METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SYNCHRONIZING WIRELESS LOCATION SERVERS

摘要

The disclosure generally relates to techniques for time acquisition, synchronization and location estimation when the GPS signal condition deteriorate or when the signal is unavailable. In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a processor for detecting clock error of a wireless location sensor (WLS) in a communication network having several wireless sensors, the processor programmed with instructions for determining clock error of an asynchronous WLS. The instructions include identifying a first WLS having asynchronous clock and a second WLS having synchronous clock; directing each of the first and the second WLS to detect a broadcast transmitted from a transmission station of known location and report an actual time of arrival at each of the first and the second WLS; computing an expected time of arrival of the broadcast at the first WLS as a function ofthe distance between the first WLS and the second WLS; and determining a clock error at the first WLS as a function of the expected time of arrival and the actual time of arrival of the broadcast at the first WLS.