Angle of arrival (AOA) positioning method and system for positional finding and tracking objects using reduced attenuation RF technology

1. A method for determining an elevation of a user equipment (UE) in communication with a wireless system, the method comprising:

buffering a plurality of in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) samples generated from signals provided by receive channels associated with at least two antennas, wherein a first antenna among the at least two antennas is displaced in a vertical direction with respect to a second antenna among the at least two antennas;

identifying the signals from each receive channel among the receive channels as previously known signals based on the buffered I/Q samples;

based on the previously known signals from each receive channel, determining an angle of arrival between a baseline of the at least two antennas and incident energy from the UE to at least two antennas; and

utilizing the angle of arrival to calculate the elevation of the UE.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two antennas are antenna elements of an antenna array.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the antenna elements are located in a single antenna enclosure in a sector.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the antenna elements are located in different antenna enclosures of a sector.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless system is one of a bluetooth network, a WiFi network and a mobile device network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the signals includes determining start times of the signals using parameters of the signals and the plurality of buffered I/Q samples.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the signals includes peak detecting of a matched filter output associated with each receive channel to identify a particular I/Q sample among the plurality of buffered I/Q samples.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the angle of arrival includes determining a sub-sample estimation of at least one of a direct line of sight (DLOS) flight time and a direct path flight time from the UE to each antenna among the at least two antennas.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least two antennas are antenna elements, and wherein the DLOS flight time or the direct path flight time from the UE to each antenna is used to determine a time difference of arrival of the previously known signals between the antennas elements.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the DLOS flight time or the direct path flight time from the UE to each antenna is used to determine a phase shift between individual subcarriers of the previously known signals.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least two antennas are antenna elements, and wherein the DLOS flight time or the direct path flight time from the UE to each antenna element among the antenna elements is used to determine a phase shift between individual subcarriers of the previously known signals.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein a super-resolution (sub-space) algorithm is utilized to separate a DLOS path or a direct path between the UE and each antenna among the at least two antennas and any reflected signal paths.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least two antennas are antenna elements, and wherein a super-resolution (sub-space) algorithm is utilized to separate a DLOS path or a direct path between the UE and each antenna element among the antenna elements and any reflected signal paths.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first distance between the at least two antennas is small relative to a second distance to the UE from the two or more antennas.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second distance from the at least two antennas to the UE is determined from at least one round trip time measurement.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previously known signals include a sounding reference signal (SRS) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein digital representations of the signals in frequency domain are in a form of resource elements and the identification of the previously known signals within the signals from each receive channel among the receive channels is based on the resource elements.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the buffered I/Q samples are digital representations of the signals in time domain.

19. A method for determining one or more of a horizontal position and a vertical position of a user equipment (UE) in communication with a wireless system, the method comprising:

buffering a plurality of in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) samples generated from signals provided by receive channels associated with a plurality of antennas, wherein a first antenna among the plurality of antennas is displaced in a vertical direction with respect to a second antenna among the plurality of antennas;

identifying the signals from each receive channel among the receive channels as previously known signals based on the buffered I/Q samples;

based on the previously known signals from each receive channel, determining one or more of a horizontal angle of arrival and a vertical angle of arrival between a baseline of at least some of the plurality of antennas and incident energy from the UE to the at least some of the plurality of antennas; and

utilizing one or more of the horizontal angle of arrival to calculate a horizontal position of the UE and the vertical angle of arrival to calculate a vertical position of the UE.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein signal parameters identify a demodulation reference signal as the previously known signals.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein signal parameters identify a sounding reference signal as the previously known signals.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of antennas are within an antenna array.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plurality of antennas are antenna elements located in a single antenna enclosure of a cell sector or different antenna enclosures of a cell sector.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the wireless system is one of a bluetooth network, a WiFi network and a mobile device network.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein determining either the horizontal angle of arrival or the vertical angle of arrival or both the horizontal angle of arrival and the vertical angle of arrival includes determining a sub-sample estimation of a direct line of sight (DLOS) flight time or a direct path flight time from the UE to each antenna among the plurality of antennas.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein a super-resolution (sub-space) algorithm is utilized to separate a DLOS path or a direct path between the UE and each antenna and any reflected signal paths.

27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the plurality of antennas are antenna elements, wherein determining the horizontal angle of arrival or the vertical angle of arrival or both the horizontal angle of arrival and the vertical angle of arrival includes determining a sub-sample estimation of a direct line of sight (DLOS) flight time or a direct path flight time from the UE and each antenna element among antenna elements.

28. The method of claim 19 , wherein a first distance between the first antenna and the second antenna is small relative to a second distance to the UE from the first antenna and the second antenna.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the second distance is determined from at least one round trip time measurement.

30. The method of claim 19 , wherein digital representations of the signals in frequency domain are in a form of resource elements and the identification of the previously known signals within the signals from each receive channel among the receive channels is based on the resource elements.

31. The method of claim 19 , wherein the buffered I/Q samples are digital representations of the signals in time domain.