Navigation and positioning system using radio beam

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11032792-B2
Application number	US-201916378824-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 9, 2019
Priority date	Apr 11, 2018
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

Methods and systems for wireless communication are provided. In one example, a method comprises: receiving, by a mobile device, a radio beam, the radio beam being a directional beam that propagates along an angle of departure with respect to an antenna that transmits the radio beam; identifying, by the mobile device, at least one of: the radio beam or a base station that operates the antenna; determining, by the mobile device, a position of the mobile device based on identifying at least one of the radio beam or the antenna of the base station; and outputting, by the mobile device, the position of the mobile device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:
receiving, by a mobile device, a radio beam, the radio beam being a directional beam that propagates along an angle of departure with respect to an antenna that transmits the radio beam, wherein the radio beam carries data of an identifier comprising a cell identifier or a beam identifier or a combination thereof;
determining, by the mobile device and based, at least in part, on the identifier, that the radio beam is a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device; and
based on determining that the radio beam is a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device:
identifying, by the mobile device and based on the identifier, at least one of: the radio beam or a base station that operates the antenna;
determining, by the mobile device, a position of the mobile device based on identifying at least one of the radio beam or the antenna of the base station; and
outputting, by the mobile device, the position of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the mobile device, information related to the angle of departure of the radio beam based on identifying the radio beam;
determining, by the mobile device and from the information, a location of the identified base station; and
determining, by the mobile device, the position of the mobile device based on the angle of departure of the identified radio beam and the location of the identified base station.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the information related to the angle of departure of the radio beam includes first mapping information that associates the radio beam with the angle of departure and second mapping information that associates the radio beam with the location of the antenna.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the radio beam is a first radio beam;
the angle of departure is a first angle of departure;
the location of the antenna is a first location of a first antenna; and
the information is a first information;
wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, by the mobile device, a second radio beam;
receiving, by the mobile device, second information related to a second angle of departure of the second radio beam; and
determining, by the mobile device from the second information, a second location of a second antenna; and
wherein the position of the mobile device is determined based on the first angle of departure, the first location, the second angle of departure, and the second location.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining, by the mobile device, a distance between the mobile device and the antenna,
wherein the position of the mobile device is determined based on the angle of departure, the location of the antenna, and the distance between the mobile device and the antenna.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving, by the mobile device and from the base station that operates the antenna, information about a timing offset to synchronize downlink and uplink subframes at the base station,
wherein the determination of the distance between the mobile device and the antenna is based on the timing offset.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving, by the mobile device from the antenna, a time of transmission of a radio frame of a synchronization signal from the antenna via the radio beam;
determining, by the mobile device, a time of reception of the radio frame of the synchronization signal at the mobile device; and
determining, by the mobile device, a time-of-flight based on the time of transmission and the time of reception,
wherein the determination of the distance between the mobile device and the antenna is based on the time-of-flight.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the synchronization signal includes at least one of: a PSS (primary synchronization signal), a SSS (secondary synchronization signal), or a TRS (Tracking Reference Signal).

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, by the mobile device to a location database, a query for one or more positions of one or more mobile devices that also receive the radio beam as a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device; and
receiving, by the mobile device from the location database and in response to the query, the one or more positions of the one or more mobile devices,
wherein the position of the mobile device is determined based on the one or more positions of the one or more mobile devices.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier includes the beam identifier that identifies the radio beam; and
wherein the radio beam is identified based on the beam identifier.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier includes the cell identifier that identifies the base station that operates the antenna; and
wherein the antenna is identified based on the cell identifier.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the radio beam is a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device based on the identifier comprises determining, based on the cell identifier, that the mobile device is physically located in a cell having the cell identifier.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the radio beam is a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device based on the identifier comprises determining that the mobile device is scheduled to receive the radio beam carrying the identifier at a time of receiving the radio beam.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the radio beam is further determined to be a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device based on a received power level of the radio beam exceeding a pre-determined threshold.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the radio beam is a first radio beam;
wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, by the mobile device, a second radio beam;
determining, by the mobile device, a first time-of-arrival of the first radio beam; and
determining, by the mobile device, a second time-of-arrival of the second radio beam; and

wherein determining whether the first radio beam is a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device comprises determining whether the first time-of-arrival is earlier than the second time-of-arrival.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the position of the mobile device comprises at least one of: outputting the position via an output interface of the mobile device, providing the position to an application operating on the mobile device, providing the position to a location database, or providing the position to the base station.

17. A mobile device comprising:
a wireless communication interface configured to receive a radio beam, the radio beam being a directional beam that propagates along an angle of departure with respect to an antenna that transmits the radio beam, wherein the radio beam carries data of an identifier comprising a cell identifier or a beam identifier or a combination thereof;
a memory; and
a processor, communicatively coupled to the wireless communication interface and the memory, configured to:
determine, based, at least in part, on the identifier, that the radio beam is a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device; and
based on determining that the radio beam is a line-of-sight beam with respect to the mobile device:
identify, based on the identifier, at least one of: the radio beam or a base station that operates the antenna;
determine a position of the mobile device based on identifying at least one of the radio beam or the antenna of the base station; an

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Opshaug Guttorm Ringstad
• Bhushan Naga
• Wu Jie
• Fischer Sven
• Edge Stephen William
• Pon Rayman

Classifications

• G01S5/0215

  Interference · CPC title

• H04W64/003 Primary

  locating network equipment · CPC title

• H04B7/0617

  for beam forming · CPC title

• G01S5/10

  Position of receiver fixed by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements {, e.g. omega or decca systems}(G01S5/12 takes precedence {; beacons and receivers cooperating therewith G01S1/306, G01S1/308}) · CPC title

• G01S5/0218

  Multipath in signal reception · CPC title