A METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR ESTIMATING A CHARACTERISTIC OF A SIGNAL

摘要

This inventionrelates to a method ofestimating a characteristicof a signal such as a timeof arrival or a transmitteridentity in particular ina cellular communicationsystem. Most knowntechniques have limitedperformance as theyrely on limited amountsof known data. Themethod of the inventioncomprises a first step(201) of receiving thesignal at a subscriberunit. In a second step(203) the subscriber unitreceives assistance datafrom the fixed networkand in a third step (205)an expected signal isderived in response to thisassistance data. For GSMthe assistance data can bea frame number and a BSIC permitting an entire expected SCH burst to bederived. In a fourth (207) step the signal characteristic isdetermined by correlation of the received signal and the expected signal. Theinvention is particularly applicable to location determinationin a GSM communication system.