Delta Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) value.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein resetting the neighbor report count value includes setting the neighbor report count value to a value between 200 and 1000.

10. The method of claim 5 wherein the beacon transmission is generated and broadcast at least every 100 milliseconds.

11. A method for determining a current position with a client station, comprising:

receiving a network beacon transmission with the client station;

determining a neighbor report count value based on the network beacon transmission, wherein the neighbor report count value indicates a number of subsequent beacon transmissions to be broadcast before neighbor information is provided;

receiving a neighbor report and an Access Point to Access Point (AP-to-AP) signaling parameter format information if the neighbor report count value equals zero, wherein the neighbor report includes one or more neighbor record elements comprising a Basic Service Set Identification (BSSID) associated with an access point, and a visitation index to indicate an order in which at least one Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) message will be transmitted to the respective access point, and the AP-to-AP signaling parameter format information element includes a AP-to-AP switch period to indicate a duration when the wireless transceiver will switch to a next access point in the visitation index, wherein the AP-to-AP switch period is greater than a first interval of time;

determining a location of an access point in the neighbor report; and

calculating the current position of the client station based at least in part on the location of the access point in the neighbor report.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising receiving at least one Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) message transmitted between two or more access points included in the one or more neighbor record elements.

13. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions for providing network information to a broadcast area with a wireless transceiver, the instructions comprising:

code for periodically broadcasting a beacon transmission with a neighbor report count value at a first interval of time, wherein the neighbor report count value indicates a number of subsequent beacon transmissions to be broadcast before a neighbor report element is provided; and

code for periodically broadcasting the beacon transmission with the neighbor report element and an Access Point to Access Point (AP-to-AP) signaling parameter format information element at a second interval of time, wherein the neighbor report element includes one or more neighbor record elements comprising a Basic Service Set Identification (BS SID) associated with an access point, and a visitation index to indicate an order in which the wireless transceiver will send Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) packets to the respective access point, and the AP-to-AP signaling parameter format information element includes a AP-to-AP switch period to indicate a duration when the wireless transceiver will switch to a next access point in the visitation index, wherein the AP-to-AP switch period is greater than the first interval of time.

14. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the beacon transmission with the neighbor report count value and the beacon transmission with the neighbor report element comprise a Media Access Control (MAC) control frame format.

15. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the beacon transmission with the neighbor report element includes a latitude value and a longitude value.