SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS OF LIGHTER-THAN-AIR (LTA) PLATFORMS
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Innovative new methods in connection with lighter-than-air (LTA) free floating platforms, of facilitating legal transmitter operation, platform flight termination when appropriate, environmentally acceptable landing, and recovery of these devices are provided. The new systems and methods relate to rise rate control, geo-location from a LTA platform including landed payload and ground-based vehicle locations, and steerable recovery systems.
140 Citations
34 Claims
-
1-10. -10. (canceled)
- 11. A method for determining a location of a device transmitting wireless signals with a plurality of free-floating lighter than air platforms comprising taking signal path delay measurements from the plurality of free-floating lighter than air platforms and determining the location of the device transmitting wireless signals based on the signal path delay measurements, wherein the plurality of free-floating lighter than air platforms have a speed relative to the surface of the earth of less than 100 miles per hour and float at an altitude of 60,000-140,000 feet, wherein the method does not require a Doppler shift correction.
- 16. A method for determining a location on the earth of a payload comprising a device transmitting wireless signals and a GPS unit, the method comprising measuring a location of the device transmitting wireless signals by the GPS unit, determining that the payload has landed on the earth and communicating the location of the payload to a free-floating lighter than air platform.
- 18. A system for locating and determining usage of a ground-based vehicle comprising a housing attached to a hub of the ground-based vehicle, the housing comprising a GPS unit, a device transmitting wireless signals and a power source.
- 21. A method for steering a steerable system comprising flying the steerable system in a circle relative to a local wind at the steerable system thereby nullifying a flight vector of the steerable system and determining a local wind vector of the local wind with respect to a position on the earth without using data obtained from a compass or an air speed indicator.
- 26. A method for determining a location of a device transmitting wireless signals with one or more free-floating lighter than air platforms comprising taking signal path delay measurements from the one or more free-floating lighter than air platforms at different intervals of time and determining the location of the device transmitting wireless signals based on the signal path delay measurements, wherein the one or more free-floating lighter than air platforms have a speed relative to the surface of the earth of less than 100 miles per hour and floats at an altitude of 60,000-140,000 feet, wherein the method does not require a Doppler shift correction.
- 32. A system for locating and determining usage of a ground-based vehicle comprising a housing, the housing comprising a GPS unit, a device transmitting wireless signals and a power source, the system further comprising one or more free-floating lighter than air platforms comprising a device receiving wireless signals that receives signals from the device transmitting wireless signals.
Specification