Wireless network hybrid positioning
First Claim
1. A method of determining a position of a mobile station, the method comprising:
- receiving with a mobile station wireless signals from a first base station in a first wireless network, wherein the first wireless network operates with a first communication protocol;
receiving with the mobile station wireless signals from a second base station in a second wireless network, wherein the second wireless network operates with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol;
determining a first identity of the first base station from the wireless signals from the first base station in the first wireless network;
determining a second identity of the second base station from the wireless signals from the second base station in the second wireless network;
determining which of the two networks through which to communicate with a location server having access to a base station almanac based upon a connection status;
transmitting the first and second base station identities to the location server via the determined network;
receiving, from the location server, corresponding positions of the first and second base stations; and
determining the position of the mobile station based on the received positions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for position determination and other operations. In one embodiment of the present invention, a mobile station uses wireless signals from a plurality of wireless networks (e.g., with different air interfaces and/or operated by different service providers) for position determination (e.g., for data communication, for obtaining time and/or frequency information, for range measurement, for sector or altitude estimation). In one embodiment of the present invention, mobile stations are used to harvest statistical data about wireless access points (e.g., the locations of mobile stations that have received signals from the wireless access points, such as from cellular base stations, wireless local area network access points, repeaters for positioning signals or other wireless communication transmitters) and to derive location information (e.g., position and coverage area of the wireless access points) for the wireless networks from the collected statistical data.
157 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of determining a position of a mobile station, the method comprising:
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receiving with a mobile station wireless signals from a first base station in a first wireless network, wherein the first wireless network operates with a first communication protocol; receiving with the mobile station wireless signals from a second base station in a second wireless network, wherein the second wireless network operates with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol; determining a first identity of the first base station from the wireless signals from the first base station in the first wireless network; determining a second identity of the second base station from the wireless signals from the second base station in the second wireless network; determining which of the two networks through which to communicate with a location server having access to a base station almanac based upon a connection status; transmitting the first and second base station identities to the location server via the determined network; receiving, from the location server, corresponding positions of the first and second base stations; and determining the position of the mobile station based on the received positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for determining a position of the mobile station, the mobile device comprising:
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means for receiving wireless signals from a first base station in a first wireless network, wherein the first wireless network operates with a first communication protocol; means for receiving wireless signals from a second base station in a second wireless network, wherein the second wireless network operates with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol; means for determining a first identity of the first base station from the wireless signals from the first base station in the first wireless network; means for determining a second identity of the second base station from the wireless signals from the second base station in the second wireless network; means for determining which of the two networks through which to communicate with a location server having access to a base station almanac based upon a connection status; means for transmitting the first and second base station identities to the location server via the determined network; means for receiving, from the location server, corresponding positions of the first and second base stations; and means for determining the position of the mobile station based on the received positions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A mobile device comprising a processor and a memory wherein the memory includes software instructions configured to cause the mobile device to:
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receive wireless signals from a first base station in a first wireless network, wherein the first wireless network operates with a first communication protocol; receive wireless signals from a second base station in a second wireless network, wherein the second wireless network operates with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol; determine a first identity of the first base station from the wireless signals from the first base station in the first wireless network; determine a second identity of the second base station from the wireless signals from the second base station in the second wireless network; determine which of the two networks through which to communicate with a location server having access to a base station almanac based upon a connection status; transmit the first and second base station identities to the location server via the determined network; receive, from the location server, corresponding positions of the first and second base stations; and determine the position of the mobile station based the received positions. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a method for determining a position of a mobile station having memory and a processor, said method comprising operations of:
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receiving wireless signals from a first base station in a first wireless network, wherein the first wireless network operates with a first communication protocol; receiving wireless signals from a second base station in a second wireless network, wherein the second wireless network operates with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol; determining a first identity of the first base station from the wireless signals from the first wireless network; determining a second identity of the second base station from the wireless signals from the second base station in the second wireless network; determining which of the two networks through which to communicate with a location server having access to a base station almanac based upon a connection status; transmitting the first and second base station identities to the location server via the determined network; receiving, from the location server, corresponding positions of the first and second base stations; and determining the position of the mobile station based on the received positions. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification