Multiple Timing Advance Measurements for IoT Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current coverage area-based positioning techniques for IoT devices are inaccurate and consume significant power, necessitating a more accurate and power-efficient solution.
Innovation Solution
The method involves obtaining multiple timing advance measurements from different serving cells to determine a location estimate, which can be done by a server, server cloud, or base station, using processors to process these measurements and improve the accuracy of location determination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If coverage area-based positioning techniques are used for IoT devices, then power consumption is reduced, but location accuracy deteriorates (accuracy from hundreds of meters to kilometers)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple positioning techniques by integrating timing advance measurements from multiple serving cells with coverage area-based positioning. This merging allows the system to maintain the low power consumption benefits of coverage-area methods while improving location accuracy through the additional timing information from multiple cells
Solution Approach 2:
The timing advance measurement mechanism, originally designed for uplink synchronization in cellular networks, is repurposed for positioning purposes. This multi-functional use of existing infrastructure enables accurate location estimation without requiring additional dedicated positioning hardware or increasing power consumption of IoT devices
2Measurement precision
If multiple timing advance measurements from multiple serving cells are obtained, then location accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network infrastructure automatically provides timing advance measurements to the positioning system without requiring active participation or additional processing by the IoT device. The device simply reports received signal information, and the network calculates and provides the timing advance measurements, thereby avoiding increased device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The network acts as an intermediary that collects timing advance measurements from multiple serving cells and processes this information centrally. This mediates the complexity by moving the computationally intensive measurement processing from the resource-constrained IoT device to the network infrastructure
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus are provided for obtaining and using multiple timing advance measurements for positioning purposes. A first timing advance measurement is obtained. The first timing advance measurement is indicative of a measurement based on one or more signals of a first serving cell. A second timing advance measurement is also obtained. The second timing advance measurement is indicative of a measurement based on one or more signals of a second serving cell. A location estimate is determined based at least partially on the first timing advance measurement and the second timing advance measurement.