A mobile GPS-aiding system uses a GPS reference receiver to collect GPS
navigation messages, a GPS-aiding data network server to distribute over
the Internet all ephemeris and almanac data gleaned from the navigation
messages, a number of commercial broadcast radio stations to publish such
ephemeris and almanac data on particular sub-carriers, a number of
vehicles equipped to receive the radio broadcasts and the sub-carriers
and to retransmit them locally, e.g., via Bluetooth. Portable GPS
receivers, operated near any of the vehicles, a receive Bluetooth
transmissions with the ephemeris and almanac data with the identity of
the radio broadcast station then being tuned. A breadcrumb database is
used to index the locations of the radio broadcast stations. Each mobile
GPS receiver contributes to such database after it computes a location
fix. If the location of the radio broadcast station is already known to
the database, then the location can be accessed and used before finding a
position solution.