SFN Transmitter Embedding for Wireless Location
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current location determination methods in wireless communication networks, particularly in Single Frequency Networks (SFNs), require significant resources and dedicated hardware, leading to increased costs and power consumption, and often rely on expensive satellite-based GPS systems, which are inefficient and costly for low-cost devices.
Innovation Solution
The method involves embedding transmitter-specific information within data frames transmitted in an SFN, using orthogonal matrices like Walsh-Hadamard matrices to weight the data, allowing receivers to uniquely identify individual base stations and perform location determination without the need for specialized hardware or complex decoding architectures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional location determination methods are used in SFN, then location services can be provided, but significant hardware resources and dedicated GPS receivers are required, leading to increased costs and power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the location determination capability from dedicated GPS hardware and implements it through software processing of existing wireless signals. By extracting and processing transmitter-specific information already present in the wireless data frames, the system achieves location services without requiring separate GPS receivers or specialized hardware, thereby reducing device complexity and power consumption while maintaining location accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the existing wireless communication infrastructure universal by enabling it to perform both data transmission and location determination functions. The same wireless data frames that carry communication data also contain embedded transmitter information that can be processed for location services, eliminating the need for separate dedicated location determination hardware and reducing overall system complexity
2Measurement precision
If transmitter-specific information is embedded in data frames, then individual base stations can be uniquely identified for location determination, but the data frame structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the location determination function with the existing data frame structure by embedding transmitter-specific information directly into the data frames that are already being transmitted for communication purposes. This integration allows the same data frames to serve dual purposes: carrying communication data and providing location information, thereby avoiding the need for separate complex identification systems while maintaining accurate base station identification
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus enabling a wireless network to generate data that can be used by a receiver (e.g., UE) to resolve the contributions of individual transmitters, such as to determine its location without resort to external devices such as GPS satellites. In one embodiment, the wireless network comprises a single frequency network (SFN), and a unique base station identifier is embedded within the data, and encoded in a manner which allows the UE to calculate path characteristics (such as path latency, and Direction of Arrival) to triangulate its position. In one variant, the data encoding comprises weighting frames of data from different base stations using an orthogonal matrix. Advantageously, the encoding and embedded identifier are also transparent to legacy UE, thereby allowing for implementation with no infrastructure or UE modifications other than software. Network and user apparatus implementing these methodologies, and methods of doing business, are also disclosed.