Intercepting an uplink signal to assist in timing or positioning calculations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11567164-B2
Application number	US-201616466272-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 1, 2016
Priority date	Dec 1, 2016
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for sharing assistance information relating to an uplink signal transmitted by a first User Equipment. The assistance information may be used to assist a wireless communication device to intercept the uplink signal and measure its time of arrival. The assistance information may be used to assist in the calculation of a position or time, based on the measured time of arrival.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wireless communication device, comprising:
a receiver configured to intercept an uplink signal transmitted from a User Equipment (UE) to a base station serving the UE; and
a processor configured to:
obtain assistance information related to the uplink signal;
control the receiver to intercept the uplink signal based on the assistance information;
measure a time of arrival of the uplink signal at the receiver; and
perform an operation of:
using the measured time of arrival of the uplink signal to determine a position of the UE or a local time at the UE; or
sending the measured time of arrival of the uplink signal to a remote server for the remote server to determine the position of the UE or the local time at the UE,

wherein obtaining the assistance information comprises obtaining a first portion of the assistance information from a remote supporting service or the UE, and
using the first portion of the assistance information to obtain a second portion of the assistance information from a downlink signal transmitted from the base station.

2. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the uplink signal is a first uplink signal, the UE is a first UE, the base station is a first base station, the receiver is a first receiver, and the wireless communication device is a second UE and further comprises:
a transmitter configured to transmit a second uplink signal to a second base station serving the second UE; and
a second receiver configured to receive a downlink signal from the second base station.

3. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein:
the processor is configured to obtain the assistance information from at least one of a remote supporting service or the UE, and
the assistance information comprises at least one of:
identity information of the UE;
the position of the UE;
first parameters of the uplink signal;
second parameters of the uplink signal that are specific to the UE;
third parameters of a downlink signal transmitted from the base station to the UE; and
information relevant to configuration of the UE, wherein the information is sent from the base station in the downlink signal.

4. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a second receiver configured to receive the downlink signal transmitted from the base station.

5. The wireless communication device of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
measure a time of arrival of the downlink signal at the second receiver; and
perform an operation of:
using the measured time of arrival of the downlink signal and the measured time of arrival of the uplink signal to compute the position of the UE or the local time at the UE; or
sending the measured time of arrival of the downlink signal and the measured time of arrival of the uplink signal to the remote server for the remote server to compute the position of the UE or the local time at the UE.

6. The wireless communication device of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain the second portion of the assistance information by decoding the downlink signal received from the base station.

7. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control the receiver to intercept the uplink signal in response to an instruction received from a source external to the wireless communication device.

8. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device is configured to send a request to the UE or to a remote supporting service, to cause the UE to transmit the uplink signal to the base station.

9. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
obtain, after the uplink signal is intercepted, timing information including a time of transmission of the uplink signal by the UE; and
perform an operation of:
using the obtained timing information to compute the position of the UE or the local time at the UE; or
sending the obtained timing information to the remote server for the remote server to compute the position of the UE or the local time at the UE.

10. The wireless communication device of claim 2 , wherein:
the first receiver and the second receiver are provided by a common receiver, and
the processor is configured to control the common receiver to disconnect from the downlink signal before intercepting the uplink signal.

11. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver configured to send GNSS positioning data to the remote server.

12. A server, comprising:
a memory;
a network interface configured to:
receive, from one or more wireless communication devices, times of arrival of uplink signals at the one or more wireless communication devices, wherein the uplink signals are transmitted from one or more UEs to respective one or more serving base stations and intercepted by the one or more wireless communication devices; and
receive assistance information related to the uplink signals; and

a processor configured to:
use the times of arrival of uplink signals and the assistance information to determine at least one of:
positions of the one or more UEs or positions of the one or more wireless communication devices; or
local times at the one or more UEs or local times at the one or more wireless communication devices,

wherein the assistance information received by the server comprises a first portion of the assistance information from a remote supporting service or the one or more UEs, and a second portion of the assistance information from one or more downlink signals transmitted from the one or more serving base stations.

13. The server of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to obtain times of transmission of the uplink signals from reports sent by the one or more UEs.

14. A method for determining a position or a time, the method comprising:
obtaining assistance information related to an uplink signal to be transmitted from a UE to a base station serving the UE;
intercepting the uplink signal at one or more wireless communication devices based on the assistance information;
measuring times of arrival of the uplink signal at the one or more wireless communication devices; and
storing the measured times of arrival for computing at least one of: a position of the UE, positions of the one or more wireless communication devices, a local time at the UE, or local times at the one or more wireless communication devices,
wherein obtaining the assistance information comprises obtaining a first portion of the assistance information from a remote supporting service or the UE, and
using the first portion of the assistance information to obtain a second portion of the assistance information from a downlink signal transmitted from the base station.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors of an apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:
obtaining assistance information related to an uplink signal to be transmitted from a UE to a base station serving the UE;
intercepting the uplink signal based on the assistance information;
measuring times of arrival of the uplink signal at the apparatus; and
storing the measured times of arrival for computing at least one of: a position of the UE, a position of the apparatus, a local time at the UE, or a local time at the apparatus,
wherein obtaining the assistance information comprises obtaining a first portion of the assistance

Assignees

• Ublox Ag

Inventors

• Marshall Christopher
• Herczog Pascal
• Vujadinovic Dusko

Classifications

• G01S5/145

  Using a supplementary range measurement, e.g. based on pseudo-range measurements · CPC title

• G01S5/0236 Primary

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

• G01S5/0036

  of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station · CPC title

• H04W64/003

  locating network equipment · CPC title

• G01S5/0018

  Transmission from mobile station to base station · CPC title