Crowdsourced SIB Time Transfer for Faster GNSS Fixes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication systems, particularly 5G NR, face challenges in improving positioning latency, accuracy, and reliability of system information blocks (SIB9/SIB16) for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) devices, which are crucial for asset tracking and IoT devices.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that crowdsources SIB9/SIB16 data from a group of user equipments (UEs), collecting information on availability, transmission type, time uncertainty, and reliability, and provides this data to other UEs for enhanced decoding and power-efficient GNSS fix wake-ups, allowing UEs to obtain SIB9/SIB16 from alternate sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If UEs decode SIB9/SIB16 directly from network broadcasts, then positioning accuracy is improved, but power consumption increases due to continuous monitoring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having UEs decode SIB9/SIB16 in advance when in coverage of a serving cell, store the decoded information locally, and reuse it for GNSS wake-up events. This pre-decoding approach eliminates the need for continuous monitoring during idle periods, significantly reducing power consumption while maintaining positioning accuracy when needed.
2Loss of time
If UEs continuously monitor for SIB9/SIB16 broadcasts, then time-to-fix is reduced, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-decoding SIB9/SIB16 during periods when the UE is in network coverage and actively served by a cell. The decoded timing information is stored and immediately available for rapid GNSS time-to-fix when the UE wakes up, eliminating the need for continuous monitoring while maintaining fast time-to-fix performance.
3Reliability
If SIB9/SIB16 information is made available through multiple sources, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the SIB information management into distinct components: serving cell SIB decoding, non-serving cell SIB acquisition, information storage, and selection logic. This modular approach allows the UE to systematically manage multiple SIB sources without overwhelming complexity, improving reliability through diverse information sources while maintaining manageable device architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects presented herein may enable a user equipment (UE) to obtain and utilize crowdsourced system information block (SIB) data from a server do determine whether to decode SIB to improve the overall performance of positioning and power consumption. In one aspect, a UE receives, from a network entity, a portion of information related to a SIB based on a position of the UE, where the SIB is associated with a time transfer, where the information related to the SIB includes at least one of: an availability of the SIB, a type of the SIB, a transmitting interval of the SIB, a time uncertainty (TUNC) associated with the SIB, a time error associated with the SIB, or a reliability of a serving cell timing. The UE decodes the SIB based on the portion of the information.