Methods and systems for measuring angle of arrival of signals transmitted between devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018299531-A1
Application number	US-201715486063-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 12, 2017
Priority date	Apr 12, 2017
Publication date	Oct 18, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Disclosed are systems, devices and methods for determining an angle of arrival (AoA) of a signal transmitted between devices. Particular implementations enable obtaining measurements of AoA from signals that are not pure tone signals. In one aspect, a reference signal may emulate one or more aspects of a packet signal as transmitted by a transmitter. An AoA of the packet signal may be determined based, at least in part, on the packet signal and the reference signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, at a receiving device, comprising:
receiving, at multiple antennas, at least a first portion of a first packet signal transmitted from a transmitter to provide a processed packet signal; obtaining a reference signal emulating one or more aspects of the first packet signal as transmitted by the transmitter based, at least in part, on a received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter; and estimating an angle of arrival of the first packet signal based, at least in part, on the processed packet signal and the reference signal.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal comprises a data sequence in a payload portion of the first packet signal.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter comprises a second packet signal comprising a payload portion comprising the data sequence.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter other than the at least a first portion of the first signal received at the multiple antennas comprises a second portion of the first packet signal received at a second receiving device.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first packet signal is transmitted in a format in accordance with Bluetooth version 4.2, December 2014.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the reference signal further comprises:
estimating a modulation index of the packet signal; estimating a frequency offset of the packet signal; and estimating a frequency drift across the packet signal.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the signal further comprises:
receiving the packet signal at a second receiver having multiple antennas and a third receiver having a single antenna; and correcting a frequency offset in a portion of the packet signal received at the third based, at least in part, on a portion of the packet signal received at the second receiver.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the angle of arrival of the first packet signal further comprises:
correlating features of the reference signal with the first portion of the first packet signal received on the multiple antennas.

9 . A receiving device, comprising:
a plurality of antennas; and a processor configured to: process at least a first portion of a first packet signal received at the plurality of antennas and transmitted from a transmitter to provide a processed packet signal; obtain a reference signal emulating one or more aspects of the first packet signal as transmitted by the transmitter based, at least in part, on a received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter; and estimate an angle of arrival of the first packet signal based, at least in part, on the processed packet signal and the reference signal.

10 . The receiving device of claim 9 , wherein the reference signal comprises a data sequence in a payload portion of the first packet signal.

11 . The receiving device of claim 10 , wherein the received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter comprises a second packet signal comprising a payload portion comprising the data sequence.

12 . The receiving device of claim 9 , wherein the received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter other than the at least a first portion of the first signal received at the multiple antennas comprises a second portion of the first packet signal received at a second receiving device.

13 . The receiving device method of claim 9 , wherein the first packet signal is transmitted in a format in accordance with Bluetooth version 4.2, December 2014.

14 . The receiving device of claim 9 , wherein the one or more aspects comprise an estimated modulation index of the packet signal, an estimated frequency offset of the packet signal or an estimated frequency drift across the packet signal, or a combination thereof.

15 . The receiving device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to correct a frequency offset in a portion of the packet signal received at a second receiver using a single antenna based, at least in part, on a portion of the packet signal received at a third receiver having multiple antennae.

16 . The receiving device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to estimate the angle of arrival of the first packet signal based, at least in part, on a correlation of features of the reference signal with the first portion of the first packet signal received on the multiple antennas.

17 . A storage medium comprising computer-readable instructions stored thereon which are executable by one or more processors at a receiving device to:
obtain at least a first portion of a first packet signal received at multiple antennas, at least a first portion of a first packet signal transmitted from a transmitter, to provide a processed packet signal; obtain a reference signal emulating one or more aspects of the first packet signal as transmitted by the transmitter based, at least in part, on a received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter; and estimate an angle of arrival of the first packet signal based, at least in part on the processed packet signal and the reference signal.

18 . The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the reference signal comprises a data sequence in a payload portion of the first packet signal.

19 . The storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter comprises a second packet signal comprising a payload portion comprising the data sequence.

20 . The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter other than the at least a first portion of the first signal received at the multiple antennas comprises a second portion of the first packet signal received at a second receiving device.

21 . The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more aspects comprise an estimated modulation index of the packet signal, an estimated frequency offset of the packet signal or an estimated frequency drift across the packet signal, or a combination thereof.

22 . The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to correct a frequency offset in a portion of the packet signal received at a second receiver using a single antenna based, at least in part, on a portion of the packet signal received at a third receiver having multiple antennae.

23 . The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to estimate the angle of arrival of the first packet signal based, at least in part, on a correlation of features of the reference signal with the first portion of the first packet signal received on the multiple antennas.

24 . A receiving device, comprising:
means for receiving, at multiple antennas, at least a first portion of a first packet signal transmitted from a transmitter to provide a processed packet signal; means for obtaining a reference signal emulating one or more aspects of the first packet signal as transmitted by the transmitter based, at least in part, on a received wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter; and means for estimating an angle of arrival of the first packet signal based, at least in part, on the processed packet signal and the reference signal.

25 . The receiving device

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Hiscock Paul
• Kesireddy Sandeep
• Scagnol Mauro

Classifications

• G01S3/043

  Receivers · CPC title

• G01S3/48 Primary

  the waves arriving at the antennas being continuous or intermittent and the phase difference of signals derived therefrom being measured · CPC title

• G01S3/465

  the waves arriving at the aerials being frequency modulated and the frequency difference of signals therefrom being measured · CPC title

• G01S5/0236

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

• G01S5/10 Primary

  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