Fine time measurement improvement for access point self-positioning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12526764-B2
Application number	US-202318194196-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2023
Priority date	Mar 31, 2023
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

Fine Time Measurement (FTM) improvement for AP self-positioning may be provided. First, an Access Point (AP) graph may be generated. An AP pair may be determined for FTM AP self-positioning based on the AP graph, A plurality of Transmit (TX) signals may be sent to a paired AP of the AP pair using two more TX antennas, wherein the plurality of TX signals include FTM action frames and have a first constant Cyclic Shift Delay (CSD). A plurality of Receive (RX) signals may be received from the paired AP using two or more RX antennas, wherein the plurality of RX signals include FTM action frames and have a second constant CSD, Outlier RX signals having a low Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) may be removed from the plurality of RX signals. An AP position may be determined based on the plurality of RX signals.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
generating an Access Point (AP) graph based on a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of signals sent between APs; determining an AP pair based on the AP graph, wherein determining the AP pair based on the AP graph comprises selecting the AP pair in the AP graph that have the RSSI above a threshold; sending, to a paired AP of the AP pair, a plurality of Transmit (TX) signals using two or more TX antennas, wherein the plurality of TX signals include Fine Time Measurement (FTM) action frames and have a first constant Cyclic Shift Delay (CSD); receiving, from the paired AP, a plurality of Receive (RX) signals using two or more RX antennas, wherein the plurality of RX signals include FTM action frames and have a second constant CSD; removing, from the plurality of RX signals, outlier RX signals having a low RSSI; and determining an AP position based on the plurality of RX signals.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein any one of (i) the first constant CSD, (ii) the second constant CSD, or (iii) the first constant CSD and the second constant CSD includes a phase shift of zero.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising summing all possible phase combinations of the plurality of RX signals.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprises:
exchanging, with the paired AP, any one of (i) a Request to Send (RTS), (ii) a Clear to Send (CTS), (iii) Packets Per Second (PPS), or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii); and synchronizing with the paired AP based on exchanging any one of (i) the RTS, (ii) the CTS, (iii) the PPS, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the first constant CSD by using channel sounding and evaluating Channel State Information (CSI) to determine a delay that improves reception of packets by the paired AP.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing RX signals having a low RSSI comprises:
estimating a Channel Frequency Response (CFR) correlation matrix; determining a delay profile of the plurality of RX signals; and determining peaks in the delay profile from a first received signal, wherein removing the RX signals is based on the peaks in the delay profile.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving Location Measurement Report (LMR) feedback from the paired AP; and determining any one of (i) a paired AP TX power, (ii) paired AP RSSI, (iii) Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO), (iv) phase shift feedback, or (v) any combination of (i)-(iv) using the LMR feedback, wherein generating the AP graph is based on any one of (i) the paired AP TX power, (ii) paired AP RSSI, (iii) CFO, (iv) phase shift feedback, or (v) any combination of (i)-(iv).

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
self-calibrating by extrapolating a phase delay for each channel from a pre-determined group delay collected from a radio front end and already available phase delays of lower and higher channels per band.

9 . A system comprising:
a memory storage; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to:
generate an Access Point (AP) graph based on a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of signals sent between APs;
determine an AP pair based on the AP graph, wherein the processing unit being operative to determine the AP pair based on the AP graph comprises the processing unite being operative to select the AP pair in the AP graph that have the RSSI above a threshold;
send, to a paired AP of the AP pair, a plurality of Transmit (TX) signals using two or more TX antennas, wherein the plurality of TX signals include Fine Time Measurement (FTM) action frames and have a first constant Cyclic Shift Delay (CSD);
receive, from the paired AP, a plurality of Receive (RX) signals using two or more RX antennas, wherein the plurality of RX signals include FTM action frames and have a second constant CSD;
remove, from the plurality of RX signals, outlier RX signals having a low RSSI; and
determine an AP position based on the plurality of RX signals.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein any one of (i) the first constant CSD, (ii) the second constant CSD, or (iii) the first constant CSD and the second constant CSD includes a phase shift of zero.

11 . The system of claim 9 , the processing unit being further operative to:
sum all possible phase combinations of the plurality of RX signals.

12 . The system of claim 9 , the processing unit being further operative to:
exchange, with the paired AP, any one of (i) a Request to Send (RTS), (ii) a Clear to Send (CTS), (iii) Packets Per Second (PPS), or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii); and synchronize with the paired AP based on exchanging any one of (i) the RTS, (ii) the CTS, (iii) the PPS, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).

13 . The system of claim 9 , the processing unit being further operative to:
determine the first constant CSD by using channel sounding and evaluating Channel State Information (CSI) to determine a delay that improves reception of packets by the paired AP.

14 . The system of claim 9 , the processing unit being further operative to:
estimate a Channel Frequency Response (CFR) correlation matrix; determine a delay profile of the plurality of RX signals; and determine peaks in the delay profile from a first received signal, wherein removing the RX signals is based on the peaks in the delay profile.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions which when executed perform a method executed by the set of instructions comprising:
generating an Access Point (AP) graph based on a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of signals sent between APs; determining an AP pair based on the AP graph, wherein determining the AP pair based on the AP graph comprises selecting the AP pair in the AP graph that have the RSSI above a threshold; sending, to a paired AP of the AP pair, a plurality of Transmit (TX) signals using two or more TX antennas, wherein the plurality of TX signals include Fine Time Measurement (FTM) action frames and have a first constant Cyclic Shift Delay (CSD); receiving, from the paired AP, a plurality of Receive (RX) signals using two or more RX antennas, wherein the plurality of RX signals include FTM action frames and have a second constant CSD; removing, from the plurality of RX signals, outlier RX signals having a low RSSI; and determining an AP position based on the plurality of RX signals.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , the method executed by the set of instructions further comprising:
exchanging, with the paired AP, any one of (i) a Request to Send (RTS), (ii) a Clear to Send (CTS), (iii) Packets Per Second (PPS), or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii); and synchronizing with the paired AP based on exchanging any one of (i) the RTS, (ii) the CTS, (iii) the PPS, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , the method executed by the set of instructions further comprising:
determining the first constant CSD by using channel sounding and evaluating Channel State Information (CSI) to determine a delay that improves reception of packets by the paired AP.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein removing RX signals having a low RSSI comprises:
estimating a Channel Frequency Response (CFR) correlation matrix; determining a delay profile of the plurality of RX signals; and determining peaks in t

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Kalavakuru Sivadeep Reddy
• Pierrugues Laurent Alexandre
• Henry Jerome
• Shayesteh Behrouz
• Alizadeh Ardalan

Classifications

• G01S13/765

  with exchange of information between interrogator and responder · CPC title

• H04W56/006

  using known positions of transmitter and receiver · CPC title

• G01S13/876

  Combination of several spaced transponders or reflectors of known location for determining the position of a receiver (G01S13/874 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W64/00 Primary

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