Processor generating control signals including detection duration for satellite positioning system ranging signal detection circuit

A method of detecting position signals in a mobile station comprising the steps of:

• generating control signals in a general-purpose processor for to carry out signal detection and to carry out at least one other function not associated with the signal detection;
• in response to the control signals from the general-purpose processor, detecting with a detection circuit ranging signals from a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) in accordance with a signal detection algorithm, said signal detection algorithm having associated therewith a duration indicative of a duration of time for conducting detection of said ranging signals;
• and
• changing said duration based on a predetermined search rate constraint and at least one of a user interactivity rate, channel fading, or clock drift,
• wherein generating the control signals is based in part on the duration.

A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which, when executed by at least one of a general-purpose processor or a detection circuit cause the detection circuit to detect position signals, the instructions comprising:

• instructions to generate control signals in a general-purpose processor to carry out signal detection;
• instructions to carry out at least one other function not associated with the signal detection in the general-purpose processor;
• instructions to detect ranging signals from a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) in accordance with at least one signal detection algorithm in response to the control signals from the general-purpose processor, said signal detection algorithm having associated therewith a duration indicative of a duration of time for conducting detection of said ranging signals;
• and
• instructions to change said duration based on a predetermined search rate constraint and at least one of a user interactivity rate, channel fading, or clock drift, and
• wherein the instructions to generate the control signals are based in part on the duration.

A circuit to detect position signals in a mobile station, said circuit comprising:

• means for generating control signals for carrying out signal detection and for carrying out at least one other function not associated with the signal detection;
• means for detecting ranging signals from a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) in accordance with a signal detection algorithm, in response to the control signals of the general-purpose processor, said signal detection algorithm having associated therewith a duration indicative of a duration of time for conducting detection of said ranging signals;
• and
• means for changing the duration based on a predetermined search rate constraint and at least one of a user interactivity rate, channel fading, or clock drift, and wherein the means for generating the control signals generates the control signals based in part on the duration.

A circuit to detect position signals in a mobile station comprising:

• a general-purpose processor configured to generate control signals to carry out signal detection and to carry out at least one other function not associated with the signal detection;
• and
• a detection circuit configured to respond to the control signals generated by said general-purpose processor to detect ranging signals from a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) in accordance with a signal detection algorithm, said signal detection algorithm having associated therewith a duration indicative of a duration of time for conducting detection of said ranging signals,
• a memory coupled to the general purpose processor and the detection circuit;
• and
• wherein at least one of said general-purpose processor or said detection circuit is configured to change the duration of the at least one signal detection algorithm based at least on a predetermined search rate constraint, and determine an availability of the general-purpose processor during execution of the signal detection algorithm, and
• wherein the general purpose processor generates the control signals based in part on the search duration, and the detection circuit selectively stores output data from the signal detection algorithm to the memory based on the availability of the general-purpose processor.