Polaris Wireless, Inc.

Luis Perez-Breva

David Stevenson Spain, Jr

Paolo L Siccardo

Robert Lewis Martin

Robert Morris Dressler

Padmanabha R Rao

Chee-Yee Chong

David S Spain

A method for determining the location of a mobile unit (mobile unit) in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The illustrative embodiment provides a computationally-efficient technique for reducing the number of possible positions that have to be analyzed. In particular, the illustrative embodiment eliminates possible positions for the mobile unit from consideration by considering which signals the mobile unit can&#x2014;and cannot&#x2014;receive and the knowledge of where those signals can and cannot be received.

Estimating the location of a mobile unit based on the elimination of improbable locations

A method for determining the location of a mobile unit (MU) in a wireless communication system and presenting it to a remote party. The location of a remote MU is determined by comparing a snapshot of a predefined portion of the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum taken by the MU to a reference database containing multiple snapshots taken at various locations. The result of the comparison is used to determine if the MU is at a specific location. The comparison may be made in the MU, or at some other location situated remotely from the MU. In the latter case, sufficient information regarding the captured fingerprint is transmitted from the MU to the remote location. The database may be pre-compiled or generated on-line.

Location determination using RF fingerprinting

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Barcelona, Spain

Luis Perez-Breva