Method, program instruction, storage medium and device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method, a program instruction, a storage medium and an apparatus. A method for locating multiple wireless terminal devices of a wireless communication network is provided, wherein the method comprises: providing received signals (s; s_AP1, s_AP2, s_AP3), wherein the received signals respectively comprise overlapping radio signals, wherein the overlapping radio signals are wirelessly received by a corresponding one of multiple receivers arranged separately from each other in space, wherein multiple radio signals in the overlapping radio signals come from different wireless terminal devices in the wireless terminal devices; reconstructing the radio signals in the form of reconstructed radio signals (rs; rs1, rs2) according to the corresponding received signals (s; s_AP1, s_AP2, s_AP3); and estimating the spatial positions (pos; pos_UE1, pos_UE2) of the wireless terminal devices according to the reconstructed radio signals (rs; rs1, rs2).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for positioning multiple wireless terminal devices in a wireless communication network, a program instruction and a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, and an apparatus for positioning multiple wireless terminal devices. Background Art

[0002] Unlike known cell-based medium access methods, it is known to tolerate collisions on the radio channel. These collisions reduce the SINR, which is accompanied by a reduction in positioning accuracy. Summary of the invention

[0003] The problem on which the invention is based is solved by the method according to the invention, the program instructions according to the invention, the storage medium according to the invention and by the device according to the invention. Advantageous embodiments are explained in the following description and are also to be found in the subsequent description of exemplary embodiments.

[0004] The first aspect of the present specification relates to a method for locating multiple wireless terminal devices of a wireless notification network, wherein the method comprises: providing received signals, each of which comprises overlapping radio signals, which are wirelessly received by corresponding receivers among multiple receivers arranged spatially separated from each other, wherein multiple radio signals among the overlapping radio signals come from different wireless terminal devices among the wireless terminal devices; reconstructing the radio signals in the form of reconstructed radio signals based on the corresponding received signals; and estimating the spatial positions of the wireless terminal devices based on the reconstructed radio signals.

[0005] Advantageously, the spatial position of a mobile or stationary terminal is estimated using conflicting radio signals. Positioning is therefore no longer dependent on conflict-free measurements, but can also be used when the radio protocol permits conflicts during transmission. This means that the influence of conflicts on the radio channel on the positioning of the terminal is reduced.

[0006] The proposed positioning or sideways positioning of the terminal devices makes it possible to deploy radio-based terminal devices on a large scale, which can only transmit but not receive, for example, because many downstream functions cannot be implemented at all or only to a limited extent without positioning the corresponding terminal devices. In particular, the spatial allocation of terminal devices, which include sensors, for example, is indispensable for certain applications.

[0007] An advantageous example is characterized in that the method comprises: decoding a plurality of first packets according to corresponding assigned received signals; encoding a plurality of first radio signals according to corresponding first packets of the plurality of first packets; and determining a plurality of reconstructed second radio signals by subtracting the assigned encoded first radio signals from the assigned received signals.

[0008] Advantageously, these overlapping radio signals are separated from one another by reconstruction, that is, a type of interference suppression is performed in order to locate the terminal device.

[0009] An advantageous example is characterized in that the method comprises: determining that a first radio signal contained in the received signal has a higher SINR value and / or a higher received transmission power than a second radio signal contained in the received signal; and based on the above determination, reconstructing the second radio signal before reconstructing the first radio signal in time.

[0010] Advantageously, the first packet is used for time-preferential decoding, thereby benefiting from a possibly more difficult reconstruction of the second radio signal due to the reduced received power.

[0011] An advantageous example is characterized in that the method comprises reconstructing the first radio signal by subtracting at least the reconstructed second radio signal from the distributed received signal.

[0012] Advantageously, the previously reconstructed radio signal is used for an improved estimation of further radio signals like the first radio signal.

[0013] An advantageous example is characterized in that the method comprises: providing at least one channel estimate, wherein the at least one channel estimate characterizes a state of a radio channel between one of the terminal devices and one of the recipients; and encoding at least one first radio signal based on the assigned decoded first packets and based on the corresponding assigned channel estimate.

[0014] With the aid of the channel estimate, which is provided, for example, by the assigned receiver, the encoding of the first radio signal is improved since the actual channel conditions are applied to the decoded first packet.

[0015] A favorable example is characterized in that the method includes: providing a spatial position of a wireless receiver; determining a distance between one of the wireless terminal devices and a corresponding wireless receiver among the wireless receivers based on a reconstructed radio signal assigned to the one of the wireless terminal devices; and estimating the spatial position of the one of the wireless terminal devices based on the determined distance and based on the spatial position of the wireless receiver.

[0016] For trilateration or multilateration, calculations are made based on distances which require either the time of arrival or the frequency and wave number of the received transmissions.

[0017] A second aspect of the present description relates to program instructions which, when executed on a processor, implement the method according to the first aspect.

[0018] A third aspect of the present specification relates to a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program instructions according to the second aspect.

[0019] The fourth aspect of the present specification relates to an apparatus for locating multiple wireless terminal devices of a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus includes: a processor and a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, which is coupled to the processor and stores program instructions for implementation by the processor, wherein the program instructions command the processor to: provide received signals, which respectively include overlapping radio signals, which are wirelessly received by corresponding receivers among a plurality of receivers spatially separated from each other, wherein multiple radio signals among the overlapping radio signals come from different wireless terminal devices among the wireless terminal devices; reconstruct the radio signals in the form of reconstructed radio signals based on the corresponding received signals; and estimate the spatial positions of the wireless terminal devices based on the reconstructed radio signals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In the attached picture:

[0021] Figure 1 and 8 The apparatus for locating a plurality of wireless terminal devices are respectively shown in schematic block diagrams;

[0022] Figure 2 A signal estimator is shown in a schematic block diagram;

[0023] Figure 3 A position estimator is shown in a schematic block diagram;

[0024] Figure 4 A wireless network is shown in schematic form;

[0025] Figure 5 shows a received signal in schematic form; and

[0026] Figure 6 and 7 The reconstructed radio signal of a terminal device is shown in each case. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram shows an apparatus 100 for locating multiple wireless terminal devices in a wireless communication network. The apparatus 100 implements a method according to the block diagram.

[0028] The providing unit 102 provides a received signal s or s_AP1, s_AP2, s_AP3. The received signal s includes overlapping radio signals, which are wirelessly received by corresponding receivers of multiple receivers arranged separately from each other in space. Multiple radio signals of these overlapping radio signals are generated by different wireless terminal devices in the wireless terminal devices and received by corresponding receivers. Multiple radio signals of these overlapping radio signals use at least partially overlapping radio resources. This means that these terminal devices operate according to a channel access method that allows conflicts on the channel. This may be the case in particular in the case of an untrained, decentralized access method.

[0029] The signal estimator 104 reconstructs the radio signals contained in the received signals from the terminal devices in the form of reconstructed radio signals rs or rs1 , rs2 from the corresponding received signals s or s_AP1 , s_AP2 , s_AP3 .

[0030] The position estimator 106 estimates the spatial position pos or pos_UE1, pos_UE2 of the wireless terminal device based on the reconstructed radio signals rs or rs1_AP1 to rs1_AP3 or rs2_AP1 to rs2_AP3.

[0031] Figure 2 The signal estimator 104 is shown in a schematic block diagram. By way of example, the processing of the received signal s_AP1 and the determination of the estimated radio signals rs2_AP1 and rs1_AP1 are shown by means of blocks 202 and 204. Of course, the other radio signals rs1_AP2, rs1_AP3, rs2_AP2 and rs2_AP3 are also determined by means of the signal estimator 104.

[0032] The decoder 202A decodes the first packet p1 according to the corresponding allocated received signal s1_AP1.

[0033] The encoder 202B encodes the first radio signal c1 according to the packet p1. For this purpose, the channel estimate ce1 available to the receiver can be used. Through the channel estimation, the original waveform can be estimated in the form of the encoded first radio signal c1. That is, at least one channel estimate ce1 is provided, wherein the at least one channel estimate ce1 characterizes the state of the radio channel between a terminal device UE1 in the terminal device and one of the receivers AP1, AP2, AP3, in the current case the receiver AP1. Correspondingly, according to the allocated decoded first packet p1 and according to the corresponding allocated channel estimate ce1, at least one first radio signal c1 is encoded.

[0034] The signal estimator 202C determines the reconstructed second radio signal rs2_AP1 by subtracting the allocated encoded first radio signal rs1a from the allocated received signal s1. The reconstruction of the first radio signal rs1_AP1 is performed by subtracting at least the reconstructed second radio signal rs2_AP1 from the allocated received signal s_AP1.

[0035] In one example, the order of execution of blocks 202 and 204 is time-coordinated. For this coordination, it is determined that the first radio signal contained in the received signal s has a higher SINR value and / or a higher received transmit power than the second radio signal contained in the received signal s. If this is the case, the second radio signal rs2_AP1 is determined in time before the first radio signal rs1a_AP1.

[0036] The signal estimator 204C uses the result of the signal estimator 202C by deriving a reconstructed radio signal rs1_AP1 based on subtracting the reconstructed radio signal rs2_AP1 from the received signal s_AP1.

[0037] In an example not shown, block 204 may be structured similarly to block 202 .

[0038] Figure 3 The position estimator 106 is shown in a schematic block diagram. Exemplarily, the position estimator 106 includes two position estimators 106_UE1 and 106_UE2 for corresponding terminal devices. Of course, there may also be multiple position estimators or only one position estimator in the position estimators 106_UE1 and 106_UE2.

[0039] The spatial positions pos_AP1, pos_AP2, pos_AP3 of wireless receivers AP1, AP2, AP3 exist or are provided. Figure 4, based on the reconstructed radio signals rs1_AP2, rs1_AP2, rs1_AP3 assigned to one of the wireless terminal devices UE1, the distances d11, d12, d13 between the one wireless terminal device UE1 and the corresponding wireless receivers AP1, AP2, AP3 are determined.

[0040] For example, based on the determined distances d11 , d12 , d13 and based on the spatial positions pos_AP1 , pos_AP2 , pos_AP3 of the wireless receiving parties AP1 , AP2 , AP3 , the spatial position pos1_UE1 of the one wireless terminal device UE1 among the wireless terminal devices is estimated.

[0041] Figure 4 The radio network RCN is shown in schematic form. The terminals UE1 and UE2 send out corresponding radio signals ts1, ts2 with temporal overlap. However, the radio signals ts1 and ts2 overlap not only in time but also within the scope of the corresponding radio resources. This results in: the radio signals ts1 and ts2 collide on the associated radio channels.

[0042] The radio signals ts1 and ts2 are received by the receivers AP1 to AP3 at possibly different points in time and with different powers. The receivers AP1 to AP3 are, for example, fixed access points. The receivers AP1 to AP3 determine received signals s_AP1 to s_AP3 in which the radio signals ts1 and ts2 emitted in an overlapping manner are represented. The device 100 utilizes the fact that the radio signals ts1 and ts2 emitted in an overlapping manner are received at different positions in order to determine the positions pos_UE1 and pos_UE2.

[0043] Figure 5 The following received signals are shown in schematic form, which are recorded by different receivers. The amplitude A is plotted over time t. The received signal s_AP1 includes a representation of a radio signal ts1, which has a greater amplitude than the amplitude of the radio signal ts1 in the received signal s_AP2, due to the short distance between the terminal device UE1 and the receiver AP1. The received signal s_AP3 shows that the represented radio signals ts1 and ts2 are connected to each other due to the short distance between the terminal device UE1 and the receiver AP1. Figure 4 The distance shown is approximately the same, but the amplitude difference is not that large in comparison.

[0044] Figure 6 shows the reconstructed radio signal of the terminal device UE1, and Figure 7 The reconstructed radio signal of the terminal UE2 is shown.

[0045] Figure 8An apparatus 100 is shown. The program instructions C are configured such that a method according to the present description is performed when these program instructions C are implemented on a processor P. These program instructions are stored on a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium M.

[0046] Therefore, the apparatus 100 for locating a plurality of wireless terminal devices UE1, UE2 of a wireless communication network RCN comprises: a processor P and a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium M, which is coupled to the processor P and stores program instructions C for implementation by the processor P. These program instructions instruct the processor P to execute the method steps described in this specification.

Claims

1. A method for positioning a plurality of wireless terminal devices (UE1, UE2) of a wireless communication network (RCN), wherein the method comprises: Provides receiving signal(s); s_AP1, s_AP2, s_AP3), the received signals respectively include overlapping radio signals (ts1, ts2), the overlapping radio signals are wirelessly received by corresponding receivers among a plurality of receivers (AP1, AP2, AP3) arranged spatially separately from each other, wherein a plurality of the overlapping radio signals (ts1, ts2) come from different wireless terminal devices among the wireless terminal devices (UE1, UE2); reconstructing the corresponding radio signal (ts1, ts2) in the form of a reconstructed radio signal (rs; rs1, rs2) from the corresponding received signal (s; s_AP1, s_AP2, s_AP3); and The spatial position (pos; pos_UE1, pos_UE2) of the wireless terminal device (UE1, UE2) is estimated based on the reconstructed radio signal (rs1, rs2).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises: Decoding a plurality of first packets (p1) according to the corresponding provided received signal (s_AP1); encoding a plurality of first radio signals (c1) according to respective first packets of the plurality of first packets (p1); and By subtracting the respective coded first radio signal (rs1a) from the respective provided received signal (s_AP1), a plurality of reconstructed second radio signals (rs2_AP1) are determined.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method comprises: determining that a first radio signal contained in the respective provided received signal (s_AP1) has a higher SINR value and / or a higher received transmission power than a second radio signal contained in the respective provided received signal (s_AP1); and According to the above determination, the second radio signal (ts2) is reconstructed before the first radio signal (ts1) in terms of time.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the method comprises: The first radio signal (ts1) is reconstructed by subtracting at least the reconstructed second radio signal (rs2_AP1) from the correspondingly provided received signal (s_AP1).

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein the method comprises: providing at least one channel estimate (ce1), wherein the at least one channel estimate (ce1) characterizes a state of a radio channel between one of the terminal devices (UE1, UE2) and one of the receivers (AP1, AP2, AP3); and At least one first radio signal (c1) is encoded based on the respective decoded first packet (p1) and based on the respective channel estimate (ce1).

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the method comprises: Provide the spatial position (pos_AP1, pos_AP2, pos_AP3) of the wireless receiver (AP1, AP2, AP3); Determining, based on the reconstructed radio signal (rs1_AP2, rs1_AP2, rs1_AP3) assigned to one of the wireless terminal devices (UE1), the distance (d11, d12, d13) between the one wireless terminal device (UE1) and a corresponding one of the wireless receivers (AP1, AP2, AP3); and The spatial position (pos1_UE1) of the one wireless terminal device (UE1) among the wireless terminal devices is estimated according to the determined distances (d11, d12, d13) and according to the spatial positions (pos_AP1, pos_AP2, pos_AP3) of the wireless receivers (AP1, AP2, AP3). 7 . A computer program product having program instructions (C) which, when executed on a processor (P), implement the method according to claim 1 .

8. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium (M) having stored thereon program instructions (C) which, when executed on a processor (P), implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A device (100) for positioning a plurality of wireless terminal devices (UE1, UE2) of a wireless communication network (RCN), wherein the device (100) comprises: A processor (P) and a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium (M), the non-volatile computer-readable storage medium being coupled to the processor (P) and storing program instructions (C) for execution by the processor (P), wherein the program instructions instruct the processor (P): Providing a received signal (s; s_AP1, s_AP2, s_AP3), the received signal respectively comprising overlapping radio signals (ts1, ts2), the overlapping radio signals being wirelessly received by corresponding receivers among a plurality of receivers (AP1, AP2, AP3) arranged spatially separated from each other, wherein a plurality of the overlapping radio signals (ts1, ts2) are from different wireless terminal devices among the wireless terminal devices (UE1, UE2); reconstructing the corresponding radio signal (ts1, ts2) in the form of a reconstructed radio signal (rs; rs1, rs2) from the corresponding received signal (s; s_AP1, s_AP2, s_AP3); and The spatial position (pos; pos_UE1, pos_UE2) of the wireless terminal device (UE1, UE2) is estimated based on the reconstructed radio signal (rs1, rs2). 10 . The device ( 100 ) according to claim 9 , which is designed to carry out the method according to claim 2 .

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