A system for determining a position of a receiver from as few as two or three transmitters. The receiver may be stationary or moving with a known velocity. The system includes a receiver clock having a clock bias and a clock drift relative to a reference clock and may also include a motion sensor. A decoder receives transmitted signals from a number of transmitters and determine pseudo-ranges and transmitter frequencies therefrom and a processing unit receives the pseudo-ranges, the transmitter frequencies and the receiver velocity and determines the position of the receiver therefrom. When only two transmitters are available, the position of the receiver is determined dependent upon a known receiver clock drift. The system may also determine clock bias and, when three or more transmitters are available, receiver clock drift. The processing unit uses ranging and Doppler equations in combination, and may also use a measured velocity.

A system for determining a position of a receiver from as few as two or three transmitters. The receiver may be stationary or moving with a known velocity. The system includes a receiver clock having a clock bias and a clock drift relative to a reference clock and may also include a motion sensor. A decoder receives transmitted signals from a number of transmitters and determine pseudo-ranges and transmitter frequencies therefrom and a processing unit receives the pseudo-ranges, the transmitter frequencies and the receiver velocity and determines the position of the receiver therefrom. When only two transmitters are available, the position of the receiver is determined dependent upon a known receiver clock drift. The system may also determine clock bias and, when three or more transmitters are available, receiver clock drift. The processing unit uses ranging and Doppler equations in combination, and may also use a measured velocity.

A method of determining a distance between a first device and a second device. The method comprises: performing an initial-ranging-operation, by exchanging two multi-frame ranging cycles between the first device and the second device, to calculate a clock ratio and a multi-frame-cycle-ToF. The method further comprises performing a plurality of single-message ranging cycles, wherein each single-message ranging cycle comprises: at a predetermined first-device-cycle-time after an earlier message is sent from the first device to the second device, the first device sending a single-ranging-message to the second device; determining a second-device-cycle-time as the time between the second device receiving the single-ranging-message and the earlier message being received by the second device; determining a current-message-ToF based on: the previous-message-ToF, the first-device-cycle-time, the clock ratio, and the second-device-cycle-time. The current-message-ToF represents the time of flight of the single-ranging-message travelling from the first device to the second device.

A method of determining a distance between a first device and a second device. The method comprises: performing an initial-ranging-operation, by exchanging two multi-frame ranging cycles between the first device and the second device, to calculate a clock ratio and a multi-frame-cycle-ToF. The method further comprises performing a plurality of single-message ranging cycles, wherein each single-message ranging cycle comprises: at a predetermined first-device-cycle-time after an earlier message is sent from the first device to the second device, the first device sending a single-ranging-message to the second device; determining a second-device-cycle-time as the time between the second device receiving the single-ranging-message and the earlier message being received by the second device; determining a current-message-ToF based on: the previous-message-ToF, the first-device-cycle-time, the clock ratio, and the second-device-cycle-time. The current-message-ToF represents the time of flight of the single-ranging-message travelling from the first device to the second device.

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and devices for time of arrival estimation in wireless systems and devices. Devices include a packet detector configured to identify a data packet included in a received signal having a symbol frequency. Devices also include a time stamping unit configured to generate an initial time stamp in response to the packet detector identifying the data packet. Devices further include an IQ capture unit configured to acquire a plurality of IQ samples representing phase features of the received signal. Devices additionally include a processing unit that includes one or more processors configured to generate an estimated time of arrival based on the initial time stamp and the plurality of IQ samples.

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and devices for time of arrival estimation in wireless systems and devices. Devices include a packet detector configured to identify a data packet included in a received signal having a symbol frequency. Devices also include a time stamping unit configured to generate an initial time stamp in response to the packet detector identifying the data packet. Devices further include an IQ capture unit configured to acquire a plurality of IQ samples representing phase features of the received signal. Devices additionally include a processing unit that includes one or more processors configured to generate an estimated time of arrival based on the initial time stamp and the plurality of IQ samples.

Wireless digital communication method for the communication between two electronic devices (3, 16) of an industrial apparatus (1), including—encoding each bit of information by a respective sequence of a certain number (N) of pulses (25) that alternate with a corresponding number (N−1) of silence intervals (26), each pulse having a pulse duration (TI) shorter than or equal to ns and said silence intervals having respective silence durations (TSj) longer than or equal to 30 ns—transmitting, by a first electronic device, a radio signal (RS) comprising a plurality of radio pulses corresponding to the sequence of pulses without modulating any radio carrier, and—receiving and decoding, by the other electronic device, said radio signal to obtain said bit of information. The method may include additional steps for exchanging information between the electronic devices according to which one of the electronic devices, while in a stand-by state, transmits a request message, waits for a reply message from the other electronic device (if and when some conditions are complied with) and, upon receiving the reply message, switches to an operating state in which the two electronic devices are communicatively coupled to each other.

Wireless digital communication method for the communication between two electronic devices (3, 16) of an industrial apparatus (1), including—encoding each bit of information by a respective sequence of a certain number (N) of pulses (25) that alternate with a corresponding number (N−1) of silence intervals (26), each pulse having a pulse duration (TI) shorter than or equal to ns and said silence intervals having respective silence durations (TSj) longer than or equal to 30 ns—transmitting, by a first electronic device, a radio signal (RS) comprising a plurality of radio pulses corresponding to the sequence of pulses without modulating any radio carrier, and—receiving and decoding, by the other electronic device, said radio signal to obtain said bit of information. The method may include additional steps for exchanging information between the electronic devices according to which one of the electronic devices, while in a stand-by state, transmits a request message, waits for a reply message from the other electronic device (if and when some conditions are complied with) and, upon receiving the reply message, switches to an operating state in which the two electronic devices are communicatively coupled to each other.

Disclosed are techniques for determining a timing resolution and a range of reported timing measurements used for position estimation. For example, in various embodiments, a user equipment (UE) may receive positioning beacons from multiple network nodes (e.g., different base stations, distant transmission points belonging to one base station, etc.), measure an observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) between the received positioning beacons, and quantize the measured OTDOA according to a timing resolution and/or a range that depend at least in part on one or more signal parameters associated with the received positioning beacons. Accordingly, the UE may then transmit a report containing the quantized OTDOA to a network entity, which may correspond to one or more of the network nodes from which the positioning beacons were received (e.g., a serving base station) or a location server.

Disclosed are techniques for determining a timing resolution and a range of reported timing measurements used for position estimation. For example, in various embodiments, a user equipment (UE) may receive positioning beacons from multiple network nodes (e.g., different base stations, distant transmission points belonging to one base station, etc.), measure an observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) between the received positioning beacons, and quantize the measured OTDOA according to a timing resolution and/or a range that depend at least in part on one or more signal parameters associated with the received positioning beacons. Accordingly, the UE may then transmit a report containing the quantized OTDOA to a network entity, which may correspond to one or more of the network nodes from which the positioning beacons were received (e.g., a serving base station) or a location server.