POLLED TIME-OF-FLIGHT RESPONSE

• US 20150234034A1
• Filed: 04/30/2015
• Published: 08/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Ben-Haim, Shani, Amizur, Yuval, Segev, Jonathan
• Granted Patent: US 9,618,603 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/767 Responders; Transponders teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying using reflecting targets or active targets F41G3/26
• 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: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0033 Correction by delay
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Embodiments of a communication station and method for time-of-flight (ToF) location determination in a wireless network are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a responding communication station receives a ToF measurement request. The responding communication station transmits an acknowledgment of the ToF measurement request. The responding communication station also transmits a response to the ToF measurement request that includes an indication of a time period for an initiating communication station to poll the responding communication station for a ToF result.

Claims

1. An apparatus including circuitry to cause an initiating station to:

transmit a time of flight (ToF) measurement request to a responding station, the ToF measurement request comprising a measurement request bit indicating a request to perform a ToF measurement;

receive an acknowledgment (ACK) from the responding station; and

receive a response after reception of the ACK, the response including a status field to indicate if the request to perform the ToF measurement is accepted or not accepted.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is to cause the initiating station to:

receive ToF measurements from the responding station, the ToF measurements being in a time of arrival (ToA) field and time of departure (ToD) field; and

determine a location of the initiating station based on the ToF measurements.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is to cause the initiating station to:

receive a ToF measurement from the responding station, the ToF measurement including a first time of departure (ToD) measurement, denoted t3, and a first time of arrival (ToA) measurement, denoted t2; and

capture at the initiating station a second ToD, denoted t1, and a second ToA, denoted t4.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the circuitry is to cause the initiating station to process a round trip time, which is based on a calculation of (t4−

t1)−

(t3−

t2).

5. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising a mobile wireless communicator.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising a mobile wireless communicator having a touch screen display.

7. An apparatus including circuitry to cause a responding station to:

receive a time of flight (ToF) measurement request from an initiating station, the ToF measurement request comprising a measurement request bit indicating a request to perform a ToF measurement;

transmit an acknowledgment to the initiating station; and

transmit a response after transmission of the acknowledgment, the response including a status field to indicate if the request to perform the ToF measurement is accepted or not accepted.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the circuitry is to cause the responding station to:

transmit to the initiating station ToF measurements in a time of arrival (ToA) field and a time of departure (ToD) field.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the circuitry is to cause the responding station to transmit a ToF measurement including a time of departure (ToD) measurement, and a time of arrival (ToA) measurement, the ToA measurement being a measurement of a time of arrival of an acknowledgment from the initiating station.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 comprising an access point.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 comprising one or more antennas.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a responding station to perform operations to configure the responding station to:

process a time of flight (ToF) measurement request received from an initiating station, the ToF measurement request comprising a measurement request bit indicating a request to perform a ToF measurement;

transmit, to the initiating station, an acknowledgment (ACK); and

transmit a response after transmission of the ACK, the response including a status field to indicate if the request to perform the ToF measurement is accepted or not accepted.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed, are to cause the responding station to:

transmit ToF measurements to the initiating station, the ToF measurements being in a time of arrival (ToA) field and time of departure (ToD) field.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed, are to cause the responding station to transmit a first ToF measurement including a time of departure (ToD) measurement and a time of arrival (ToA) measurement, the ToA measurement being a measurement of a time of arrival of an ACK from the initiating station.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry of an initiating station to perform operations to cause the initiating station to:

transmit, to a responding station, a time of flight (ToF) measurement request, the ToF measurement request comprising a measurement request bit indicating a request to perform a ToF measurement;

receive, from the responding station, an acknowledgement (ACK); and

receive a response after reception of the ACK, the response including a status field to indicate if the request to perform the ToF measurement is accepted or not accepted.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, are to cause the initiating station to:

receive ToF measurements from the responding station, the ToF measurements being in a time of arrival (ToA) field and time of departure (ToD) field; and

determine a location of the initiating station based on ToF measurements.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, are to cause the initiating station to:

process a ToF measurement frame received from the responding station, the ToF measurement frame including a first time of departure (ToD) measurement, denoted t3, and a first time of arrival (ToA) measurement, denoted t2; and

capture at the initiating station a second ToD, denoted t1, and a second ToA, denoted t4.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, are to cause the initiating station to process a round trip time, which is based on a calculation of (t4−

t1)−

(t3−

t2).