Positioning in the presence of passive distributed elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9279879-B2
Application number	US-82211210-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2010
Priority date	Jun 26, 2009
Publication date	Mar 8, 2016
Grant date	Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transmitting positioning reference signals (PRS) differently for passive distributed elements. PRSs for passive distributed elements can be transmitted over disparate resources than those utilized for PRSs at a related access point, using different symbol sequences, and/or the like. In this regard, wireless devices can differentiate between PRSs from access points and those from passive distributed elements, which can mitigate confusion for processes involving such RSs, such as position determining. Alternatively, passive distributed elements can refrain from transmitting PRSs, and a corresponding access point can indicate to wireless devices to only determine positioning based on PRSs. Thus, the wireless devices can utilize the PRSs transmitted from the access point (and not other reference signals transmitted from the passive distributed element) to determine a position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:
receiving, from an access point, assistance data indicating at least a first sequence of symbols of a subframe for a first positioning reference signal (PRS), a second sequence of symbols of the subframe for a second PRS, and at least one type of reference signal of a plurality of types of reference signals to be used for positioning;
receiving, from the access point, the first PRS via the first sequence of symbols;
receiving, from a passive distributed element coupled to the access point, the second PRS via the second sequence of symbols that are different from the first sequence of symbols, the second sequence of symbols being determined based at least in part on a function of an identifier of the passive distributed element that is assigned by the access point, and the second sequence of symbols being transmitted to the passive distributed element from the access point so that the passive distributed element uses the second sequence of symbols when transmitting the second PRS; and
associating the first PRS with the access point and the second PRS with the passive distributed element.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating the first PRS with the access point and the second PRS with the passive distributed element is based at least in part on the assistance data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the assistance data includes receiving a first location of the access point and a second location of the passive distributed element.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining a position based at least in part on the first location of the access point and the second location of the passive distributed element as well as the first PRS and the second PRS.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the assistance data includes receiving information for different sequences of symbols related to the first PRS and the second PRS.

6. The method of claim 1 , in which the plurality of types of reference signals comprise at least PRSs and common reference signals (CRSs).

7. The method of claim 6 , in which the assistance data indicates to not use CRSs transmitted from the passive distributed element for positioning when transmission of the second PRS is disabled.

8. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor configured to:
receive, from an access point, assistance data indicating at least a first sequence of symbols of a subframe for a first positioning reference signal (PRS), a second sequence of symbols of the subframe for a second PRS, and at least one type of reference signal of a plurality of types of reference signals to be used for positioning;
receive, from the access point, the first PRS via the first sequence of symbols;
receive, from a passive distributed element coupled to the access point, the second PRS via the second sequence of symbols that are different from the first sequence of symbols, the second sequence of symbols being determined based at least in part on a function of an identifier of the passive distributed element that is assigned by the access point, and the second sequence of symbols being transmitted to the passive distributed element from the access point so that the passive distributed element uses the second sequence of symbols when transmitting the second PRS; and
associate the first PRS as related to the access point and the second PRS as related to the passive distributed element; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

9. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to identify the first PRS as related to the access point and the second PRS as related to the passive distributed element based at least in part on the assistance data.

10. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the assistance data includes a first location of the access point and a second location of the passive distributed element.

11. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the assistance data includes information for different sequences of symbols related to the first PRS and the second PRS.

12. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 8 , in which the plurality of types of reference signals comprise at least PRSs and common reference signals (CRSs).

13. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 12 , in which the assistance data indicates to not use CRSs transmitted from the passive distributed element for positioning when transmission of the second PRS is disabled.

14. An apparatus, comprising:
means for receiving, from an access point, assistance data indicating at least a first sequence of symbols of a subframe for a first positioning reference signal (PRS), a second sequence of symbols of the subframe for a second PRS, and at least one type of reference signal of a plurality of types of reference signals to be used for positioning;
means for receiving, from the access point, the first PRS via the first sequence of symbols;
means for receiving, from a passive distributed element coupled to the access point, the second PRS via the second sequence of symbols that are different from the first sequence of symbols, the second sequence of symbols being determined based at least in part on a function of an identifier of the passive distributed element that is assigned by the access point, and the second sequence of symbols being transmitted to the passive distributed element from the access point so that the passive distributed element uses the second sequence of symbols when transmitting the second PRS; and
means for associating the first PRS with the access point and the second PRS with the passive distributed element.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the means for associating associates the first PRS with the access point based at least in part on the first sequence of symbols, and the means for associating associates the second PRS with the passive distributed element based at least in part on the second sequence of symbols.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the assistance data further comprises a first location of the access point and a second location of the passive distributed element.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , in which the plurality of types of reference signals comprise at least PRSs and common reference signals (CRSs).

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , in which the assistance data indicates to not use CRSs transmitted from the passive distributed element for positioning when transmission of the second PRS is disabled.

19. A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
code for causing at least one computer to receive, from an access point, assistance data indicating at least a first sequence of symbols of a subframe for a first positioning reference signal (PRS), a second sequence of symbols of the subframe for a second PRS, and at least one type of reference signal of a plurality of types of reference signals to be used for positioning;
code for causing the at least one computer to receive, from the access point, the first PRS via the first sequence of symbols;
code for causing the at least one computer to receive, from a passive distributed element coupled to the access point, the second PRS via the second sequence of symbols that are different from the first sequence of symbols, the second sequence of symbols being determined based at least in part on a function of an identifier of the passive distributed element that

Assignees

• Khandekar Aamod Dinkar
• Palanki Ravi
• Sampath Ashwin
• Bhushan Naga
• Bachu Raja Sekhar
• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Khandekar Aamod Dinkar
• Palanki Ravi
• Sampath Ashwin
• Bhushan Naga
• Bachu Raja Sekhar

Classifications

• G01S5/0081 Primary

  Transmission between base stations · CPC title

• G01S5/0273 Primary

  using multipath or indirect path propagation signals in position determination · CPC title

• H04B7/15

  Active relay systems · CPC title

• H04W64/003 Primary

  locating network equipment · CPC title

• G01S5/0063

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