A location system is disclosed for commercial wireless telecommunication
infrastructures. The system is an end-to-end solution having one or more
location centers for outputting requested locations of commercially
available handsets or mobile stations (MS) based on, e.g., CDMA, AMPS,
NAMPS or TDMA communication standards, for processing both local MS
location requests and more global MS location requests via, e.g.,
Internet communication between a distributed network of location centers.
The system uses a plurality of MS locating technologies including those
based on: (1) two-way TOA and TDOA; (2) pattern recognition; (3)
distributed antenna provisioning; and (4) supplemental information from
various types of very low cost non-infrastructure base stations for
communicating via a typical commercial wireless base station
infrastructure or a public telephone switching network. Accordingly, the
traditional MS location difficulties, such as multipath, poor location
accuracy and poor coverage are alleviated via such technologies in
combination with strategies for: (a) automatically adapting and
calibrating system performance according to environmental and
geographical changes; (b) automatically capturing location signal data
for continual enhancement of a self-maintaining historical data base
retaining predictive location signal data; (c) evaluating MS locations
according to both heuristics and constraints related to, e.g., terrain,
MS velocity and MS path extrapolation from tracking and (d) adjusting
likely MS locations adaptively and statistically so that the system
becomes progressively more comprehensive and accurate. Further, the
system can be modularly configured for use in location signaling
environments ranging from urban, dense urban, suburban, rural, mountain
to low traffic or isolated roadways. Accordingly, the system is useful
for 911 emergency calls, tracking, routing, people and animal location
including applications for confinement to and exclusion from certain
areas.