Method for estimating the distance of a receiver from a radio transmitter, relative methods for calculating the position of a mobile terminal, mobile terminal and localization device

A method for estimating a distance of a mobile terminal comprising a radio receiver, from at least one base station comprising a radio transmitter, comprising the steps of:

• receiving, at said radio receiver, radio signals irradiated by said radio transmitter, said radio signals corresponding to an OFDM signal comprising a plurality of subcarriers from which a plurality of corresponding tones is extractable;
• extracting from said subcarriers of said OFDM signal at least three tones, each having a different frequency;
• measuring a first phase difference between a first two tones of said at least three tones, whose frequencies have a first spacing, and measuring a second phase difference between a second two tones of said at least three tones, whose frequencies have a second spacing, wherein one of said first spacing or second spacing is greater than the other;
• estimating said distance on a basis of said first phase difference and said second phase difference;
• and
• correcting the estimated distance based on characteristics of a transfer function of a radio channel that includes the OFDM signal, the transfer function being related to a periodicity interval of a distortion present in a frequency spectrum of the radio channel, said distortion characterizing the signal path which separates said base station from said radio receiver.