Methods and systems for support of location for the Internet of Things

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11678291-B2
Application number	US-201715409454-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2017
Priority date	Aug 21, 2016
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

Methods and techniques are described for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) that is using Narrowband Internet of Things radio access or Cellular Internet of Things features to access a wireless network. The techniques include enabling support for a last known location of a UE, using previously obtained location measurements, when a UE is not reachable from a wireless network for positioning. The techniques also include limiting positioning protocol interaction between a UE and a location server via a reduced maximum message size, reduced message volume and longer response and retransmission timers. The techniques further include enabling a UE to obtain location measurements when not connected to a wireless network, enabling periodic and triggered location of a UE in which a UE evaluates location triggers while not connected to a wireless network, enabling use of deferred location and enabling improved location security.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
entering a connected state with a wireless network by the UE that is using Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) radio access or Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) features;
engaging in a positioning session with a location server, wherein the positioning session is a Control Plane (CP) location session or a User Plane (UP) location session, wherein engaging in the positioning session with the location server comprises transmitting an indication to the location server or to the wireless network that the UE will defer performing location measurements for the positioning session until the UE is not in the connected state;
receiving a request for the location measurements from the location server for the positioning session;
deferring performing the location measurements until the UE is not in the connected state with the wireless network;
entering an idle state wherein the UE is not connected with the wireless network;
obtaining the location measurements while in the idle state;
re-entering the connected state with the wireless network; and
providing the location measurements to the location server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein engaging in the positioning session with the location server by the UE comprises receiving a message to initiate the positioning session from the location server.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein engaging in the positioning session with the location server by the UE further comprises transmitting a message to initiate the positioning session to the wireless network or to the location server.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication comprises an indication for one or more position methods for which that the UE needs to perform the location measurements while in the idle state.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the indication is an indication for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) or a LPP Extensions (LPPe) protocol.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein deferring performing the location measurements until the UE is not in the connected state comprises waiting for a release or suspension of a signaling connection to the wireless network.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein deferring performing the location measurements until the UE is not in the connected state comprises releasing a signaling connection to the wireless network.

8. A user equipment (UE) that uses Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) radio access or Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) features, the UE comprising:
a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with a wireless network; and
at least one processor configured to enter a connected state with the wireless network with the wireless transceiver, engage in a positioning session with a location server, wherein the positioning session is a Control Plane (CP) location session or a User Plane (UP) location session, wherein the at least one processor is configured to engage in the positioning session with the location server by being configured to cause the wireless transceiver to transmit an indication to the location server or to the wireless network that the UE will defer performing location measurements for the positioning session until the UE is not in the connected state, receive with the wireless transceiver a request for the location measurements from the location server for the positioning session, defer performing the location measurements until the UE is not in the connected state with the wireless network, enter an idle state wherein the UE is not connected with the wireless network, obtain the location measurements while in the idle state, re-enter the connected state with the wireless network, and provide the location measurements to the location server.

9. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to engage in the positioning session with the location server by being configured to receive a message to initiate the positioning session from the location server.

10. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to engage in the positioning session with the location server by being configured to cause the wireless transceiver to transmit a message to the wireless network or to the location server to initiate the positioning session.

11. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the indication comprises an indication for one or more position methods for which that the UE needs to perform the location measurements while in the idle state.

12. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the indication is an indication for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) or a LPP Extensions (LPPe) protocol.

13. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to defer performing the location measurements until the UE is not in the connected state by being configured to wait for a release or suspension of a signaling connection to the wireless network.

14. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to defer performing the location measurements until the UE is not in the connected state by being configured to release a signaling connection to the wireless network.

15. A method comprising:
engaging in a positioning session with a user equipment (UE) that is using Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) radio access or Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) features to access a wireless network, wherein the positioning session is a Control Plane (CP) location session or a User Plane (UP) location session;
receiving an indication that the UE will defer performing location measurements for the positioning session until the UE is not in a connected state with the wireless network;
sending a request for the location measurements to the UE, wherein the request for the location measurements comprises an increased maximum response time that is higher than a maximum response time for another UE for which the indication was not received;
receiving the requested location measurements from the UE prior to expiration of the increased maximum response time; and
determining a location for the UE based on the received location measurements.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein engaging in the positioning session with the UE comprises sending a message to the UE to initiate the positioning session.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein engaging in the positioning session with the UE further comprises receiving a message sent by the UE or sent by an entity in the wireless network to initiate the positioning session.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the indication comprises an indication for one or more position methods for which that the UE needs to perform the location measurements while in an idle state, wherein the indication is an indication for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) or a LPP Extensions (LPPe) protocol.

19. An apparatus comprising:
an external interface configured to communicate with a wireless network; and
at least one processor configured to engage in a positioning session with a user equipment (UE) that is using Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) radio access or Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) features to access the wireless network, wherein the positioning session is a Control Plane (CP) location session or a User Plane Location (SUPL) User Plane (UP) location session, receive an indication that the UE will defer performing location measurements for the positioning session until the UE is not in a connected state with the wireless network, cause the external interf

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Edge Stephen William

Classifications

• H04W4/02 Primary

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04W76/27

  Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states · CPC title

• H04W4/023 Primary

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title