Device location determination method and apparatus

Abstract

The application discloses a device position determination method and device. The method comprises the following steps: obtaining a plurality of initial signal arrival times and a maximum signal receiving strength in a plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to a plurality of base stations receiving a target signal along a plurality of propagation paths; determining the minimum value and the maximum value in the plurality of initial signal arrival times, and determining a reference base station corresponding to the minimum value; for each base station in the plurality of base stations except the reference base station, when the maximum signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station receiving the target signal exceeds a signal strength threshold, determining the target signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station and a target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength; and determining the position information of a target device based on at least one target signal arrival time. The application solves the technical problem that the related art does not consider the influence of multipath effect on the positioning result when the UTDoA positioning technology is used to position the position information of the target device, and the positioning result error is large.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for determining a device location. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development and large-scale deployment of 5G technology, 5G networks not only provide higher data transmission rates, lower latency, and greater connection density, but also create conditions for the emergence of various new application scenarios, such as indoor scenarios. In indoor scenarios, uplink time difference of arrival (UTDoA) positioning technology has the following significant advantages: (1) This technology can accurately determine the location of the target device by measuring the time difference between uplink signals received by different base stations; (2) This technology can rely on multiple base stations for positioning, and can provide effective positioning services even in large indoor spaces such as shopping malls and airports; (3) This technology does not require additional hardware deployment on the device being positioned, thus reducing costs and device complexity, and is applicable to various types of mobile terminals.

[0003] However, UTDoA positioning technology also has some positioning accuracy issues. The main source of accuracy errors in its positioning results is multipath effects, which can also have a significant impact on UTDoA positioning. This is because in wireless communications, signals not only propagate along line-of-sight paths but also, when encountering obstacles, produce reflection, refraction, and scattering, causing them to propagate along other non-line-of-sight paths (also known as multipath) to reach the receiver. When the intensity of the reflected wave is sufficiently high, the maximum received signal intensity along the non-line-of-sight path may exceed the maximum received signal intensity along the line-of-sight path. This means that when analyzing UTDoA positioning technology, the maximum received signal intensity along the non-line-of-sight path may be mistakenly used as the maximum received signal intensity along the line-of-sight path. Furthermore, because the signal reception time along the non-line-of-sight path is longer than that along the line-of-sight path, the signal arrival time difference calculated based on the signal reception time along the non-line-of-sight path may be greater than the actual signal arrival time difference, resulting in large errors and low accuracy in the final target positioning result.

[0004] To address the above-mentioned problems, no effective solutions have been proposed so far. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for determining the location of a device, so as to at least solve the technical problem that, when the related art uses the UTDoA positioning technology to locate the location information of the target device, the influence of the multipath effect on the positioning result is not considered, resulting in a large error in the positioning result.

[0006] According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a device position determination method is provided, comprising: obtaining a plurality of initial signal arrival times and a maximum signal receiving strength in a plurality of signal receiving strengths when a plurality of base stations receive a target signal transmitted by a target device along a plurality of propagation paths; determining a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time in the plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to the plurality of base stations, and determining a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time; for each base station in the plurality of base stations except the reference base station, when a maximum signal receiving strength in a plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the current base station when the current base station receives the target signal exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, determining a target signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station and a target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength, wherein the target signal receiving strength is greater than a maximum signal receiving strength in a plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the reference base station when the reference base station receives the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and is less than the maximum signal arrival time; and determining position information of the target device based on at least one target signal arrival time.

[0007] Optionally, before the plurality of initial signal arrival times and the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths when the plurality of base stations receive the target signal transmitted by the target device along the plurality of propagation paths are obtained, the method further comprises: synchronizing signals of the plurality of base stations in a preset manner, wherein the preset manner comprises at least one of the following: a global positioning system satellite signal, an external probe.

[0008] Optionally, the position information of the target device is determined based on the at least one target signal arrival time, comprising: determining a dimension of the position information of the target device, and determining a preset number of signal arrival times according to the dimension, wherein the type of the signal arrival time comprises at least the target signal arrival time, and the dimension comprises one-dimensional position information, two-dimensional position information, and three-dimensional position information; and analyzing the preset number of signal arrival times by using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0009] Optionally, the position information of the target device is obtained by analyzing the preset number of signal arrival times by using the preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm, comprising: when the position information is one-dimensional position information, analyzing at least one target signal arrival time and at least one initial signal arrival time by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device; or analyzing at least two target signal arrival times by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0010] Optionally, the preset number of signal arrival times are analyzed by using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device, including: when the position information is two-dimensional position information, at least one target signal arrival time and at least two initial signal arrival times are analyzed by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device; or at least two target signal arrival times and at least one initial signal arrival time are analyzed by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device; or at least three target signal arrival times are analyzed by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0011] Optionally, the preset number of signal arrival times are analyzed by using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device, including: when the position information is three-dimensional position information, at least one target signal arrival time and at least three initial signal arrival times are analyzed by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device; or at least two target signal arrival times and at least two initial signal arrival times are analyzed by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device; or at least three target signal arrival times and at least one initial signal arrival time are analyzed by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device; or at least four target signal arrival times are analyzed by using the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0012] Optionally, the preset number of signal arrival times are analyzed by using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the position information of the target device, including: at least one base station pair is constructed by using a plurality of base stations, and each base station pair includes two base stations; for each base station pair, a time difference value of signal arrival times of the two base stations in the base station pair is determined; a plurality of base station pairs are used to construct a nonlinear equation set, and the nonlinear equation set includes at least one equation, and each equation corresponds to a base station pair; the nonlinear equation set is solved to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0013] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a device position determination apparatus is also provided, which comprises: an acquisition module, configured to acquire a plurality of initial signal arrival times and a maximum signal receiving strength in a plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to a plurality of base stations receiving a target signal transmitted by a target device along a plurality of propagation paths; a first determination module, configured to determine a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time in the plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to the plurality of base stations, and determine a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time; a second determination module, configured to, for each base station in the plurality of base stations except the reference base station, determine a target signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station and a target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength when the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the current base station receiving the target signal exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, wherein the target signal receiving strength is greater than the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the reference base station receiving the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and is less than the maximum signal arrival time; and a third determination module, configured to determine position information of the target device based on at least one target signal arrival time.

[0014] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a non-volatile storage medium is also provided, which comprises a stored computer program, wherein a device in which the non-volatile storage medium is located executes the device position determination method described above by running the computer program.

[0015] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a computer program product is also provided, which comprises a stored computer program, wherein the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the device position determination method described above.

[0016] In the embodiment of the present application, the positioning system determines the minimum signal arrival time and the maximum signal arrival time in the multiple initial signal arrival times corresponding to the multiple base stations, and determines the reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time, when the multiple base stations receive the target signal transmitted by the target device along the multiple propagation paths; then, the positioning system determines that the base station is receiving the target signal through a non-line-of-sight path when the maximum signal receiving strength in the multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the target signal when the base station receives the target signal is higher than the preset signal strength threshold, and the initial signal arrival time when the base station receives the target signal is larger because the non-line-of-sight path is often longer than the line-of-sight path. Therefore, the positioning system can search in the time range from the minimum signal arrival time to the maximum signal arrival time, find the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength that is greater than the maximum signal receiving strength in the multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the target signal when the reference base station receives the target signal and less than the signal strength threshold, and take the target signal arrival time as the result of the correction of the initial signal arrival time of the base station; finally, the positioning system determines the position information of the target device by using at least one target signal arrival time, so as to ensure that the position information of the target device finally positioned is more accurate than the position information directly determined by the initial signal arrival time of the base station, thereby effectively solving the technical problem that the related art does not consider the influence of the multipath effect on the positioning result when the UTDoA positioning technology is used to position the position information of the target device, resulting in a large positioning result error. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the present application, constitute a part of the present application and illustrate the exemplary embodiments of the present application and a description thereof serve to explain the present application and do not limit the present application in any way. In the drawings:

[0018] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a principle of a UTDoA positioning technology according to the related art;

[0019] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure block diagram of a computer terminal (or target device) for implementing a device position determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 3 is a flowchart of an optional device position determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 4 is a structural diagram of an optional device position determination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 5is a structural schematic diagram of an optional electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to enable persons skilled in the art to better understand the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by persons skilled in the art without creative work should fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0024] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", and the like in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-described drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not necessarily indicate a specific order or a chronological sequence. It should be understood that the data thus used can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product, or device including a series of steps or units does not necessarily have to be limited to only those steps or units clearly listed, but can include other steps or units not clearly listed or inherent to the process, method, product, or device.

[0025] In addition, the relevant information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data for display, analyzed data, etc.) involved in the present application are all information and data authorized by the user or authorized by all parties. For example, an interface is provided between the system and the relevant user or institution. Before obtaining the relevant information, the interface needs to send a request to the aforementioned user or institution, and after receiving the consent information fed back by the aforementioned user or institution, the relevant information is obtained.

[0026] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are explained as follows:

[0027] UTDoA (Uplink Time Difference of Arrival) positioning technology is a wireless communication technology for positioning, and its working principle is as follows: multiple base stations simultaneously receive uplink signals from a target terminal. Since the time of signal arrival at different base stations will be different due to different distances. Therefore, by measuring the time difference of signal arrival at each base station, and using hyperbolic positioning principle to determine the position of the target terminal. Specifically, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the UTDoA positioning technology, as Figure 1As shown in Figure 2, the distance difference between target M and base stations A and B is proportional to the time difference between the signals reaching the two base stations. Therefore, the target terminal must be located on a hyperbola with the two base stations as the foci. However, if three or more base stations are involved in positioning, by measuring the time differences between multiple base stations, the target terminal can be located at the intersection of multiple hyperbolas, thereby achieving accurate positioning.

[0028] Multipath effect: This refers to the phenomenon where electromagnetic waves propagate along different paths, with each component arriving at the receiver at different times. These components, due to their phases, interfere with each other, distorting the original signal or generating errors. For example, if electromagnetic waves propagate along two different paths that differ by half a wavelength, the two signals will cancel each other out upon arrival (with peaks and troughs coinciding). This phenomenon is common in wireless communications, especially in urban environments, where obstacles such as buildings and trees complicate signal propagation paths. Multipath effect can cause signal delay spread, phase shift, and amplitude variation, which in turn affects signal reception quality.

[0029] Line-of-Sight (LOS) is a major signal propagation method in wireless communication systems. It means that there is a direct line of sight between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna, and the radio waves can propagate directly from the transmitting point to the receiving point without obstruction. This usually requires that there are no objects that block the radio waves within the first Fresnel zone.

[0030] Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) is another major signal propagation method in wireless communication systems. Non-line-of-sight propagation occurs when the direct path between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna is blocked by an obstacle. In this case, the radio waves are reflected and diffracted before reaching the receiving end.

[0031] Example 1

[0032] In wireless communications, signals not only propagate along straight paths (line-of-sight paths) but also, when encountering obstacles, produce reflection, refraction, and scattering, leading them to reach the receiver along other non-straight paths (also known as multipath). In UTDoA positioning technology, the receiver measures the arrival time difference of straight-line signals. When the signal strength of the reflected signal is strong enough, the frequency peak of the reflected signal may exceed the frequency peak of the direct signal. This means that during signal processing, the frequency peak of the reflected signal may be mistakenly grouped as the frequency peak of the direct signal. Since the propagation path of the reflected signal is longer than that of the direct signal, the time difference of the corresponding signal arrival time determined based on this erroneous frequency peak will be larger than the actual value, resulting in large errors and low accuracy in the final target positioning result.

[0033] To solve the problem, the related solutions are provided in the embodiments of the present application, which are described in detail below. It should be noted that the steps shown in the flowcharts of the accompanying drawings can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions, and although the logical order is shown in the flowcharts, in some cases, the steps shown or described can be executed in an order different from that here.

[0034] According to the embodiments of the present application, a method embodiment of device position determination is provided. It should be noted that the steps shown in the flowcharts of the accompanying drawings can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions, and although the logical order is shown in the flowcharts, in some cases, the steps shown or described can be executed in an order different from that here.

[0035] The method embodiment provided by the embodiments of the present application can be executed in a mobile terminal, a computer terminal or a similar computing device. Figure 2 A hardware structure block diagram of a computer terminal (or target device) for implementing the device position determination method is shown. As shown in Figure 2 The computer terminal 20 (or target device 20) can include one or more processors 202 (the processor 202 can include but is not limited to a processing device such as a microprocessor MCU or a programmable logic device FPGA), a memory 204 for storing data, and a transmission device 206 for communication function. In addition, it can also include a display, an input / output interface (I / O interface), a universal serial bus (USB) port (which can be included as one of the ports of the BUS bus), a network interface, a power supply and / or a camera. Those skilled in the art can understand that Figure 2 The structure shown is only schematic, which does not limit the structure of the above-mentioned electronic device. For example, the computer terminal 20 can include more or less components than those shown in Figure 2 or have a different configuration than that shown in Figure 2 .

[0036] It should be noted that the one or more processors 202 and / or other data processing circuits described above can be referred to as "data processing circuits" herein. The data processing circuit can be embodied in whole or in part as software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. In addition, the data processing circuit can be a single independent processing module, or any one of the other elements combined into the computer terminal 20 (or target device) in whole or in part. As referred to in the embodiments of the present application, the data processing circuit serves as a processor control (for example, selection of a variable resistance terminal path connected to an interface).

[0037] The memory 204 can be used to store software programs of application software and modules, such as program instructions / data storage means corresponding to the device position determination method of the embodiments of the present application. The processor 202 can execute various functional applications and data processing, i.e. implement the device position determination method of the application program, by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory 204. The memory 204 can include a high-speed random access memory, and can further include a non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memories, or other non-volatile solid-state memories. In some examples, the memory 204 can further include memories remotely arranged with respect to the processor 202, which can be connected to the computer terminal 20 through a network. Examples of the network include, but are not limited to, the Internet, an intranet, a local area network, a mobile communication network, and combinations thereof.

[0038] The transmission device 206 is used to receive or send data via a network. The specific examples of the network can include a wireless network provided by a communication provider of the computer terminal 20. In one example, the transmission device 206 includes a network adapter (NIC), which can be connected to other network devices through a base station so as to communicate with the Internet. In one example, the transmission device 206 can be a radio frequency (RF) module, which is used to communicate with the Internet in a wireless manner.

[0039] The display can be, for example, a touch screen type liquid crystal display (LCD), which can enable a user to interact with the user interface of the computer terminal 20 (or the target device).

[0040] In the above operating environment, Figure 3 is a flowchart of an optional device position determination method according to the embodiments of the present application, as shown in Figure 3 The method at least includes steps S302-S308, wherein:

[0041] In step S302, a plurality of initial signal arrival times and a maximum signal receiving strength in a plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to a plurality of base stations receiving a target signal transmitted by a target device along a plurality of propagation paths are acquired.

[0042] In the technical solution provided in step S302, when the target device transmits a target signal to multiple receiving base stations along multiple propagation paths (including a line-of-sight path and a non-line-of-sight path), the target signal can propagate to the receiving base stations through the line-of-sight path (straight path) and the non-line-of-sight path (non-straight path), so that when each receiving base station receives the target signal, the positioning system can detect multiple initial signal arrival times when the target signal arrives at each receiving base station along different propagation paths and corresponding multiple signal reception strengths (i.e., the initial signal arrival time and the signal reception strength are in a one-to-one correspondence), and filter out the maximum signal reception strength from the multiple signal reception strengths. In addition, the above-mentioned target device can be a communication device in a wireless communication system, which can connect and communicate with a communication network through wireless signals. The target device can be a handheld device such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a vehicle-mounted device, a portable computer, etc.

[0043] As an optional implementation, in the technical solution provided in step S302, since the UTDoA algorithm has high requirements for base station synchronization, and if the time synchronization between base stations is abnormal, the positioning accuracy of the final target device will be greatly reduced. Therefore, the positioning system can synchronize the signals of multiple base stations in a preset manner before obtaining the above-mentioned measurement data. The above-mentioned preset manner includes but is not limited to the following manners:

[0044] (1) Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronization manner: A GPS receiver can receive high-precision time signals from satellites and use them as a reference for the local clock, thereby achieving synchronization between base stations.

[0045] (2) External probe manner: Deploy external probe devices in the 5G synchronization network as needed. The probe device obtains an absolute time reference through GNSS, monitors the synchronization output signal of the network terminal device, and then sends the monitoring result to the central network management to realize real-time monitoring of the synchronization performance of the entire network.

[0046] (3) IEEE 1588 protocol (Precision Time Protocol, PTP): Base stations can synchronize their clocks through the PTP protocol to ensure the consistency of data transmission.

[0047] In addition, the embodiments of the present application can also increase the density of base stations and optimize the layout of base stations to improve the positioning accuracy of the final target device. This is because more base stations can provide more signal measurement data, and through triangulation or multilateration methods, the position of the target device can be more accurately determined. At the same time, reasonable planning of the layout of base stations makes the signal coverage more uniform, reduces the signal blind area, and also helps to improve the accuracy of positioning.

[0048] Step S304, determine the minimum signal arrival time and the maximum signal arrival time within the multiple initial signal arrival times corresponding to the multiple base stations, and determine the reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time.

[0049] In the technical solution provided in step S304, the multiple initial signal arrival times corresponding to the multiple base stations receiving the target signal are arranged in order from small to large (or from large to small) in turn, and the minimum signal arrival time ToA Min and the maximum signal arrival time ToA Max are determined from the obtained arrangement result, and the base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time ToA Min is called the reference base station.

[0050] Step S306, for each base station in the multiple base stations except the reference base station, when the maximum signal receiving strength within the multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the current base station receiving the target signal exceeds the preset signal strength threshold, determine the target signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station and the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength.

[0051] In the technical solution provided in step S306, the positioning system traverses each base station in the multiple base stations except the reference base station (i.e. for i∈(1,...n], i represents the serial number of the base station), and when the maximum signal receiving strength corresponding to the base station receiving the target signal is higher than the preset signal strength threshold (i.e. if(R i,max >R0), R0 represents the signal strength threshold, and R i,max represents the maximum signal strength corresponding to the base station i), it is determined that the maximum signal receiving strength when the base station receives the target signal is obtained through non-line-of-sight path propagation, and since the non-line-of-sight path is often longer than the line-of-sight path, the initial signal arrival time corresponding to the maximum signal receiving strength when the base station receives the target signal is larger. Therefore, if the positioning system directly calculates the signal arrival time difference between the base stations through the initial signal arrival time corresponding to the maximum signal receiving strength, the error of the signal arrival time difference compared to the actual time difference will be larger, which will further lead to a larger error in the subsequent positioning of the position information of the target device using the error larger signal arrival time difference. Therefore, the positioning system can search within the time range from the minimum signal arrival time (denoted as ToA) to the maximum signal arrival time (denoted as ToA n ), and find the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength that is greater than the maximum signal receiving strength within the multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the reference base station receiving the target signal and less than the signal strength threshold (i.e. if(R i >R 1,max &&R i <R0, let Ri,max = R i , where R 1,max represents the maximum signal receiving strength corresponding to the reference base station receiving the target signal, R i represents the target signal receiving strength, and the target signal arrival time (i.e. R i ToA' i ) is taken as the result of correcting the initial signal arrival time (i.e. ToA i ), where there is only one final corrected target signal arrival time for each base station that satisfies the correction condition.

[0052] It should be noted that when setting the signal strength threshold, the signal receiving strengths corresponding to the target device transmitting the target signal along multiple propagation paths should be measured by the receiver in the actual positioning process, so as to ensure that the signal strength threshold can accurately screen the signal receiving strength when the signal propagates through the non-line-of-sight path.

[0053] The correction principle mentioned in step S306 will be briefly described below through the following reasoning process.

[0054] Suppose that the baseband signal transmitted by the target device to the receiving base station is u(t), and the final signal transmitted by the target device is obtained by multiplying the transmitted signal with a high-frequency carrier and taking the real part of the result. Therefore, the final signal transmitted by the target device can be represented by the following formula:

[0055]

[0056] where a n (t) represents the attenuation function of the signal amplitude of different paths, which is mainly determined by the path loss and shadow fading. τ n (t) represents the uplink arrival time difference of the signal transmission path. represents the Doppler phase shift under different paths.

[0057] As can be seen from the above formula, compared with the original baseband signal u(t), the phase change amount of the i-th path signal can be denoted as:

[0058]

[0059] Further, substituting into the expression of r(t), the expression of the received signal is obtained as follows:

[0060]

[0061] Then, the above formula is converted into the form of input signal and channel response convolution, and the following expression is obtained:

[0062]

[0063]

[0064] The received signal in the convolution form above can be understood as: for any transmission time (t-τ), it is possible to contribute to the received signal at time t. c(τ,t) determines the influence of the signal transmitted at a specific time on the received signal at time t, and through convolution with c(τ,t), the time difference between the transmission time and the reception time is determined to be equal to the corresponding time signal of the uplink arrival time difference, and the amplitude attenuation and phase change are given. c(τ,t) represents the signal transmitted at (t-τ) time, and the channel coefficient corresponding to the signal received at time t. c(τ,t) reflects two influencing factors of the time-varying channel:

[0065] (1) Different communication times (t different), corresponding to different channel states

[0066] (2) Different propagation delays (t different), corresponding to different channel states.

[0067] In the simplest case, the channel response c(τ,t) does not change with time, so the channel response is only related to the multipath delay, that is:

[0068]

[0069] In the above simplest case, the amplitude attenuation function α n (t) of the signal of different paths degenerates into a constant α n , and the Doppler phase shift function of different paths degenerates into a constant τ n (t) represents the uplink arrival time difference of the signal propagation path. That is, in this case, only the arrival time difference of the signal path needs to be optimized, so as to weaken the influence of the multipath effect and reduce the error of the UTDoA positioning result and improve the accuracy.

[0070] Step S308, determining the position information of the target device based on at least one target signal arrival time.

[0071] In the technical solution provided in step S308, since the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength after the maximum signal receiving strength of the base station exceeding the preset signal strength threshold is corrected is closer to the signal arrival time when the target signal propagates to the receiving base station along the line-of-sight path, the error of the uplink arrival time difference calculated by at least one target arrival time is also smaller, and thus the position information of the target device finally positioned is more accurate.

[0072] This is because, assuming that the arrival time difference of the signal transmitted by the target device to the receiving reference base station 1 and base station n can be written as:

[0073]

[0074] Among them, x BS,n represents the location information of base station n, x represents the location information of the target device, and n represents the serial number of the receiving base station. Indicates the distance difference between the target device and the nth receiving base station and the first receiving base station, e TDE,n′ =e TDE,n -e TDE,1 Represents the difference between the delay estimation error of the nth base station and the delay estimation error of the first base station.

[0075] It is not difficult to see from the above formula that due to The error is reduced, so that the deviation of the positioning target in the Euclidean distance space ‖x BS,n The error of -x‖ is reduced accordingly, ultimately achieving the goal of improving the positioning accuracy of the target.

[0076] Furthermore, when determining the location information of the target device, since the location information of the target device can be divided into the following three categories according to dimension: one-dimensional location information, two-dimensional location information, and three-dimensional location information, and the amount of data used in the calculation process of each dimension of location information is different, the positioning system can determine the location information of the target device according to the following method, including:

[0077] Step S3081, determining the dimensions of the target device's location information, and determining a preset number of signal arrival times based on the dimensions, where the types of signal arrival times include: initial signal arrival time, target signal arrival time, and the dimensions include: one-dimensional location information, two-dimensional location information, and three-dimensional location information;

[0078] Step S3082: Analyze the arrival times of a preset number of signals using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the location information of the target device.

[0079] Optionally, when the location information is one-dimensional location information, the positioning system may determine the location information of the target device by the following method:

[0080] Method 1: Use the uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze the arrival time of at least one target signal and the arrival time of the initial signal of at least one base station to obtain the location information of the target device.

[0081] Method 2: Use the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm to analyze the arrival times of at least two target signals to obtain the location information of the target device.

[0082] It should be noted that, generally, in determining one-dimensional position information, only two base stations are usually required to participate in positioning calculation, of course, if there are three or more base stations, these base stations can also be used to participate in positioning calculation together.

[0083] Optionally, when the position information is two-dimensional position information, the positioning system can determine the position information of the target device by the following method:

[0084] Method 1: using uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze at least one target signal arrival time and at least two initial signal arrival times to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0085] Method 2: using uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze at least two target signal arrival times and at least one initial signal arrival time of the base station to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0086] Method 3: using uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze at least three target signal arrival times to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0087] It should be noted that, generally, in determining two-dimensional position information, only three base stations are usually required to participate in positioning calculation, of course, if there are four or more base stations, these base stations can also be used to participate in positioning calculation together.

[0088] Optionally, when the position information is three-dimensional position information, the positioning system can determine the position information of the target device by the following method:

[0089] Method 1: using uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze at least one target signal arrival time and at least three initial signal arrival times to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0090] Method 2: using uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze at least two target signal arrival times and at least two initial signal arrival times to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0091] Method 3: using uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze at least three target signal arrival times and at least one initial signal arrival time of the base station to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0092] Method 4: using uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to analyze at least four target signal arrival times to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0093] It should be noted that, generally, in determining three-dimensional position information, only four base stations are usually required to participate in positioning calculation, of course, if there are five or more base stations, these base stations can also be used to participate in positioning calculation together.

[0094] Further, when the positioning system analyzes the preset number of signal arrival times by using the preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm, the specific steps are as follows:

[0095] Step 1: At least one base station pair is constructed from a plurality of base stations, wherein each base station pair includes two base stations;

[0096] Step 2: For each base station pair, the time difference value of the signal arrival times of the two base stations in the base station pair is determined;

[0097] Step 3: A nonlinear equation set is constructed by using the time difference values of the plurality of base station pairs;

[0098] Step 4: The nonlinear equation set is solved to obtain the position information of the target device.

[0099] In the above embodiment, the positioning system needs to calculate the difference (TDoA) of the signal arrival times of each base station pair in the plurality of base stations, and then use mathematical methods such as Gauss-Newton algorithm and CHAN algorithm to solve the position information of the target device, wherein these algorithms usually involve constructing a nonlinear equation set, and solving the position information of the target device by solving the nonlinear equation set, wherein the constructed nonlinear equation set includes at least one equation, and each equation is used to reflect the distance difference between the two base stations in the base station pair and the target device. It should be noted that the above-mentioned uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm is a prior art algorithm, and the specific process of the algorithm is not described in detail in the embodiments of the present application.

[0100] Based on the scheme defined in steps S302 to S308, in an embodiment, the positioning system can obtain the maximum signal receiving strength in the multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the multiple initial signal arrival times when the multiple base stations receive the target signal transmitted by the target device along the multiple propagation paths, and determine the minimum signal arrival time and the maximum signal arrival time in the multiple initial signal arrival times corresponding to the multiple base stations, and determine the reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time. Then, the positioning system can traverse each of the base stations other than the reference base station, and determine that the base station receives the target signal through a non-line-of-sight path when the maximum signal receiving strength in the multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the target signal when the base station receives the target signal is higher than the preset signal strength threshold. Since the non-line-of-sight path is often longer than the line-of-sight path, the initial signal arrival time when the base station receives the target signal is relatively large. Therefore, the positioning system can search in the time range from the minimum signal arrival time to the maximum signal arrival time, find a target signal arrival time corresponding to a target signal receiving strength that is greater than the maximum signal receiving strength in the multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the target signal when the reference base station receives the target signal and less than the signal strength threshold, and use the target signal arrival time as the result of correcting the initial signal arrival time of the base station. Finally, the positioning system can determine the position information of the target device by using at least one target signal arrival time, so as to ensure that the position information of the target device determined finally is more accurate than the position information determined directly by the initial signal arrival time of the base station, thereby effectively solving the technical problem that the related art does not consider the influence of the multipath effect on the positioning result when using the UTDoA positioning technology to determine the position information of the target device, resulting in a large positioning result error.

[0101] Embodiment 2

[0102] Based on the embodiment 1 of the present application, an embodiment of a device position determination apparatus is further provided, which executes the device position determination method of the above-mentioned embodiment when running. Wherein, Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of an optional device position determination apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application, as Figure 4 shown, the device position determination apparatus at least includes an acquisition module 42, a first determination module 44, a second determination module 46 and a third determination module 48, wherein:

[0103] The acquisition module 42 is configured to acquire multiple initial signal arrival times and a maximum signal receiving strength in multiple signal receiving strengths corresponding to the multiple initial signal arrival times when multiple base stations receive a target signal transmitted by a target device along multiple propagation paths.

[0104] The first determination module 44 is configured to determine a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time in the multiple initial signal arrival times corresponding to the multiple base stations, and determine a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time.

[0105] a second determining module 46 configured to determine, for each base station other than the reference base station among the multiple base stations, a target signal reception strength corresponding to the current base station and a target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal reception strength when the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the current base station receives the target signal exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, wherein the target signal reception strength is greater than the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the reference base station receives the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and less than the maximum signal arrival time;

[0106] The third determining module 48 is configured to determine the location information of the target device based on at least one target signal arrival time.

[0107] It should be noted that the various modules in the above-mentioned device location determination device can be program modules (for example, a set of program instructions that implement a certain specific function) or hardware modules. For the latter, it can be expressed in the following forms, but is not limited to this: the expression form of each of the above-mentioned modules is a processor, or the functions of each of the above-mentioned modules are implemented by a processor.

[0108] Example 3

[0109] According to an embodiment of the present application, a non-volatile storage medium is further provided, in which a program is stored. When the program is running, the device where the non-volatile storage medium is located is controlled to execute the device location determination method in Example 1.

[0110] Optionally, the device where the non-volatile storage medium is located implements the following steps by running the program:

[0111] Step S1, obtaining multiple initial signal arrival times and the maximum signal reception strength among multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when multiple base stations receive target signals transmitted by a target device along multiple propagation paths;

[0112] Step S2, determining a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time among a plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to a plurality of base stations, and determining a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time;

[0113] Step S3, for each base station in the plurality of base stations except the reference base station, when the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the current base station receiving the target signal exceeds the preset signal strength threshold, determining the target signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station and the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength, wherein the target signal receiving strength is greater than the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the reference base station receiving the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and is less than the maximum signal arrival time;

[0114] Step S4, determining the position information of the target device based on at least one target signal arrival time.

[0115] According to the embodiments of the present application, a computer program product is also provided, which comprises a stored computer program, wherein the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the device position determination method in Embodiment 1.

[0116] Optionally, the computer program is executed to implement the following steps:

[0117] Step S1, obtaining the plurality of initial signal arrival times and the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths when a plurality of base stations receive a target signal transmitted by a target device along a plurality of propagation paths;

[0118] Step S2, determining the minimum signal arrival time and the maximum signal arrival time in the plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to the plurality of base stations, and determining the reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time;

[0119] Step S3, for each base station in the plurality of base stations except the reference base station, when the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the current base station receiving the target signal exceeds the preset signal strength threshold, determining the target signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station and the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength, wherein the target signal receiving strength is greater than the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the reference base station receiving the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and is less than the maximum signal arrival time;

[0120] Step S4, determining the position information of the target device based on at least one target signal arrival time.

[0121] According to the embodiments of the present application, a processor is also provided, which is used to run a program, wherein the program is executed to implement the device position determination method in Embodiment 1.

[0122] Optionally, the program is executed to implement the following steps:

[0123] Step S1, obtaining multiple initial signal arrival times and the maximum signal reception strength among multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when multiple base stations receive target signals transmitted by a target device along multiple propagation paths;

[0124] Step S2, determining a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time among a plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to a plurality of base stations, and determining a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time;

[0125] Step S3: for each base station other than the reference base station among the multiple base stations, when the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the current base station receives the target signal exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, determining the target signal reception strength corresponding to the current base station and the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal reception strength, wherein the target signal reception strength is greater than the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the reference base station receives the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and less than the maximum signal arrival time;

[0126] Step S4: determining the location information of the target device based on at least one target signal arrival time.

[0127] According to an embodiment of the present application, an electronic device is further provided, wherein: Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an optional electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the electronic device includes one or more processors; a memory for storing one or more programs, which, when executed by one or more processors, enables the one or more processors to run the programs, wherein the programs are configured to execute the device location determination method in the above-mentioned embodiment 1 when running.

[0128] Optionally, the processor is configured to implement the following steps by executing a computer program:

[0129] Step S1, obtaining multiple initial signal arrival times and the maximum signal reception strength among multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when multiple base stations receive target signals transmitted by a target device along multiple propagation paths;

[0130] Step S2, determining a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time among a plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to a plurality of base stations, and determining a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time;

[0131] Step S3, for each base station in the plurality of base stations except the reference base station, when the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the current base station receiving the target signal exceeds the preset signal strength threshold, determining the target signal receiving strength corresponding to the current base station and the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal receiving strength, wherein the target signal receiving strength is greater than the maximum signal receiving strength in the plurality of signal receiving strengths corresponding to the reference base station receiving the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and is less than the maximum signal arrival time;

[0132] Step S4, determining the position information of the target device based on the at least one target signal arrival time.

[0133] The sequence numbers of the embodiments of the present application are only for description, and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments.

[0134] In the above-described embodiments of the present application, the description of each embodiment has its own focus, and the parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment can be referred to the related description of other embodiments.

[0135] In the several embodiments of the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed technology can be implemented in other ways. Of course, the unit embodiment described above is only schematic. For example, the division of the units can be a logical function division, and there can be another division manner in actual implementation, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, and can be electrical or other forms.

[0136] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or they can be distributed on multiple units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment.

[0137] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The above integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional unit.

[0138] The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or the part that essentially contributes to the related art or the whole or part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes a U disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0139] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present application, a number of improvements and refinements can be made, which should also be considered as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for determining a device location, characterized in that: include: Obtaining multiple initial signal arrival times and maximum signal reception strengths among multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when multiple base stations receive target signals transmitted by a target device along multiple propagation paths; Determine a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time among a plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to the plurality of base stations, and determine a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time; For each base station other than the reference base station among the multiple base stations, when the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the current base station receives the target signal exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, determine that the maximum signal reception strength when the current base station receives the target signal is obtained through a non-line-of-sight path propagation, and determine the target signal reception strength corresponding to the current base station and the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal reception strength, wherein the target signal reception strength is greater than the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the reference base station receives the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and less than the maximum signal arrival time; Determining the location information of the target device based on at least one of the target signal arrival times includes: determining the dimension of the location information of the target device, and determining a preset number of signal arrival times based on the dimension, wherein the type of the signal arrival time includes at least the target signal arrival time, and the dimension includes: one-dimensional location information, two-dimensional location information, and three-dimensional location information; using a preset uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm to analyze the preset number of signal arrival times to obtain the location information of the target device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before obtaining multiple initial signal arrival times and maximum signal reception strengths among multiple signal reception strengths when multiple base stations receive target signals transmitted by the target device along multiple propagation paths, the method further includes: Signal synchronization is performed on the multiple base stations in a preset manner, wherein the preset manner includes at least one of the following: a global positioning system satellite signal, an external probe.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Analyzing the arrival times of the preset number of signals using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the location information of the target device includes: When the location information is one-dimensional location information, analyzing at least one target signal arrival time and at least one initial signal arrival time using the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm to obtain the location information of the target device; Alternatively, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze the arrival times of at least two target signals to obtain the location information of the target device.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein Analyzing the arrival times of the preset number of signals using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the location information of the target device includes: When the location information is two-dimensional location information, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze at least one target signal arrival time and at least two initial signal arrival times to obtain the location information of the target device; Alternatively, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze at least two target signal arrival times and at least one initial signal arrival time to obtain the location information of the target device; Alternatively, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze the arrival times of at least three target signals to obtain the location information of the target device.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein Analyzing the arrival times of the preset number of signals using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the location information of the target device includes: When the location information is three-dimensional location information, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze at least one target signal arrival time and at least three initial signal arrival times to obtain the location information of the target device; Alternatively, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze the arrival times of at least two target signals and at least two initial signal arrival times to obtain the location information of the target device; Alternatively, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze at least three target signal arrival times and at least one initial signal arrival time to obtain the location information of the target device; Alternatively, the uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm is used to analyze the arrival times of at least four target signals to obtain the location information of the target device.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Analyzing the arrival times of the preset number of signals using a preset uplink time difference of arrival positioning algorithm to obtain the location information of the target device includes: Constructing at least one base station pair using the multiple base stations, wherein each base station pair includes two base stations; For each base station pair, determining a time difference in arrival times of signals from two base stations in the base station pair; Constructing a nonlinear equation group using the time differences of the plurality of base station pairs, wherein the nonlinear equation group includes at least one equation, and each equation corresponds to the base station pair; Solve the nonlinear equations to obtain the location information of the target device.

7. A device for determining a device position, characterized in that: include: An acquisition module, configured to acquire multiple initial signal arrival times and a maximum signal reception strength among multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to target signals transmitted by a target device when multiple base stations receive the target signals along multiple propagation paths; A first determining module is configured to determine a minimum signal arrival time and a maximum signal arrival time among a plurality of initial signal arrival times corresponding to the plurality of base stations, and determine a reference base station corresponding to the minimum signal arrival time; A second determination module is configured to, for each base station other than the reference base station among the multiple base stations, determine that the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the current base station receives the target signal is obtained through a non-line-of-sight path propagation, and determine the target signal reception strength corresponding to the current base station and the target signal arrival time corresponding to the target signal reception strength, when the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the current base station receives the target signal exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, wherein the target signal reception strength is greater than the maximum signal reception strength among the multiple signal reception strengths corresponding to when the reference base station receives the target signal and is less than the signal strength threshold, and the target signal arrival time is greater than the minimum signal arrival time and less than the maximum signal arrival time; A third determination module is used to determine the location information of the target device based on at least one of the target signal arrival times, including: determining the dimension of the location information of the target device, and determining a preset number of signal arrival times based on the dimension, wherein the type of the signal arrival time includes at least the target signal arrival time, and the dimension includes: one-dimensional location information, two-dimensional location information, and three-dimensional location information; using a preset uplink arrival time difference positioning algorithm to analyze the preset number of signal arrival times to obtain the location information of the target device.

8. A non-volatile storage medium, characterized in that: The non-volatile storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the device where the non-volatile storage medium is located executes the device location determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 by running the computer program.

9. A computer program product, characterized in that include: A computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the device position determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is implemented.

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