Location of terminals in a communications network

Abstract

A method (400, 500) of identifying nodes in a communications network is disclosed, the nodes being for use in locating wireless terminals within the network based upon reports from the wireless terminals of transmissions received from the nodes. The method (400, 500) comprises prioritizing combinations of nodes in which at least three nodes are located around a reference node in a configuration satisfying similarity criteria to an idealized star configuration, wherein an idealized star configuration comprises three nodes evenly angularly distributed around, and at the same distance from, a reference node. Also disclosed is a method (100, 200) for locating a plurality of wireless terminals in a communications network, the network comprising a plurality of network nodes at known locations, wherein the nodes emit wireless transmissions in an unsynchronized manner, such that a time difference exists between the emission time of corresponding transmissions from different nodes. The method comprises receiving reports from a plurality of wireless terminals of transmissions received from the network nodes (110, 210), selecting a subset of network nodes (120, 220) and identifying a plurality of reports reporting transmissions from all of the nodes of the subset (130, 230). The method further comprises simultaneously determining the locations of the wireless terminals generating the identified reports and the time differences between emission times of transmissions from the nodes of the subset (140, 240). Also disclosed are a computer program product for carrying out the above methods and a network element (300, 700, 800) configured to carry out the above methods.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.