US 8,914,038 B2 · Method and arrangement for determining terminal position

Abstract

A method and apparatus for determining the position of mobile terminals in a cell of a mobile communication network where timing-based alignment is employed for terminal transmissions in timeslots to a serving base station. First, the distance to the base station is determined for at least one mobile terminal in the cell. A current timing value used by the at least one mobile terminal for timing adjustment of signal transmissions is also obtained. A relation between the determined timing independent distance and the obtained current timing value for each terminal is then estimated, and a timing bias of the cell or the at least one mobile terminal is determined based on the estimated relation. The position of subsequent terminals can then be determined using a timing based positioning method and the timing bias, such that the current timing value used by the subsequent terminal is adjusted by the timing bias.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A method of determining positions of mobile terminals in a cell of a mobile communication network where time alignment is employed for terminal transmissions in timeslots to a serving base station providing radio coverage in said cell, the method comprising:

determining a timing independent distance (D) to the base station for at least one mobile terminal in the cell;
obtaining a current timing value (T) used by the at least one mobile terminal for timing adjustment of uplink signal transmissions;
estimating a relation between the determined timing independent distance and the obtained current timing value for each mobile terminal;
determining a timing bias of the cell or the at least one mobile terminal based on the estimated relation as a calibration parameter for position determination of any mobile terminals in said cell using a timing based positioning method;
adjusting the current timing value based on the timing bias to determine an adjusted timing value;
and
determining a position of a subsequent mobile terminal using the timing based positioning method and said adjusted timing value.

4 more elements

A positioning unit configured to determine positions of mobile terminals in a cell of a mobile communication network where time alignment is employed for terminal transmissions in timeslots to a serving base station providing radio coverage in said cell, the arrangement comprising:

a distance determining unit configured to determine a distance timing independent D) to the base station for at least one mobile terminal in the cell;
an obtaining unit configured to obtain a current timing value (T) used by the at least one mobile terminal for timing adjustment of uplink signal transmissions;
a logic unit configured to estimate a relation between the determined timing independent distance and the obtained current timing value for each mobile terminal, and to determine a timing bias of the cell or the at least one mobile terminal based on the estimated relation as a calibration parameter for position determination of any mobile terminals in said cell using a timing based positioning method;
and
a position determining unit configured to adjust the current timing value based on the timing bias to determine an adjusted timing value, and to determine a position of a subsequent mobile terminal using the timing based positioning method and said adjusted timing value.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and arrangement for determining terminal position

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Method and arrangement for determining terminal position

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24