Muting indication to enable improved time difference of arrival measurements

1. A method for measuring a time difference of arrival measurement in a mobile network, comprising:

receiving a muting status indication in at least one of a system information block and a positioning assistance data set of a radio resource control signal;

making a status determination of a muting status of a neighbor base station, where the status determination includes inferring that the muting status is inactive based on the received muting status indication;

receiving a positioning reference signal transmitted from the neighbor base station;

determining a time difference of arrival of the neighbor base station transmission based on the received positioning reference signal and based on the muting status; and

sending a time difference of arrival report to the serving base station based on the determined time difference of arrival,

wherein receiving a muting status indication comprises receiving a positioning assistance data from a serving base station, wherein the positioning assistance data includes at least a physical cell identifier corresponding to a neighbor base station, a muting status applicable to a positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station, and a neighbor cell search offset applicable to a positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station, where the muting status applicable to the positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station follows a scheduled pattern,

wherein making a status determination comprises making a status determination of a muting status of the positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station based on the positioning assistance data, where the status determination includes inferring that the muting of positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station is inactive, and

wherein determining a time difference of arrival comprises determining a time difference of arrival of the neighbor base station transmission based on the received positioning reference signal, the muting status, and the neighbor cell search offset.

2. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the status determination includes determining that the muting status is active, and

wherein the method further comprises applying a muting threshold test to a neighbor base station reading if the muting status is active.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

combining the neighbor base station reading into a position measurement upon passing the muting threshold test.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

making a configuration determination based on the neighbor cell search offset determining if the mobile network is a synchronous network or an asynchronous network.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

applying a configuration threshold test to the neighbor cell search offset to make the configuration determination.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

inferring that the muting status is inactive if part of the synchronous network.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

inferring that the muting status is active if part of the asynchronous network.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a network autonomous muting status indication referencing the mobile network.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a serving base station transmission corresponding to a radio resource control signal.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a station autonomous muting status indication referencing the neighbor base station from a serving transmission.

11. A user communication device for measuring a time difference of arrival measurement in a mobile network, comprising:

a transceiver that receives a muting status indication in at least one of a system information block and a positioning assistance data set of a radio resource control signal and receives a positioning reference signal transmitted from a neighbor base station; and

a processor that makes a status determination of a muting status of a neighbor base station based on the received muting status indication, where the status determination includes inferring that the muting status is inactive, where the processor determines a time difference of arrival of the neighbor base station transmission based on the received positioning reference signal and based on the muting status, and where the processor sends a time difference of arrival report to the serving base station,

wherein the transceiver receives a muting status indication by receiving a positioning assistance data from a serving base station, where the positioning assistance data includes at least a physical cell identifier corresponding to a neighbor base station, a muting status applicable to a positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station, and a neighbor cell search offset applicable to a positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station, where the muting status applicable to the positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station follows a scheduled pattern,

wherein the processor makes a status determination by making a status determination of a muting status of the positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station based on the positioning assistance data, where the status determination includes inferring that the muting of positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station is inactive, and

wherein the processor determines a time difference of arrival by determining a time difference of arrival of the neighbor base station transmission based on the received positioning reference signal, the muting status, and the neighbor cell search offset.

12. The user communication device of claim 11 , wherein the processor applies a muting threshold test to a neighbor base station reading if the muting status is active.

13. The user communication device of claim 11 , wherein the processor making a configuration determination based on a serving transmission determining if the mobile network is a synchronous network or an asynchronous network.

14. The user communication device of claim 13 , wherein the processor applies a configuration threshold test to a neighbor base station search offset to make the configuration determination.

15. The user communication device of claim 13 , wherein the processor infers that the muting status of the neighbor base station is active if part of the asynchronous network.

16. The user communication device of claim 11 ,

wherein the transceiver receives a serving transmission from a serving base station, and

wherein the serving transmission has a network muting status indication to indicate the muting status for the mobile network.

17. A serving base station for measuring a time difference of arrival measurement in a mobile network, comprising:

a transceiver that sends a position assistance data to a user communication device; and

a processor processes the positioning assistance data for transmission by the transceiver, where the positioning assistance data includes at least a physical cell identifier corresponding to a neighbor base station, a muting status applicable to a positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station, and a neighbor cell search offset applicable to a positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station, where the muting status applicable to the positioning reference signal transmission from the neighbor base station follows a scheduled pattern,

wherein the transceiver receives a time difference of arrival report from the user communication device, where the time difference of arrival report is based on a muting status, based on the neighbor cell search offset, and based on a positioning reference signal received at the user communication device from the neighbor base station, where the muting status is based on the positioning assistance data and based on an inferred muting of the positioning reference signal transmission, and

wherein the processor encodes the muting status indication in at least one of a system information block and a positioning assistance data set of a radio resource control signal and the transceiver sends a serving transmission with the encoded muting status indication.

18. The base station of claim 17 , wherein the muting status is a network muting status indication referencing the mobile network.

19. The base station of claim 17 , wherein the muting status is a station muting status indication referencing the neighbor base station.

20. The base station of claim 17 , wherein the serving transmission corresponds to a radio resource control signal.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

making a configuration determination based on the neighbor cell search offset determining if the mobile network is a synchronous network or an asynchronous network.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:

applying a configuration threshold test to the neighbor base station search offset to make the configuration determination.