Granted Patent B2

US 9,494,692 · App. 13/626,660 · Granted Nov 15, 2016

Abstract

Claims (32)

1. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:

in a wireless communication device having a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signal receiver path:

receiving LEO RF satellite signals utilizing said LEO satellite signal receiver path;

determining a location of said wireless communication device utilizing said received LEO RF satellite signals received by said LEO satellite signal receiver path; and

configuring circuitry in said LEO satellite signal receiver path in a powered down state when said circuitry is not needed for receiving LEO RF satellite signals, based on a sleep schedule, said sleep schedule being based at least in part on satellite availability information received from a reference receiver external to said wireless communication device and on relative strengths of signals received from a plurality of LEO satellites, said relative strengths compared utilizing a sort module in a LEO demodulator in said LEO satellite signal receiver path.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a desired accuracy of said determined location.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a relevance factor generated by a position engine and communicated to said sort module.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said sleep schedule is received from a server.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a desired power level of said wireless communication device.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a battery level in said wireless device.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said wireless communication device also comprises a medium Earth orbit satellite signal receiver path.

8. The method according to claim 1 , comprising processing in-phase and quadrature signals in said LEO satellite signal receiver path.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said wireless communication device is controlled by a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) central processing unit (CPU).

10. A system for wireless communication, the system comprising:

one or more circuits for use in a wireless communication device comprising a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signal receiver path, said one or more circuits being operable to:

receive LEO RF satellite signals utilizing said LEO satellite signal receiver path;

determine a location of said wireless communication device utilizing said received LEO RF satellite signals received by said LEO satellite signal receiver path; and

configure circuitry in said LEO satellite signal receiver path in a powered down state when not needed for receiving LEO RF satellite signals, based on a sleep schedule, said sleep schedule being based at least in part on satellite availability information received from a reference receiver external to said wireless communication device and on relative strengths of signals received from a plurality of LEO satellites, said relative strengths compared utilizing a sort module in a LEO demodulator in said LEO satellite signal receiver path.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a desired accuracy of said determined location.

12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a relevance factor generated by a position engine and communicated to said sort module.

13. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said sleep schedule is received from a server.

14. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a desired power level of said wireless communication device.

15. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said sleep schedule is based on a battery level in said wireless device.

16. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said wireless communication device also comprises a medium Earth orbit satellite signal receiver path.

17. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said wireless communication device is controlled by a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) central processing unit (CPU).

18. A system for wireless communication, the system comprising:

one or more circuits for use in a wireless communication device comprising a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite signal receiver path and a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signal receiver path, said one or more circuits being operable to:

receive LEO RF satellite signals utilizing said LEO satellite signal receiver path and MEO RF satellite signals utilizing said MEO satellite signal receiver path;

determine a location of said wireless communication device utilizing MEO signals received by said MEO satellite signal receiver path and LEO signals received by said LEO satellite signal receiver path; and

configure circuitry in said LEO satellite signal receiver path or said MEO satellite signal receiver path in a powered down state when not needed for receiving RF satellite signals, based on a sleep schedule, said sleep schedule being based at least in part on satellite availability information received from a reference receiver external to said wireless communication device and on relative strengths of signals received from a plurality of LEO satellites, said relative strengths compared utilizing a sort module in a LEO demodulator in said LEO satellite signal receiver path.

19. The system according to claim 18 , comprising configuring said MEO satellite signal receiver path when a signal strength of said received MEO satellite signals falls below a threshold level.

20. The system according to claim 18 , comprising configuring said MEO satellite signal receiver path in an intermittent low power state based on said received LEO RF satellite signals.

Assignments (8)