Method and apparatus for determining the location of a femtocell

1. An asynchronous cellular wireless communication system ( 400 ) comprising:

(i) a first macro cell ( 410 A) and a second macro cell ( 420 A);

(ii) a femtocell ( 440 A) associated with the first macro cell ( 410 A);

(iii) a mobile communication unit ( 450 ) operable to communicate with the femtocell ( 440 A), the first macro cell ( 410 A) and the second macro cell ( 420 A), where the mobile communication unit is at a first distance (D 1 ) from the first macro cell ( 410 A) and at a second distance (D 2 ) from the second macro cell ( 420 A); and

signal processing logic ( 412 ) performing the steps of:

deriving a first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) from a first set of communications (S 1 ), the first set of communications comprising communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the femtocell ( 440 ); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the first macro cell ( 410 A);

deriving a second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ), from a second set of communications (S 2 ), the second set of communications comprising communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the femtocell ( 440 ); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the second macro cell ( 420 A);

combining the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) and the second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ), to provide a combined timing difference measurement (dTm 12 );

eliminating, from the combined timing difference measurement (dTm 12 ), a value for a timing offset (dTb 12 ) between the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A), thereby providing a corrected timing difference measurement (dTm 12 c );

deriving an estimate of a first difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ), as an estimate of the difference between the distances of the femtocell ( 440 ) from the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A), using the corrected timing difference measurement (dTm 12 c ); and

combining the estimate of the first difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ) with at least a second distance estimate, thereby determining the geographical location of the femtocell ( 440 ).

2. An asynchronous cellular wireless communication system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the first set of communications (S 1 ) comprises communications between:

(i) at least two mobile communication units ( 450 ) and a HomeNodeB ( 440 ) of the femtocell ( 440 A); and

(ii) the at least two mobile communication units ( 450 ) and a base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell ( 410 A);

the second set of communications (S 2 ) comprises communications between:

(i) the at least two mobile communication units ( 450 ) and the HomeNodeB ( 440 ) of the femtocell ( 440 ); and

(ii) the at least two mobile communication units ( 450 ) and a base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell ( 420 A).

3. An asynchronous cellular wireless communication system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein:

the wireless communication unit ( 450 ) is at a third distance (D 3 ) from a third macro cell ( 670 A) of the cellular wireless communication system ( 600 );

the second distance estimate is an estimate of the difference (D 13 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the third distance (D 3 ), the difference (D 13 ) being used as an estimate of the difference between the distances of the femtocell ( 440 A) from the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the third macro cell ( 670 A); and

the signal processing logic ( 662 ) is adapted to provide the estimate of the difference (D 13 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the third distance (D 3 ) by using the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ), and a third timing difference measurement (dTm 3 ) for communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 650 ) and the femtocell ( 640 ); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 650 ) and the third macro cell ( 670 A);

whereby a value for a timing offset (dTb 13 ) between the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the third macro cell ( 670 A) is eliminated.

4. An asynchronous cellular wireless communication system in accordance with claim 3 , wherein:

the estimate of the difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ) comprises estimates derived from a first plurality of communications, and providing a first set of possible locations for the femtocell ( 640 ) that are located on a first hyperbola ( 660 ) comprising the steps of;

estimating of the difference (D 13 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the third distance (D 3 ) comprises estimates derived from a second plurality of communications, and provides a second set of possible locations for the femtocell ( 640 ) that are located on a second hyperbola ( 680 );

adapting the signal processing logic ( 662 ) to determine if the first and second hyperbolae ( 660 , 680 ) intersect at only one point, and, if so, to select that point as the estimate of the location of the femtocell ( 640 ); and

adapting the signal processing logic to determine if the first and second hyperbolae ( 660 , 680 ) intersect at more than one point, and, if so, to use antenna orientation information and/or signal propagation delay information to select one of the two points as the most likely estimate of the location of the femtocell ( 640 ).

5. An asynchronous cellular wireless communication system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein:

the signal processing logic ( 412 , 612 ) is adapted to derive a difference between a first timing offset (Tb 1 ) for signals transmitted by a first base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell ( 410 A), and a second timing offset (Tb 2 ) for signals transmitted by a second base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell ( 420 A), and to use the difference as the timing offset (dTb 12 ) between the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A), where:

dTb 12 =Tb 1 −Tb 2.

6. An asynchronous cellular wireless communication system in accordance with claim 5 , wherein the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) and the second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ) are combined to provide the combined timing difference measurement (dTm 12 ) as:

dTm 12=( T path1 −T path2)+ dTb 12

where Tpath 1 is the time for signals to traverse distance D 1 , and Tpath 2 is the time for signals to traverse distance D 2 .

7. A method of determining the geographical location of a femtocell ( 440 A) of an asynchronous cellular wireless communication system ( 400 ), the cellular wireless communication system comprising a first macro cell ( 410 A) and a second macro cell ( 420 A), a femtocell ( 440 A) associated with the first macro cell ( 410 A), and a mobile communication unit ( 450 ) operable to communicate with the femtocell ( 440 A), the first macro cell ( 410 A) and the second macro cell ( 420 A), wherein the mobile communication unit is at a first distance (D 1 ) from the first macro cell ( 410 A) and at a second distance (D 2 ) from the second macro cell ( 420 A);

the method comprising the steps of:

a) deriving a first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) from a first set of communications (S 1 ), the first set of communications comprising communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the femtocell ( 440 A); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the first macro cell ( 410 A);

b) deriving a second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ), from a second set of communications (S 2 ), the second set of communications comprising communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the femtocell ( 440 ); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the second macro cell ( 420 A);

c) combining the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) and the second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ), to provide a combined timing difference measurement (dTm 12 );

d) eliminating from the combined timing difference measurement (dTm 12 ) a value for a timing offset (dTb 12 ) between the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A), to provide a corrected timing difference measurement (dTm 12 c );

e) deriving an estimate of a first difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ), as an estimate of the difference between the distances of the femtocell ( 440 ) from the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A), using the corrected timing difference measurement (dTm 12 c ); and

f) combining the estimate of the first difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ) with at least a second distance estimate, thereby determining the geographical location of the femtocell ( 440 ).

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

the mobile communication unit ( 650 ) is located at a third distance (D 3 ) from a third macro cell ( 670 A) of the cellular wireless communication system;

the second distance estimate is an estimate of the difference (D 13 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the third distance (D 3 ); and

the estimate of the difference (D 13 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the third distance (D 3 ) is derived by applying steps a) to e) of claim 7 , using the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) and a third timing difference measurement (dTm 3 ), for communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 650 ) and the femtocell ( 640 A); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 650 ) and the third macro cell ( 670 A);

and whereby a value for a timing offset (dTb 13 ) between the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the third macrocell ( 670 A) is eliminated.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the estimate of the difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ) comprises estimates derived from a plurality of communications, and provides a first set of possible locations for the femtocell that are located on a first hyperbola ( 660 );

the estimate of the difference (D 13 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the third distance (D 3 ) comprises estimates derived from a plurality of communications, and provides a second set of possible locations for the femtocell that are located on a second hyperbola ( 680 );

if the first ( 660 ) and second ( 680 ) hyperbolae intersect at only one point, then that point is selected as the estimate of the location of the femtocell;

if the first ( 660 ) and second ( 680 ) hyperbolae intersect at two points, then antenna orientation information and/or signal propagation delay information is used to select one of the two points as the most likely estimate of the location of the femtocell.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

the mobile communication unit ( 850 ) is located at a third distance (D 3 ) from a third macro cell ( 870 A) of the cellular wireless communication system ( 800 ), and at a fourth distance (D 4 ) from a fourth macro cell ( 890 A) of the cellular wireless communication system;

the second distance estimate is an estimate of the difference (D 34 ) between the third distance (D 3 ) and the fourth distance (D 4 ); and

the estimate of the difference (D 34 ) between the third distance (D 3 ) and the fourth distance (D 4 ) is derived by applying steps a) to e) of claim 7 , using a third timing difference measurement (dTm 3 ) and a fourth timing difference measurement (dTm 4 );

wherein the third timing difference measurement (dTm 3 ) is for communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 850 ) and the femtocell ( 840 A); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 850 ) and the third macro cell ( 870 A);

and wherein the fourth timing difference measurement (dTm 4 ) is for communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 850 ) and the femtocell ( 840 A); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 850 ) and the fourth macro cell ( 890 A).

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

the second distance estimate is derived from signal propagation delay information for communications between the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and one of the first ( 410 A) and second ( 420 A) macro cells.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

the first estimate of the difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ) comprises estimates derived from a plurality of communications, and provides a first set of possible locations for the femtocell that are located on a first hyperbola ( 560 );

the signal propagation delay information provides a set of possible locations for the femtocell ( 440 A) that are located on a circle;

the point or points where the first hyperbola ( 560 ) and the circle intersect are selected as the estimate of the location of the femtocell ( 440 A).

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein combining the estimate of the difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ) with the second distance estimate further comprises:

using antenna orientation information for a sector antenna of a first base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell ( 410 A) or a sector antenna of a second base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell ( 420 A), to reduce multiple possible geographical locations of the femtocell ( 440 A) down to an estimate of a single geographical location for the femtocell.

14. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) providing a measurement report for communications occurring simultaneously between the mobile communication unit and each of the femtocell ( 440 A), the first macro cell ( 410 A) and the second macro cell ( 420 A); and

deriving the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) and the second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ) from the measurement report.

15. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

(i) the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) is a difference between a timing value (Tmf) for signals received by the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) from a HomeNodeB ( 440 ) of the femtocell ( 440 A), and a first timing value (Tm 1 ) for signals received by the mobile communication unit from a first base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell ( 410 A), where dTm 1 =Tmf−Tm 1 ;

(ii) the second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ) is a difference between the timing value (Tmf) for signals received by the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) from a HomeNodeB ( 440 ) of the femtocell ( 440 A), and a second timing value (Tm 2 ) for signals received by the mobile communication unit from a second base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell ( 420 A), where

dTm 2 =Tmf−Tm 2;

(iii) the combined timing difference value (dTm 12 ) is:

dTm 12 =dTm 1 −dTm 2.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the timing value (Tmf) for signals received by the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) from the HomeNodeB ( 440 ) of the femtocell ( 440 A) is derived from a time stamp embedded in a signal received from the HomeNodeB ( 440 ) of the femtocell ( 440 A), and a timing reference held by the mobile communication unit ( 450 );

the first timing value (Tm 1 ) is derived from a time stamp embedded in a signal received from the first base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell ( 410 A) and the timing reference held by the mobile communication unit ( 450 ); and

the second timing value (Tm 2 ) is derived from a time stamp embedded in a signal received from the second base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell ( 420 A) and the timing reference held by the mobile communication unit ( 450 ).

17. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

the value for the timing offset (dTb 12 ) between the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A) is a difference between a first timing offset (Tb 1 ) for signals transmitted by a first base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell ( 410 A), and a second timing offset (Tb 2 ) for signals transmitted by a second base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell ( 420 A), where

dTb 12 =Tb 1 −Tb 2.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein:

an estimate for the value for the timing offset (dTb 12 ) is derived from data from a third set (S 3 ) of mobile communications units, the mobile communications units of the third set (S 3 ) receiving signals from the first base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell the second base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell;

and at least one mobile communication unit of the third set does not receive signals from the femtocell ( 440 A).

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein:

the value for the timing offset (dTb 12 ) is a difference between the timing of 10 ms timing boundaries at the first base station ( 410 ) the second base station ( 420 ).

20. The method of claim 7 , further comprising eliminating noise errors from the estimate of the difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ), using at least one of:

(i) antenna orientation information for a sector antenna of a first base station ( 410 ) of the first macro cell ( 410 A);

(ii) antenna orientation information for a sector antenna of a second base station ( 420 ) of the second macro cell ( 420 A); and

(ii) signal propagation delay information.

21. A method of determining the geographical location of a femtocell ( 640 A) of an asynchronous cellular wireless communication system ( 600 ), comprising the steps of:

obtaining first timing data from a first plurality of signals received by a first group of mobile communication units ( 450 ) from a femtocell ( 640 A) and each of at least three macro cells ( 410 A, 420 A, 670 A);

obtaining second timing data from a second plurality of signals received by a second group of mobile communication units from the three macro cells ( 410 A, 420 A, 670 A);

from the second timing data, deriving:

(i) an estimate of a first timing offset (dTb 1 , 2 ) for a first pair ( 410 A, 420 A) of the macro cells; and

(ii) an estimate of a second timing offset (dTb 1 , 3 ) for a second pair ( 410 A, 670 A) of the macro cells;

deriving a first estimate of the difference (D 12 ) in path distance from each of the first pair ( 410 A, 420 A) of the macro cells to the femtocell ( 640 A), using the first timing data and the estimate of the first timing offset (dTb 1 , 2 );

deriving a second estimate of the difference (D 13 ) in path distance from each of the second pair ( 410 A, 670 A) of the macro cells to the femtocell ( 640 A), using the first timing data and the estimate of the second timing offset (dTb 1 , 3 );

combining the first (D 12 ) and second (D 13 ) estimates of the differences in path distance, to determining the geographical location of the femtocell.

22. A computer-readable storage device having executable program code stored therein for programming signal processing logic to perform a method of determining the geographical location of a femtocell ( 440 A) of an asynchronous cellular wireless communication system ( 400 ), the cellular wireless communication system comprising a first macro cell ( 410 A) and a second macro cell ( 420 A), a femtocell ( 440 A) associated with the first macro cell ( 410 A), and a wireless communication unit ( 450 ) operable to communicate with the femtocell ( 440 A), the first macro cell ( 410 A) and the second macro cell ( 420 A), wherein the wireless communication unit is at a first distance (D 1 ) from the first macro cell ( 410 A) and at a second distance (D 2 ) from the second macro cell ( 420 A);

the method comprising the steps of:

deriving a first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) from a first set of communications (S 1 ), the first set of communications comprising communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the femtocell ( 440 A); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the first macro cell ( 410 A);

deriving a second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ), from a second set of communications (S 2 ), the second set of communications comprising communications between:

(i) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the femtocell ( 440 ); and

(ii) the mobile communication unit ( 450 ) and the second macro cell ( 420 A);

combining the first timing difference measurement (dTm 1 ) and the second timing difference measurement (dTm 2 ), to provide a combined timing difference measurement (dTm 12 );

eliminating from the combined timing difference measurement (dTm 12 ) a value for a timing offset (dTb 12 ) between the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A), to provide a corrected timing difference measurement (dTm 12 c );

deriving an estimate of a first difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ), as an estimate of the difference between the distances of the femtocell ( 440 ) from the first macrocell ( 410 A) and the second macrocell ( 420 A), using the corrected timing difference measurement (dTm 12 c ); and

combining the estimate of the first difference (D 12 ) between the first distance (D 1 ) and the second distance (D 2 ) with at least a second distance estimate, thereby determining the geographical location of the femtocell ( 440 ).

23. A computer-readable storage device of claim 22 , wherein the tangible computer program product comprises at least one of: a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), and a Flash memory.