Low Latency Location Service via User Plane Signaling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current location solutions for wireless networks have high latency, typically ranging from 5 to 10 seconds, and none are known to achieve latency consistently less than 1 second, which is required for applications like smart factories, drones, and public safety responses.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using control plane signaling for location requests from an external client, with the user equipment (UE) sending downlink location measurements to a serving base station at periodic intervals. The serving base station calculates the UE's location using these measurements and sends it to the external client via user plane signaling to minimize delay.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If current location solutions are used in wireless networks, then location service is provided, but latency is high (5 to 10 seconds or more)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the location determination process into multiple parallel measurement types (downlink location measurements from UE to serving BS, and additional location measurements from UE and BSs to serving BS). These segmented measurement streams are processed independently and combined to achieve both low latency and high accuracy, resolving the contradiction between fast location determination and accurate location maintenance.
2Loss of time
If location measurements are sent at shorter periodic intervals, then latency is reduced, but network signaling overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the serving base station multi-functional by combining location measurement collection, location calculation, and user plane signaling capabilities in a single node. This universal approach allows the serving BS to efficiently handle multiple measurement types from multiple sources without requiring additional dedicated infrastructure, reducing overall network signaling overhead while maintaining low latency through rapid processing.
3Loss of time
If user plane signaling is used for location reporting, then latency is reduced, but control plane signaling complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces the serving base station as an intermediary that receives control plane location requests, collects measurements from multiple sources, performs location calculations, and then uses user plane signaling to report results to the external client. This intermediary approach translates complex control plane operations into simpler user plane reporting, reducing end-to-end latency while managing signaling complexity through centralized processing.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An external client requests the location of a UE using control plane signaling. The UE sends downlink location measurements, such as Reference Signal Time Differences, for a plurality of base stations (BSs) to a serving BS at a layer 1 or layer 2 protocol level and at first periodic intervals. The UE and the plurality of BSs send additional location measurements, such as receive time-transmission time differences, to the serving BS at second periodic intervals, which are longer than the first periodic intervals. The serving BS uses the additional location measurements and downlink location measurements to determine timing information, such as Real Time Differences, for the plurality of BSs. The serving BS determines the location of the UE using the downlink location measurements and the timing information at the first periodic intervals and sends the location to the external client using user plane signaling to reduce delay.