Real-time location estimation of a mobile station in a wireless communication system

Abstract

An apparatus and method is provided for real-time location estimation of a mobile station (MS) on a map of roads using non-Global Positioning Satellite location data of the MS and includes a step of determining that the MS is stationary. A next step includes assigning each raw location datum with an initial mass such that the data exhibit an attractive force therebetween. A next step includes calculating a net attractive force for all data using a distance between the data. A next step includes moving each datum a normalized step on the map in response to the net attractive force. A next step includes merging any data that are within a predefined distance on the map and adding their masses. A next step includes repeating the calculating, moving, and merging steps until there are no consecutive merges for a predetermined number of iterations. A next step includes removing any datum with a mass less than a threshold. If there is more than one merged datum left, and a total number of iterations is less than a predefined number, going to the calculating step. Otherwise, using a mean of the locations of any remaining data as a location of the mobile station.