Wireless Time Synchronization via Timing Offset Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communications systems face challenges in achieving high-accuracy time synchronization between base stations and terminal devices, leading to significant positioning errors that exceed the requirements of 5G systems, particularly due to synchronization errors between base stations and terminal devices.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for time synchronization in a wireless communications system, where a first node sends a reference signal to a second node, calculates the time of arrival (TOA) and timing error (Toffset) based on arrival and sending times of reference signals, and uses this information for timing compensation to improve synchronization accuracy between base stations and terminal devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If time synchronization is implemented between base stations and terminal devices, then positioning accuracy is improved, but system complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the terminal device measures the timing error between base station and terminal clocks, calculates the timing offset, and feeds back this information to the base station. The base station then uses this feedback to adjust its timing, creating a closed-loop synchronization system that improves positioning accuracy while managing complexity through collaborative adjustment rather than requiring perfect pre-synchronization
Solution Approach 2:
The terminal device performs self-measurement of the timing error by comparing the base station's transmitted timing information with its own local clock. This self-service approach allows the terminal to independently characterize the synchronization state without requiring the base station to actively monitor or control the terminal's timing, reducing the burden on the network side while maintaining positioning accuracy
2Measurement precision
If high-accuracy time synchronization is required between base stations, then positioning accuracy is improved, but synchronization implementation difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical/electrical synchronization systems with a signal-based timing exchange mechanism. Instead of using precise physical synchronization cables or complex hardware timing distribution systems, the base station transmits timing information through standard wireless signals, and the terminal performs timing error measurement and compensation through signal processing algorithms, significantly simplifying the physical synchronization infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the approach from controlling the timing parameter directly at the base station to measuring and compensating for timing errors as a variable parameter. By treating the timing offset as a measurable quantity that can be determined through signal exchange and processed by the terminal, the system transforms a difficult control problem into a more manageable measurement and compensation problem
3Measurement precision
If timing error measurement is performed between base station and terminal, then positioning accuracy is improved, but data transmission time is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs timing error measurement and compensation in advance of the actual positioning operation. The terminal device measures the timing offset between base station and terminal clocks beforehand, stores this compensation information, and applies it during subsequent positioning measurements. This preliminary action ensures that when positioning is needed, the timing error is already compensated, avoiding the need for time-consuming real-time measurement during the critical positioning moment
Data Source
AI summary
This application relates to the field of communications technologies, and provides a time synchronization method and an apparatus, to perform positioning and/or timing error measurement on a target terminal in a wireless communications system, so as to avoid a relatively large positioning error caused by a timing error between the target terminal and a base station. The method is used in a wireless positioning system, where the wireless positioning system includes a first node and a second node, and the method includes: The first node receives an arrival time t2 of a first reference signal and a sending time t3 of a second reference signal that are sent by a second node, where the first reference signal is sent by the first node, and the second reference signal is sent by the second node.