Patent ID: 6973316

Claim:
A method for detecting a position of a mobile station in a system using at least three base stations comprising measuring distances between the mobile station and the three base stations and detecting the position of the mobile station based on the measured distances, wherein the measurement of the distance between the mobile station and each base station comprises: transmitting a first periodical signal from the base station using a broadcast channel, the first periodical signal having a periodicity synchronous with a first reference timing generated by a reference timer of the base station; transmitting a second periodical signal from the mobile station, the second periodical signal having a periodicity synchronous with a second reference timing generated by a reference timer of the mobile station; receiving the first periodical signal from the base station at the mobile station and obtaining a phase difference, at the mobile station, based on the second reference timing, the phase difference comprising a time interval between the second reference timing and a reception timing of said second periodical signal at the mobile station; receiving the second periodical signal from the mobile station at the base station and obtaining a phase difference, at the base station, based on the first reference timing, the phase difference comprising a time interval between the first reference timing and a reception timing of said first periodical signal at the base station; detecting a reference timing difference between the mobile station and the base station based on the phase differences at the mobile station and the base station; matching the reference timer of the mobile station with the reference timer of the base station based on the reference timing difference; and obtaining a distance between the mobile station and the base station based on the phase differences.