Determining the geographic location of a mobile communications device using a positioning reference signal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10324162-B2
Application number	US-201615547526-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2016
Priority date	Feb 18, 2015
Publication date	Jun 18, 2019
Grant date	Jun 18, 2019

Abstract

A communications device includes: a receiver configured to receive signals including at least one positioning reference signal transmitted in each of a plurality of time units; at least one antenna connected to the receiver; a motion detector configured to determine a relative local position of the communications device; and a controller configured to generate a measurement data set including plural measurement samples of at least a phase of the positioning reference signal according to a sampling rate, and a location of the communications device at which the phase of the positioning reference signal was determined. The controller is configured to estimate a relative angle of arrival of the received radio signals, used to determine an estimation of a location of the communications device, wherein the controller is configured to adapt at the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set in accordance with predetermined conditions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communications device configured to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the communications device comprising
a receiver configured to receive signals transmitted by an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the signals being transmitted in accordance with a wireless access interface and including at least one positioning reference signal transmitted in each of a plurality of time units,
at least one antenna configured to be connected to the receiver,
a motion detector configured to determine a relative local position of the communications device, and
a controller configured to generate a measurement data set comprising a plurality of measurement samples of at least a phase of the positioning reference signal according to a sampling rate, and a relative local position of the communications device at which the phase of the positioning reference signal was determined,
to estimate a relative angle of arrival of the received radio signals, which include the positioning reference signal, by interpreting the measurement data set as a synthetic antenna array,
to determine an estimation of a location of the communications device using the estimate angle of arrival, wherein the controller is configured to adapt at the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set in accordance with predetermined conditions,
wherein the motion detector is one of a plurality of different types each type having a relative accuracy, and the predetermined conditions includes the type of the motion detector, the measurement sampling rate being adapted in accordance with the relative accuracy of the motion detector.

2. A communications device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set is determined with respect to a number of time units of the wireless access interval per measurement sample, the positioning reference signals being transmitted at least once per time unit.

3. A communications device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the motion detector is configured to generate an estimate of a speed of the communications device, and the predetermined conditions include a speed of the communications device, the controller being configured to adapt the measurement sampling rate in accordance with a relative speed of the communications device.

4. A communications device configured to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the communications device comprising
a receiver configured to receive signals transmitted by an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the signals being transmitted in accordance with a wireless access interface and including at least one positioning reference signal transmitted in each of a plurality of time units,
at least one antenna configured to be connected to the receiver,
a motion detector figured to determine a relative local position of the communications device, and
a controller configured to generate a measurement data set comprising a plurality of measurement samples of at least a phase of the positioning reference signal according to a sampling rate, and a relative local position of the communications device at which the phase of the positioning reference signal was determined,
to estimate a relative angle of arrival of the received radio signals, which include the positioning reference signal, by interpreting the measurement data set as a synthetic antenna array,
to determine an estimation of a location of the communications device using the estimate angle of arrival, wherein the controller is configured to adapt at the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set in accordance with predetermined conditions,
wherein one or more of the predetermined conditions are reported to the infrastructure equipment and in response the controller receives an indication of the measurement sampling rate which should be used.

5. A communications device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the receiver to receive an indication of a location of the infrastructure equipment as global positioning coordinates, and to use the global positioning coordinates to identify the location of the communications device.

6. A method of estimating a location of a communications device configured to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the method comprising
receiving signals, using at least one antenna, transmitted from the infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the signals being transmitted in accordance with a wireless access interface and including at least one positioning reference signal transmitted in each of a plurality of time units,
determining a relative local position of the communications device using a motion detector,
generating a measurement data set comprising a plurality of measurement samples of at least a phase of the positioning reference signal according to a sampling rate, and a location of the communications device at which the phase of the positioning reference signal was determined,
estimating a relative angle of arrival of the received radio signals, which include the positioning reference signal, by interpreting the measurement data set as a synthetic antenna array,
determining an estimation of a location of the communications device using the estimate angle of arrival, and
adapting the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set in accordance with predetermined conditions,
wherein the motion detector is one of a plurality of different types, each type having a relative accuracy, and the predetermined conditions includes the type of the motion detector, and the adapting the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set comprises adapting the measurement sampling rate in accordance with the relative accuracy of the motion detector.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set is determined with respect to a number of time units of the wireless access interval per measurement sample, the positioning reference signals being transmitted at least once per time unit.

8. A method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the predetermined conditions include a speed of the communications device, and the method comprises
generating an estimate of a speed of the communications device, and, the adapting the rate of sampling to generate the measurement data set comprises
adapting the measurement sampling rate in accordance with a relative speed of the communications device.

9. A method of estimating a location of a communications device configured to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the method comprising
receiving signals, using at least one antenna, transmitted from the infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network, the signals being transmitted in accordance with a wireless access interface and including at least one positioning reference signal transmitted in each of a plurality of time units,
determining a relative local position of the communications device using a motion detector,
generating a measurement data set comprising a plurality of measurement samples of at least a phase of the positioning reference signal according to a sampling rate, and a location of the communications device at which the phase of the positioning reference signal was determined,
estimating a relative angle of arrival of the received radio signals, which include the positioning reference signal, by i

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Morioka Yuichi

Classifications

• G01S5/01

  Determining conditions which influence positioning, e.g. radio environment, state of motion or energy consumption · CPC title

• G01S5/0249

  Determining position using measurements made by a non-stationary device other than the device whose position is being determined · CPC title

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• G01S3/043

  Receivers · CPC title

• G01S5/0236

  Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac · CPC title