Timed fingerprint locating in wireless networks

• US 8,886,219 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2013
• Issued: 11/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Meredith, Sheldon, Austin, Mark, Fix, Jeremy, Zhao, Wenjie, Puthenpura, Sarat
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US13/927,020
• Publication Number:
  US 20130288711A1
• Time in Patent Office: 504 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 370/328
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0252 Radio frequency fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/04 Error control
• 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 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A location of user equipment (UE) in a wireless network is determined. Geometric calculations are leveraged for an overlaid bin grid framework mapping the wireless network area to store differential values for each frame of the bin grid framework for each pair of relevant NodeBs. A timing offset can be determined, such that when a time value from a target UE is accessed, the location can be quickly determined. The target UE time value can be searched for in the pre-computed differential value data set indexed by a relevant NodeB site pair to return a set of frames (forming a hyperbola between the site pair) that can be intersected with a second set of frames for a second NodeB site pair for the same UE. The intersecting frames can represent the location of the UE in the wireless network and timing in the network is correctable based on the data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system comprising a processor, a first observed time value associated with radio links between a first pair of radio devices of a wireless network and a user equipment;

receiving, by the system, a data set comprising location information correlated to a first reference differential time value related to the first pair of radio devices, and a first reference observed time value associated with the first pair of radio devices;

determining, by the system, a first differential time value based on the first observed time value; and

determining, by the system, location information from the data set based on the first differential time value wherein the location information facilitates determining a location of the user equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first reference observed time value is associated with the user equipment in the wireless network, and wherein the user equipment also employs another location determination technique to determine a location for the user equipment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first reference observed time value is associated with a global positioning system enabled user equipment in the wireless network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first observed time value is based on a first propagation time for a radio signal between a first radio device of the first pair of radio devices and the user equipment, a second propagation time for a radio signal between a second radio device of the first pair of radio devices and the user equipment, a first delay time associated with the first radio device of the first pair of radio devices, and a second delay time associated with the second radio device of the first pair of radio devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the system, other location information of the data set based on another differential time value related to another pair of radio devices of the wireless network and the user equipment; and

determining, by the system, a candidate location for the location of the user equipment based on the location information and the other location information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining the candidate location comprises comparing candidate locations comprising the location information to other candidate locations comprising the other location information to reduce a number of candidate locations based on common candidate locations of the candidate locations and the other candidate locations.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the candidate locations comprising the location information are bin grid frames and the other candidate locations comprising the other location information are bin grid frames and the determining the candidate location comprises determining a union between the bin grid frames of the location information and the bin grid frames of the other location information.

8. A system, comprising:

a memory that stores executable instructions;

a processor, coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the executable instructions to perform operations, comprising;

receiving a first observed time value associated with radio links between a first pair of radio devices of a wireless network and a user equipment;

accessing a stored data set comprising location information correlated to a first reference differential time value related to the first pair of radio devices, and a first reference observed time value associated with the first pair of radio devices;

determining a first differential time value based on the first observed time value; and

determining first location information for the user equipment based on the stored data set and the first differential time value, wherein the first location information facilitates a determination of a location of the user equipment.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first reference observed time value is associated with a location enabled user equipment in the wireless network.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the location enabled user equipment is a global positioning system enabled user equipment in the wireless network.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the first observed time value is based on a first propagation time for a radio signal between a first radio device of the first pair of radio devices and the user equipment, a second propagation time for a radio signal between a second radio device of the first pair of radio devices and the user equipment, a first delay time associated with the first radio device of the first pair of radio devices, and a second delay time associated with the second radio device of the first pair of radio devices.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining second location information of the stored data set based on a second differential time value related to another pair of radio devices of the wireless network and the user equipment; and

determining a probable location for the user equipment based on the first location information and the second location information.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the probable location is based on a comparison of probable locations comprising the first location information to other probable locations comprising the second location information to identify shared probable locations between the first location information and the second location information according to a similarity criterion.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the probable locations comprise bin grid frames and the other probable locations comprise bin grid frames, and wherein a union function of the probable locations and the other probable locations determines the shared probable locations.

15. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

receiving a first observed time value associated with radio links between a first pair of radio devices of a wireless network and a user equipment;

receiving information from a stored data set comprising location information correlated to a first reference differential time value related to the first pair of radio devices, and a first reference observed time value associated with the first pair of radio devices;

determining a first differential time value based on the first observed time value; and

determining first location information for the user equipment based on the information from the stored data set and the first differential time value, to facilitate a determination of a location of the user equipment.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first reference observed time value is associated with a location enabled user equipment in the wireless network.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the location enabled user equipment is a global positioning system enabled user equipment in the wireless network.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the first observed time value is based on a first propagation time for a radio signal between a first radio device of the first pair of radio devices and the user equipment, a second propagation time for a radio signal between a second radio device of the first pair of radio devices and the user equipment, a first delay time associated with the first radio device of the first pair of radio devices, and a second delay time associated with the second radio device of the first pair of radio devices.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

determining second location information for the user equipment based on the information from the stored data set based on a second differential time value related to another pair of radio devices of the wireless network and the user equipment; and

determining a potential location for the user equipment based on the first location information and the second location information.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the potential location is based on applying a union function to first potential locations comprising the first location information with second potential locations comprising the second location information to identify similar potential locations between the first location information and the second location information.