Ultra-wideband geographic location system and method

• US 20040002346A1
• Filed: 06/27/2003
• Published: 01/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Holding 73 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Holding 73 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Santhoff, John
• Application Number:
  US10/609,522
• Publication Number:
  US 20040002346A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/878 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/006 for emergency situations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0045 Transmission from base station to mobile station G01S5/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0289 of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/1027 assessing signal quality or detecting noise/interference for the received signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7163 using impulse radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7174 Pulse generation in general H04L25/03834
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7176 Data mapping, e.g. modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/309 Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1816 with retransmission of the same, encoded, message
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1829 Arrangements specially adapted for the receiver end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/203 Details of error rate determination, e.g. BER, FER or WER
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• 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 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A system, method and article of manufacture are provided for reporting a location of a wireless device. In one embodiment, an emergency signal is transmitted from the wireless device. The emergency signal is received by at least two access points. The two access points transmit at least two ultra-wideband signals in response, the ultra-wideband signals containing information about the geographic locations of the access points. The geographic location of the wireless device is determined using the geographic locations of the access points. The geographic location of the wireless device is then transmitted. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of reporting the geographic location of a wireless communications device, the method comprising steps of:

emitting an emergency signal from the wireless communication device;

receiving the emergency signal at at least two access points, and transmitting at least two ultra-wideband signals in response, the ultra-wideband signals containing information about the geographic locations of the access points;

determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the access points; and

transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency signal or the ultra-wideband signal comprise a plurality of ultra-wideband pulses, the ultra-wideband pulses having a duration ranging between about 0.1 nanosecond and about 1.0 millisecond.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the access points are communication devices selected from a group consisting of:

a fixed location ultra-wideband communication system, a fixed location narrowband communication system, a CDMA cellular telephone communication system, a GSM cellular telephone communication system, a mobile device employing ultra-wideband technology, a portable telephone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer, and a laptop computer.

4. The method of claim 1, further including the step of:

increasing a transmission power of the ultra-wideband signals until the wireless communication device receives the ultra-wideband signals.

5. The method of claim 1, further including the step of:

determining the location of the wireless communication device by using terrain data and the geographic locations of the access points.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the terrain data is comprised of data selected from a group consisting of:

topographical data, highway location data, surface road location data, expressway location data, toll-road location data, lake location data, mountain location data, coastline location data, and man-made structure location data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the access points is performed by the wireless communication device or by at least one of the access points.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device is performed by the wireless communication device or by at least one of the access points.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency signal comprises a 911 signal.

10. The method of claim 1, further including the step of transmitting a 911 signal with the transmission of the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

11. The method of claim 1, further including the step of transmitting the geographic locations of the access points with a 911 signal if the geographic location of the wireless communication device cannot be determined.

12. A system for reporting the geographic location of a wireless communications device, comprising:

logic for emitting an emergency signal from the wireless communication device;

logic for receiving the emergency signal at at least two access points, and transmitting at least two ultra-wideband signals in response, the ultra-wideband signals containing information about the geographic locations of the access points;

logic for determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the access points; and

logic for transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

13. A method of reporting the geographic location of a wireless communications device, the method comprising steps of:

emitting an emergency signal from the wireless communication device;

receiving the emergency signal at an access point;

transmitting an ultra-wideband signal from the access point to at least two ultra-wideband devices, requesting the ultra-wideband devices transmit their geographic locations;

receiving the geographic locations of the ultra-wideband devices at the wireless communication device;

determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the ultra-wideband devices; and

transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the emergency signal comprises a 911 signal.

15. The method of claim 13 further including the step of transmitting a 911 signal with the transmission of the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least two ultra-wideband devices and the wireless communication device are selected from a group consisting of:

a mobile device employing ultra-wideband technology, a portable telephone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer, and a laptop computer.

17. The method of claim 13, further including the step of:

increasing a transmission power of the ultra-wideband signals from the ultra-wideband devices transmitting their geographic locations until the wireless communication device receives the ultra-wideband signals.

18. The method of claim 13, further including the step of:

determining the location of the wireless communication device by using terrain data and the geographic locations of the ultra-wideband devices.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the terrain data is comprised of data selected from a group consisting of:

topographical data, highway location data, surface road location data, expressway location data, toll-road location data, lake location data, mountain location data, coastline location data, and man-made structure location data.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of determining the geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the ultra-wideband devices is performed by the wireless communication device or by at least one of the ultra-wideband devices.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device is performed by the wireless communication device or by at least one of the ultra-wideband devices.

22. The method of claim 13, further including the step of:

stopping the transmission of the geographic locations of the ultra-wideband devices once the geographic location of the wireless communication device is determined.

23. A method of reporting the geographic location of a wireless communications device, the method comprising steps of:

means for emitting an emergency signal from the wireless communication device;

means for receiving the emergency signal at an access point;

means for transmitting an ultra-wideband signal from the access point to at least two ultra-wideband devices, requesting the ultra-wideband devices transmit their geographic locations;

means for receiving the geographic locations of the ultra-wideband devices at the wireless communication device;

means for determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the ultra-wideband devices; and

means for transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

24. A method of reporting the geographic location of a wireless communications device, the method comprising steps of:

periodically transmitting a geographic location signal from at least two access points;

emitting an emergency signal from the wireless communication device;

determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the access points; and

transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the emergency signal or the geographic location signal comprise a plurality of ultra-wideband pulses, the ultra-wideband pulses having a duration ranging between about 0.1 nanosecond and about 1.0 millisecond.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the access points are communication devices selected from a group consisting of:

a fixed location ultra-wideband communication system, a fixed location narrowband communication system, a CDMA cellular telephone communication system, a GSM cellular telephone communication system, a mobile device employing ultra-wideband technology, a portable telephone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer, and a laptop computer.

27. The method of claim 24, further including the step of:

determining the location of the wireless communication device by using terrain data and the geographic locations of the access points.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the terrain data is comprised of data selected from a group consisting of:

topographical data, highway location data, surface road location data, expressway location data, toll-road location data, lake location data, mountain location data, coastline location data, and man-made structure location data.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of determining the geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the access points is performed by the wireless communication device or by at least one of the access points.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein the emergency signal comprises a 911 signal.

31. The method of claim 24, further including the step of transmitting a 911 signal with the transmission of the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

32. A method of reporting the geographic location of a wireless communications device, the method comprising steps of:

means for periodically transmitting a geographic location signal from at least two access points;

means for emitting an emergency signal from the wireless communication device;

means for determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the access points; and

means for transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

33. A method of reporting the geographic location of a wireless communications device, the method comprising steps of:

emitting an emergency signal from the wireless communication device;

receiving the emergency signal at a fixed access point;

transmitting the emergency signal to at least one other fixed access point,

transmitting the geographic location of each fixed access point;

determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device using the geographic locations of the fixed access points; and

transmitting the geographic location of the wireless communication device.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of transmitting the emergency signal to at least one other fixed access point comprises transmitting the emergency signal using a signal transmission method selected from a group consisting of:

a CDMA signal transmission method, a GSM signal transmission method, a Bluetooth signal transmission method, a WiFi signal transmission method, and a non-ultra-wideband wireless signal transmission method.