System and method for enabling signal acquisition in a satellite
positioning system (SPS) when signals from SPS satellites are attenuated
by the operating environment of a SPS receiver. A preferred embodiment
comprises a communications server (for example, communications server
220) coupled to a SPS receiver (for example, SPS receiver 210) at one end
and a time server (for example, time server 225) by a public network (for
example, the Internet 230). Preferably, the communications server 220 is
coupled to the Internet 230 via a wireless network to facilitate maximum
mobility and flexibility. The communications server 220 queries the time
server 225 for the current time and then provides the current time to the
SPS receiver 210. The SPS receiver 210 makes use of the current time to
assist it in signal acquisition.