MOBILE-UNIT POSITIONING DEVICE

• US 20100026566A1
• Filed: 02/19/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Ueda, Akihiro, Maeda, Iwao, Tajima, Yasuhiro, Nagamiya, Kiyomi, Hasegawa, Naoto
• Granted Patent: US 7,978,127 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.360
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/52 Determining velocity

Abstract

In a mobile-unit positioning device, phases of pseudo noise codes carried on satellite signals from satellites are observed at a mobile unit to measure a position of the mobile unit. A pseudo distance between one of the satellites and the mobile unit is measured for every satellite during a stop of the mobile unit using an observed value of the phase acquired during a stop of the mobile unit. An error index value indicating an error of the measured distance is computed based on the distances measured at points in time during a stop of the mobile unit. A weighting factor is determined based on the index value computed for every satellite. A weighted positioning computation using the determined weighting factor is performed to determine a position of the mobile unit during movement using an observed value of the phase acquired during movement.

Claims

1. A mobile-unit positioning device in which phases of pseudo noise codes carried on satellite signals from a plurality of satellites are observed at a mobile unit to measure a position of the mobile unit, comprising:

a pseudo-distance measuring part measuring a pseudo distance for every satellite between one of the plurality of satellites and the mobile unit during a stop of the mobile unit using an observed value of the pseudo noise code phase acquired during a stop of the mobile unit;

an error-index-value computing part computing an error index value for every satellite indicating an error of the measured pseudo distance, based on the pseudo distances measured by the pseudo-distance measuring part at a plurality of points in time during a stop of the mobile unit;

a weighting-factor determining part determining a weighting factor for every satellite based on the error index value for every satellite computed by the error-index-value computing part; and

a positioning computation part performing a weighted positioning computation using the weighting factor for every satellite determined by the weighting-factor determining part, to determine a position of the mobile unit during movement using an observed value of the pseudo noise code phase acquired during movement of the mobile unit.

2. The mobile-unit positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the error index value is either a variance or a standard deviation.

3. The mobile-unit positioning device according to claim 1, further comprising an error averaging part computing an average of errors of measured pseudo distances for every satellite based on the pseudo distances measured by the pseudo-distance measuring part at a plurality of points in time during a stop of the mobile unit,

wherein the positioning computation part determines a position of the mobile unit during movement using the observed value of the phase which is corrected by the error average computed by the error averaging part.

4. A mobile-unit positioning device in which Doppler frequencies of carriers of satellite signals from a plurality of satellites are observed at a mobile unit to measure a speed of the mobile unit, comprising:

a mobile-unit-speed computing part computing a speed of the mobile unit for every satellite during a stop of the mobile unit using an observed value of a Doppler frequency acquired during a stop of the mobile unit;

an error-index-value computing part computing an error index value for every satellite indicating an error of the computed mobile unit speed, based on the mobile unit speeds computed by the mobile-unit-speed computing part at a plurality of points in time during a stop of the mobile unit;

a weighting-factor determining part determining a weighting factor for every satellite based on the error index value for every satellite computed by the error-index-value computing part; and

a positioning computation part performing a weighted positioning computation using the weighting factor for every satellite determined by the weighting-factor determining part, to determine a speed of the mobile unit during movement using an observed value of the Doppler frequency acquired during movement of the mobile unit.

5. The mobile-unit positioning device according to claim 4, wherein the error index value is either a variance or a standard deviation.

6. The mobile-unit positioning device according to claim 4, further comprising a satellite selecting part selecting one of the plurality of satellites that is used for the weighted positioning computation, based on mobile unit speed for every satellite computed by the mobile-unit-speed computing part.

7. The mobile-unit positioning device according to claim 6, further comprising a mobile-unit stop determining part determining whether the mobile unit is in a stop state, based on an output signal of a sensor arranged in the mobile unit,

wherein the satellite selecting part selects one of the plurality of satellites used for the weighted positioning computation, in accordance with the error index value for every satellite computed by the error-index-value computing part.

8. The mobile-unit positioning device according to claim 7, wherein the satellite selecting part preferentially selects a satellite having a small error index value computed by the error index value computing part.

9. The mobile-unit positioning device according to claim 7, wherein the error index value is any of an average of the mobile unit speeds computed by the mobile-unit-speed computing part at a plurality of points in time during a stop of the mobile unit determined by the mobile-unit stop determining part, a variance of errors of the computed mobile unit speeds, a standard deviation of errors of the computed mobile unit speeds, a low pass value obtained from the computed mobile unit speeds applied to a low pass filter, and a rate of change of the low pass value solely or in combination thereof.

10. A mobile-unit positioning method in which phases of pseudo noise codes carried on satellite signals from a plurality of satellites are observed at a mobile unit to measure a position of the mobile unit, comprising the steps of:

measuring a pseudo distance for every satellite between one of the plurality of satellites and the mobile unit during a stop of the mobile unit using an observed value of the pseudo noise code phase acquired during a stop of the mobile unit;

computing an error index value for every satellite indicating an error of the measured pseudo distance, based on the pseudo distances measured in the measuring step at a plurality of points in time during a stop of the mobile unit;

determining a weighting factor for every satellite based on the error index value for every satellite computed in the computing step; and

performing a weighted positioning computation using the weighting factor for every satellite determined in the determining step, to determine a position of the mobile unit during movement using an observed value of the pseudo noise code phase acquired during movement of the mobile unit.