Communication system with assisted GPS and SBAS

1. A communication system comprises:

a reference station operable to:

receive Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to produce received GPS signals;

generate GPS assisting data from the received GPS signals;

receive Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) signals to produce received SBAS signals;

obtain SBAS data from the received SBAS signals;

combine the GPS assisting data and the SBAS data to produce combined GPS data; and

transmit the combined GPS data;

a mobile station operable to:

receive the GPS signals to produce mobile received GPS signals;

receive the combined GPS data; and

generate positioning data from the mobile received GPS signals and the combined GPS data.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the SBAS data comprises at least one of:

integrity information, fast corrections, ionospheric grid point masks, GEO navigation message, or computations thereof to obtain one or more of long term errors of satellite orbits, short and long term errors of satellite clocks, ionosphere correction grids, and integrity information.

3. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the combining the GPS assisting data and the SBAS data further comprises:

storing the GPS assisting data;

storing the SBAS data; and

generating at least one frame of a terrestrial wireless communication to include at least a portion of the GPS assisting data and at least a portion of the SBAS data to produce the combined GPS data.

4. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the combining the GPS assisting data and the SBAS data further comprises:

obtaining at least one error correction term from the SBAS data; and

modifying the GPS assisting data based on the at least one error correction term to produce the combined GPS data.

5. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the combined GPS data comprises at least one of:

transmitting the combined GPS data via a control plane associated with a terrestrial wireless communication; and

transmitting the combined GPS data via a user plane associated with the terrestrial wireless communication.

6. A mobile station comprises:

a processing module; and

a memory element operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory element stores operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

receive combined Global Positioning System (GPS) data, the combined GPS data including GPS assisting data and Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) data;

receive GPS signals to produce received GPS signals; and

generate positioning data from the received GPS signals and the combined GPS data.

7. The mobile station of claim 6 , wherein the combined GPS data comprises:

adjusting the GPS assisting data of the combined GPS data based on at least one error correction term of the SBAS data.

8. The mobile station of claim 6 wherein the memory element further stores operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

determine a signal quality of the received GPS signals;

compare the signal quality of the received GPS signals with a threshold;

when the signal quality of the received GPS signals compares unfavorably with the threshold, provide a request for the combined GPS data; and

transmit the request for the combined GPS data.

9. The mobile station of claim 6 wherein the memory element further stores operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

receive the combined GPS data via a control plane of a terrestrial wireless communication system or via a user plane of the terrestrial wireless communication system.

10. A method for determining a mobile station position, the method comprises:

receiving combined Global Positioning System (GPS) data, the combined GPS data including GPS assisting data and Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) data;

receiving GPS signals to produce received GPS signals;

generating positioning data relating to the mobile station based on the received GPS signals and the combined GPS data; and

providing the positioning data.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the combined GPS data comprises:

adjusting the GPS assisting data based on at least one error correction term of the SBAS data.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the combined GPS data comprises:

obtaining at least one error correction term from the SBAS data; and

modifying the GPS assisting data based on the at least one error correction term to produce the combined GPS data.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprises:

determining signal quality of the received GPS signals;

comparing the signal quality of the received GPS signals with a threshold;

when the signal quality of the received GPS signals compares unfavorably with the threshold, providing a request for the combined GPS data; and

transmitting the request for the combined GPS data.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein receiving the combined GPS data comprises at least one of:

receiving the combined GPS data via a control plane of a terrestrial wireless communication system; and

receiving the combined GPS data via a user plane of the terrestrial wireless communication system.