Automation of maintenance and improvement of location service parameters in a data base of a wireless mobile communication system

• US 20030125044A1
• Filed: 03/07/2002
• Published: 07/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Smith, Scott, Biacs, Zoltan, Wilson, Bruce, Patel, Sunil, Moeglein, Mark, Rick, Roland, Deloach, James D. Jr., Riley, Wyatt, Vayanos, Alkinoos H., Girerd, Richard John, Marshall, Grant
• Granted Patent: US 7,383,049 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/466 by Trilateration, i.e. two antennas or two sensors determine separately the distance to a target, whereby with the knowledge of the baseline length, i.e. the distance between the antennas or sensors, the position data of the target is determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0205 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0268 by deriving positions from different combinations of signals or of estimated positions in a single positioning system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0273 using multipath or indirect path propagation signals in position determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

In a wireless telecommunication network, hybrid (GPS and AFLT) mobile stations provide redundant position information, which is used for time base calibration and/or correction of position measurements. Every mobile station (i.e., handset or cellular phone) can be used as a test instrument, and data from regular wireless phone calls can be supplemented by data from drive-around field test units. The time base and/or position offsets are stored in a base station almanac data base along with other information used for obtaining the most reliable position fixes under a variety of conditions. An automatic system is provided for creating, updating, and maintaining the base station almanac data base. The automatic system not only characterizes the performance of the wireless network but also characterizes the performance of the position determination system. The automatic system provides performance feedback to system operators and customers.

Claims

1. A method for use in a wireless communication network, the method including:

maintaining forward link calibration and associated uncertainty; and

using the forward link calibration and associated uncertainty to improve the accuracy of terrestrial range measurements and obtain more accurate determination of the position of at least one mobile station within the wireless communication network.

2. The method of claim 1, which further includes providing a system operator with cellular coverage maps.

3. The method of claim 1, which includes maintaining and using round trip delay calibration and associated uncertainty, to improve the accuracy of mobile station positioning.

4. The method of claim 1, where the mobile stations include hybrid mobile stations having satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers for obtaining location data from a satellite positioning system.

5. The method of claim 1, which further includes maintaining a terrain elevation data base.

6. The method of claim 5, which further includes using the terrain elevation data base to maintain and improve a base station almanac.

7. The method of claim 1, which further includes operating a graphical user interface to advise a system operator of repairs to inaccurate or incomplete data.

8. The method of claim 7, which further includes providing the system operator with cellular coverage maps.

9. The method of claim 1, which further includes automatically adjusting a base station almanac.

10. The method of claim 9, which further includes notifying a system operator of the automatic adjustments to the base station almanac.

11. The method of claim 1, which further includes creating a base station almanac data base by automatically assembling the base station almanac data base from existing, known data and default forward link calibration values, and automatically maintaining the base station almanac data base by iteratively gathering location fix data from the position determining entity and updating the base station almanac data base with the location fix data from the position determining entity.

12. The method of claim 1, which includes automatically resolving incorrect sector identity.

13. The method of claim 1, which includes automatically spotting the presence of repeaters.

14. The method of claim 1, which includes automatically spotting new or moved sectors.

15. The method of claim 1, which includes automatically updating a maximum antenna range for each base station.

16. The method of claim 1, which includes automatically updating a sector center location for each base station sector.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the sector center is updated to be an average location of the mobile stations within the base station sector antenna coverage area.

18. The method of claim 1, which includes automatically tracking long term location determination system trends by correlating location determination performance to particular areas or regions and particular cellular infrastructure.

19. A wireless communication network comprising:

(a) base stations for communication with mobile stations;

(b) at least one position determining entity for determining positions of the mobile stations based on signals transmitted between the base stations and the mobile stations, and information stored in a base station almanac data base; and

(c) a base station almanac data base server for maintaining accurate forward link calibration and an associated uncertainty, in order to improve accuracy of terrestrial range measurements and obtain more accurate determination of positions of the mobile stations.

20. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server stores a primary copy of the base station almanac data base, and the position determining entity stores a local copy of the base station almanac data base.

21. The wireless communication network of claim 20, wherein the position determining entity provides position fix measurement information to the base station almanac data base server as position fixes occur, and the base station almanac data base server periodically updates the local copy of the base station almanac data base.

22. The wireless communication network of claim 19 which includes more than one position determining entity and more than one base station almanac data base server, wherein each position determining entity is serviced by more than one base station almanac data base server in order to provide redundancy.

23. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server maintains a data base of performance tracking information about performance of the position determining entity.

24. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server maintains round trip delay calibration and associated uncertainty.

25. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server maintains a terrain elevation data base.

26. The wireless communication network of claim 25, wherein the base station almanac data base server uses the terrain elevation data base to maintain and improve a base station almanac.

27. The wireless communication network of claim 19, which further comprises a graphical user interface to the base station almanac data base server, the graphical user interface permitting the base station almanac data base server to advise a system operator of possible presence of incomplete or inaccurate data in the base station almanac data base and to advise of repairs to the inaccurate or incomplete data.

28. The wireless communication network of claim 27, wherein the base station almanac data base server provides the system operator with cellular coverage maps.

29. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for creating the base station almanac data base by assembling the base station almanac data base from existing, known data and default forward link calibration values, and for maintaining the base station almanac data base by iteratively gathering location fix data from the position determining entity and updating the base station almanac data base with the location fix data from the position determining entity.

30. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base has field groups include cell sector identity information, pilot sector name, antenna position, cell sector centroid position, antenna orientation, antenna opening, maximum antenna range, terrain average height, round trip delay calibration, forward link calibration, potential repeater information, PN increment, and uncertainty parameters.

31. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for resolving incorrect sector identity based on an estimate of position of at least one of the mobile stations.

32. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for spotting the presence of repeaters based on an estimate of position of at least one of the mobile stations.

33. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for spotting new or moved sectors based on an estimate of position of at least one of the mobile stations.

34. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for updating a maximum antenna range for each base station.

35. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for updating a cell sector center location for each base station.

36. The wireless communication network of claim 35, wherein the sector center is updated to be an average location of the mobile stations within the base station sector antenna coverage area.

37. The wireless communication network of claim 19, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for tracking long term location determination system trends by correlating location determination performance to particular areas or regions, and particular cellular infrastructure.

44. The wireless communication network of claim 36, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for updating a cell sector center location for each base station.

45. The wireless communication network of claim 44, wherein the sector center is updated to be an average location of the mobile stations within the base station sector antenna coverage area.

38. A wireless communication network comprising:

base stations for communication with mobile stations;

at least one position determining entity for determining positions of the mobile stations based on signals transmitted between the base stations and the mobile stations, and information stored in a base station almanac data base; and

a base station almanac data base server for maintaining accurate forward link calibration and an associated uncertainty, in order to improve accuracy of terrestrial range measurements and obtain more accurate determination of positions of the mobile stations;

wherein the base station almanac data base server provides a system operator with cellular coverage maps.

39. A wireless communication network comprising:

(a) base stations for communication with mobile stations having global positioning system (GPS) receivers,

(b) at least one position determining entity that determines the position of the mobile stations based on transmissions between the base stations and the mobile stations, and based on information stored in a base station almanac data base; and

(c) a base station almanac data base server that maintains the base station almanac data base and tracks long term location determination system trends by correlating location determination performance to particular areas or regions and particular cellular infrastructure.

40. The wireless communication network of claim 39, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for resolving incorrect sector identity.

41. The wireless communication network of claim 39, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for spotting the presence of repeaters.

42. The wireless communication network of claim 39, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for spotting new or moved sectors.

43. The wireless communication network of claim 39, wherein the base station almanac data base server is programmed for updating a maximum antenna range for each base station.