System and method for measuring and locating a mobile station signal in a wireless communication system

Abstract

A communication system comprises a reference base station which collects one or more signal features of a mobile station signal. The reference base station determines a first location parameter of the mobile station signal it receives. The reference base station forwards the signal features to an auxiliary base station. Using the signal features, the auxiliary base station creates a replica of the mobile station signal as transmitted by the mobile station. The auxiliary base station correlates the replica with a same mobile station signal as received at the auxiliary base station in order to determine a second set of signal features. The auxiliary base station uses the second set of signal features to determine a second location parameter. The position of the mobile station is determined using the first and second location parameters. The process may be repeated at a plurality of auxiliary base stations and for a plurality of different location parameters in order to improve the accuracy of the determination of mobile station location.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of measuring transmission of transmitter within a communication system, the method comprising the steps of: 
 collecting a first set of one or more signal features of a first transmitter signal received at a first receiver;    forwarding said first set of signal features to a second receiver;    creating a replica of said first transmitter signal at said second receiver in response to said first set of signal features;    correlating said replica with a second transmitter signal received at said second receiver; and    determining a second set of one or more signal features for said second transmitter signal as received at said second receiver.    
     
     
         2 . The method of    claim 1   , further comprising the steps of: 
 determining a first location parameter of said first transmitter signal in response to said first set of signal features;    determining a second location parameter of said second transmitter signal in response to said second set of signal features; and    estimating a position of said transmitter in response to said first and second location parameters.    
     
     
         3 . The method of    claim 2   , wherein said first receiver communicates with said transmitter.  
     
     
         4 . The method of    claim 2   , wherein said transmitter is within a coverage area corresponding to said reference first receiver.  
     
     
         5 . The method of    claim 2   , wherein said first receiver receives said transmitter signals at a higher signal to noise ratio than any other receiver in said communication system.  
     
     
         6 . An apparatus for measuring a mobile station transmission within a communication system comprising: 
 means for collecting a first set of one or more signal features of a first mobile station signal received at a reference base station;    means for forwarding said first set of signal features to an auxiliary base station;    means for creating a replica of said first mobile station signal at said auxiliary base station in response to said first set of signal features;    means for correlating said replica with a second mobile station signal received at said auxiliary base station in order to determine a second set of one or more signal features for said mobile station signal as received at said auxiliary base station;    means responsive to said first set of signal features for determining a first location parameter of said first mobile station signal;    means responsive to said second set of signal features for determining a second location parameter of said second mobile station signal; and    means for estimating a position of said mobile station in response to said first and second location parameters.    
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of    claim 6   , wherein said reference base station receives said mobile station signal at a higher signal to noise ratio than any other base station in said communication system.  
     
     
         8 . A method of determining the location of a mobile station within a communication system comprising the steps of: 
 collecting a first set of one or more signal features of a first mobile station signal received at a reference base station;    forwarding said first set of signal features to an auxiliary base station;    searching for a second mobile station signal received at said auxiliary base station in order to determine a second set of one or more signal features for said mobile station signal as received at said auxiliary base station, wherein a range over which said searching occurs is limited in response to said first set of signal features;    determining a first location parameter of said first mobile station signal;    determining a second location parameter of said second mobile station signal in response to said second set of signal features; and    estimating a position of said mobile station in response to said first and second location parameters.    
     
     
         9 . In a system in which a remote unit communicates with a servicing base station, an auxiliary base station comprising: 
 a sample storage module for storing a set of samples of a mobile station signal;    a replica generation module for creating a replica of said mobile station signal in response to a first set of one or more signal features received from said servicing base station;    a correlation module coupled to said sample storage module and to said replica generation module, creating a second set of one or more signal features for said mobile station signal as received at said auxiliary base station; and    a location parameter generation module coupled to said correlation module for generating location parameters of said mobile station in response to said second set of signal features.