KR20070008681A - Methods and apparatuses for beacon assisted position determination systems - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for microcell beacon assisted position determination. In one embodiment, microcell beacons that are based on low cost, mass market electronics for wireless local area data communication (e.g., Bluetooth or WiFi) are used to broadcast to mobile stations location information and/or identification information, which can be used to look up for the location information, to improve the precision of position solutions in a wide area position determination system (e.g., a GPS system, an AFLT system, or a hybrid system). In one embodiment, the location information and/or the identification information are site specific; and, the distribution and the transmission strength of the microcell beacons are adjusted to prevent misidentification. In one embodiment, the microcell beacons have the transmission capability but not the receiving capability for wireless local area data communication; and, the mobile station has the receiving capability but not the transmission capability for wireless local area data communication. ® KIPO & WIPO 2007

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR BEACON ASSISTED POSITION DETERMINATION SYSTEMS

Technical field

The present invention relates to a position determination system, and more particularly, to hybrid positioning using a wireless communication signal and a satellite positioning system (SPS) signal.

background

In order to perform positioning in a wireless cellular network (eg, cellular telephone network), a number of approaches are trilateral based on the use of timing information transmitted between each of a plurality of base stations and a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone. Trilateration is performed. One approach, called Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) or Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD), measures the arrival time of signals transmitted from each of multiple base stations at the mobile device. These reception times are used to transmit these times to a Position Determination Entity (PDE; for example, a location server) that calculates the position of the mobile device. According to a specific time, the transmission time at these base stations is adjusted so that the time associated with the multiple base stations is within a certain error limit. The exact position of the base station and the reception time are used to determine the position of the mobile device.

1 shows an example of an AFLT system in which the reception times TR1, TR2 and TR3 of signals from cellular base stations 101, 103, and 105 are measured at the mobile cellular telephone 111. At that time, the position of the mobile device may be calculated using this timing data. This calculation may be done at the mobile device itself, or may be done at the location server if the timing information obtained by the mobile device is transmitted to the location server via a communication link. Typically, the reception time is communicated to the location server 115 via one of the cellular base stations (eg, base station 101, or 103, or 105). The location server 115 may include a wireless network 113 (e.g., a mobile switching center), a circuit switching network 117 (e.g., a land line public switching telephone network), and / or a packet switching network 119; e. Packet data service node). The location server may include a base station almanac (BSA) server that provides the location of the base station and / or the coverage area of the base station. Alternatively, the location server and the BSA server may be separate from each other, where the location server communicates with the base station to obtain a base station almanac for position determination. The mobile switching center may provide signals (eg, voice communications) to and from a land line public switching telephone network (PSTN) or packet data service node, thereby providing a mobile telephone. And a signal from the mobile phone to another phone (eg, a land line phone or other mobile phone via PSTS). The location server may also monitor emissions from multiple base stations in an effort to determine the relative timing of these emissions.

In another approach called Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), the reception time of a signal from a mobile device is measured at multiple base stations (eg, measurements obtained at base stations 101, 103, and 105). 1 applies when the arrows of TR1, TR2 and TR3 are reversed. At that time, the timing data may be transferred to the location server to calculate the position of the mobile device.

In addition, a third method of positioning is performed by a global positioning satellite (GPS) system in the United States, or another satellite positioning system (SPS) such as the GLONASS system in Russia and the proposed Galileo system in Europe, or satellites and pseudolites (pseudolite). ) Use at the mobile device of the receiver for the combination of A pseudo satellite is a ground-based transmitter that broadcasts a PN code (similar to a GPS signal) that is modulated for an L-band carrier signal, generally synchronized with SPS time. Each transmitter may be assigned a unique PN code to permit identification by a remote receiver. Pseudosatellites are useful in situations where SPS signals from orbiting satellites may not be available, such as tunnels, mines, buildings, or other enclosing areas. The term "satellite" as used herein is intended to include pseudo satellites or equivalents of pseudo satellites, and the term GPS signal as used herein is intended to include GPS-like signals from pseudo satellites or equivalents of pseudo satellites. . This method of using a receiver for an SPS signal may be fully automatic or may use a cellular network to provide assistance data or to participate in position calculation. For short, many of these methods are referred to as "SPSs." Examples of such methods are described in US Pat. No. 6,208,290; No. 5,841,396; 5,874,914; 5,874,914; No. 5,945,944; And 5,812,087. For example, US Pat. No. 5,945,944 describes a method of obtaining from a cellular telephone transmission signal accurate time information used in conjunction with an SPS signal to determine a position of a receiver; US 5,874,914 describes a method of transmitting a Doppler frequency shift of a satellite under consideration to a receiver over a communication link to determine a position of the receiver; US 5,874,914 describes a method of transmitting satellite almanac data (or ephemeris data) to a receiver over a communication link to cause the receiver to determine the position of the receiver; U. S. Patent No. 5,874, 914 also describes a method of securing a cellular telephone system with an accurate carrier frequency signal to provide a reference signal to a receiver for SPS signal acquisition; US 6,208,290 describes a method of using the approximate location of a receiver to determine an approximate Doppler to reduce the SPS signal processing time; US 5,812,087 describes a method of comparing different records of satellite data messages received at different entities to determine the time at which one of the records is received at the receiver to determine the position of the receiver. Indeed, in a low cost implementation, both the mobile cellular communication receiver and the SPS receiver may be integrated into the same enclosure and may in fact share common electronic circuitry.

In another variation of the method, a round trip delay (RTD) is found for the signal returned after being sent from the base station to the mobile device. In a similar but alternative method, a round trip delay is found for the signal returned after being sent from the mobile device to the base station. Each of these round-trip delays is divided into two to determine an estimate of the one-way time delay. Information about the one-way delay in addition to the location of the base station suppresses the location of the mobile device as a circle on earth. These two measurements from separate base stations result in the intersection of the two circles, which in turn suppresses its position to two points on Earth. The third measure (even the angle of arrival or even the cell sector) solves the ambiguity.

The combination of the SPS system and either AFLT or TDOA is referred to as a "hybrid" system. For example, US Pat. No. 5,999,124 describes a hybrid system wherein the position of the cell-based transceiver is at least i) a time that represents the travel time of the message of the cell-based communication signal between the cell-based transceiver and the communication system. Measure; And ii) a combination of time measurements indicative of the travel time of the SPS signal.

Altitude aiding is used in various ways to determine the position of a mobile device. Altitude support is usually based on high pseudo-measurement. Information about the altitude of the location of the mobile device suppresses the possible position of the mobile device to a spherical (or elliptical) surface with a center located at the center of the earth. This information may be used to reduce the number of independent measurements required to determine the position of the mobile device. For example, US Pat. No. 6,061,018 describes how an estimated altitude is determined from information of a cell object, where the cell object may be a cell site having a cell site transmitter in communication with the mobile device.

Description Overview

A method and apparatus for microcell beacon support position determination are described herein. Some of the embodiments of the invention are described briefly in this section.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a microcell beacon based on low cost mass market electronics for wireless local area data communication (e.g. Bluetooth or WiFi) may be used to retrieve mobile station location information. And / or broadcast ID information to improve the precision of the position solution of a wide range position determination system (eg, a GPS system, an AFLT system, or a hybrid system). In one embodiment, location information and / or ID information is site specific; The distribution and transmission strength of the microcell beacons are adjusted to prevent identification errors. In one embodiment, the microcell beacon has transmission capability for wireless local area data communication but no reception capability; The mobile station has a reception capability for wireless local area data communication but no transmission capability. The location information may be coordinates (eg, longitude, latitude and altitude), physical addresses (eg, street addresses), or other location specific information (eg, ID numbers of areas).

In one aspect of the present invention, a mobile station of a position determination system includes: a control circuit; An SPS signal receiver coupled to the control circuit for generating SPS positioning information from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the mobile station; Combined with control circuitry, local area communication in close proximity (e.g., within 10 to 200 meters) to a mobile station, in accordance with standards for wireless local area data communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 or WiFi, IEEE 802.15, or Bluetooth). A local area communication signal receiver for extracting ID data from the local area communication signal transmitted from the signal transmitter; And a cellular communication signal transceiver, coupled with the control circuit, for communicating with the remote server, the mobile station having no ability to transmit local area communication signals to the local area communication signal transmitter. In one example of one embodiment, the broadcast range of the local area communication signal transmitter is less than 20 meters. In one example of one embodiment, a mobile station uses a cellular communication signal transceiver to communicate with a remote server to determine the location of the mobile station from one or more of SPS positioning information and ID information. In one example of one embodiment, the remote station combines the SPS positioning information and the ID data to determine the position of the mobile station.

In one aspect of the present invention, a beacon station of a position determination system includes: a memory for storing ID data; And a local area communication signal transmitter, coupled with a memory, for transmitting a local area communication signal modulated with ID data according to a standard for wireless local area data communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 or WiFi, IEEE 802.15 or Bluetooth). It includes; Here, the beacon station does not have the capability to receive local area communication signals. In one example of one embodiment, the beacon station further includes a communication port coupled with the memory, through which the ID data stored in the memory can be configured using an external programmer. In an example of one embodiment, the memory of the beacon station also stores transmission strength data; The local area communication signal transmitter transmits the local area communication signal at a signal strength level in accordance with the transmission strength data. For example, the transmission strength data in the memory is programmable to adjust the coverage area of the local area communication signal.

In one aspect of the invention, a method of operating a position determination system includes the steps of: placing one or more beacon stations in a site configured to broadcast a wireless signal comprising data identifying a site having a known location; And adjusting the transmission strength of the one or more beacon stations to adjust the coverage area of the wireless signal transmitted from one or more beacon stations (eg, transmitted according to IEEE 802.11 or WiFi, IEEE 802.15 or Bluetooth). . In one example of one embodiment, one or more beacon stations are programmed to broadcast data identifying a site. In one example of one embodiment, a database is maintained to associate commercial information of a site with data identifying the site. In one example of one embodiment, the data identifying the site includes an altitude or coordinate position of the site. In one example of one embodiment, the coverage area is adjusted such that a wireless signal containing data identifying the site does not incorrectly identify a neighboring site.

In one aspect of the present invention, a method implemented in a mobile station to determine a position of a mobile station includes determining SPS positioning information from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the mobile station; And determining ID data from the local area communication signal transmitted from the local area communication signal transmitter, the local area communication signal being a standard for wireless local area data communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 or WiFi, IEEE 802.15 or Determining, according to Bluetooth); Both the SPS positioning information and the ID data are used to determine the position of the mobile station. For example, the ID data may include an ID of a local area communication signal transmitter; An ID of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; The altitude of the location of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; A coordinate position of the location of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; And a street address of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located. In one example of one embodiment, the position of the mobile station is determined by transmitting SPS positioning information and ID data from the mobile station to the position determination entity over the cellular communication link. In one example of one embodiment, the cellular positioning information is also determined from the cellular communication signal of the cellular communication link, which is sent to the position determining entity to determine the position of the mobile station. In one example of one embodiment, a local area communication signal transmitter is located within a site, and the mobile station automatically receives web page information associated with that site via a cellular communication link. In one example of one embodiment, the ID data includes one or more position coordinates (eg, indicating an altitude of a location proximate to the mobile station); Combine SPS positioning information and ID data to determine the position of the mobile station. In an example of one embodiment, one or more position coordinates associated with ID data are received via a cellular communication link, and the SPS positioning information and one or more position coordinates are combined to determine the position of the mobile station. In one example of one embodiment, the broadcast range of the local area communication signal transmitter is less than 100 meters.

In one aspect of the invention, a method implemented in a server for serving a remote mobile station of a position determination system is local according to a standard for wireless local area data communication (eg, IEEE 802.11 or WiFi, IEEE 802.15 or Bluetooth). Receiving, via a cellular communication link, ID data extracted from the remote mobile station from the local area communication signal transmitted from the area communication signal transmitter; And determining the position of the remote mobile station using the ID data. In one example of one embodiment, a coordinate position is retrieved from a database according to ID data. In one example of one embodiment, cellular positioning information generated at a remote mobile station from a cellular communication signal received at a remote mobile station is also received via a cellular communication link from the remote mobile station, wherein the position of the remote mobile station is at least cellular. It is determined using the positioning information and the coordinate position. In one example of one embodiment, SPS positioning information generated at a remote mobile station from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at a remote mobile station is also received from a remote mobile station via a cellular communication link, the position of the remote mobile station being At least, using the SPS positioning information and the coordinate position. In one example of one embodiment, the site where the remote mobile station is located is determined using one or more of the position and ID data of the remote mobile station, and the data associated with the site is in cellular communication in response to determining that the mobile station enters the site. It is automatically sent to the remote mobile station over the link. In another example of one embodiment, a site is determined using one or more of the position and ID data of the remote mobile station, and the data associated with the site is remote over the cellular communication link in response to determining that the mobile station is leaving the site. Automatically sent to the mobile station.

The present invention includes methods and apparatus for performing these methods, the apparatus comprising: a data processing system for performing these methods, and a computer readable computer for causing the system to perform these methods when executed in the data processing system. Media.

Other features of the present invention will become apparent from the accompanying drawings and the description that follows.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention is described by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a prior art cellular network for determining the position of a mobile cellular device.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a server that may be used with the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing a mobile station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a microcell beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary scenario for the use of microcell beacons in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a diagram illustrating a position determination system for the position of the handset according to one embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a diagram illustrating a method of providing location based services according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a diagram illustrating a method of improving a position determination system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

details

The following description and drawings are intended to illustrate the invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention. Numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In some instances, however, conventional well-known details are not described in order to not obscure the description of the invention. References to one or an embodiment of the present disclosure need not necessarily be references to the same embodiment, which means that these references are one or more.

Recent developments in technologies for wireless local area data communications, such as Bluetooth and Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), have resulted in low cost mass market electronics for short range wireless data communications. These low cost electronic components include wireless communication standards (e.g., IEEE 802.15 and Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.). It can be used for short range wireless data communication according to IEEE 802.11).

For example, Bluetooth technology provides a robust, low complexity, low power, low cost wireless link for mobile devices based on the IEEE 802.15 standard. Bluetooth radios operate in the unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band at 2.4 GHz. Use of this low-power band is allowed without authentication. Bluetooth provides a short range (eg, 10 centimeters to 10 meters extendable between devices) of frequency-hopping wireless links between devices, designed to replace cable connections with wireless links for mobile or fixed devices. . The Bluetooth radio converts digital baseband data into 2.4 GHz analog signals using Gaussian frequency shift keying (GFSK) modulation, and converts digital baseband data from 2.4 GHz analog signals. After sending and receiving packets, hop on a new frequency to prevent interference. By changing the frequency, multiple Bluetooth devices can use the same frequency band for wireless data communication. The Bluetooth transmitter transmits a unique "global ID" that is used to generate the hopping pattern. An FHS (Frequency Hopping Synchronization) packet is used to transmit the clock offset from which the phase in the hopping pattern is determined so that both devices connected by the Bluetooth connection can hop together for data communication.

Bluetooth communication may transmit up to a distance of 10 meters at about 1 megabit per second without including headers and handshaking. Since Bluetooth is designed to be as cheap as a cable, a single-chip CMOS Bluetooth radio may be obtained for less than $ 10.

WiFi can be used at distances of up to 305 meters (in the open area) between the transmitter and receiver based on the IEEE 802.11b standard. WiFi can transmit data at speeds of up to 11Mbs. Like Bluetooth, WiFi also uses spread spectrum frequency hopping and operates in the 2.4 GHz range. WiFi is designed to form a computer network without the need to provide cables to individual computers. WiFi is compatible with existing Ethernet technologies. The access point can be directly connected to an existing wired network. For example, a user may have a wireless router (e.g., about $ 70 to $ 100) for setting up a wireless network access point, and one for each computer to wirelessly connect the computers to each other via the wireless access point. The wireless network card (e.g., about $ 50 of the wireless network card) is available.

GPS-based position determination systems or hybrid position determination systems can provide highly reliable and accurate location information for mobile stations in most geographic environments. However, in the deepest indoor environment, for example, the location fix yield is much lower due to the blocking of the GPS signal. Even if the wireless cellular communication system is used to supplement the GPS system of the hybrid position system (eg using AFLT or EOTD), still, the resulting location fix is accurate enough to enable many useful location based services. You may not.

In one embodiment of the invention, the microcell beacon broadcasts ID information (eg, the transmitter's unique ID, street address, identity of a commercial site) that can be used to retrieve the transmitter's position coordinates. The ID information broadcast at the microcell beacon and received at the mobile station may also be transmitted from the mobile station to a remote server (eg, position determination identity) using the cellular communication link of the mobile station to determine the position of the mobile station. The cellular communication link may exist in accordance with the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) / Electronic Industry Alliance (EIA) standard, such as IS-95, IS-856, or IS-2000. For example, cellular communication systems include TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), UMTS (Federated Mobile Communications System). (United Mobile Telecommunication System), TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), IDEN (Integrated Digital Extension Network), HDR (High Speed Data Rate), or other similar cellular network. Alternatively, the microcell beacon allows the mobile station to select the optimal location for each environment by combining location information received from various transmitters (eg, microcell beacons, GPS satellites, cellular communication base stations). Send your own position coordinates. For example, altitude information broadcast by the microcell beacon can be used for altitude support in determining the position of the mobile station.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, one or more microcell beacons are used in conjunction with a wide area positioning system, such as a hybrid GPS system, to provide accurate positioning in highly isolated environments where commercial and / or safety based applications exist. to provide. For example, microcell beacons can be used in areas where it is desirable to have a fast and accurate location ID for emergency response (eg, areas with high crime rates and accident rates). For example, the microcell beacon may be installed in a lightening fixture, or may be installed with a security device (eg, a security camera) in an area where precision and position fixation output are reduced due to blocking of the GPS signal. Thus, the location of the mobile station that has made an emergency call (eg, 911) can be quickly identified in these areas where blocking of the GPS signal may otherwise hinder a quick and accurate location ID based solely on the global location system.

In one embodiment of the invention, the microcell beacon uses a short range of data transmitters based on mass market electronics for local area data communication such as Bluetooth or WiFi. These beacons are installed in areas where the exact location of the mobile station is useful based on commercial or safety reasons. The mobile station has the ability to receive microcell beacon signals (eg, using a Bluetooth chip or WiFi based electronics).

In one embodiment, the mobile station only supports the receiving capability of Bluetooth or WiFi to further reduce the cost impact on the mobile station. Alternatively, the mobile station can effectively communicate wireless local area data such that the mobile station can only receive data from the microcell beacon and transmit data to the microcell beacon via a Bluetooth (or WiFi) radio. May have very limited transmission capability. The limited transmission capability may be used for data communication with devices other than microcell beacons. Similarly, the microcell beacon may only support the transmit capability of WiFi or Bluetooth and not the receive capability to reduce cost.

6 shows a position determination system for the position of a handset according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, mobile station 607 has the capability to receive GPS signals from GPS satellites (eg, 641-645). The mobile station 607 is in a position capable of receiving a GPS signal to determine GPS positioning information (e.g., pseudorange to satellites under consideration or arrival time of the GPS signal at the mobile station). The GPS positioning information is used to determine the position of the mobile station.

Mobile station 607 also has the ability to communicate with location server 621 using a cellular communication link between mobile station 607 and cellular telephone base station 601. Accordingly, the mobile station transmits GPS positioning information (eg, pseudo range to the GPS satellites under consideration, or a copy of a GPS signal sample) to the location server 621. The location server then calculates the position of the mobile station using at least information transmitted from the mobile station to the location server via the cellular communication link. The location server may also use other information, such as the ephemeris, extracted from the GPS signals received at the GPS receiver arranged with the base station when calculating the position of the mobile station.

In environments where reception of GPS signals is poor (eg, where there is deep canyons in the city, such as in structure 603), the use of the received GPS signals may not yield a sufficient degree of location solution. The cellular communication signal may also be used to derive cellular positioning information (eg, reception time or round trip delay of the cellular communication signal) that may be with the GPS positioning information in the hybrid position determination system. Additional cellular positioning information may improve the accuracy and / or yield of the mobile station's position solution.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, one or more microcell beacon stations (eg, beacon 605) are optionally used to further provide positioning information for accurate position determination of the mobile station. Beacon stations use low cost mass market electronic components for wireless data communication (e.g., Bluetooth or WiFi radios) to broadcast information. The microcell beacon station has a short range (eg, several meters to less than 100 meters) such that information about the coverage area of the microcell beacon station can reduce the uncertainty of the position of the mobile station. In addition, microcell beacon 605 may broadcast the altitude of the location where the microcell beacon is located so that altitude information can be used for altitude support. For example, the microcell beacon station may broadcast the elevation of the floor of the building in which the microcell beacon station is installed. The microcell beacon may also broadcast the location coordinates of the beacon, which can be weighted heavily compared to the GPS positioning information derived from the weak GPS signal.

For example, in determining the position of the mobile station, in the least squares method for determining the position of the mobile station, the position of the microcell beacon, if known, can be weighted heavily compared to weak GPS positioning information. In addition, cellular positioning information (e.g., range from a round trip time measurement or a measurement of the arrival time of a cellular communication signal at the mobile station to the determined cellular telephone base station) determines the mobile station's position solution with sufficient precision for location-based services. May be used with the location of the microcell beacon.

In one embodiment of the present invention, positioning information derived from the GPS signal, the cellular communication signal, and the microcell beacon signal is transmitted to the location server 621 for calculation of the position of the mobile station. Alternatively, the mobile station may perform position calculation using positioning information derived from the GPS signal, the cellular communication signal, and the microcell beacon signal. The location server may provide additional information to the mobile station via a cellular communication link between the mobile station and the cellular telephone base station. For example, the location server may retrieve the location coordinates from a database based on ID information of the mobile station received from the microcell beacon.

In one embodiment, the mobile station is assumed to be in the position indicated by the microcell beacon station when the GPS signal is not available (or has a signal strength less than the threshold). For example, when determining that the accuracy of the position solution degrades to a threshold level (eg, due to blocking of the GPS signal), the center of the coverage area of the microcell beacon station is used as the position solution for the mobile station. When a beacon signal from one or more microcell beacon stations is received, the center of the coverage area of the microcell beacon station may be weighted according to the corresponding signal strength to determine an estimate of the position of the mobile station. In addition, the microcell beacon can also broadcast a transmission strength level to estimate the range for the microcell beacon from that transmission strength level and the signal strength level received at the mobile station.

In one embodiment of the invention, a microcell beacon station is placed at a site where a precise position solution of the mobile station is highly desirable. For example, an operator of a commercial site (eg, bookstore, coffee shop, or department store) may want to access a user of a mobile station. If it is possible to determine whether the mobile station is within the site, it may provide location based service information to the mobile station via the mobile communication link of the mobile station depending on whether the mobile station is within the site. For example, when a mobile station enters a site, the base station may transmit information about the site (e.g., a coupon, an anniversary, or a web page) to the mobile station (e.g., according to the mobile station's user preferences). have. If the commercial site is partially or wholly present in an area where the blocking of the GPS signal is severe, the microcell beacon station may be placed within the site to discuss the position determination system. From the position of the mobile station and / or ID information provided by the beacon station, the location server 621 can reliably determine whether the mobile station is in the site. Depending on the mobile station's position, content server 625 selectively provides location specific content to the mobile station automatically based on the identity of a site that a user of the mobile station may be interested in. The content server 625 is connected with a database of location specific content 627, which may be updated by an operator of a commercial site via a network 613 (eg, the internet) using a client computer 611. Thus, maintaining a separate wireless content delivery system at a site (eg, in building 603) may be unnecessary for an operator of a commercial site. However, it is understood that individual content delivery systems may deliver location based information using microcell beacon stations as wireless access points. For example, if the mobile station is in a site, the base station transmits the information to the mobile station to indicate that site-specific content information is available via wireless local area data communication. Thereafter, the user may have to optionally make further use of a wireless local area data communication link (eg, Bluetooth or WiFi) to obtain additional information.

In a wide area system (eg, GPS, AFLT, or hybrid system), a microcell beacon station can be deployed to provide position or ID information to increase speed to obtain a position solution. For example, the position coordinates provided by the microcell beacon can be used as an initial solution in obtaining a GPS based position solution. In areas where GPS signal blocking is critical, microcell beacons can be used to enhance the solution by providing additional measurements for the position determination process. In addition, the microcell beacon can provide information such as street address, identity of the site where the microcell beacon is installed, zone ID information, and the like, which can be used for emergency response purposes (eg, fire, medical, or police response). Can be used directly. Information received at such a mobile station can be quickly relayed to the service station via the cellular telephone link (eg, when an emergency telephone number is dialed, such as 911).

5 illustrates an example scenario for the use of a microcell beacon in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 5, the mobile station 501 is in an environment where blocking of the GPS signal is serious. For example, there are a number of shops and shops (eg, 511-517, 521-529) in a complex commercial facility. When a conventional hybrid position determination system is used, the mobile station's position solution may not be accurate enough to determine exactly which store the mobile station is in. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the microcell beacon is arranged to support position determination. For example, position information (e.g., altitude support information) broadcast in a microcell beacon is used to improve the accuracy of the position solution, thereby allowing the mobile station to store (e.g., 511-517, 521). 529), it can be reliably determined in which store. In one embodiment of the invention, the signal transmission intensity of the microcell beacon and the distribution of the microcell beacon are adjusted during the installation process such that the beacon signal identifying one of the stores substantially covers the store. Thus, when a mobile station enters a store, the dominant beacon signal received at the mobile station identifies the store. For example, the beacon signals for stores 511-517 have coverage areas 531-537, respectively, whereby the mobile station 501 is a store (eg, if the mobile station is in area 535). Upon receiving the beacon signal for 515, the mobile station can identify the store from the beacon signal (eg, a store ID broadcast by beacon 545). If the mobile station can accurately determine its position from the GPS signal, it can determine from the map of the building whether the mobile station is in the store. Thus, microcell beacons are used to improve the system's location capability in areas where blocking of GPS signals severely degrades the accuracy of the position solution. The coverage areas of microcell beacons for different stores may overlap each other. In one embodiment of the invention, microcell beacons are used to broadcast information specific to the store where they are installed. Thus, during installation of the microcell beacon, the placement and signal transmission strength of the microcell beacon is adjusted so that the coverage of the dominant beacon signal substantially covers the store without substantial intrusion into a neighboring store causing a misidentification.

5 shows a situation where each store (eg, 511-517) has only one microcell beacon station (eg, 541-547). It is understood that one or more microcell beacon stations may generally be used to generate the desired coverage, depending on the size of the store, GPS signal blocking conditions, radio signal blocking conditions, coverage preferences, and the like. For example, if the mobile station 501 is in front of a store (e.g., store 515), the hallway in front of the store (e.g., store 511) may be identified as if the mobile station is within the site of that store. To 517 and the area between stores 521 to 529). Thus, information associated with the store (e.g., electronic coupons, anniversaries, web pages of the store, other information that a user of mobile station 501 may be interested in) may be stored (e.g., via the mobile station's cellular communication link). May be sent to the mobile station. However, since there may be no commercial interest in improving the position determination precision of these areas, it may not normally extend the coverage of the microcell beacon to areas of the store that are inaccessible to consumers.

4 illustrates a microcell beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention. Microcell beacon 410 may use antenna 401 for increased broadcast range. Microcell beacon 410 includes a transmitter and modulator 411 for transmission in accordance with a wireless local area data communication standard (eg, WiFi or Bluetooth). For example, a single chip Bluetooth radio may be used. In one embodiment of the present invention, mass market electronics for wireless local area data communication standards are used for transmitters and modulators to reduce the cost of the system. In one embodiment of the invention, the low cost microcell beacon (eg, 410) has transmitter capability for local area wireless data communication but no receiver capability. Alternatively, the microcell beacon station can have both transmit and receive capabilities for local area wireless data communication, whereby the microcell beacon station can be programmed wirelessly. For example, a beacon station may have full Bluetooth or WiFi capability to be able to use a Bluetooth or WiFi enabling beacon programmer to configure ID information and to specify signal transmission strength. In addition, the microcell beacon station may receive data from the mobile station via a wireless local area data communication link (eg, WiFi or Bluetooth) and relay the data to a remote service station (eg, via the Internet). .

The microcell beacon 410 further includes a memory 417 for storing ID information 421 (eg, store ID, location coordinates, street address). For example, microcell beacons can store and broadcast altitude for altitude support. Alternatively, the microcell beacon can retrieve a database (eg, FIG. 6) to retrieve location information for the site (eg, street address, landline phone number, location coordinates, altitude, site identity, etc.). It may simply store a unique ID number that can be used at 623).

The control circuit 415 controls the transmitter and the modulator 411 to broadcast the ID information 421 periodically. In addition, the memory 417 may store a programmable transmit strength 423 to adjust the coverage range of the transmitter. The microcell beacon 410 further includes a communication port 413, which can be used to connect with a beacon programmer (eg, 430) to program the data of the memory 417. Alternatively, the microcell beacon may not use a communication port for a wired connection to program the transmit strength and ID information. Beacon stations can be programmed wirelessly if they have a receiving capability for wireless local area data communication. Alternatively, other communication methods (eg, infrared port) can be used.

7 illustrates one method of providing location based services in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In operation 701, the mobile receiver receives an SPS (Satellite Position System) signal (eg, a GPS signal). Operation 703 derives SPS positioning information (eg, arrival time of the SPS signal, pseudo range) from the SPS signal. In operation 705, the mobile receiver receives a cellular communication signal. Operation 707 derives cellular positioning information (eg, reception time of the cellular communication signal) from the cellular communication signal. In operation 709, the mobile receiver receives a wireless local area data communication signal (eg, WiFi or Bluetooth). Operation 711 extracts data from the wireless local area data communication signal (eg, the ID of the transmitter of the local area communication signal, the position information of the transmitter, the altitude information, the street address of the site, the identity of the site, the land line telephone of the site). Number, ID number, etc.). Operation 713 determines the position of the mobile receiver from the SPS positioning information, the cellular positioning information, and the data extracted from the local. For example, altitude information may be used for altitude support. The position coordinates of the transmitter may be weighted relative to other measurements in the determination of the position solution for the mobile station. In addition, the identity of the transmitter or site (or ID number) can be used to retrieve position information (eg, position coordinates or altitude information of the transmitter) from a database. Position calculation may be performed at a mobile station or remote location server. Operation 715 includes: a) SPS positioning information; b) cellular positioning information; And c) determine one or more site entities from one or more of the data extracted from the wireless local data communication signal. A mobile station at one location may be associated with one or more site entities, each of which may be a mobile station, such as one or more sites that the mobile station is currently in, one or more sites that the mobile station is moving in, and one or more sites that the mobile station is moving outside. You may also be interested in Different site entities may overlap each other. Operation 717 receives a site based service based on one or more location based entities.

8 illustrates one method of strengthening a position determination system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In operation 801, one or more beacon stations are placed in the site. In operation 803, program one or more beacon stations to broadcast data identifying the site (eg, the ID of the transmitter of the local area data communication signal, the identity of the site, the land line telephone number of the site, the ID number, etc.). do. The data identifying the site may be received by the mobile station to improve the precision of the mobile station's position solution. In operation 805, transmit strengths of one or more beacon stations are programmed to adjust the coverage area of the wireless signal transmitted from the one or more beacon stations. The coverage area of the radio signal may be adjusted within the boundaries of the site so as to not misidentify the neighbors of the site. Operation 807 maintains a database to associate data identifying the site with commercial information of the site. Thus, when the mobile station is identified as entering (or leaving) the site, commercial information (eg, electronic coupon, web page of advertisement) is automatically sent to the mobile station for display. Operation 809 maintains a database to associate data identifying the site with the site's position information (eg, the transmitter's position information, altitude information, the site's street address, etc.).

3 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile station according to one embodiment of the present invention. The mobile station includes a portable receiver that combines a GPS receiver and a communication transceiver for use in one embodiment of the present invention. The combined mobile unit 310 includes circuitry that performs the function required to process the communication signal received over the communication link as well as the function required to process the GPS signal. The communication link 350 is in cellular communication with a base station 352 having a communication antenna 351. The radio signal 360 comes from a radio microcell beacon station 362 having an antenna 361. Short range wireless microcell beacon stations may not use external antennas. The communication antenna 311 receives signals from different types of wireless communication signals (eg, from the microcell beacon station 362 for wireless local area data communication and from the base station 352 for cellular telephone service). Although FIG. 3 illustrates that it is used, the combined receiver may use individually separated antennas to receive signals of different air interfaces. In addition, the combined receiver may use separately separated components to at least partially process the received wireless signal, and may or may not share some components to process wireless signals of different air interfaces. For example, a combined receiver may have separate circuits for Bluetooth or WiFi signal processing and may share the same data processor resources. For example, a Bluetooth wireless chip can be used to process Bluetooth signals. Alternatively, the processing of the Bluetooth signal and the cellular communication signal may share a common circuit. From this description, various combinations and modifications of the combined receiver will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The portable receiver 310 is a combined GPS receiver and communication transceiver. Receiver 310 includes a GPS receiver stage that includes acquisition and tracking circuitry 321 and communication transceiver portion 305. Acquisition and tracking circuitry 321 is coupled to the GPS antenna 301, and the communication transceiver 305 is coupled to the communication antenna 311. A GPS signal (e.g., signal 370 transmitted from satellite 303) is input to acquisition and tracking circuitry 321 that is received via GPS antenna 301 to obtain Pseudorandom Noise (PN) codes for various receiving satellites. do. Data generated by the circuit 321 (eg, correlation indicator) is processed by the processor 333 during transmission by the transceiver 305. The communication transceiver 305 includes a transmit / receive switch 331 for routing communication signals (typically RF) to and from the communication antenna 311 and the transceiver 305. In some systems, a band splitting filter, or “duplexer” is used in place of the T / R switch. The received communication signal is input to the communication receiver 332 and passed to the processor 333 for processing. The communication signal to be transmitted from the processor 333 is propagated to the modulator 334 and the frequency converter 335. Power amplifier 336 increases the signal gain to an appropriate level for transmission to base station 352.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a low cost combined receiver does not have the ability to transmit a signal and circuitry for transmitting the signal for wireless local area data communication. The low cost combined receiver only receives data broadcast from the wireless microcell beacon station. Alternatively, the receiver may have both transmit circuitry and receive circuitry for wireless local area data communication. For example, the receiver may be fully Bluetooth enabled. In one embodiment of the invention, the combined receiver has a shorter Bluetooth radio range (eg, less than 1 meter) for transmission than a microcell beacon station (eg, having a range of about 10 meters). The Bluetooth capability of the combined receiver takes precedence over the wireless connection with other devices. However, since the micro beacon station has a longer Bluetooth radio range for transmission than the mobile receiver, the mobile receiver can be effectively used as a Bluetooth receiver to extract data broadcast from the microcell beacon station to support position determination. .

In one embodiment of the invention, the communication transceiver unit 305 extracts a timing indicator (e.g., a timing frame or system time) using a cellular communication signal or uses a local oscillator (not shown in Figure 3) of the mobile station. It can be calibrated. More details on mobile stations extracting timing indicators or calibrating local oscillators can be found in US Pat. Nos. 5,874,914 and 5,945,944.

In one embodiment for the combined GPS / communication system of the receiver 310, the data generated by the acquisition and tracking circuit 321 is transmitted to the server via a communication link 350 with the base station 352. The server then determines the location of the receiver 310 based on the data from the remote receiver, the time at which the data was measured, and the earliest data received from its GPS receiver or other source of such data. The location data can then be sent back to the receiver 310 or another remote location (eg, emergency response station). A more detailed description of a portable receiver using a communication link can be found in US Pat. No. 5,874,914.

In one embodiment of the invention, the combined GPS receiver includes (or combines) a data processing system (eg, a PDA, or a portable computer). The data processing system includes a bus coupled to a microprocessor and memory (eg, ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory). The bus interconnects the various components together, and also connects these components to display controllers and display devices, and to peripheral devices such as input / output (I / O) devices, which are well known in the art. have. Buses may include one or more buses connected to each other through various bridges, controllers, and / or adapters, as is well known in the art. In one embodiment, the data processing system includes a communication port (eg, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, a port for IEEE-1394 bus connection). In one embodiment, the processor 305 combines the GPS signal 370, the cellular communication signal 350, and the information derived from the wireless local area data communication signal 360 to determine the position of the mobile station.

2 illustrates an example of a data processing system that may be used as a server in various embodiments of the present invention. For example, as described in US Pat. No. 5,841,396, server 201 may provide assistance data such as Doppler or other satellite assistance data to the GPS receiver of the mobile station. Additionally, or alternatively, the server may perform the final position calculation rather than the mobile station (after receiving other data whose pseudo range or pseudo range may be determined from the mobile station) and then determine the position determination result. You can also forward to some other system. The data processing system as a server (eg, location server, almanac server) typically includes a communication device 212, such as a modem or network interface. The location server may be coupled to many different networks via a communication device 212 (eg, a modem or other network interface). Such a network may be a cellular switching center or multiple cellular switching centers 225, land-based telephone system switches 223, cellular base stations (not shown in FIG. 2), other GPS receivers 227, or other processors or location servers ( 221).

Multiple cellular base stations are typically arranged to cover a geographic area with wireless coverage, and these different base stations are coupled to one or more base stations, as known in the art (see, eg, FIG. 1). Thus, multiple base stations are geographically distributed but joined together by a mobile switching center. The network 220 may be connected to a network of reference GPS receivers providing different GPS information, and may also provide GPS imperial data for use in calculating the position of the mobile system. The network is coupled to the processor 203 via a modem or other communication interface. Network 220 may be connected to other computers or network components. In addition, the network 220 may be connected to a computer system operated by an emergency operator, such as a public safety response point calling a 911 telephone. Various exemplary methods of using a location server are described in a number of US patents, including US Pat. Nos. 5,841,396, 5,874,914, 5,812,087, and 6,215,442.

The server 201, which is in the form of a data processing system, includes a bus 202 coupled to a microprocessor 203, a ROM 207, a volatile RAM 205, and a non-volatile memory 206. The processor 203 is coupled to the cache memory 204 as shown in the embodiment of FIG. The bus 202 interconnects these various components together. Although FIG. 2 shows that the non-volatile memory is a local device coupled directly to the remaining components of the data processing system, the present invention is directed to a system, such as a network storage device coupled to a data processing system via a network interface such as a modem or an Ethernet interface. It will be appreciated that it is also possible to use non-volatile memory that is remote from. The bus 202 may include one or more buses connected to each other through various bridges, controllers, and / or adapters, as is well known in the art. In many situations, the location server may automatically perform the operation without human assistance. In some designs where human interaction is required, I / O controller 209 may communicate with a display, keyboard, and other I / O devices.

Although Figure 2 illustrates various components of a data processing system, these details are not intended to represent any particular structure or manner of interconnection of components as they are not relevant to the present invention. In addition, it will be appreciated that other data processing systems and network computers having fewer or possibly more components may be used with the present invention and may act as a location server or PDE.

In some embodiments, the methods of the present invention may be performed through computer systems that are used concurrently for other functions, such as cellular switching, messaging services, and the like. In these cases, some or all of the hardware of FIG. 2 will be shared for some functionality.

It will be appreciated from this description that aspects of the invention may be at least partially integrated into software. That is, the techniques respond to a process of executing a sequence of instructions contained in the memory, such as ROM 207, volatile RAM 205, non-volatile memory 206, cache 204, or remote storage device. May be performed in a computer system or other data processing system. In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in conjunction with software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, the techniques are not limited to any particular combination of hardware circuitry and software or to any particular source for instructions executed by the data processing system. Also, to simplify the description, throughout this description various functions and operations are described as if performed or caused by software code. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that by this representation, the functionality arises from the execution of the code by a processor, such as processor 203.

When executed by a data processing system, machine-readable media may be used to store software and data that cause the system to perform the various methods of the present invention. This executable software and data may be stored in various locations, including, for example, ROM 207, volatile RAM 205, non-volatile memory 206, and / or cache 204 as shown in FIG. May be stored. Some of this software and / or data may be stored in any one of these storage devices.

Thus, machine-readable media provides (ie, stores and / or provides information in a form accessible by a machine (eg, computer, network device, PDA, manufacturing tool, any device having one or more processor sets, etc.). Or transmit). For example, a machine readable medium may include, but are not limited to, electrical, optical, acoustic, or writable / non-writable media (eg, ROM; RAM; magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices, etc.) Other forms of radio signals (eg, carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.); And the like.

Although the method and apparatus of the present invention have been described with reference to GPS satellites, it can be seen that the description is equally applicable to positioning systems using satellites or a combination of satellites and pseudo phases. A pseudo satellite is a ground-based transmitter that broadcasts a PN code (similar to a GPS signal) that is typically modulated for an L-band carrier signal, generally synchronized with GPS time. Each transmitter may be assigned a unique PN code to grant ID by remote reception. Pseudosatellites are useful in situations where GPS signals from orbiting satellites may not be available, such as tunnels, mines, buildings, or other enclosing areas. The term "satellite" as used herein is intended to include pseudo satellites or equivalents of pseudo satellites, and the term GPS signal as used herein is intended to include GPS-like signals from pseudo satellites or equivalents of pseudo satellites. .

In the foregoing description, the present invention is described with reference to an application based on the United States Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system. However, it has been clarified that these methods are equally applicable to similar satellite positioning systems (SPS), in particular the GLONASS system in Russia and the Galileo system in Europe. The GLONASS system is firstly different from the GPS system, where emissions from different satellites are distinguished from each other by using slightly different carrier frequencies, in addition to the use of different pseudo range codes. In this situation, substantially all the circuits and algorithms described before are applicable. The term "GPS" or "SPS" as used herein includes such other satellite positioning systems, including the GLONASS system in Russia and the Galileo system in Europe.

The above examples are described without providing some of the details known in the art, and as pointed out in the above discussion, these details are described in US Pat. Nos. 5,812,087, 5,841,396, 5,874,914, 5,945,944, Publications such as 5,999,124, 6,061,018, 6,208,290, and 6,215,442, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In the foregoing description, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims (67)

As a mobile station of the position determination system, Control circuits; An SPS signal receiver coupled to the control circuit for generating SPS positioning information from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the mobile station; A local area communication signal receiver coupled to the control circuit for extracting identification data from a local area communication signal transmitted from a local area communication signal transmitter in close proximity to the mobile station, the local area communication signal being a wireless local area; The local area communication signal receiver, complying with a standard for data communication; And Coupled to the control circuit, the cellular communication signal transceiver for communicating with a remote server, A mobile station that does not have the capability to transmit local area communication signals. The method of claim 1, And the broadcast range of the local area communication signal transmitter is less than 20 meters. The method of claim 1, The standard for wireless local area data communication, IEEE 802.11; And IEEE 802.15 A mobile station comprising one of the following. The method of claim 1, The mobile station uses the cellular communication signal transceiver to communicate with the remote server, The SPS positioning information; And The ID data And determine the location of the mobile station from one or more of. The method of claim 4, wherein And the remote station combines the SPS positioning information and the ID data to determine the position of the mobile station. As a beacon station of the position determination system, A memory for storing ID data; And A local area communication signal transmitter coupled with the memory for transmitting a local area communication signal modulated with the ID data, in accordance with a standard for wireless local area data communication, Beacon station, not having the capability to receive local area communication signals. The method of claim 6, The standard for wireless local area data communication, IEEE 802.11; And IEEE 802.15 Beacon station, comprising one of. The method of claim 6, Further comprising a communication port coupled with the memory, And the ID data stored in the memory is configurable through the communication port using an external programmer. The method of claim 6, The memory further stores transmission strength data, And the local area communication signal transmitter transmits the local area communication signal at a signal strength level in accordance with the transmission strength data. The method of claim 9, And the transmission strength data in the memory is programmable to adjust the coverage area of the local area communication signal. Deploying at least one beacon station within the site, the one or more beacon stations configured to broadcast a wireless signal comprising data identifying a site having a known location; And Adjusting the transmission strength of the one or more beacon stations to adjust the coverage area of the wireless signal transmitted from the one or more beacon stations. The method of claim 11, Programming the one or more beacon stations to broadcast the data identifying the site. The method of claim 12, And maintaining a database to associate the data identifying the site with commercial information of the site. The method of claim 11, And the data identifying the site includes an elevation of the site. The method of claim 14, And the data identifying the site further comprises a coordinate position. The method of claim 11, And the coverage area is adjusted to prevent the wireless signal, including data identifying the site, from misidentifying a neighboring site. A method implemented in a mobile station to determine a position of the mobile station, the method comprising: Determining SPS positioning information from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the mobile station; And Determining ID data from a local area communication signal transmitted from a local area communication signal transmitter, the local area communication signal comprising determining the ID data, complying with a standard for wireless local area data communication, Both the SPS positioning information and the ID data are used to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 17, Transmitting the SPS positioning information and the ID data from the mobile station to a position determining entity over a cellular communication link to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 18, Determining cellular positioning information from the cellular communication signal of the cellular communication link; And Transmitting the cellular positioning information to the position determining entity to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 18, The local area communication signal transmitter is located in a site; And the method further comprises, at the mobile station, automatically receiving web page information associated with the site via the cellular communication link. The method of claim 20, The standard for wireless local area data communication, IEEE 802.11; And IEEE 802.15 And a method of implementation in a mobile station. The method of claim 18, The ID data is, An ID of the local area communication signal transmitter; An ID of a site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; An elevation of the location of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; A coordinate position of a location of a site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; And Street address of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located And at least one of the following. The method of claim 17, Combining the SPS positioning information and the ID data to determine the position of the mobile station; And the ID data includes one or more position coordinates. The method of claim 23, wherein And the position coordinates indicate an altitude of a location very close to the mobile station. The method of claim 17, Receiving one or more position coordinates associated with the ID data via a cellular communication link; And Combining the SPS positioning information with one or more position coordinates to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 17, And the broadcast range of the local area communication signal transmitter is less than 100 meters. A method implemented in a server for serving a remote mobile station of a position determination system, Receiving, via a cellular communication link from the remote mobile station, ID data extracted at the remote mobile station from a local area communication signal transmitted from a local area communication signal transmitter, in accordance with a standard for wireless local area data communication; And Determining the position of the remote mobile station using the ID data. The method of claim 27, And retrieving a coordinate position from a database in accordance with the ID data. The method of claim 28, Receiving, from the cellular communication signal received at the remote mobile station, cellular positioning information generated at the remote mobile station from the remote mobile station via the cellular communication link; And the position of the remote mobile station is determined using at least the cellular positioning information and the coordinate position. The method of claim 28, Receiving, from the remote mobile station, SPS positioning information generated at the remote mobile station from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the remote mobile station, over the cellular communication link; And the position of the remote mobile station is determined using at least the SPS positioning information and the coordinate position. The method of claim 27, The ID data; And The position of the remote mobile station Determining a site where the remote mobile station is located using one or more of the following; And And automatically transmitting data associated with the site over the cellular communication link to the remote mobile station in response to determining that the mobile station enters the site. The method of claim 31, wherein And the data associated with the site includes information supplied by an operator of the site. The method of claim 27, The ID data; And The position of the remote mobile station Determining a site using one or more of; And And automatically transmitting data associated with the site to the remote mobile station over the cellular communication link in response to determining that the mobile station is leaving the site. A computer readable medium comprising executable computer program instructions, when executed by a data processing system, that cause the system to perform a method of determining a position of a mobile station, The method, Determining SPS positioning information from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the mobile station; And Determining ID data from a local area communication signal transmitted from a local area communication signal transmitter, the local area communication signal comprising determining the ID data, complying with a standard for wireless local area data communication, Both the SPS positioning information and the ID data are used to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 34, wherein The method, And transmitting the SPS positioning information and the ID data from the mobile station to the position determination entity over a cellular communication link to determine the position of the mobile station. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein The method, Determining cellular positioning information from the cellular communication signal of the cellular communication link; And Sending the cellular positioning information to the position determining entity to determine the position of the mobile station. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein The local area communication signal transmitter is located within a site, The method further comprises, at the mobile station, automatically receiving web page information associated with the site via the cellular communication link. The method of claim 37, The standard for wireless local area data communication, IEEE 802.11; And IEEE 802.15 And a machine readable medium. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein The ID data is, An ID of the local area communication signal transmitter; An ID of a site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; An elevation of the location of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; A coordinate position of a location of a site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; And Street address of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located And at least one of the following. The method of claim 34, wherein The method, Combining the SPS positioning information and the ID data to determine the position of the mobile station; And the ID data includes one or more position coordinates. The method of claim 40, And the position coordinates indicate an altitude of a location very close to the mobile station. The method of claim 34, wherein The method, Receiving one or more position coordinates associated with the ID data via a cellular communication link; And Combining the SPS positioning information with one or more position coordinates to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 34, wherein And the broadcast range of the local area communication signal transmitter is less than 100 meters. A computer readable medium comprising executable computer program instructions, when executed by a data processing system, that cause the system to perform a method of serving a remote mobile station of a position determination system, The method, Receiving, via a cellular communication link from the remote mobile station, ID data extracted at the remote mobile station from a local area communication signal transmitted from a local area communication signal transmitter, in accordance with a standard for wireless local area data communication; And Determining the position of the remote mobile station using the ID data. The method of claim 44, The method, And retrieving a coordinate position from a database in accordance with the ID data. The method of claim 45, The method is. Receiving, from the cellular communication signal received at the remote mobile station, cellular positioning information generated at the remote mobile station from the remote mobile station via the cellular communication link; And the position of the remote mobile station is determined using at least the cellular positioning information and the coordinate position. The method of claim 45, The method, Receiving, from the remote mobile station, SPS positioning information generated at the remote mobile station from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the remote mobile station, over the cellular communication link; And the position of the remote mobile station is determined using at least the SPS positioning information and the coordinate position. The method of claim 44, The method, The ID data; And The position of the remote mobile station Determining a site where the remote mobile station is located using one or more of the following; And And automatically transmitting data associated with the site via the cellular communication link to the remote mobile station in response to determining that the mobile station is entering the site. 49. The method of claim 48 wherein And the data associated with the site includes information supplied by an operator of the site. The method of claim 44, The method, The ID data; And The position of the remote mobile station Determining a site using one or more of; And And automatically transmitting data associated with the site over the cellular communication link to the remote mobile station in response to determining that the mobile station is leaving the site. As a mobile station of the position determination system, Means for determining SPS positioning information from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received at the mobile station; And Means for determining ID data from a local area communication signal transmitted from a local area communication signal transmitter, the local area communication signal comprising means for determining the ID data, complying with a standard for wireless local area data communication, Both the SPS positioning information and the ID data are used to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 51, wherein And means for transmitting the SPS positioning information and the ID data from the mobile station to a position determining entity over a cellular communication link to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 52, wherein Means for determining cellular positioning information from a cellular communication signal of the cellular communication link; And Means for transmitting the cellular positioning information to the position determining entity to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 52, wherein The local area communication signal transmitter is located within a site, And at said mobile station, means for automatically receiving web page information associated with said site via said cellular communication link. The method of claim 54, wherein The standard for wireless local area data communication, IEEE 802.11; And IEEE 802.15 A mobile station comprising one of the following. The method of claim 52, wherein The ID data is, An ID of the local area communication signal transmitter; An ID of a site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; An elevation of the location of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; A coordinate position of a location of a site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located; And Street address of the site where the local area communication signal transmitter is located And at least one of the mobile stations. The method of claim 51, wherein Means for combining the SPS positioning information and the ID data to determine the position of the mobile station, And the ID data includes one or more position coordinates. The method of claim 57, And the position coordinates indicate an altitude at a location very close to the mobile station. The method of claim 51, wherein Means for receiving one or more position coordinates associated with the ID data via a cellular communication link; And Means for combining the SPS positioning information with one or more position coordinates to determine the position of the mobile station. The method of claim 51, wherein And the broadcast range of the local area communication signal transmitter is less than 100 meters. A server serving a remote mobile station of a position determination system, Means for receiving, via a cellular communication link from the remote mobile station, ID data extracted at the remote mobile station from a local area communication signal transmitted from a local area communication signal transmitter, in accordance with a standard for wireless local area data communication; And Means for determining the position of the remote mobile station using the ID data. 62. The method of claim 61, Means for retrieving coordinate positions from a database according to the ID data. 63. The method of claim 62, Means for receiving, from the cellular communication signal received at the remote mobile station, cellular positioning information generated at the remote mobile station from the remote mobile station over the cellular communication link, The position of the remote mobile station is determined using at least the cellular positioning information and the coordinate position. 63. The method of claim 62, Means for receiving, from the remote mobile station, SPS positioning information generated at the remote mobile station from an SPS (satellite positioning system) signal received from the remote mobile station, over the cellular communication link; And the position of the remote mobile station is determined using at least the SPS positioning information and the coordinate position. 62. The method of claim 61, The ID data; And The position of the remote mobile station Means for determining a site where the remote mobile station is located using one or more of the following; And Means for automatically transmitting data associated with the site to the remote mobile station over the cellular communication link in response to determining that the mobile station enters the site. 66. The method of claim 65, The data associated with the site includes information supplied by an operator of the site. 62. The method of claim 61, The ID data; And The position of the remote mobile station Means for determining a site using one or more of; And Means for automatically transmitting data associated with the site over the cellular communication link to the remote mobile station in response to determining that the mobile station is leaving the site.

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