Method and apparatus for geographic positioning
View Patent ↗Aspects of the disclosure provide methods for positioning transmitting stations, such as cell towers. Further, aspects of the disclosure provide a database for storing information of the transmitting stations. In addition, aspects of the disclosure provide methods for positioning a moving object having a receiver based on the database of the transmitting stations and wireless signals transmitted by the transmitting stations. The methods increase in-transit location visibility of shipment while reducing GNSS usage, and thus reduce power consumption. The methods allow positioning receiving stations when GNSS signals may not be available, such as due to interference.
1. A method for geographically positioning a receiver, comprising:
storing, with the receiver, a location database of station devices fixed on earth surface according to routes of the receiver;
receiving wireless signals from one or more station devices at a location on a route;
obtaining identifications of the station devices from the wireless signals;
searching the location database to obtain locations of the station devices based on the identifications; and
determining location coordinates of the receiver based on the locations of the station devices and Doppler-frequency shifts of the wireless signals.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing, with the receiver, the location database of station devices fixed on earth surface according to routes of the receiver, further comprises:
storing, with the receiver, a plurality of station devices in a linked list corresponding to a route of the receiver.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the location of the receiver based on the location of the station devices and the Doppler frequency shifts of the wireless signals further comprises:
determining the location of the receiver according to at least one of a trilateration algorithm, a centroid algorithm and a fingerprinting algorithm.
4. A method for geographically positioning a transmitting station, comprising:
receiving, by a moving receiver, wireless signals from the transmitting station at a plurality of locations on a route near the transmitting station;
determining geographic location information of the plurality of locations corresponding to the received wireless signals; and
determining motion information of the moving receiver at the plurality of locations while receiving the wireless signal;
determining location coordinates of the transmitting station based on the motion information at the plurality of locations and Doppler-frequency shifts of the wireless signals.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the geographic location information of the plurality of locations corresponding to the received wireless signals, further comprises:
determining the geographic location information based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS).
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
obtaining an identification of the transmitting station from the wireless signals; and
updating a linked list corresponding to the route with a node corresponding to the transmitting station having the identification and the determined location information.
7. A geographic positioning device, comprising:
a memory unit configured to store a location database of station devices fixed on earth surface according to routes of the geographic positioning device;
a receiver module configured to receive wireless signals from one or more station devices;
a processor module configured to identify the station devices based on the wireless signals, search the location database to obtain locations of the station devices, and determine location of the geographic positioning device based on the locations of the station devices and Doppler-frequency shifts of the wireless signals.
8. The geographic positioning device of claim 7 , further comprising:
a transmitter module configured to transmit a wireless signal including the determined location.
9. The geographic positioning device of claim 7 , wherein the memory unit is configured to store a plurality of linked lists corresponding to a plurality of routes, and nodes in the linked lists correspond to the station devices.
10. The geographic positioning device of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to obtain an identification of a station device from a data packet decoded from a wireless signal emitted from the station device.
11. The geographic positioning device of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the location of the geographic positioning device according to at least one of a trilateration algorithm, a centroid algorithm and a fingerprinting algorithm.
12. A geographic positioning device for positing a transmitting station, comprising:
a receiver module configured to receive wireless signals from the transmitting station at a plurality of locations on a route near the transmitting station;
a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) configured to determine geographic location information and motion information of the geographic positioning device at the plurality of locations; and
a processor configured to determine a location of the transmitting station based on the geographic location information and the motion information at the plurality of locations and Doppler-frequency shifts of the wireless signals.
13. The geographic positioning device of claim 12 , further comprising:
a memory unit configured to store the Doppler frequency shifts corresponding to the plurality of locations.
14. The geographic positioning device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the location of the transmitting station off-line based on data in the memory unit.