Patent ID: 8346278

Claim:
A method for gathering location data within a geographical area of a digital distributed antenna system, the method comprising: receiving a request for location services from a subscriber unit located within the geographical area of the digital distributed antenna system, the digital distributed antenna system including a first partition of bandwidth for transporting digitized radio frequency (RF) signals of one or more modulated signals, the digital distributed antenna system further including a second partition of bandwidth for an Ethernet pipe for transporting Internet Protocol (IP) formatted data; routing the request for location services to a subscriber locator center, wherein routing the request for location services to the subscriber locator center comprises transporting the request for location services via the first partition of bandwidth for transporting digitized RF signals; instructing a plurality of locator receivers within the geographical area of the digital distributed antenna system to listen for a signal from the subscriber unit; listening for the signal from the subscriber unit at a first locator receiver of the plurality of locator receivers; when the signal is observed by the first locator receiver, recording a time the signal was received and generating subscriber unit ranging data; and transmitting subscriber unit ranging data back to the subscriber locator center in an IP formatted message via the Ethernet pipe provided by the digital distributed antenna system.