Method, apparatus and system for GPS time synchronization using cellular signal bursts

Abstract

A system, apparatus and corresponding method by which to synchronize to a time reference a main module of a device—a main module such as global positioning system (GPS) receiver—using a cellular communication signal received by a cellular module also included in the device. To synchronize the main module to the reference time, the invention provides a method including the steps of: having the cellular module respond to the cellular communication signal by providing to a clock module of the main module a trigger pulse derived from the data component of the cellular communication signal, and also by providing to the main module information relating the trigger pulse to a universal time. The main module is then able to resolve a value for time based on the information relating the trigger pulse to a universal time and the trigger pulse.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.