Apparatus and method for fast convergence to high-accuracy positioning

1. A device, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:

transmitting a first plurality of signals via a unicast transport technology;

detecting, based on the first plurality of signals, that a first location of a communication device that receives the first plurality of signals is accurate within a threshold amount;

responsive to the detecting, transmitting a second plurality of signals via a broadcast transport technology, a multicast transport technology, or a combination thereof; and

determining a second location of the communication device based on the second plurality of signals.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the second location of the communication device comprises:

receiving from the communication device a computed location of the communication device as computed by the communication device;

responsive to the receiving, applying an error correction to the computed location to generate a corrected location; and

transmitting the corrected location to the communication device to cause the communication device to present the corrected location.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving error correction data from at least one reference node of a network,

wherein the applying of the error correction is responsive to the receiving of the error correction data.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the first plurality of signals occurs over a data plane of a network at a first rate of signaling.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the transmitting of the second plurality of signals occurs over a control plane of a network at a second rate of signaling, wherein the second rate of signaling is less than the first rate of signaling.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving error correction data from at least one reference node of a network; and

responsive to the receiving of the error correction data, transmitting the error correction data to the communication device to cause the communication device to apply an error correction to a computed location of the communication device to generate a corrected location of the communication device.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the detecting that the first location of the communication device is accurate within the threshold amount is in accordance with a magnitude associated with the error correction data.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the communication device comprises a mobile communication device, and wherein the second location is different from the first location.

9. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the first plurality of signals from at least one reference node of a network.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one reference node has a fixed position.

11. A non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a first processing system including a first processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:

transmitting a first plurality of signals via a unicast transport technology;

detecting, based on the first plurality of signals, that a determined first location of a communication device that receives the first plurality of signals is accurate within a threshold amount;

responsive to the detecting, transmitting a second plurality of signals via a broadcast transport technology, a multicast transport technology, or a combination thereof; and

determining a second location of the communication device based on the second plurality of signals, wherein the determining a second location comprises receiving from the communication device a computed location of the communication device, applying an error correction to the computed location to generate a corrected location, and transmitting the corrected location to the communication device.

12. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving error correction data from at least one reference node of a network, and

wherein the applying the error correction is responsive to the receiving of the error correction data.

13. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the transmitting of the first plurality of signals via a unicast transport technology comprises transmitting the first plurality of signals over a data plane of a network at a first rate of signaling.

14. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the transmitting of the second plurality of signals comprises transmitting the second plurality of signals over a control plane of a network at a second rate of signaling, wherein the second rate of signaling is less than the first rate of signaling.

15. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving error correction data from at least one reference node of a network; and

responsive to the receiving of the error correction data, transmitting the error correction data to the communication device to cause the communication device to apply an error correction to a computed location of the communication device to generate a corrected location of the communication device.

16. A method, comprising:

transmitting, by a processing system including a processor, a first plurality of signals via a unicast transport technology;

detecting, based on the first plurality of signals, that a first location of a communication device that receives the first plurality of signals is accurate within a threshold amount;

responsive to the detecting, transmitting a second plurality of signals via a broadcast transport technology, a multicast transport technology, or a combination thereof;

determining a second location of the communication device based on the second plurality of signals; and

responsive to receiving of error correction data from at least one reference node of a network, transmitting, by the processing system, the error correction data to the communication device to cause the communication device to apply an error correction to a computed location of the communication device to generate a corrected location of the communication device.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the detecting that the first location of the communication device is accurate within the threshold amount is in accordance with a magnitude associated with the error correction data.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the detecting that a first location of a communication device that receives the first plurality of signals is accurate within a threshold amount comprises detecting, by the processing system, that a location of a mobile communication device is accurate within a threshold amount.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the processing system, the first plurality of signals from at least one reference node of a network.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the at least one reference node has a fixed position.