Patent ID: 8421675

Claim:
A system for determining location and timing information in a cellular network having a plurality of cell sites, the system comprising: a space-time calibration unit (SCU); a plurality of nodes in communication with the SCU, each node comprising a node ping driver configured to receive frame synchronization information from a respective subset of cell sites, associate the frame synchronization information with respective receive count stamps generated using a local node clock, and provide the frame synchronization information and associated receive count stamps to the SCU; and a user handset comprising a handset ping driver configured to receive the frame synchronization information from a serving cell site and one or more neighbor cell sites, associate the frame synchronization information with respective receive count stamps generated using a local handset clock, and provide the frame synchronization information and associated receive count stamps to the SCU; wherein the SCU is configured to determine a user handset location based at least in part on the frame synchronization information with its associated receive count stamps obtained from the node ping drivers and handset ping driver, and to provide the user handset location to the user handset.