Distribution and utilization of antenna information for location determination operations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016255471-A1
Application number	US-201514836426-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 26, 2015
Priority date	Feb 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, devices, systems, apparatus, servers, computer-/processor-readable media, and other implementations, including a method, performed at a first processor-based wireless device, that includes obtaining by the first wireless device a communication comprising antenna information for one or more antennas of a second wireless device, determining at the first wireless device signal strength values for signals transmitted from the second wireless device, and performing location determination operations based on the determined signal strength values for the signals transmitted from the second wireless device, and on the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the second wireless device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising, at a first processor-based wireless device:
obtaining by the first wireless device a communication comprising antenna information for one or more antennas of a second wireless device; determining at the first wireless device signal strength values for signals transmitted from the second wireless device; and performing location determination operations based on the determined signal strength values for the signals transmitted from the second wireless device, and on the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the second wireless device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the second wireless device comprises one or more of: antenna type information, antenna gain pattern, antenna orientation, antenna identification, antenna model data, antenna diversity, beam control data, maximum gain for the antennas, transmission power, or any combination thereof.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the communication comprising the antenna information comprises:
receiving a broadcast message, comprising the antenna information, from the second wireless device.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein receiving the broadcast message comprises:
receiving a beacon frame configured according to an IEEE 802.11 protocol, the beacon frame including an information element with the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the second wireless device.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the communication comprising the antenna information comprises:
transmitting from the first wireless device to the second wireless device a request message comprising information indicating a request for the antenna information of the second wireless device; and receiving by the first wireless device, responsive to the request message received at the second wireless device, a reply message from the second wireless device with the requested antenna information for the second wireless device.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the request message comprises a fine timing measurement request (FTMR) message, and wherein the reply message comprises a fine timing measurement (FTM) message.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the request message transmitted from the first wireless device to the second wireless device comprises a first wireless device antenna information for at least one antenna of the first wireless device.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein receiving the reply message from the second wireless device comprises:
receiving the reply message transmitted by the second wireless device in response to a determination, at the second wireless device, that the request message comprises the first wireless device antenna information.

9 . A wireless device comprising:
at least one transceiver to communicate with one or more remote devices; memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; the wireless device configured to:
obtain a communication comprising antenna information for one or more antennas of another wireless device;
determine at the wireless device signal strength values for signals transmitted from the other wireless device; and
perform location determination operations based on the determined signal strength values for the signals transmitted from the other wireless device, and on the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the other wireless device.

10 . The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the second wireless device comprises one or more of: antenna type information, antenna gain pattern, antenna orientation, antenna identification, antenna model data, antenna diversity, beam control data, maximum gain for the antennas, transmission power, or any combination thereof.

11 . The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the wireless device configured to obtain the communication comprising the antenna information is configured to:
receive a broadcast message, comprising the antenna information, from the other wireless device, the broadcast message comprising a beacon frame configured according to an IEEE 802.11 protocol, with the beacon frame including an information element with the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the other wireless device.

12 . The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the wireless device configured to obtain the communication comprising the antenna information is configured to:
transmit from the wireless device to the other wireless device a request message comprising information indicating a request for the antenna information of the other wireless device; and receive by the wireless device, responsive to the request message received at the other wireless device, a reply message from the other wireless device with the requested antenna information for the other wireless device.

13 . The wireless device of claim 12 , wherein the request message comprises a fine timing measurement request (FTMR) message, and wherein the reply message comprises a fine timing measurement (FTM) message.

14 . The wireless device of claim 12 , wherein the request message transmitted from the wireless device to the other wireless device comprises wireless device antenna information for at least one antenna of the wireless device.

15 . A wireless device comprising:
means for obtaining by the wireless device a communication comprising antenna information for one or more antennas of another wireless device; means for determining at the wireless device signal strength values for signals transmitted from the other wireless device; and means for performing location determination operations based on the determined signal strength values for the signals transmitted from the other wireless device, and on the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the other wireless device.

16 . The wireless device of claim 15 , wherein the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the other wireless device comprises one or more of: antenna type information, antenna gain pattern, antenna orientation, antenna identification, antenna model data, antenna diversity, beam control data, maximum gain for the antennas, transmission power, or any combination thereof.

17 . The wireless device of claim 15 , wherein the means for obtaining the communication comprising the antenna information comprises:
means for receiving a broadcast message, comprising the antenna information, from the other wireless device, the broadcast message comprising a beacon frame configured according to an IEEE 802.11 protocol, with the beacon frame including an information element with the antenna information for the one or more antennas of the other wireless device.

18 . The wireless device of claim 15 , wherein the means for obtaining the communication comprising the antenna information comprises:
means for transmitting from the wireless device to the other wireless device a request message comprising information indicating a request for the antenna information of the other wireless device; and means for receiving by the wireless device, responsive to the request message received at the second wireless device, a reply message from the other wireless device with the requested antenna information for the other wireless device.

19 . The wireless device of claim 18 , wherein the request message comprises a fine timing measurement request (FTMR) message, and wherein the reply message compr

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Marri Sridhar Subash
• Venkatraman Sai Pradeep
• Das Saumitra Mohan
• Aldana Carlos Horacio

Classifications

• H04W56/006

  using known positions of transmitter and receiver · CPC title

• H04W4/023 Primary

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

• H04W8/24

  Transfer of terminal data · CPC title

• H04W64/00 Primary

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

• H04B17/318

  Received signal strength · CPC title