Patent Application
20240063928
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically to enabling a mobile device (e.g., a cellular phone) to communicate using satellite-based communications.
Satellite-based communications in the past have been limited to satellite phones having specialized antennas to enable the satellite phone to effectively send and receive signals to and from satellites. As the number of communication satellites increases, so does the possibility of enabling satellite-based communication for other types of devices. However, devices with antennas that are not specialized for satellite-based communications (e.g., standard mobile phones), such communications may be an impracticality if users are unable to orient mobile phones such that communication satellites fall within the main lobe, or node, of the mobile phone antenna.
An example method for sensing-based orientation of a mobile device for satellite-based communication, according to this disclosure, may comprise performing a plurality of signal strength measurements of a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by a satellite using at least one antenna of the mobile device, wherein performing the plurality of signal strength measurements occurs over a period of time during which the mobile device is subject to a movement. The method also may comprise determining, for each signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, a respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to when the respective signal strength measurement was performed. The method also may comprise determining a target orientation of the mobile device for the satellite-based communications based at least in part on a value of a particular signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, and the respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to the particular signal strength measurement. The method also may comprise providing guidance, with the mobile device, for rotating the mobile device to the target orientation.
An example mobile device for sensing-based orientation of a mobile device for satellite-based communication, according to this disclosure, may comprise a transceiver, a memory, one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform a plurality of signal strength measurements of a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by a satellite using at least one antenna of the transceiver, wherein performing the plurality of signal strength measurements occurs over a period of time during which the mobile device is subject to a movement. The one or more processors further may be configured to determine, for each signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, a respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to when the respective signal strength measurement was performed. The one or more processors further may be configured to determine a target orientation of the mobile device for the satellite-based communications based at least in part on a value of a particular signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, and the respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to the particular signal strength measurement. The one or more processors further may be configured to provide guidance for rotating the mobile device to the target orientation.
An example apparatus for sensing-based orientation of a mobile device for satellite-based communication, according to this disclosure, may comprise means for performing a plurality of signal strength measurements of a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by a satellite using at least one antenna of the mobile device, wherein performing the plurality of signal strength measurements occurs over a period of time during which the mobile device is subject to a movement. The apparatus further may comprise means for determining, for each signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, a respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to when the respective signal strength measurement was performed. The apparatus further may comprise means for determining a target orientation of the mobile device for the satellite-based communications based at least in part on a value of a particular signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, and the respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to the particular signal strength measurement. The apparatus further may comprise means for providing guidance, at the mobile device, for rotating the mobile device to the target orientation.
According to this disclosure, an example non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions for sensing-based orientation of a mobile device for satellite-based communication, the instructions comprising code for performing a plurality of signal strength measurements of a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by a satellite using at least one antenna of the mobile device, wherein performing the plurality of signal strength measurements occurs over a period of time during which the mobile device is subject to a movement. The instructions further may comprise code for determining, for each signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, a respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to when the respective signal strength measurement was performed. The instructions further may comprise code for determining a target orientation of the mobile device for the satellite-based communications based at least in part on a value of a particular signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, and the respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to the particular signal strength measurement. The instructions further may comprise code for providing guidance, with the mobile device, for rotating the mobile device to the target orientation.
This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this disclosure, any or all drawings, and each claim. The foregoing, together with other features and examples, will be described in more detail below in the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements, in accordance with certain example implementations. In addition, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by following a first number for the element with a letter or a hyphen and a second number. For example, multiple instances of an element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 etc. or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When referring to such an element using only the first number, any instance of the element is to be understood (e.g., element 110 in the previous example would refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 or to elements 110a, 110b, and 110c).
Several illustrative examples now be described with respect to Several illustrative examples will now be described with respect to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. While particular examples, in which one or more aspects of the disclosure may be implemented, are described below, other examples may be used and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure of the appended claims.
Reference throughout this specification to “one example” or “an example” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one example of claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one example” or “an example” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples.
The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various means depending upon applications according to particular examples. For example, such methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. In a hardware implementation, for example, a processing unit may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other devices units designed to perform the functions described herein, and/or combinations thereof.
As used herein, the terms “mobile device” may comprise a mobile electronic device that may be capable of wireless communications. Although often illustrated as a mobile phone (or “user equipment” (UE) of a cellular network), the wireless communication capabilities of the mobile device are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a mobile device may be any wireless communication device that may be oriented by a user (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) headset, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.), or other electronic device that may be used for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) positioning as described herein. According to some embodiments, a mobile device may be used to communicate over a wireless communications network. A mobile device may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a terrestrial Radio Access Network (RAN), when in range of the RAN. As used herein, the term mobile device may be referred to interchangeably as a UE, an Access Terminal (AT), a client device, a wireless device, a subscriber device, a subscriber terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal (UT), a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a mobile station, or variations thereof. Generally, mobile devices can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the mobile devices can be connected with external networks (such as the Internet) and with other mobile devices. Other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the Internet are also possible for the mobile devices, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, etc.), and so on.
As described herein, a GNSS receiver may comprise and/or be incorporated into an electronic device, such as a mobile device. This may include a single entity or may include multiple entities such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video and/or data I/O devices and/or body sensors and a separate wireline or wireless modem. As described herein, an estimate of a location of the Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate or position fix, and may be geodetic, thus providing location coordinates for the GPS receiver (e.g., latitude and longitude) which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height above or depth below ground level, floor level or basement level). In some embodiments, a location of the GPS receiver and/or an electronic device comprising the GPS receiver may also be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geodetically or in civic form) within which the GPS receiver is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). In the description contained herein, the use of the term location may comprise any of these variants unless indicated otherwise. When computing the location of a GPS receiver, such computations may solve for local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates and then, if needed, convert the coordinates from one coordinate frame to another.
Satellite-based communication systems have been increasing in recent years, expanding the coverage of voice-based and date-based communication. This can enable telephone coverage and Internet access to regions not previously covered by terrestrial wireless (e.g., cellular/mobile communication networks) or wired networks (e.g., traditional wired telephone networks, cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), etc.).
Satellite-based communication systems, such as the one illustrated in
The location of satellites 110 may be tracked in real time by a tracking entity, such as the provider of the satellite-based communication system 100, a government, space agency, etc., which can provide this satellite location information to a receiving device (e.g., a computer server), enabling the receiving device to derive satellite movements from historical location information and fit the satellite movements to a model that can be used for predicting future satellite locations. As an example, United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) 18th Space Defense Squadron (18 SPDS) publishes Two Line Element (TLE) data, which can be used with an unclassified Simplified General Perturbations #4 (SGP4) library to derive orbital information, based on radar observations. Historical orbital information extracted from the TLE data can allow a device, such as a computer server, to determine orbital parameter values that fit satellite movements to an orbital model. These orbital parameter values (and at least one associated timestamp) may then be passed to mobile devices, enabling the mobile devices to accurately predict future satellite locations by extrapolating satellite movement from the orbital model. Alternatively, TLE data can be directly used by the mobile device to compute future satellite locations using SGP4 library. However, accuracy of such computed satellite positions tends to degrade faster with time.
Depending on the type of orbital model used for satellite position estimation, these orbital parameters may vary. For example, for a Keplerian model, the orbital parameters may comprise Keplerian orbital parameters such as square-root of semi-major axis, eccentricity, mean anomaly, inclination angle, Right Ascension of Ascending Node (RAAN), RAAN rate, and argument of perigee, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, equinoctial orbital modeling may be used, in which case the orbital parameters may comprise some or all of the equinoctial element set: semi-major axis, components of eccentricity vector in equinoctial reference frame, components of an ascending node vector in equinoctial reference frame, and mean longitude. In some embodiments, secondary or derived parameters may be used as the orbital parameters. For example, in classical Keplerian orbital modeling, the Keplerian element set can be represented using derived parameters such as orbital time period rather than semi-major axis because there is a direct relation between the two.
Depending on the robustness of the orbital model, it may enable a receiving mobile device to accurately determine the location of satellites in the satellite-based communications system 100 (e.g., within a threshold tolerance) for weeks, months, or even over a year. Mobile devices can use such orbital models to determine satellite location to engage in satellite-based communication. However, such communication can be challenging.
Once the primary antenna node 250 is pointed at the satellite 210, it may take only a few seconds for the mobile device 230 to establish a communication link with the satellite 210 and transmit/receive data. In some embodiments, such functionality may be provided (e.g., by a mobile carrier) to users or subscribers of a satellite-based communication service to enable users to transmit and/or receive data when not in coverage of a terrestrial wireless network (e.g., cellular network). Data may be sent in emergencies and may comprise an SOS or other emergency message, for example. Additionally or alternatively, text messages may be buffered and sent/received when a communication link is established between the mobile device 230 and satellite 210. Other data and/or voice services may be facilitated using such satellite-based communication.
Such communication, however, relies on the user 240 being able to successfully point the primary antenna node 250 of the mobile device 230 toward the satellite 210. And different factors may make this particularly challenging. Accuracy to which a mobile device 230 with a main node 250 needs to be pointed towards a satellite 210 is a function of error budget available. Error budget is typically a function of antenna main node 250 characteristics. (Error budget may also include power constraint (e.g., battery charge available). For example, the antenna main node may be preferred for transmit/receive because it would use the least amount of power.) Most of the available error budget is allocated to account for user pointing error, leaving tighter requirements for mobile device components (e.g., as described in
Embodiments herein help address at least some of these issues by providing intelligent guidance to a user via a user interface (UI) allow the user to properly orient a mobile device such that the main antenna lobe (also referred to herein as the main antenna “node”) is oriented toward a satellite for satellite-based communication. As discussed in further detail hereafter, embodiments may utilize different sensing modalities on the mobile device to ensure the orientation process is easy to use, accurate, robust sensing errors/user errors, and smart (e.g., where of occlusion, surrounding environment, and use scenarios). Depending on the functionality of the mobile device, sensing modalities may include, for example, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) (e.g., accelerometer and gyroscope), magnetometer, barometer, GNSS receiver, camera, RF sensing, and/or other types of sensors.
As described in more detail hereafter, the process of providing intelligent guidance to a user for orientation of the mobile device can vary, depending on desired functionality. Generally put, information regarding the location of the mobile device on earth and location of satellites in orbit can be used to determine the location of the satellite relative to the mobile device. A desired, or “target,” orientation, or set of target orientations, of the mobile device can then be determined based on this relative location, the orientation of the antenna lobe relative to the mobile device, and a current orientation of the mobile device relative to earth (e.g., rotation vector (RV)). In some instances, a declination angle adjustment may be needed to interpret the RV and satellite position in the same coordinate frame.
The architecture 300 centers around and orientation engine 310. The orientation gathers information from various sources (e.g., the sensing modalities previously noted, calibration/characterization information, etc.) to determine an existing and target orientations of the mobile device to enable a UI engine 320 to guide a user (e.g., using visual and/or audio guidance) to rotate the mobile device from the existing orientation to the target orientation. As illustrated, the information sources used by the orientation engine 310 may comprise one or more sensor-based orientation sources 330, a GNSS receiver 340, and off-line calibration/characterization 350.
The sensor-based orientation source(s) 330 may comprise one or more sensors indicative of an RV (orientation) of the mobile device and/or components coupled therewith capable of deriving the RV and providing it to the orientation engine 310 (e.g., including downstream firmware and/or software components that receive and process sensor information). In some embodiments, the sensor-based orientation source(s) 330 may comprise a function of an operating system of the mobile device that receives sensor information from various sensors of the mobile device and outputs the RV of the mobile device relative to an earth-based coordinate frame such as the East, North, Up (ENU) frame. As indicated by the dotted arrow, the providing of the RV of the mobile by the sensor-based orientation source(s) 330 to the orientation engine 310 (e.g., prior to outputting any UI guidance) may be optional. Additionally, the RV may be provided to the UI engine 320 to enable the mobile device to provide real-time UI guidance to a user based on updated/real-time RV information regarding the mobile device.
As illustrated in
The output of the GNSS receiver 340 may vary, depending on desired functionality. According to some embodiments the output may comprise a location of the mobile device relative to the earth (e.g., a latitude, longitude, and altitude). Additionally, or alternatively, the GNSS receiver 340 may provide pseudo-range and/or other information from measurements of RF signals from GNSS satellites, enabling the orientation engine 310 to determine the location of the mobile device relative to earth and the environment surrounding it (e.g., obstructions etc.).
Thus, the output of the sensor-based orientation source(s) 330 and GNSS receiver 340 can allow the orientation engine 310 to determine a pose of the mobile device with six degrees of freedom (6DoF) (e.g., RV and location) relative to the earth. It can be noted that because the RV from the sensor-based orientation source(s) 330 may be based on measurement of a magnetic north, and because satellite location/direction is inherently related to geographic north, the orientation engine 310 may make an adjustment (e.g., based on location, as provided by information from the GNSS receiver 340) to translate the RV from a magnetic north frame to geographic north frame. Alternatively, the orientation engine 310 may make an adjustment to represent relative satellite positions with respect to magnetic north.
The off-line calibration/characterization provided at block 350 provides the orientation engine 310 with information regarding the direction of the antenna lobe (e.g., primary lobe) of the mobile device, relative to the mobile device frame (e.g., shown in
Additionally or alternatively, embodiments may utilize online calibration/characterization to determine the main antenna lobe direction with respect to the mobile device. Data such as known mobile device orientation and signal strength measurements from devices at known locations, can be used to determine the main antenna lobe direction. Gathering the relevant data to make this determination may be done opportunistically (e.g., in the course of ordinary use) and/or by performing a calibration process that may involve providing directions to a mobile device user to perform one or more tasks for calibration, such as orient the mobile device a certain way.
In this example, and in many practical embodiments, various assumptions may apply. For example, under mild assumptions, the antenna main lobe can be treated as a single direction along its peak, represented by antenna lobe direction 510. Device orientation (e.g., rotation shown by arrow 540) around an axis along the antenna lobe direction 510 may not impact the communication of the mobile device 520 with the satellite 530. Thus, this can be used as a degree of freedom when determining a target orientation for communicating satellite 530. For example, the target orientation of the mobile device 520 may be determined such that the mobile device 520 is in a relatively comfortable position for a user (e.g., instead of a position in which the screen of the mobile device 520 is facing downward, for instance). In addition or as an alternative to avoiding an awkward pose/orientation, embodiments may use this degree of freedom to optimize other considerations such as reducing the amount of work (certain rotation angles) to get from a current orientation to a target orientation, optimize performance, and so forth. The antenna lobe direction 510 may also take the shape of the antenna lobes and/or potential sensing errors into account. If the antenna lobe is wider and one directions in another, for example, the resulting antenna lobe direction 510 may be moved toward the center of the lobe, rather than the peak.
Returning to
As noted, different techniques for selecting a target RV may be employed to leverage allowable rotation, user comfort, and/or other factors. One technique, for example, may involve selecting a target RV such that angle change along the U-axis (e.g., the gravity vector) is minimized, which can minimize the total angle that needs to be adjusted following a left/right (azimuth) rotation. This may be an equivalent adjustment from azimuth to elevation from the perspective of the antenna lobe direction. An alternate technique for selecting a target RV may include minimizing a difference between the y-axis of the mobile device frame (e.g., as illustrated in
Depending on desired functionality, guidance provided by mobile device may use one or more operations to get from the current orientation (current RV) to the target orientation.
When determining current in target RVs/orientations, embodiments may account for and mitigate sensor errors in sensors of the mobile device. For example, a current RV may not always be accurate, especially in an azimuth angle that is reliant on a magnetometer. A calibrated magnetometer can have up to 5° of error in the azimuth direction, and an uncalibrated magnetometer can have 20° of error or more. This can be due, for example, to nearby objects causing interference to the magnetic field near the mobile device. To mitigate this error, some embodiments may include a calibration step (e.g., a figure-8 movement calibration) prior to the determination of the current mobile device orientation (e.g., by the sensor-based orientation source(s) 330 of
Similarly, embodiments may account for and mitigate user errors. For SOS/help signals, a user may be under distress. Fatigue, disability, age, etc. may restrict or hamper movement and ability to hold a mobile device steady. In such instances, the mobile device may detect the presence of a hand tremor from sensor signals (e.g., IMU, camera, etc.), and optionally detect a principal axis of the tremor. In such embodiments, the mobile device may then guide the user to hold the device a certain way so as to minimize the impact of tremor on the alignment of the antenna lobe with a satellite. In other words, the mobile device can guide a user to rotate the mobile device in a manner that maximally aligns the tremor rotation axis with the direction of the antenna main lobe.
When determining a target RV/orientation, a mobile device (e.g., orientation engine 310 and/or UI engine 320) may account for the time it takes a user to rotate the mobile device, in view of satellite movement. That is, when determining a target RV and guiding a user to rotate the mobile device, the satellite will continue to move in the sky as the user tries to point the device. Thus, according to some embodiments, a mobile device can account for this delay when determining a target orientation for antenna-satellite alignment. This can be done, for example, by predicting location of the satellite at a future time (e.g., the length of delay). The mobile device may further allow a buffer period so that the mobile device is properly aligned in advance of the satellite reaching the predicted location. In an example, if an expected time it takes a user to properly aligned the mobile device is five seconds, the mobile device may add a buffer period of two seconds and therefore predict the satellite location seven seconds in advance. This allows the mobile device user to align the mobile device properly before the satellite enters into alignment with the antenna lobe.
As noted, some embodiments may provide intelligent UI guidance in view of context/surroundings. For example, a mobile device such as a smartphone may be aware of the user activity based on IMU and other sensory inputs. This can include identifying activities such as walking, running, biking, riding in a vehicle, etc. According to some embodiments, an activity in which the user is engaged may be taken into account when determining a target orientation and/or an adjustment procedure for rotating the mobile device to the target orientation. A more complicated procedure and/or more awkward target orientation may be allowable for a user that is not moving or riding in a car, for example, then a user who is walking or riding a bike.
As noted, according to some embodiments, a camera of the mobile device may be used in various aspects of orientation determination and guidance. As previously noted, sensor error (especially azimuth error) may result in errors in the determinations of current and target orientations. However, using a camera, a mobile device can reduce or correct the sensing error by using a camera image of certain objects. Objects such as celestial bodies (e.g., sun, moon, stars) with known azimuth/elevation at a given time and location (e.g., as derived from GNSS), the horizon, and/or other known landmarks (e.g., again in view of the current position of the mobile device) may be used to correct azimuth and/or elevation errors. The camera may also be used to detect occlusions, such as mountains, buildings, etc.) that would prevent the mobile device from engaging in line-of-sight communications with a satellite. When such obstructions are detected, the mobile device (e.g., via the UI) can alert a user to move to a location without an occlusion, or simply guide the user to align the antenna lobe of the mobile device toward another (un-occluded) satellite.
When utilizing a camera in this manner, different considerations may be taken into account, to ensure proper guidance by the mobile device 810. For example, each pixel in the camera image represents a unique incoming angle in camera's field of view (FOV). Thus, the location of the circle 840 representing the antenna lobe direction can be projected onto the camera image via a projection formula that is a function of antenna lobe direction and camera parameters/FOV. As for the location of the dot 850 representing the satellite position, this can be projected onto the camera image as a function of satellite direction, current/real time orientation of the mobile device 810, and the camera parameters/FOV. More specifically, the XY coordinate of the dot 850 may be extracted from the FOV of the camera (given a current orientation) and a position of the satellite in the ENU frame. In these example, camera parameters may include focal length, photo size in pixels, and/or photo orientation (e.g., landscape/portrait).
It can be noted, however, that many of the benefits described with regards to the embodiment shown in
Guidance provided to a user for rotating the mobile device to a target orientation (e.g., via a UI engine 320, as shown in
The UI flow 900 begins with displaying the graphical output shown at block 910, indicating to a user of the mobile devices acquiring satellite positions. This screen can be provided to the user, for example, while an orientation engine determines a current position of the device (e.g., with respect to the earth) and current (and/or future) positions of one or more prospective satellites that may be used by the mobile device for satellite-based communication. As further indicated at block 910, this graphical output may further instruct the user on how to properly grip the mobile device to help reduce interference of a communication signal from a satellite by the user's hand. According to some embodiments, portrait or landscape orientation at start-up may depend on the location/direction of the main node of the antenna. If the main node of antenna is coming out of the bottom of the phone, then the user may be requested to hold the phone in landscape mode to start. The mobile device may be prompted to display the graphical output at block 910 (and initiate the UI flow 900) based on a user input (e.g., on a previous screen) or other triggering event indicating a desire or need to engage in satellite-based communications. Trigger events can include a user input indicating an emergency situation, a desire to communicate (e.g., when the mobile device is out of network coverage), an automatic trigger detected by an operating system or software executed by the mobile device, etc.
If, during the satellite acquisition/orientation determination process, a user selects a cancel or back button, the mobile device can then display the graphical content of block 920. As illustrated, this is a prompt to determine whether the user would like to continue to look for satellites for satellite-based communication, or abandon the process. The user may then select “No” to return to the functionality and UI output of block 910, or select “Yes” to abandon the process and return to the previous screen (e.g., displayed prior to the graphical output of block 910), as indicated at block 930.
As indicated at block 940, if the location of one or more prospective satellites relative to the position of mobile device with which to attempts to engage in satellite-based communications is not obtained, the graphical output shown at block 950 can then be displayed, indicating to the user that satellite positions were not obtained and prompting the user to try again (return to the functionality and display shown at block 910) or to abandon the process (return to the previous screen, as indicated at block 930). Possible reasons for such a failure could include, for example, the mobile device does not have predicted orbit information for any satellites, the mobile device has failed to compute its position using GNSS satellites within a certain threshold, and/or the mobile device has determined that no satellites are expected to be visible within a threshold time period (e.g., in the next few seconds/minutes). Otherwise, if the location of the one or more prospective satellites is determined before timeout, the flow can then proceed to the functionality illustrated at block 960, where the mobile device provides the user with guidance (via the UI) on how to rotate the device to a target orientation. Examples for such guidance are shown in
When a satellite is within the FOV of the virtual camera, a process similar to the process described with regard to
The flow 1100 of
Flow 1200 may begin with the mobile device displaying the screen 1210, in which the user is prompted to tilt the mobile device such that a block 1220 is aligned with line 1230. Here, the line 1230 is fixed with respect to the display, while the block 1220 moves with the tilting of the mobile device. Once the user successfully lines the block 1220 with the line 1230 (e.g., attaining the proper pitch, within a threshold), the mobile device may then show screen 1240. Again, one or more additional outputs such as a vibration, sound, etc. may be provided to alert the user that the user has successfully rotated the mobile device to the correct orientation. As shown at screen 1240, the mobile device may prompt the user to maintain the current orientation of the mobile device to enable the mobile device to engage in satellite-based communication.
At block 1250, a determination is made of whether the intended transaction is complete. Again, the intended transaction may vary, depending on desired functionality. In intended transaction may comprise any combination of sending a message, downloading a message, or setting up account. Here, a message may comprise a user message such as a text message (SMS), email, or the like. Additionally or alternatively the intended transaction may include sending other types of messages, such as a control or communication message used by the mobile device (e.g., an app-layer or lower-layer message to/from a server), which may not be seen or used by the user.
At that point, the flow 1200 can take one of two different paths, as indicated in
Again, the screens/graphics provided in
At block 1410, the functionality comprises determining, with the mobile device, a set of target orientations of the mobile device in which an antenna lobe of the mobile device is pointed toward the satellite, the set of target orientations based on an orientation of an antenna lobe relative to the mobile device, and a location of the satellite relative to the mobile device. As indicated in the embodiments herein, the antenna lobe may comprise the main antenna lobe or node of the mobile device. In so doing, this can result in power savings and/or less signal loss at the mobile device (e.g., versus utilizing other antenna lobes that may exist). The set of orientations may comprise a plurality of orientations of the mobile device that result in the main antenna lobe pointing toward the satellite. This can include, for example, rotations of the mobile device around the axis of the main antenna lobe, as described with regard to
As noted in the embodiments herein, the mobile device may implement various operations to determine the location of the satellite relative to the mobile device. As such, some embodiments of the method 1400, may further comprise determining, with the mobile device, the current location of the mobile device. In some embodiments, determining the current location of the mobile device may comprise using a GNSS receiver of the mobile device to determine the current location of the mobile device. That said, as noted elsewhere herein, additional or alternative positioning means may be utilized for determining the current location of the mobile device. According to some embodiments, the method 1400 may further comprise determining, with the mobile device, the location of the satellite relative to the mobile device, wherein determining the location of the satellite is based at least in part on a location of the satellite, and the current location of the mobile device. As noted, the location of the satellite may be obtained utilizing an orbital model to determine a current position of one or more satellites in a constellation. This model and/or orbital parameter values used by the model, may be provided by a server. This orbital data may be valid for weeks, months, or more. So for a given implementation, the model and/or orbital parameters values may have been provided to a mobile device by a server days, weeks, etc., beforehand.
Means for performing functionality at block 1410 may comprise a bus 2005, processor(s) 2010, digital signal processor (DSP) 2020, wireless communication interface 2030, sensors 2040, memory 2060, GNSS receiver 2080, and/or other components of a mobile device 2000, as illustrated in
The functionality at block 1420 comprises determining a current orientation of the mobile device. As described herein, a mobile device may have a variety of sensors, including one or more IMUs (and/or a combination of accelerometers and/or gyroscopes), magnetometers, RF sensors, and the like, from which data may be obtained to determine an orientation of the mobile device. As noted elsewhere herein, it may be desirable in some circumstances to perform calibration of one or more of these orientation sensors, such as the magnetometer, to determine the orientation of the mobile device more accurately. Accordingly, some embodiments of the method 1400 may further comprise providing, at the UI of the mobile device, guidance for moving the mobile device to perform calibration of one or more orientation sensors of the mobile device, prior to determining the current orientation of the mobile device. With the current orientation and the set of target orientations, the mobile device can then determine one or more steps for rotating the mobile device from the current orientation to at least one target orientation, as described in embodiments herein. Means for performing functionality at block 1420 may comprise a bus 2005, processor(s) 2010, DSP 2020, wireless communication interface 2030, sensors 2040, memory 2060, GNSS receiver 2080, and/or other components of a mobile device 2000, as illustrated in
The functionality at block 1430 comprises providing, at a UI of the mobile device, guidance for rotating the mobile device from the current orientation to an orientation within the set of target orientations. As described herein with respect to
Other embodiments may leverage detected types of movement in order to provide guidance to a user. As noted, a tremor may be detected and used by the UI. As such, some embodiments of the method 1400 may further comprise detecting a primary tremor rotation axis experienced by the mobile device, wherein providing the guidance for rotating the mobile device comprises providing guidance that maximally aligns the tremor rotation axis with a direction of the antenna lobe.
Means for performing functionality at block 1430 may comprise a bus 2005, processor(s) 2010, DSP 2020, wireless communication interface 2030, sensors 2040, memory 2060, GNSS receiver 2080, and/or other components of a mobile device 2000, as illustrated in
As indicated in the embodiments described previously, embodiments may include one or more additional operations, depending on desired functionality. For example, according to some embodiments of the method 1400, the guidance for rotating the mobile device may include providing real-time visual feedback on a display of the mobile device. Such embodiments may further comprise estimating a real-time position of the satellite, wherein the real-time visual feedback is based on the estimated real-time position of the satellite. Additionally or alternatively, the guidance for rotating the mobile device may include guidance for adjusting a yaw, pitch, or roll of the mobile device, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the guidance for rotating the mobile device may include displaying an image of an environment of the mobile device, the image captured by a camera of the mobile device. As previously described with respect to
According to some embodiments, a mobile device may utilize RF sensing to enhance or complement previously-described embodiments, or as a stand-alone embodiment for providing guidance to a user to align the mobile device to a satellite for satellite-based communication. More specifically, while undergoing movement (e.g., rotation guidance as previously described, or other movement) a mobile device may measure signal strength from RF signals transmitted by a satellite to determine and/or modify a target orientation of the mobile device for satellite-based communication. Because of the reciprocity of a potential communication link with the satellite, this signal strength can provide a metric for whether an effective communication link could be established with the satellite. Thus, RF sensing in this manner can help the mobile device provide a “closed loop” process that helps ensure proper alignment of the main antenna lobe of the mobile device with a satellite, despite the existence of sensor errors and/or other factors that could impact the effectiveness of “open loop” processes (without RF sensing and feedback) as described elsewhere herein.
Using RF sensing to as an information source when providing user guidance for mobile phone rotation can provide variety benefits. As noted, various factors may introduce error into the previously-described embodiments. For example, a user's hand and/or nearby metal objects may alter a main antenna lobe direction relative to the mobile device. Additionally or alternatively, sensor error may impact the accuracy of the determination of a current orientation (e.g., current RV) of the mobile device. These and other errors may lead to errors in the determination of the target orientation of the mobile device and/or rotation guidance provided to the user. However, by utilizing RF sensing, a mobile device can receive real-time input regarding the alignment of the main antenna lobe direction of the mobile device with the satellite, and can further help modify and/or optimize this alignment to enable satellite-based communication. Embodiments utilizing such RF signal sensing are described hereafter with regard to
According to some embodiments, a user may be prompted to perform a movement with the mobile device during which the mobile device can sample (or measure) RF signals from one or more communication satellites. By sampling RF signal strength and mobile device orientation during this movement, the mobile device can determine whether RF signal strength is sufficient to engage in satellite-based communications and/or identify maxima in the RF signal strength. This movement may be guided rotational movement as previously-described (e.g., rotating from a current orientation to a target orientation) and/or unguided movement.
The determination of the pass/fail threshold 1710 may be based on any of a variety of factors, and may be predetermined (e.g., preset beforehand) or dynamic (e.g., based on conditions present at the time the mobile device is determining a target orientation). According to some embodiments, for example, the pass/fail threshold 1710 may be based on known signal strength levels for a particular device and/or device type that correlate to successful attempts to engage in satellite-based communications (e.g., enabling both downlink signals from satellites and uplink signals to satellites). This may be determined, for example, based on experimental and/or theoretical results for each device and/or device type. Additionally or alternatively, the pass/fail threshold may be based on signal strength levels that enable the mobile device to successfully decode received signals.
In this example, the process of searching for a local maximum may begin with the mobile device 1820 starting an initial rotation 1830 (e.g., an initial orientation). From there, the mobile device 1820 may guide a user to rotate the mobile device 1820 about the y-axis (and/or other axes, in other embodiments) as the mobile device continues to measure the signal strength of an RF signal transmitted by a communication satellite. As shown in the graph 1800, a rotation in one direction will cause the signal strength to increase (as indicated by arrow 1840), and rotation in the other direction will cause a signal strength to decrease (as indicated by arrow 1850). In this manner, the mobile device 1820 can provide real-time feedback to the user based on measured signal strength, guiding the user to rotate the mobile device 1820 in a manner that increases measured signal strength until a maximum (e.g., global maximum 1860) is reached. According to some embodiments, to avoid getting “stuck” in a local maximum (e.g., local maximum 1870) that may not provide a good orientation for satellite-based communication, some embodiments may provide for a minimum threshold of rotation in a direction that decreases the measured signal strength (e.g., as shown by arrow 1880) before guiding the user to rotate the mobile device 1820 in a different direction (e.g., the opposite direction about an axis, or rotation along another axis in embodiments involving multi-axis rotation). Different axis of rotation may have different thresholds, which may be based on, for example, sensor error. For example, because sensor error in an azimuth direction (rotation about the y-axis) may be greater than sensor error in an elevation direction (rotation about the x-axis), the minimum threshold of rotation in the azimuth direction may be larger than in an elevation direction. This can increase the likelihood that a user is guided toward a global maximum 1860 (e.g., from the antenna's primary node) if an initial rotation is near a local maximum (e.g., from a sidelobe).
It can be noted that this technique may be coupled with other techniques herein, and rotation guidance may be offered in any of a variety of ways (e.g., as described with regard to
Depending on desired functionality, embodiments may employ the use of secondary antennas when performing measurements of RF signals for orienting a mobile device. A mobile device having four antennas, for example, initially may measure signal power from one or more communication satellites using all four antennas to determine which antenna provides the strongest signal power. The antenna with the strongest signal power can used subsequently for mobile device orientation (e.g., using the techniques described herein). According to some embodiments, some antennas may be intelligently enabled/disabled based on antenna lobe orientation. For example, based on a current mobile device orientation, antennas having antenna lobes facing upward (and thereby more likely to receive RF signals from communication satellites) may be used to perform RF measurements, whereas antennas having antenna lobes facing downward may not be used. Of course, these antennas may be dynamically selected based on current mobile device orientation.
Additionally or alternatively, an antenna may utilize GNSS signal measurements to aid in the orientation of a mobile device. This may be done, for example, in embodiments where a mobile device has an antenna used for both (i) receiving GNSS signals, and (ii) engaging in satellite-based communication. (This can be the case, for example, where both GNSS and satellite-based communication occur in the L band.) In such instances, the mobile device may measure a GNSS signal to determine an orientation of the antenna's main lobe with respect to the mobile device (e.g., under current conditions), given the location of the mobile device and known location of the GNSS satellites transmitting the measured GNSS signal. The mobile device can then leverage that information to reorient the mobile device such that the main antenna lobe is oriented toward the location of a satellite for satellite-based communication.
At block 1910, the functionality comprises performing a plurality of signal strength measurements of an RF signal transmitted by a satellite using at least one antenna of the mobile device, wherein performing the plurality of signal strength measurements occurs over a period of time during which the mobile device is subject to a movement. As detailed elsewhere herein, this movement may be natural movement of the mobile device (e.g., during the course of normal operation), or may be a guided movement (e.g., a
Means for performing the functionality at block 1910 may comprise a bus 2005, processor(s) 2010, DSP 2020, wireless communication interface 2030, sensors 2040, memory 2060, GNSS receiver 2080, and/or other components of a mobile device 2000, as illustrated in
At block 1920, the functionality comprises determining, for each signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, a respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to when the respective signal strength measurement was performed. As detailed previously, determining an orientation corresponding to each signal strength measurement can enable the identification of an orientation corresponding to the strongest signal strength measurement. As described in the embodiments herein, the orientation having the strongest signal strength measurement may comprise a target orientation from which to engage in satellite communications, or may serve as a starting point for additional sensing-based guidance (e.g., to find a local or global maximum, as described with respect to
Means for performing the functionality at block 1920 may comprise a bus 2005, processor(s) 2010, DSP 2020, wireless communication interface 2030, sensors 2040, memory 2060, GNSS receiver 2080, and/or other components of a mobile device 2000, as illustrated in
At block 1930, the functionality comprises determining a target orientation of the mobile device for the satellite-based communications based at least in part on a value of a particular signal strength measurement of the plurality of signal strength measurements, and the respective orientation of the mobile device corresponding to the particular signal strength measurement. Means for performing the functionality at block 1930 may comprise a bus 2005, processor(s) 2010, DSP 2020, wireless communication interface 2030, sensors 2040, memory 2060, GNSS receiver 2080, and/or other components of a mobile device 2000, as illustrated in
At block 1940, the functionality comprises providing guidance, with the mobile device, for rotating the mobile device to the target orientation. Again, a target orientation may be determined from the orientations corresponding to the signal strength measurements. A target orientation may comprise the orientation having the strongest signal strength measurement, or any orientation exceeding a pass/fail threshold. As such, according to some embodiments of the method 1900, determining the target orientation of the mobile device comprises determining the value of the particular signal strength measurement exceeds a pass/fail threshold. According to some embodiments, determining the target orientation of the mobile device comprises determining the value of the particular signal strength measurement represents a local or global maximum in signal strength measurements. In some embodiments, searching for a maximum signal strength value may be done via additional guidance. Thus, some embodiments of the method 1900 may further comprise providing further guidance for conducting a search for a local maximum signal strength value, wherein providing the further guidance is responsive to a determination that the mobile device has been rotated to the target orientation within a threshold tolerance.
Means for performing the functionality at block 1940 may comprise a bus 2005, processor(s) 2010, DSP 2020, wireless communication interface 2030, sensors 2040, memory 2060, GNSS receiver 2080, and/or other components of a mobile device 2000, as illustrated in
Embodiments may include one or more additional features, depending on desired functionality. For example, according to some embodiments, the plurality of signal strength measurements is performed using a plurality of antennas of the mobile device. According to some embodiments, multiple antennas may be used to obtain signal strength measurements, and the antenna having the strongest signal strength may be selected for satellite communication. (In such instances, guidance for moving the mobile device may be based on an antenna lobe for the selected antenna.) According to some embodiments, the satellite may comprise a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) satellite. In such embodiments, the method may further comprise determining a direction of an antenna lobe with respect to the mobile device based at least in part on the plurality of signal strength measurements of the RF signal transmitted by the GNSS satellite, wherein the determining the target orientation is further based on the determined direction of the antenna lobe with respect to the mobile device. In some embodiments, providing the guidance for rotating the mobile device May include providing real-time visual feedback on a display of the mobile device. This can include, for example, any of the feedback similar to that shown in
The mobile device 2000 is shown comprising hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus 2005 (or may otherwise be in communication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor(s) 2010 which can include without limitation one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., an application processor), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics acceleration processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or the like), and/or other processing structures or means. Processor(s) 2010 may comprise one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. As shown in
The mobile device 2000 may also include a wireless communication interface 2030, which may comprise without limitation a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and/or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth® device, an IEEE 802.11 device, an IEEE 802.15.4 device, a Wi-Fi device, a WiMAX device, a WAN device, and/or various cellular devices, etc.), and/or the like, which may enable the mobile device 2000 to communicate with other devices as described in the embodiments above. The wireless communication interface 2030 may permit data and signaling to be communicated (e.g., transmitted and received) with TRPs of a network, for example, via eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, access points, various base stations and/or other access node types, and/or other network components, computer systems, and/or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled with TRPs, as described herein. The communication can be carried out via one or more wireless communication antenna(s) 2032 that send and/or receive wireless signals 2034. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna(s) 2032 may comprise a plurality of discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna(s) 2032 may be capable of transmitting and receiving wireless signals using beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams). Beam formation may be performed using digital and/or analog beam formation techniques, with respective digital and/or analog circuitry. The wireless communication interface 2030 may include such circuitry. The antenna(s) 2032 may further be used for satellite-based communication and may comprise a primary node, which may be pointed a satellite for satellite-based communication, as described herein. According to some embodiments, the orientation of the primary note relative to the body of the device may be known/established by the device manufacturer. In some embodiments, the antenna(s) 2032 utilized for satellite-based communication may be the same as the antenna(s) 2082 used by the GNSS receiver 2080.
Depending on desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 2030 may comprise a separate receiver and transmitter, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and/or receivers to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers, such as wireless devices and access points. The mobile device 2000 may communicate with different data networks that may comprise various network types. For example, a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) may be a CDMA network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and so on. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs such as CDMA2000®, WCDMA, and so on. CDMA2000® includes IS-95, IS-2000 and/or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G NR, and so on. 5G NR, LTE, LTE Advanced, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. CDMA2000® is described in documents from a consortium named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A wireless local area network (WLAN) may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and a wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, an IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN and/or WPAN.
The mobile device 2000 can further include sensor(s) 2040. Sensor(s) 2040 may comprise, without limitation, one or more inertial sensors and/or other sensors (e.g., accelerometer(s), gyroscope(s), camera(s), magnetometer(s), altimeter(s), microphone(s), proximity sensor(s), light sensor(s), barometer(s), and the like), some of which may be used to obtain position-related measurements and/or other information. As described herein, sensor(s) 2040 may be used to determine an orientation of the mobile device 2000 that can be used to assist a user when rotating the mobile device 2000 to a target orientation. Further, as described herein, a camera may be used to capture an image of an environment of the mobile device 2000, which may be displayed on a display (e.g., output device 2015) of the mobile device 2000.
Embodiments of the mobile device 2000 may also include a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver 2080 capable of receiving signals 2084 from one or more GNSS satellites using an antenna 2082 (which could be the same as antenna 2032). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurement can be utilized to complement and/or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 2080 can extract a position of the mobile device 2000, using conventional techniques, from GNSS satellites of a GNSS system, such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and/or the like. Moreover, the GNSS receiver 2080 can be used with various augmentation systems (e.g., a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and/or regional navigation satellite systems, such as, e.g., Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and/or the like.
It can be noted that, although GNSS receiver 2080 is illustrated in
The mobile device 2000 may further include and/or be in communication with a memory 2060. The memory 2060 can include, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a random access memory (RAM), and/or a read-only memory (ROM), which can be programmable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, including without limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/or the like.
The memory 2060 of the mobile device 2000 also can comprise software elements (not shown in
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.
With reference to the appended figures, components that can include memory can include non-transitory machine-readable media. The term “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” as used herein, refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In embodiments provided hereinabove, various machine-readable media might be involved in providing instructions/code to processors and/or other device(s) for execution. Additionally or alternatively, the machine-readable media might be used to store and/or carry such instructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable medium is a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic and/or optical media, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code.
The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, features described with respect to certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components of the figures provided herein can be embodied in hardware and/or software. Also, technology evolves and, thus many of the elements are examples that do not limit the scope of the disclosure to those specific examples.
It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, numerals, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as is apparent from the discussion above, it is appreciated that throughout this Specification discussion utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “ascertaining,” “identifying,” “associating,” “measuring,” “performing,” or the like refer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computing device. In the context of this Specification, therefore, a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically represented as physical electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities within memories, registers, or other information storage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.
Terms, “and” and “or” as used herein, may include a variety of meanings that also is expected to depend, at least in part, upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular or may be used to describe some combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example and claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Furthermore, the term “at least one of” if used to associate a list, such as A, B, or C, can be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and/or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.
Having described several embodiments, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, the above elements may merely be a component of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Also, a number of steps may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the disclosure.
In view of this description embodiments may include different combinations of features. Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:
