Positioning system and method

Claim 1

For use in a wireless communication system including a plurality of base stations each having a corresponding coverage area, a method for determining the position of a mobile unit, comprising: for each of the base stations, determining in cooperation with a receiver, a plurality of RF measurements for the base station, for a predetermined plurality of distances and directions; for each of the base stations, modeling its determined RF measurements as a scaled contour shape having minimum and maximum boundaries which is capable of being projected on a Graphical Information System (GIS); determining RF measurements from neighboring base stations; and determining where the corresponding contours of the RF measurements from neighboring base stations intersect so as to define a bounding polygon area that describes the position of the mobile unit in terms of a minimum and maximum error estimate.

Claim 21

A method of routing selected Personal Communications System (PCS) telephone calls from mobile units along with location information, comprising: providing a plurality of Radio Ports (RPs), each of the RPs operative to receive calls originating from a plurality of said mobile units over air interface channels; providing a Radio Port Controller (RPC) in electrical communication with the RPs; providing a location databank operative to store real-time RF measurements for each of the RPs. providing a Location Adjunct Processor (LAP) in electrical communication with the location databank and the RPC; generating a Trap -- Calls -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by said RPs for each type of call sought to be trapped by the RPC, the Trap -- Calls -- Request message containing a bit pattern specifying call type and a flag indicating whether or not the RP should suspend the call while the LAP is determining location; when one of the RPs receives a call type that matches the bit pattern specified in the Trap -- Calls -- Request message, generating a Trap -- Satisfied message for receipt by the LAP, the Trap -- Calls -- Request message including call type, RP ID and a transaction ID that the RPC and the LAP will use during the remainder of location processing; Generating a Get -- SU -- Data -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by the RPC; identifying the mobile unit that originated the call by reference to the transaction ID and generating a layer 2 REQ -- SU -- RF -- DATA message at the RPC for receipt by the SU; generating a Get -- NRPL -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by the RPC to obtain a list of the neighboring RPs surrounding the SU; generating a Get -- NRPL -- Reply message at the RPC for receipt by the LAP, the Get -- NRPL -- Reply containing a list of RP IDs and each RP's status and operating frequency; generating a Get -- Uplink -- Data -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by the RPC for each of the RPs in the neighboring RP list; generating a layer 2 REQ -- RP -- RF -- DATA message at the RPC for receipt by each of the neighboring RPs, as requested by the LAP, the layer 2 REQ -- RP -- RF -- DATA message specifying the particular mobile unit and its current transmission frequency; instantaneously instructing each of the neighboring RPs to tune to the mobile units transmitting frequency, taking predetermined RF measurements for each RP, link budget, and generating a layer 2 RP -- RF -- DATA message at each of the neighboring RPs to report the RF measurements to the RPC; generating multiple Get -- Uplink -- Data -- Reply messages at the RPC to forward the RP measurements to the LAP; generating multiple layer 2 SU -- RF -- DATA messages at the mobile unit for receipt by the RPC; generating multiple Get -- SU -- Data -- Reply messages at the RPC to forward the RF measurements to the LAP; and determining location at the LAP in accordance with the RF measurements and generating a SU -- Location message for receipt by the RPC, the SU -- Location message including location coordinates and corresponding street addresses.

Claim 22

A method of routing selected Personal Communications System (PCS) telephone calls from mobile units along with location information, comprising: providing a plurality of Radio Ports (RPs), each of the RPs operative to receive calls originating from a plurality of said mobile units over air interface channels; providing a Radio Port Controller (RPC) in electrical communication with the RPs; providing a location databank operative to store real-time RF measurements for each of the RPs. providing a Location Adjunct Processor (LAP) in electrical communication with the location databank and the RPC; generating a Trap -- Calls -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by said RPs for each type of call sought to be trapped by the RPC, the Trap -- Calls -- Request message containing a bit pattern specifying call type and a flag indicating whether or not the RP should suspend the call while the LAP is determining location; when one of the RPs receives a call type that matches the bit pattern specified in the Trap -- Calls -- Request message, generating a Trap -- Satisfied message for receipt by the LAP, the Trap -- Calls -- Request message including call type, RP ID and a transaction ID that the RPC and the LAP will use during the remainder of location processing; Generating a Get -- SU -- Data -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by the RPC; identifying the mobile unit that originated the call by reference to the transaction ID and generating a layer 2 REQ -- SU -- RF -- DATA message at the RPC for receipt by the SU; generating a Get -- NRPL -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by the RPC to obtain a list of the neighboring RPs surrounding the SU; generating a Get -- NRPL -- Reply message at the RPC for receipt by the LAP, the Get -- NRPL -- Reply containing a list of RP IDs and each RP's status and operating frequency; generating a Get -- Uplink -- Data -- Request message at the LAP for receipt by the RPC for each of the RPs in the neighboring RP list; generating a layer 2 REQ -- RP -- RF -- DATA message at the RPC for receipt by each of the neighboring RPs, as requested by the LAP, the layer 2 REQ -- RP -- RF -- DATA message specifying the particular mobile unit and its current transmission frequency; instantaneously instructing each of the neighboring RPs to tune to the mobile units transmitting frequency, taking predetermined RF measurements for each RP, link budget, and generating a layer 2 RP -- RF -- DATA message at each of the neighboring RPs to report the RF measurements to the RPC; generating multiple Get -- Uplink -- Data -- Reply messages at the RPC to forward the RP measurements to the LAP; generating multiple layer 2 SU -- RF -- DATA messages at the mobile unit for receipt by the RPC; generating multiple Get -- SU -- Data -- Reply messages at the RPC to forward the RF measurements to the LAP; and determining location at the LAP in accordance with the RF measurements and generating a SU -- Location message for receipt by the RPC, the SU -- Location message including location coordinates and corresponding street addresses.