Geographic redundancy determination for time based location information in a wireless radio network

• US 8,897,805 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2012
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chen, Jie, Fix, Jeremy, Meredith, Sheldon Kent
• Primary Examiner(s): RAMPURIA, SHARAD K
• Application Number:
  US13/525,065
• Publication Number:
  US 20130337829A1
• Time in Patent Office: 893 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-457, 4554221-425, 455 6711- 6716, 455/562.1, 455/63.1
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02525 Gathering the radio frequency fingerprints
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/005 compensating for timing error by adjustment in the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Determining levels of geographic redundancy among radios of a wireless radio network is described. The level of geographic redundancy for a radio can affect the determination of location information for a user equipment (UE) on the wireless radio network. The disclosed subject matter can be employed in conjunction with timed fingerprint location (TFL) technologies to facilitate selection of radios employed in determining time values for TFL location determination. Levels of geographic redundancy can be employed to rank or order radios of a wireless radio network so as to reduce the likelihood of using geographically redundant radios in location determination. Further, rules can be selected to adjust threshold values and equations employed in determining the levels of geographic redundancy. Moreover, rules can be selected to apply boundary conditions to reduce the number of determinations formed for a set of radios of the wireless radio network.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one memory that stores executable instructions; and

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

receiving geographic information relating to a set of radios of a wireless network, the set of radios comprising a first radio;

determining a level of geographic redundancy for the first radio of the wireless network based on the geographic information; and

determining a rank value based on the level of geographic redundancy, wherein the rank value facilitates selection of a second radio, of the set of radios, to facilitate a determination of timed fingerprint location information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the level comprises determining the level of geographic redundancy according to a binary determination.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the level comprises determining the level of geographic redundancy as a function of at least three levels of geographic redundancy.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory further stores radio information comprising the geographic information, wherein the geographic information includes respective identifications and respective geographic locations of the first radio and at least two other radios of the set of radios.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise updating the radio information based on the level of geographic redundancy.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise determining a set of timed fingerprint location information related to the set of radios.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the level comprises determining the level of geometric redundancy based on at least one rule.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein a rule of the at least one rule relates to a boundary condition to facilitate a reduction in a quantity of determinations of levels of geometric redundancy for the set of radios.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein a rule of the at least one rule relates to a threshold value associated with a distance between radios of the set of radios.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein a rule of the at least one rule relates to at least one equation for the determining of the level of geographic redundancy.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one equation for the determining of the level of geographic redundancy represents a two-part determination, wherein a first part of the two-part determination relates to a longest distance and a second longest distance between three radios of the set of radios, and a second part of the two-part determination relates to a shortest distance between the three radios of the set of radios.

12. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system including at least one processor, geographic information relating to a set of radios, of a wireless network, the set of radios comprising a first radio;

determining, by the system, a level of geographic redundancy for the first radio of the wireless network based on the geographic information; and

determining, by the system, a rank value based on the level of geographic redundancy, wherein the rank value facilitates selection of a second radio, of the set of radios, to facilitate determining timed fingerprint location information.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving respective identifications and respective geographic locations of the first radio and at least two other radios of the set of radios.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

updating, by the system, stored radio information based on the level of geographic redundancy.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

selecting, by the system, the second radio of the set of radios based on the level of geographic redundancy.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining, by the system, location information based on information related to the second radio.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining the location information includes determining the timed fingerprint location information related to the second radio.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system including a processor to perform operations, comprising:

receiving predetermined information relating to levels of geographic redundancy for a set of radios of a wireless network;

determining location information based on information relating to a radio of the set of radios that is selected based, at least in part, on the predetermined information; and

determining a rank value based on a level of geographic redundancy of the levels of geographic redundancy, wherein the rank value facilitates selection of the radio, of the set of radios, to facilitate a determination of timed fingerprint location information.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the determining the location information includes determining timed the fingerprint location information related to the radio.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise determining the level of geographic redundancy as a function of at least three levels of geographic redundancy.