A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) may comprise a constellation of navigation satellites. In general, signals received from the navigation satellites may be utilized to determine a location for the receiver. Example implementations of a GNSS may comprise, for example, the Global Positioning System (GPS) operated by the United States, GLONASS operated by Russia, the Galileo positioning system under development by the European Union and the COMPASS navigation system under development by China. In these systems, a device may measure signals received from various satellites in the constellation to continually update the estimated position of the device. For example, during positioning a GNSS receiver may measure received satellite signals multiple times per second, and may provide the signal measurements to other processing resources in a device to determine an updated position. Constant signal measurement may allow for accurate position determination regardless of whether the device is stationary or moving.
While the benefit of constant signal measurement on positioning accuracy may be readily apparent, negative implications may also exist. For example, the GNSS receiver may constantly require management by system resources in a device that would otherwise be in a power-saving mode. Moreover, GNSS receivers may be integrated into devices (e.g., smart phones) that may also include communication equipment such as, for example, transceivers supporting long-range wireless communication (e.g., cellular), short-range wireless communication (e.g., Bluetooth, wireless local area networking (WLAN), etc.), close-proximity wireless communication (e.g., infrared (IR), radio-frequency (RF), etc.), etc. Some or all of the communication equipment may also interact with the system resources, and as a result, may keep the system resources active for even longer periods of time. In general, the more time that a device remains active, the quicker the device consumes stored energy. This behavior is extremely problematic for mobile devices, wherein a constant battle is being waged to extend the duration of operation between charges.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.