Optimized position information assisted beamforming

A global positioning system (GPS) receiver comprising:

• an antenna configured to receive GPS signals from GPS satellites;
• a radio frequency (RF) front end configured to pre-process signals received by the antenna;
• a demodulator/converter configured to perform demodulation and analog-to-digital conversion of output signals received from the RF front end;
• a clock configured to provide a consistent clock signal;
• a digital signal processor configured to receive the clock signal and make time and code measurements associated with determining a location of the GPS receiver based on the signals received by the antenna;
• and
• an optimization module in communication with the digital signal processor, the optimization module being configured to identify reflected or indirect signals originating from one or more of the GPS satellites,
• wherein the GPS receiver is configured to eliminate the reflected or indirect signals identified by the optimization module from the time and code measurements, and wherein the optimization module is configured to generate a GPS optimization map that correlates location with GPS signal quality for at least one satellite at a given time.

A method of improving global position system (GPS) position determination, the method comprising:

• determining radiation characteristics associated with an antenna pattern of an antenna configured to receive GPS signals;
• determining a current location of a GPS receiver comprising the antenna;
• performing signal selection based on the current location responsive to eliminating reflected or indirect signals;
• adjusting the antenna pattern based on the signal selection to receive a selected set of signals;
• and
• performing GPS position determination based on the selected set of signals,
• wherein performing signal selection comprises:
• performing preliminary GPS position determination using multiple combinations of satellites;
• ranking each combination by quality;
• ranking each satellite used in the multiple combinations;
• and
• blocking signals from a satellite ranked below a threshold, and
• wherein the method further comprises utilizing the ranking of each combination and/or the ranking of each satellite to generate a GPS optimization map.