Low-energy consumption location of movable objects

A system for locating a movable object, the system comprising:

• a mobile station configured to be associated with the movable object, the mobile station comprising:
• a radio frequency (RF) mobile communication system configured to operate an RF link having an RF link frequency in an RF band that is not licensed for cellular communications;
• a mobile global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver;
• and
• a dead reckoning system including a non-GNSS sensor, the dead reckoning system configured to use measurements from the non-GNSS sensor to provide an estimated position for the mobile station;
• and
• a base station located at a fixed position, the base station comprising:
• a base RF communication system configured to bidirectionally communicate with the mobile communication system over the RF link;
• a base GNSS receiver;
• and
• a hardware processor,
• wherein the base station is configured to:
• receive, from the mobile station over the RF link, the estimated position of the mobile station determined by the dead reckoning system:
• determine satellite acquisition information that includes a set of GNSS satellites predicted to be viewable at the estimated position of the mobile station and GNSS code phases associated with each GNSS satellite in the set, the set of GNSS satellites including at least a minimum number of GNSS satellites;
• communicate, to the mobile station over the RF link, the satellite acquisition information;
• receive, from the mobile station over the RF link, chip transition time information associated with the set of GNSS satellites;
• determine, based at least in part on the chip transition time information, an updated position for the mobile station;
• and
• communicate, to the mobile station over the RF link, the updated position, and
• wherein the mobile station is configured to:
• communicate, to the base station over the RF link, the estimated position of the mobile station determined by the dead reckoning system;
• receive, from the base station over the RF link, the satellite acquisition information;
• acquire GNSS signals from at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set of GNSS satellites;
• determine, from the acquired GNSS signals, the chip transition time information associated with the GNSS code phases for the at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set;
• and
• communicate, to the base station over the RF link, the chip transition time information.