Data fusion for mobile terminal location

The location of mobile terminals in cellular networks is an important problem with applications in resource allocation, location sensitive browsing, and emergency communications. A key problem in mobile terminal location is the creation of a method that is robust to non line of sight (NLOS) propagation, measurement quantization, and measurement noise and also has a reasonable implementation cost. This paper proposes a technique that fuses together location estimates obtained from propagation power loss measurements and propagation time measurements together to obtain a higher accuracy location estimate. The technique uses nonparametric estimation methods to estimate the covariance of each of the individual location errors to optimally fuse the location estimates together. It is shown how the data fusion location estimator is robust and has low implementation cost.