U.S. patent application number 14/801585 was filed with the patent office on 2015-11-05 for crowdsourcing based on base station almanac quality.
The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Kirk Allan BURROUGHS, Dominic Gerard FARMER, Weihua GAO, Lois A. TEED-GILLEN.
Application Number | 20150319732 14/801585 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50342474 |
Filed Date | 2015-11-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150319732 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
TEED-GILLEN; Lois A. ; et
al. |
November 5, 2015 |
CROWDSOURCING BASED ON BASE STATION ALMANAC QUALITY
Abstract
Systems, apparatus and methods for a mobile device and a base
station almanac server to throttle crowdsourcing information are
presented. The crowdsourcing information is used to improve a
location of a base station in a base station almanac. A portion of
the base station almanac is provided to a mobile device. For
example, the mobile device may identify its current cell and
request the base station almanac. The mobile device records
crowdsourcing information to identify, for each particular base
station of at least one base station, a cellular identifier for the
particular base station, optional ranging information between the
particular base station and the mobile device, and an independent
position of the mobile device. The independent position of the
mobile device may be formed from global navigation satellite system
(GNSS) or station signals independent of the at least one base
station.
Inventors: |
TEED-GILLEN; Lois A.;
(Dallas, TX) ; GAO; Weihua; (San Jose, CA)
; BURROUGHS; Kirk Allan; (Alamo, CA) ; FARMER;
Dominic Gerard; (Los Gatos, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
50342474 |
Appl. No.: |
14/801585 |
Filed: |
July 16, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13830004 |
Mar 14, 2013 |
9113432 |
|
|
14801585 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/456.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 28/0226 20130101;
H04W 88/02 20130101; G01S 5/0242 20130101; G01S 5/00 20130101; G01S
5/0027 20130101; H04W 88/08 20130101; G01S 19/13 20130101; H04W
84/04 20130101; G01S 5/0236 20130101; H04W 64/003 20130101; H04W
64/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 64/00 20060101
H04W064/00; H04W 28/02 20060101 H04W028/02; G01S 5/02 20060101
G01S005/02 |
Claims
1. A base station almanac server for throttling crowdsourcing data,
the base station almanac server comprising: a network transceiver
configured to: receive, based on a crowdsourcing throttle,
crowdsourcing information, wherein the crowdsourcing information
comprises, for each particular base station of at least one base
station: a cellular identifier identifying the particular base
station; and a position estimate of the particular mobile device,
corresponding to the cellular identifier, wherein the position
estimate is independent of signals from the particular base
station; and send a base station almanac to the particular mobile
device; and a processor coupled to the network transceiver and
configured to: form the base station almanac based on a current
cell identifier; and update a location estimate of a base station
based the position estimate of the particular mobile device.
2. The base station almanac server of claim 1, wherein the network
transceiver is further configured to send a crowdsourcing
throttling command comprising the crowdsourcing throttle.
3. The base station almanac server of claim 1, wherein the network
transceiver is further configured to receive the current cell
identifier and a request for the base station almanac.
4. The base station almanac server of claim 1, wherein the network
transceiver is further configured to: receive ranging information
for the at least one base station; wherein the crowdsourcing
information further comprises the ranging information.
5. The base station almanac server of claim 1, wherein the position
estimate of the particular mobile device is based on global
navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals.
6. The base station almanac server of claim 1, wherein the position
estimate of the particular mobile device is based on base station
signals.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of and claims the benefit
of and priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/830,004, filed Mar.
14, 2013, and entitled "Crowdsourcing based on base station almanac
quality," which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] I. Field of the Invention
[0003] This disclosure relates generally to systems, apparatus and
methods for determining a base station position, and more
particularly to determining a base station position based on
crowdsourcing from mobile stations.
[0004] II. Background
[0005] Many applications require an estimate of a mobile station's
position estimate. To acquire a position estimate, a mobile station
may determine its position relative to three or more base stations
assuming a location of each base station is already known. The base
station locations may be communicated from the base stations to the
mobile station. Alternatively, the base station locations may be
communicated from a base station almanac (BS almanac) server to the
mobile station via a base station. Inaccuracies in the BS almanac
directly lead to inaccuracies in a position estimate of a mobile
station. Therefore, a means is needed to refine a known location of
a base station in a BS almanac.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0006] Systems, apparatus and methods for a mobile device and a
base station almanac server to throttle crowdsourcing information
are presented. The crowdsourcing information is used to improve a
location of a base station in a base station almanac. A portion of
the base station almanac is provided to a mobile device. For
example, the mobile device may identify its current cell and
request the base station almanac. The mobile device records
crowdsourcing information to identify, for each particular base
station of at least one base station, a cellular identifier for the
particular base station, optional ranging information between the
particular base station and the mobile device, and an independent
position of the mobile device. The independent position of the
mobile device may be formed from global navigation satellite system
(GNSS) or station signals independent of the at least one base
station.
[0007] According to some aspects, disclosed is a method in a mobile
device for throttling crowdsourcing data, the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station almanac server, a base station
almanac that is based on a current cell identifier; collecting
crowdsourcing information for at least one base station, collecting
comprising, for each particular base station of the at least one
base station: identifying a cellular identifier for the particular
base station; determining a position estimate of the mobile device
that is independent of signals from the particular base station;
and recording crowdsourcing information for the particular base
station, wherein the crowdsourcing information comprises: the
cellular identifier; and the position estimate of the mobile
device; and sending, to the base station almanac server based on a
crowdsourcing throttle for reporting the crowdsourcing information,
the crowdsourcing information.
[0008] According to some aspects, disclosed is a method in a base
station almanac server for throttling crowdsourcing data, the
method comprising: receiving a current cell identifier for a mobile
device; deriving a base station almanac that is based on the
current cell identifier; sending, to the mobile device, the base
station almanac; and receiving, based on a crowdsourcing throttle
and, crowdsourcing information comprising, for a particular base
station of each of at least one base station: a cellular identifier
identifying the particular base station; and a position estimate of
the mobile device that is independent of signals from the
particular base station.
[0009] According to some aspects, disclosed is a mobile device for
throttling crowdsourcing data, the mobile device comprising: a
wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver configured to:
receive, from a base station almanac server, a base station almanac
that is based on a current cell identifier; receive, at a position
for each particular base station of at least one base station, a
cellular identifier of the particular base station; and send, to
the base station almanac server and based on a crowdsourcing
throttle, crowdsourcing information; a processor coupled to the
WWAN transceiver and configured to determine a position estimate of
the mobile device corresponding to the position when receiving the
cellular identifier for each particular base station of the at
least one base station, wherein the position estimate is
independent of signals from the particular base station; wherein
the crowdsourcing information comprises, for each particular base
station of the at least one base station: the cellular identifier;
and the position estimate corresponding to the cellular
identifier.
[0010] According to some aspects, disclosed is a base station
almanac server for throttling crowdsourcing data, the base station
almanac server comprising: a network transceiver configured to:
receive, based on a crowdsourcing throttle, crowdsourcing
information, wherein the crowdsourcing information comprises, for
each particular base station of at least one base station: a
cellular identifier identifying the particular base station; and a
position estimate of the particular mobile device, corresponding to
the cellular identifier, wherein the position estimate is
independent of signals from the particular base station; and send a
base station almanac to the particular mobile device; and a
processor coupled to the network transceiver and configured to:
form the base station almanac based on a current cell identifier;
and update a location estimate of a base station based the position
estimate of the particular mobile device.
[0011] According to some aspects, disclosed is a mobile device for
throttling crowdsourcing data, the mobile device comprising: means
for receiving, from a base station almanac server, a base station
almanac that is based on a current cell identifier; means for
collecting crowdsourcing information for at least one base station,
collecting comprising, for each particular base station of the at
least one base station: means for identifying a cellular identifier
for the particular base station; means for determining a position
estimate of the mobile device that is independent of signals from
the particular base station; and means for recording crowdsourcing
information for the particular base station, wherein the
crowdsourcing information comprises: the cellular identifier; and
the position estimate of the mobile device; and means for sending,
to the base station almanac server based on a crowdsourcing
throttle for reporting the crowdsourcing information, the
crowdsourcing information.
[0012] According to some aspects, disclosed is a base station
almanac server for throttling crowdsourcing data, the base station
almanac server comprising: means for receiving a current cell
identifier for a mobile device; means for deriving a base station
almanac that is based on the current cell identifier; means for
sending, to the mobile device, the base station almanac; and means
for receiving, based on a crowdsourcing throttle and, crowdsourcing
information comprising, for a particular base station of each of
the at least one base station: a cellular identifier identifying
the particular base station; and a position estimate of the mobile
device that is independent of signals from the particular base
station.
[0013] According to some aspects, disclosed is a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium including program code stored
thereon for a mobile device to throttle crowdsourcing data,
comprising program code to: receive, from a base station almanac
server, a base station almanac that is based on a current cell
identifier; collect crowdsourcing information for at least one base
station, the program code to collect comprising, for each
particular base station of the at least one base station, code to:
identify a cellular identifier for the particular base station;
determine a position estimate of the mobile device that is
independent of signals from the particular base station; and record
crowdsourcing information for the particular base station, wherein
the crowdsourcing information comprises: the cellular identifier;
and the position estimate of the mobile device; and send, to the
base station almanac server based on a crowdsourcing throttle for
reporting the crowdsourcing information, the crowdsourcing
information.
[0014] According to some aspects, disclosed is a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium including program code stored
thereon for a base station almanac server to throttle crowdsourcing
data, comprising program code to: receive, from a mobile device, a
current cell identifier; derive a base station almanac that is
based on the current cell identifier; send, to the mobile device
and from the base station almanac server, the base station almanac;
and receive, based on a crowdsourcing throttle and for at least one
base station including a particular base station, crowdsourcing
information at the base station almanac server, wherein the
crowdsourcing information comprises a record comprising: a cellular
identifier identifying the particular base station; and a position
estimate of the mobile device that is independent of signals from
the particular base station.
[0015] According to some aspects, disclosed is a method in a mobile
device for throttling crowdsourcing data, the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station almanac server, a base station
almanac that is based on a current cell identifier; identifying,
for each particular base station of at least three base stations, a
cellular identifier for the particular base station; computing a
first position estimate of the mobile device based on locations of
the at least three base stations; determining a second position
estimate of the mobile device, wherein the second position estimate
of the mobile device is independent of signals from the at least
three base stations; determining that a discrepancy exist from a
difference of the first position estimate and the second position
estimate being greater than a threshold; and sending crowdsourcing
information for the at least three base stations, based on the
discrepancy, to the base station almanac server; wherein the
crowdsourcing information comprises: the cellular identifier for
each particular base station of the at least three base stations;
and the first position estimate and the second position
estimate.
[0016] It is understood that other aspects will become readily
apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed
description, wherein it is shown and described various aspects by
way of illustration. The drawings and detailed description are to
be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0017] Embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of
example only, with reference to the drawings.
[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates a group of anonymous clients in both a
sparsely populated area and a densely populated area.
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a mobile station obtaining a BS almanac in a
conventional system.
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a mobile station obtaining a BS almanac with a
crowdsourcing throttle, in accordance with some embodiments of the
present invention.
[0021] FIGS. 4-6 illustrate various crowdsourcing throttles, in
accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
[0022] FIGS. 7-11 shown crowdsourcing information, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present invention.
[0023] FIGS. 12-13 show a system using a threshold, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present invention.
[0024] FIGS. 14-15 show ranging information between mobile stations
and base stations, in accordance with some embodiments of the
present invention.
[0025] FIG. 16 illustrates a clustering algorithm, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 17 shows a method to communicate crowdsourcing
information, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
invention.
[0027] FIGS. 18-19 illustrate a mobile station and a base station
almanac server, respectively, in accordance with some embodiments
of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] The detailed description set forth below in connection with
the appended drawings is intended as a description of various
aspects of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent
the only aspects in which the present disclosure may be practiced.
Each aspect described in this disclosure is provided merely as an
example or illustration of the present disclosure, and should not
necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other
aspects. The detailed description includes specific details for the
purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present
disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the
art that the present disclosure may be practiced without these
specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and
devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring
the concepts of the present disclosure. Acronyms and other
descriptive terminology may be used merely for convenience and
clarity and are not intended to limit the scope of the
disclosure.
[0029] Position determination techniques described herein may be
implemented in conjunction with various wireless communication
networks such as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless
local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN),
and so on. The term "network" and "system" are often used
interchangeably. A WWAN may be a Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA) network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a
Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)
network, Long Term Evolution (LTE), and so on. A CDMA network may
implement one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as
cdma2000, Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), and so on. Cdma2000 includes
IS-95, IS-2000, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Digital Advanced
Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. GSM and W-CDMA are
described in documents from a consortium named "3rd Generation
Partnership Project" (3GPP). Cdma2000 is described in documents
from a consortium named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2"
(3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A WLAN
may be an IEEE 802.11x network, and a WPAN may be a Bluetooth
network, an IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The
techniques may also be implemented in conjunction with any
combination of WWAN, WLAN and/or WPAN.
[0030] A satellite positioning system (SPS) typically includes a
system of transmitters positioned to enable entities to determine
their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on
signals received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter
typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random
noise (PN) code of a set number of chips and may be located on
ground based control stations, user equipment and/or space
vehicles. In a particular example, such transmitters may be located
on Earth orbiting satellite vehicles (SVs). For example, a SV in a
constellation of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) such as
Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS or Compass may
transmit a signal marked with a PN code that is distinguishable
from PN codes transmitted by other SVs in the constellation (e.g.,
using different PN codes for each satellite as in GPS or using the
same code on different frequencies as in GLONASS). In accordance
with certain aspects, the techniques presented herein are not
restricted to global systems (e.g., GNSS) for SPS. For example, the
techniques provided herein may be applied to or otherwise enabled
for use in various regional systems, such as, e.g., Quasi-Zenith
Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, Indian Regional Navigational
Satellite System (IRNSS) over India, Beidou over China, etc.,
and/or various augmentation systems (e.g., an Satellite Based
Augmentation System (SBAS)) that may be associated with or
otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and/or regional
navigation satellite systems. By way of example but not limitation,
an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides
integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as,
e.g., Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary
Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multi-functional Satellite
Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or
GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and/or the like.
Thus, as used herein an SPS may include any combination of one or
more global and/or regional navigation satellite systems and/or
augmentation systems, and SPS signals may include SPS, SPS-like,
and/or other signals associated with such one or more SPS.
[0031] As used herein, a mobile device, sometimes referred to as a
mobile station (MS) or user equipment (UE), such as a cellular
phone, mobile phone or other wireless communication device,
personal communication system (PCS) device, personal navigation
device (PND), Personal Information Manager (PIM), Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA), laptop or other suitable mobile device which is
capable of receiving wireless communication and/or navigation
signals. The term "mobile device" is also intended to include
devices which communicate with a personal navigation device (PND),
such as by short-range wireless, infrared, wireline connection, or
other connection--regardless of whether satellite signal reception,
assistance data reception, and/or position-related processing
occurs at the device or at the PND. Also, "mobile device" is
intended to include all devices, including wireless communication
devices, computers, laptops, etc. which are capable of
communication with a server, such as via the Internet, WiFi, or
other network, and regardless of whether satellite signal
reception, assistance data reception, and/or position-related
processing occurs at the device, at a server, or at another device
associated with the network. Any operable combination of the above
are also considered a "mobile device."
[0032] FIG. 1 illustrates a group of anonymous clients in both a
sparsely populated area and a densely populated area. In a densely
populated area, such as in an urban area, a base station (e.g.,
BS.sub.1) supports many mobile devices (drawn with an `x` symbol).
In a sparsely populated area, such as in a rural area, a base
station (e.g., BS.sub.2) supports only a low number of mobile
devices.
[0033] If a base station has an unknown or uncertain location to a
base station almanac server, ranging information from three mobile
devices having known locations (e.g., GNSS locations with low
uncertainty) may be provided to the base station almanac server
compute a location estimate of the base station. Ranging
information from a greater number of mobile devices may be
statically combined to average out uncertainties and more precisely
determine a location estimate of the base station.
[0034] Alternatively, no ranging information is available. Assume a
particular base station has an unknown or uncertain location to a
base station almanac server. Also assume a large number of records
exists where each record identifies the particular base station and
a corresponding location of a mobile device. Each record is created
by a mobile device determining crowdsourcing information, where the
crowdsourcing information includes a cellular identifier
identifying the particular base station and a position from the
mobile device (e.g., GNSS locations with low uncertainty). The
crowdsourcing information does not necessarily contain any ranging
information. The base station almanac server may determine a
location of the particular base station from a mean or median of
the positions of the various mobile devices. For example, suppose a
base station almanac server has 100 recent records identifying a
particular base station as a serving base station and a
corresponding GPS position estimate. The location of the particular
base station may be approximated as the center of the cloud of 100
GPS positions. For example, the base station almanac server may
compute a location estimate of the base station as a mean or median
of the locations of 100 mobile device positions. Thereby,
positioning information from a great number of mobile devices may
be statically combined to average out uncertainties and more
precisely determine a location estimate of the base station.
[0035] In turn, the improved location estimate of a particular base
station may be included in future base station almanac responses. A
base station almanac server maintains and updates a base station
almanac containing an identity of each cell and a location estimate
(e.g., latitude, longitude and altitude) with a corresponding
uncertainty of each cell.
[0036] When ranging information is part of crowdsourcing
information, each mobile device participating in crowdsourcing
(also referred to as anonymous clients) provides its position
(e.g., a GNSS position or other position estimate independent of a
target base station) and a range to the target base station. In
sparsely populated areas, the base station almanac server may
receive an adequate number of records containing cell
identification, optional ranging information from a mobile
position, and a position estimate of the mobile device. In densely
populated areas, however, the base station almanac server may be
overwhelmed with duplicate data (records from the same position
estimates from different mobile devices), which taxes the
processing power of the base station almanac server, unnecessarily
occupies channel bandwidth and consumes processing power on the
mobile device.
[0037] FIG. 2 shows a mobile station obtaining a BS almanac in a
conventional system. In a conventional system, a mobile device,
such as a mobile station or MS, sends a request for a base station
almanac to a base station almanac server. The request message
contains information identifying a current cell of the mobile
device. The base station almanac server receives the request and,
based on the current cell identifier of the mobile device, forms
base station almanac information tailored to the cell identifier.
The base station almanac server then sends a response message
containing the base station for the current cell.
[0038] FIG. 3 shows a mobile station obtaining a BS almanac with a
crowdsourcing throttle, in accordance with some embodiments of the
present invention. The mobile device (shown as an MS) sends a
conventional request for a base station almanac for the current
cell from a base station almanac server. The base station almanac
server determines which part of its entire base station almanac to
form, based on the current cell of the mobile device an abridged
base station almanac. The base station almanac server sends a
response message containing the abridged base station almanac to
the mobile device. The response message also contains a
crowdsourcing throttle.
[0039] A crowdsourcing throttle may be implicit or explicit. When
implicit, a mobile device does not receive a crowdsourcing throttle
as a message from a base station almanac server. Instead, the
mobile device has been configured to report back based on
conditions of the network, conditions of the mobile device,
conditions of the position estimate, or the like. For example, a
mobile device having an unlimited data plan may be configured to
periodically (e.g., at a defined period or a rate of once every
week) report back all records of base stations seen by the mobile
device.
[0040] When an explicit crowdsourcing throttle command is
communicated from a base station almanac server to a mobile device,
the crowdsourcing throttle tells the mobile device if crowdsourcing
is enabled and how and/or when to report back to the base station
almanac server with a cellular identifier, ranging information and
a position of the mobile station. In some embodiments, the cellular
identifier unambiguously identifies a cell. As previously
mentioned, a request message includes a cell identifier. If the
cell identifier represents a cell needing a more precise location,
the base station almanac server may send a crowdsourcing
throttle.
[0041] FIGS. 4-6 illustrate various crowdsourcing throttles, in
accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. In FIG.
4, a crowdsourcing throttle may include a flag to enable and
disable crowdsourcing in a mobile device. For example, when
crowdsourcing is enabled, a mobile device may send crowdsourcing
information: (1) when available; (2) periodically; or (3) when a
block of memory on the mobile device's is full. When crowdsourcing
is disabled, a mobile device may either just discard crowdsourcing
information or save crowdsourcing information for a later time.
[0042] In FIG. 5, a crowdsourcing throttle may include a level that
indicates a period. For example, a zero value disables
crowdsourcing, crowdsourcing information is sent every 240 hours
for a one value, every 120 hours for a two value, and so on, and
every hour for a value of seven. Other values and number of levels
may indicate different periodical values.
[0043] In FIG. 6, a quality of the base station almanac is
indicated by a level. For example, zero indicates a very poor
quality, a one indicates a poor quality, a two indicates an okay or
acceptable quality, and a three indicates a good or better quality
of the base station almanac. Other gradients and number of levels
are possible.
[0044] FIGS. 7-11 shown crowdsourcing information, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 7, a mobile
device sends a request including collected crowdsourcing
information. The collected crowdsourcing information may be for a
single base station up to all base stations seen from a mobile
device's position. Alternative, the collected crowdsourcing
information may be for multiple positions of the mobile device of
time. A base station almanac server receives the request and
compiles the crowdsourcing information for use in improving
locations of one or more base stations recorded in the base station
almanac. The base station almanac server may respond to the mobile
device with an acknowledgement (ACK) message. By receiving this ACK
message, the mobile device knows the base station almanac server
received the crowdsourcing message.
[0045] In FIG. 8, the mobile device again sends a request message.
The request message requests a base station almanac (similar to the
request shown in FIG. 3) from the base station almanac server. This
request message, however, serves a dual role. That is, the request
message combines the base station almanac requesting function
(described above with reference to FIG. 3) and the crowdsourcing
reporting function (described above with reference to FIG. 7). As
such, the request messing includes a cell identifier for a new
current cell (new current cell identifier) and also the
crowdsourcing information collected by the mobile device. In
response, the base station almanac server determines what base
station almanac is appropriate for the new current cell and also
what kind of crowdsourcing throttle is needed for that new current
cell. The base station almanac server includes in a response
message both the determined base station almanac appropriate for
the new current cell and the crowdsourcing throttle.
[0046] In FIG. 9, the crowdsourcing information is illustrated. The
crowdsourcing information includes record having an identifier of a
cell, optional ranging information, and the position of the mobile
device. The crowdsourcing information may include multiple of such
records representing two or more base stations that can be seen
from a current or previous position of the mobile device and/or
representing two or more base stations that have been seen at
different positions of the mobile device. The cellular identifier
distinguishes one cell from other cells. The cellular identifier
may provide a unique and unambiguous identifier to only one base
station. Alternative, the cellular identifier may provide an
ambiguous identifier of a base station.
[0047] The cellular identifier may include a Cell ID. The cellular
identifier may also include a local area code (LAC), tracking area
code (TAC), a system identity (SID) and/or a network identity
(NID). The cellular identifier may also include a mobile network
code (MNC). The cellular identifier may also include a mobile
country code (MCC). If the cellular identifier includes both an MNC
and an MCC, the combination may be represented by a public land
mobile network (PLMN=MCC+MNC). If the cellular identifier includes
both a TAC and a PLMN, the combination may be represented by a
tracking area indicator (TAI=PLMN+TAC).
[0048] The ranging information may include signal strength, such as
a received signal strength indication (RSSI). The signal strength
may be an absolute value or a relative value, such as a path loss.
The signal strength may be converted from a signal level or power
level to a distance (e.g., via a heat map). The ranging information
may include a time-of-flight value, such as a relative time value
(e.g., one-way time (OWT), round-trip time (RTT)) or an absolute
value (e.g., time of arrival (TOA)). The time-of-flight value may
be converted from a time to a distance by multiplying by the speed
of light. The ranging information may a combination of signal
strength(s) and/or time-of-flight value(s).
[0049] The position may include a GNSS position (e.g., a GPS
position) of the mobile device. Alternatively, the position may be
formed with ranging information to base stations and access points
with low location uncertainty and excluding the base station
identified by the cellular identifier. Alternatively, no ranging
information is used and a location of a base station is determined
to be the center of a cluster of mobile device positions.
[0050] The crowdsourcing information may also include additional
information such as a base station's frequency or frequencies used
by the identified cell, identifiers of its neighbors, a modulation
mode or network type, a PN code and/or a frequency hopping pattern.
The additional information may be used to further identify an
ambiguously identified cell.
[0051] In FIG. 10, the crowdsourcing throttle is shown to throttle
based on a type of client or mobile device. That is, the
crowdsourcing throttle may identify that a command applies to
certain types of mobile devices. For example, the crowdsourcing
throttle applies to all mobile devices (0), just smart phones (1),
just mobile devices with an unlimited data plan (2), or a
combination of types of mobile devices.
[0052] In FIG. 11, the crowdsourcing throttle is shown to throttle
based on a type of base station. That is, the crowdsourcing
throttle may inform a mobile device to collect crowdsourcing
information from a certain sort of base station(s). For example,
the crowdsourcing throttle indicates that a command to collect
crowdsourcing information applies to all base stations (0), just
LTE base stations (1), just CDMA base stations (2), just GSM base
stations (3), or a combination of types of base stations.
[0053] FIGS. 12-13 show a system using a threshold, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 12, the
crowdsourcing throttle may be indicated as target threshold of
results derived from ranging information and an independently
derived position of the mobile device. For example, ranging
information from three or more base stations indicates a first
position of the mobile device. A second position of the mobile
device is formed from GNSS measurements or base stations that are
independent of the cells used for ranging. If a difference between
first position and the second position is greater than a threshold,
the mobile device reports this discrepancy as crowdsourcing
information.
[0054] In FIG. 13, a first position of the mobile device is based
on ranges to three or more base stations. The location of the base
stations is found in the base station almanac. A second position of
the mobile device is computed from a different set of base stations
or access points, or alternatively, from GNSS measurements (e.g.,
GPS measurements). If the distance between the first position and
the second position is greater than a threshold, the mobile device
sends this information as crowdsourcing information to a base
station almanac server. The base station almanac server may use
this crowdsourcing information to determine or refine a location of
one or more base stations. In some embodiments, data used to
compute the first position is independent from data used to compute
the second position.
[0055] FIGS. 14-15 show ranging information between mobile stations
and base stations, in accordance with some embodiments of the
present invention. In FIG. 14, crowdsourcing information is shown
from the point of a mobile device. For example, the mobile device,
from a single position, may "see" an RF signal from each of three
or more base stations (BS.sub.1, BS.sub.2 and BS.sub.3). The mobile
device determines range information (range.sub.1, range.sub.2 and
range.sub.3) to the three base stations (BS.sub.1, BS.sub.2 and
BS.sub.3), respectively. In this case, the mobile device forms
three records, one for each base station, for the crowdsourcing
information. From ranging information for three base stations, the
mobile device may determine a first position of the mobile device.
With more than three base stations, the mobile device may apply an
over-determined algorithm to find the first position. To determine
the second position, the mobile device may use GNSS signals (such
as from a GPS receiver) or three or more additional base stations
with lower uncertainty than the first three base stations
(BS.sub.1, BS.sub.2 and BS.sub.3). At this or a later point, the
mobile device may report the records as crowdsourcing information.
Alternatively, the mobile device may only report the records if the
discrepancy between the first position and the second position is
greater than a threshold.
[0056] In FIG. 15, crowdsourcing information is shown from the
point of a base station. A base station almanac server accesses one
or more records from records of crowdsourcing information. That is,
the base station almanac server determines that the records all
apply to the same base station. Ranging information from the mobile
devices (MS.sub.1, MS.sub.2 and MS.sub.3) determines a location of
the base station. Ranging information from four or more mobile
devices also determines a location of the base station via
application of an over-determined algorithm. If the location of the
base station is unknown in the base station almanac, the base
station almanac server may use the location as determined from the
ranging information. If the location of the base station is known
in the base station almanac, the base station almanac server may
use the location as determined from the ranging information to
refine or adjust the known location of the base station.
[0057] FIG. 16 illustrates a clustering algorithm, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present invention. Crowdsourcing
information includes records from a plurality of mobile devices. A
large number of records contain a cellular identifier of the same
target base station and positions of various mobile devices. In
this case, the crowdsourcing information does not include ranging
information or the ranging information is not used. A center of
mass, average, average weighted by uncertainty, mean or median is
computed from the positions of various mobile devices. The computed
center of mass, or the like, may be used as the location of the
target base station. Alternatively, the computed center of mass may
be used to adjust or refine a location of the target base station
as found in a base station almanac.
[0058] FIG. 17 shows a method to communicate crowdsourcing
information, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
invention. At 310, a mobile device receives a crowdsourcing
throttling command for reporting crowdsourcing information. At 320,
the mobile device receives a base station almanac that is based in
a current cell from a base station almanac server.
[0059] At 330, the mobile device collects the crowdsourcing
information for at least one base station as described below in
step 332 to 338. At 332, the mobile device identifies a cellular
identifier for the particular base station. At 334, the mobile
device measures ranging information between a particular base
station and the mobile device. At 336, the mobile device determines
a GNSS position estimate of the mobile device or other position
estimate independent from the particular base station(s). At 338,
the mobile device records the crowdsourcing information for the
particular base station. The crowdsourcing information comprising
the cellular identifier, the ranging information and the position
estimate of the mobile device.
[0060] At 340, the mobile device sends, based on the crowdsourcing
throttling command, the crowdsourcing information to the base
station almanac server.
[0061] FIGS. 18-19 illustrate a mobile station and a base station
almanac server, respectively, in accordance with some embodiments
of the present invention. In FIG. 18, the mobile device 400
includes a WWAN transceiver 410, an optional GNSS receiver 420, and
a processor 430 coupled to the WWAN transceiver 410 and the GNSS
receiver 420. The processor 430 executes code or instructions to
perform functions of a mobile device 400 described herein.
[0062] In FIG. 19, the base station almanac server 500 includes a
network transceiver 510 for coupling to a mobile device 400. The
base station almanac server 500 also includes a processor 530
coupled to the network transceiver 510. The processor 530 executes
code or instructions to perform functions of a base station almanac
server 500 described herein.
[0063] The methodologies described herein may be implemented by
various means depending upon the application. For example, these
methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software,
or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the
processing units may be implemented within one or more application
specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors
(DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable
logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),
processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors,
electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the
functions described herein, or a combination thereof.
[0064] For a firmware and/or software implementation, the
methodologies may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures,
functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein.
Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be
used in implementing the methodologies described herein. For
example, software codes may be stored in a memory and executed by a
processor unit. Memory may be implemented within the processor unit
or external to the processor unit. As used herein the term "memory"
refers to any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile,
or other memory and is not to be limited to any particular type of
memory or number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is
stored.
[0065] If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions
may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a
computer-readable medium. Examples include computer-readable media
encoded with a data structure and computer-readable media encoded
with a computer program. Computer-readable media includes physical
computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available
medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and
not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM,
EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage
or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be
used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or
data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; disk and
disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,
optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray
disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs
reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above
should also be included within the scope of computer-readable
media.
[0066] In addition to storage on computer readable medium,
instructions and/or data may be provided as signals on transmission
media included in a communication apparatus. For example, a
communication apparatus may include a transceiver having signals
indicative of instructions and data. The instructions and data are
configured to cause one or more processors to implement the
functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication
apparatus includes transmission media with signals indicative of
information to perform disclosed functions. At a first time, the
transmission media included in the communication apparatus may
include a first portion of the information to perform the disclosed
functions, while at a second time the transmission media included
in the communication apparatus may include a second portion of the
information to perform the disclosed functions.
[0067] The previous description of the disclosed aspects is
provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the
present disclosure. Various modifications to these aspects will be
readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic
principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without
departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure.
* * * * *