Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100141523 | SATELLITE POSITIONING SYSTEM SIGNAL SEARCHING METHODS AND APPARATUSES - Methods and apparatuses are provided which may be enabled within and/or for use with a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver and/or other like apparatuses or device(s) to perform a rapid search startup process. | 06-10-2010 |
20100203899 | Method And Apparatus For Improving Radio Location Accuracy With Measurements - A method and apparatus to utilize a set of measurements (either partial or compete) to improve the accuracy of an initial position estimate for a wireless terminal. The initial position estimate for the terminal is first obtained (e.g., based on a cell-ID or an enhanced cell-ID solution). Measurements are obtained for the terminal. The initial position estimate is then updated with the measurements to obtain a revised position estimate for the terminal. The updating may be performed by (1) deriving a measurement vector based on the initial position estimate and the measurements, (2) forming an observation matrix for the measurements, (3) determining a matrix of weights, (4) deriving a correction vector based on the measurement vector, the observation matrix, and the weight matrix, and (5) updating the initial position estimate with the correction vector. | 08-12-2010 |
20110063165 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR AFFECTING APPLICATION OF A FILTERING MODEL USING CARRIER PHASE - Methods and apparatuses are provided that may be implemented various electronic devices to affect application of a filtering model used for obtaining a navigation solution. In particular, signal characteristics of one or more received signals are used for selecting application of a particular filtering model from a plurality of filtering models. | 03-17-2011 |
20110084878 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR SELECTIVELY VALIDATING SATELLITE POSITIONING SYSTEM MEASUREMENT INFORMATION - Methods and apparatuses are provided that may be implemented in various electronic devices to identify suspect measurements for use in a position/velocity/time estimation filter and provide corresponding validated measurements that may be either operatively re-weighted in some manner or operatively one-sided isolated in some manner when subsequently considered by the position/velocity/time estimation filter. | 04-14-2011 |
20110105149 | SELECTING A POSITION FIX TO DETERMINE THE LOCATION OF A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE - Different types of position fixes may be used to determine the location of a mobile station in a wireless communication system. The position fixes include terrestrial, or network, based techniques, and non-network based techniques, such as satellite, based techniques. An apparatus and method are presented by which different position fixes may be selected, based on the performance of a particular position fix in a particular mobile remote unit. | 05-05-2011 |
20110279317 | HIGH SENSITIVITY SATELLITE POSITIONING SYSTEM RECEIVER - An attenuated satellite positioning system (SPS) signal is acquired using long integration over multiple navigation data bits. To produce a stable internal clock signal to perform the long integration, an external clock signal is received from a highly stable source, such as a wireless communication base station or a nearby femtocell. An internal oscillator is driven at a desired frequency that is aligned with the scaled frequency of the external clock signal to produce the stable internal clock signal. The SPS signal is received and integrated for an extended period using the internal clock signal. Predicted SPS data may be received from an external source and used to perform coherent integration. Alternatively, non-coherent integration may be performed. Additionally, a motion sensor may be used to determine if there is motion relative to the external clock source or to compensate for Doppler errors in the external clock signal due to motion. | 11-17-2011 |
20110298658 | Position Determination Using Measurements From Past And Present Epochs - The subject matter disclosed herein relates to positioning systems and location determination using measurement stitching. | 12-08-2011 |
20110307173 | USE OF INERTIAL SENSOR DATA TO IMPROVE MOBILE STATION POSITIONING - An implementation of a system and method for using inertial sensor data to improve mobile station positioning is provided. Many mobile devices include an inertial sensor. These inertia measurements typically produce low resolution inertial measurements, which may be used to generate an uncertainty value and/or to select a positioning filter model. In some embodiments, this uncertainty value is used as a process noise input signal into a Kalman filter or similar filter. In some embodiments, one position estimate is selected from multiple navigation position filter models operate concurrently, each computing a separate position estimate. In these embodiments, a position estimate is selected based on either the uncertainty value or based on another characteristic of the inertia measurements. | 12-15-2011 |
20120040689 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO OBTAIN SIGNAL ACQUISITION ASSISTANCE DATA - Signal acquisition assistance data is obtained for receiving devices such as wireless position assisted location devices seeking signals from any source, such as satellite vehicles and base stations. The data may be obtained from previously acquired data, based upon evaluation of changes in parameters such as time and location that may jeopardize validity. In some cases the data may be adjusted for the changes in parameters. Refined data may be calculated by a receiver using partial measurements of signal sets, particularly if the acquisition assistance data provided by a remote entity includes more distinct parameters than have typically been provided. New data need not be obtained until the validity of previous data expires due to limitations upon temporal extrapolation using Doppler coefficients, unless mobile station movement that cannot be compensated is detected, and jeopardizes validity of the previous data. | 02-16-2012 |
20120115509 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING RADIO LOCATION ACCURACY WITH MEASUREMENTS - A method and apparatus to utilize a set of measurements (either partial or compete) to improve the accuracy of an initial position estimate for a wireless terminal. The initial position estimate for the terminal is first obtained (e.g., based on a cell-ID or an enhanced cell-ID solution). Measurements are obtained for the terminal. The initial position estimate is then updated with the measurements to obtain a revised position estimate for the terminal. The updating may be performed by (1) deriving a measurement vector based on the initial position estimate and the measurements, (2) forming an observation matrix for the measurements, (3) determining a matrix of weights, (4) deriving a correction vector based on the measurement vector, the observation matrix, and the weight matrix, and (5) updating the initial position estimate with the correction vector. | 05-10-2012 |
20120182182 | RECOVERY FROM POSITION AND TIME OUTLIERS IN POSITIONING - A mobile device may use one or more outlier detectors to detect likelihoods that an outlier condition exists for a satellite positioning system (SPS) position fix. In some implementations, an outlier detector may compare a computed position fix to an element of assistance data to generate an outlier likelihood. A decision to perform a recovery operation may be made based, at least in part, on a generated outlier likelihood. In some implementations, a computed reliability of the position fix may also be considered in making a recovery decision. | 07-19-2012 |
20120220294 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO OBTAIN SIGNAL ACQUISITION ASSISTANCE DATA - Signal acquisition assistance data is obtained for receiving devices such as wireless position assisted location devices seeking signals from any source, such as satellite vehicles and base stations. The data may be obtained from previously acquired data, based upon evaluation of changes in parameters such as time and location that may jeopardize validity. In some cases the data may be adjusted for the changes in parameters. Refined data may be calculated by a receiver using partial measurements of signal sets, particularly if the acquisition assistance data provided by a remote entity includes more distinct parameters than have typically been provided. New data need not be obtained until the validity of previous data expires due to limitations upon temporal extrapolation using Doppler coefficients, unless mobile station movement that cannot be compensated is detected, and jeopardizes validity of the previous data. | 08-30-2012 |
20130328726 | OSCILLATING MOBILE DEVICE POSITION DETERMINATION - A method in a mobile device includes: receiving location signals at the mobile device; measuring sensor data at the mobile device; determining an oscillation rate of the mobile device from the sensor data; in response to the oscillation rate of the mobile device being undesirable, at least one of: (1) determining a desired sampling rate based on the oscillation rate, the desired sampling rate being different from the oscillation rate; and sampling the location signals at the mobile device at the desired sampling rate; (2) sampling the location signals at the mobile device at a randomized sampling rate; (3) disabling a power improvement technique; (4) increasing filtering of determined course information; (5) reducing a nominal filter bandwidth; or (6) increasing a present sampling rate of the location signals to satisfy Nyquist criteria for the oscillation rate; and determining the position associated with the mobile device using the location signals. | 12-12-2013 |
20140052401 | DEVICE DRIVEN INERTIAL INTERFERENCE COMPENSATION - Techniques for compensating for inertial and/or magnetic interference in a mobile device are provided. The mobile device can include a vibration motor to vibrate the device, a processor, and can include an inertial sensor and/or a magnetometer. The processor can be configured to actuate the vibration motor to induce vibration of the mobile device, to measure motion of the mobile device with the inertial sensor of the device to produce sensor output data and/or to measure a magnetic field generated by the vibration motor to produce magnetometer output data, and to compensate for the vibration of the inertial sensor induced by the vibration motor to produce compensated sensor output data and/or to compensate for a magnetic field generated by the vibration motor when the vibration motor is actuated to produce compensated magnetometer output data. | 02-20-2014 |
20140163870 | DETERMINATION OF POSITION, VELOCITY AND/OR HEADING BY SIMULTANEOUS USE OF ON-DEVICE AND ON-VEHICLE INFORMATION - Systems, apparatus and methods to supplement, combine, replace, verify and calibrate in-vehicle and in-device sensors and GNSS systems are presented. A mobile device and a vehicle navigation system share sensor and GNSS information to arrive at an improved navigation solution. For example, a navigation solution computed by a vehicle may rely on a sensor signal from a mobile device. Similarly, a navigation solution computed by a mobile device may use a sensor signal or a GNSS signal from a vehicle. | 06-12-2014 |
20140240173 | HIGH SENSITIVITY SATELLITE POSITIONING SYSTEM RECEIVER - An attenuated satellite positioning system (SPS) signal is acquired using long integration over multiple navigation data bits. To produce a stable internal clock signal to perform the long integration, an external clock signal is received from a highly stable source, such as a wireless communication base station or a nearby femtocell. An internal oscillator is driven at a desired frequency that is aligned with the scaled frequency of the external clock signal to produce the stable internal clock signal. The SPS signal is received and integrated for an extended period using the internal clock signal. Predicted SPS data may be received from an external source and used to perform coherent integration. Alternatively, non-coherent integration may be performed. Additionally, a motion sensor may be used to determine if there is motion relative to the external clock source or to compensate for Doppler errors in the external clock signal due to motion. | 08-28-2014 |
20140286213 | MOBILE DEVICE POWER MANAGEMENT WHILE PROVIDING LOCATION SERVICES - The disclosure is related to managing power consumption of a user equipment (UE) while providing location services. An aspect determines whether a given sensor configuration of a plurality of sensor configurations minimizes power consumption of the UE, wherein a sensor configuration comprises a set of values for a set of one or more sensor parameters controllable by the UE, and, based upon the determining, sets the set of one or more sensor parameters to the given sensor configuration. | 09-25-2014 |
20140288820 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR LOCATION-TRIGGERED SENSOR INITIALIZATION - Methods, apparatuses, and devices for generating one or more harsh or diminished radiofrequency environments relative to a planned route of a mobile device user. In one example, a mobile device user a be routed through a harsh or diminished radiofrequency environment based, at least in part, on a sensor suite of a mobile device and/or based on a user's preferences. Prior to entry into such an environment, various sensors may be activated in a manner that permits position estimation in an absence of SPS based positioning signals and/or TPS based positioning signals. | 09-25-2014 |
20140288822 | CONTROLLING POSITION UNCERTAINTY IN A MOBILE DEVICE - Systems and methods for constraining growth in position uncertainty of a mobile device are based on determination that the mobile device is in a pedestrian mode. Determination of the pedestrian mode is based on detection of steps by a pedometer, speed of motion of the mobile device, turn rate determination by a gyroscope, charging condition of the mobile device, availability of satellite signals, etc. Step counts and/or turn rate information are used to ascertain the distance that a pedestrian user may have traversed from a last known position, based on which growth of position uncertainty is controlled. | 09-25-2014 |
20140288828 | ESTIMATING AN INITIAL POSITION AND NAVIGATION STATE USING VEHICLE ODOMETRY - The disclosure relates to estimating an initial position and navigation state associated with a vehicle using odometry and/or other data obtained from the vehicle to support dead reckoning at start-up. In particular, a last known position and last known heading at a first odometer value associated with the vehicle may be stored and compared to a current odometer value after linking a mobile device with the vehicle. The last known position and last known heading may be used to estimate the initial position and navigation state associated with the vehicle based on a difference between the compared odometer values. For example, the estimated initial position and/or navigation state may substantially correspond to the last known position and last known heading if the difference between the odometer values indicates no change, or a non-zero difference may define a radius to limit an estimated error associated with the initial position estimate. | 09-25-2014 |
20150018009 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS NETWORK HYBRID POSITIONING - Methods and apparatuses for position determination and other operations. In one embodiment of the present invention, a mobile station uses wireless signals from a plurality of wireless networks (e.g., with different air interfaces and/or operated by different service providers) for position determination (e.g., for data communication, for obtaining time and/or frequency information, for range measurement, for sector or altitude estimation). In one embodiment of the present invention, mobile stations are used to harvest statistical data about wireless access points (e.g., the locations of mobile stations that have received signals from the wireless access points, such as from cellular base stations, wireless local area network access points, repeaters for positioning signals, or other wireless communication transmitters) and to derive location information (e.g., position and coverage area of the wireless access points) for the wireless networks from the collected statistical data. | 01-15-2015 |
20150057018 | WIRELESS NETWORK HYBRID POSITIONING - Methods and apparatuses for position determination and other operations. In one embodiment of the present invention, a mobile station uses wireless signals from a plurality of wireless networks (e.g., with different air interfaces and/or operated by different service providers) for position determination (e.g., for data communication, for obtaining time and/or frequency information, for range measurement, for sector or altitude estimation). In one embodiment of the present invention, mobile stations are used to harvest statistical data about wireless access points (e.g., the locations of mobile stations that have received signals from the wireless access points, such as from cellular base stations, wireless local area network access points, repeaters for positioning signals or other wireless communication transmitters) and to derive location information (e.g., position and coverage area of the wireless access points) for the wireless networks from the collected statistical data. | 02-26-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090131076 | Method and Apparatus for Location Determination in a Wireless Assisted Hybrid Positioning System - Methods and apparatuses for location determination in wireless assisted positioning systems. In one aspect of the disclosed method and apparatus, a method to determine a position of a mobile device in a positioning system includes: computing a second estimated position of a mobile device using a first assumed geometric relationship for a location of the mobile device in relation to a navigational transmitter (e.g., a basestation, a pseudolite, or a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) satellite). The first geometric relationship is linearly independent from the altitude of the mobile device (e.g., obtained from an altitude aiding) and a second geometric relationship based on range information (e.g., a range from the mobile device to the navigational transmitter, a pseudorange, an arrival time, or a round trip time) measured with respect to the navigational transmitter. In another embodiment of the disclosed method and apparatus, the method to determine a position of a mobile device in a positioning system includes: determining an estimated clock bias from a strength indicator of a signal transmitted from a navigational transmitter to the mobile device. | 05-21-2009 |
20090195448 | Position Computation in a Positioning System Using Synchronization Time Bias - In general, this disclosure is directed to techniques for computing a positioning solution for a mobile unit based on signals received from the satellite navigation system and the wireless communication system. The techniques allow for, and resolve, a synchronization bias that constrains a system time for the satellite navigation system and a system time for the wireless communication system relative to each other. The mobile unit may utilize the defined constraint to compute a position solution in environments where additional independent measurements would otherwise be required. The mobile unit may incorporate Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) functionality to validate the position and time solutions derived from each of received signals. According to the techniques described herein, the mobile unit may be able to utilize the defined synchronization bias to apply RAIM or similar techniques in environments where such techniques would otherwise be indeterminate. | 08-06-2009 |
20090210156 | EFFICIENT USE OF EXPECTED USER ALTITUDE DATA TO AID IN DETERMINING A POSITION OF A MOBILE STATION - A method and apparatus for using a predetermined portion of terrain elevation maps in a database for aiding in computing a three-dimensional position of a wireless station. Instead of using the entire terrain model of the earth or an entire country, the database consists of an incomplete model, which includes only the most populous areas or specific regions. This reduces the size of the information in the database, which in turn reduces the amount of time to compute the positions of the wireless device. | 08-20-2009 |
20090322605 | Methods And Apparatuses For Use With Mode-Switchable Navigation Radio - Methods and apparatuses are provided for use with mode switchable navigation radios and the like. The methods and apparatuses may be implemented to selectively switch between certain operating modes based, at least in part, a mode-switching test that takes into consideration one or more non-timed test conditions to determine if mode-switching may be enabled. | 12-31-2009 |
20100117897 | METHOD FOR POSITION DETERMINATION WITH MEASUREMENT STITCHING - A mobile communications device uses a method for determining position that involves a positioning filter, such as a Kalman filter, which is initialized with measurements from reference stations such as satellite vehicles and/or base stations which may be acquired during different epochs. Accordingly, the positioning filter may be used for position estimation without the need to first acquire at least three different signals during the same measurement epoch. | 05-13-2010 |
20130027248 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR USE WITH MODE-SWITCHABLE NAVIGATION - Methods and apparatuses are provided for use with mode switchable navigation radios and the like. The methods and apparatuses may be implemented to selectively switch between certain operating modes based, at least in part, a mode-switching test that takes into consideration one or more non-timed test conditions to determine if mode-switching may be enabled. | 01-31-2013 |