POSITION ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20130138314A1
• Filed: 11/30/2011
• Published: 05/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: Matti Hamalainen
• Inventors: Iinatti, Jari, Viittala, Harri, Soderi, Simone, Saloranta, Jani, Hmlinen, Matti
• Granted Patent: US 8,751,127 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/70
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0027 Radio-based, e.g. using GSM-R
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/025 Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/026 Relative localisation, e.g. using odometer
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/125 using short-range radio transmission
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/74 Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/876 Combination of several spaced transponders or reflectors of known location for determining the position of a receiver G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/466 by Trilateration, i.e. two antennas or two sensors determine separately the distance to a target, whereby with the knowledge of the baseline length, i.e. the distance between the antennas or sensors, the position data of the target is determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems

Abstract

There is provided a vehicle with the capability of estimating its position. An exemplary vehicle comprises a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with one or more second radio responsive devices. The positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received from the first transceiver, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received from the second transceiver.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising:

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with one or more second radio responsive devices;

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, comprising a control unit coupled to the positioning unit and a braking system configured to receive a braking control signal from a control unit, wherein:

within a coarse area of interest, the braking control signal is based on the coarse position of the vehicle; and

within a fine area of interest the braking control signal is based on the fine position of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the positioning unit comprises:

a first transceiver for operating in the first mode, the first transceiver configured to communicate with the one or more first radio-responsive devices; and

a second transceiver for operating in the second mode, the second transceiver configured to communicate with the one or more second radio-responsive devices.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

while in the first mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more first radio-responsive devices using a first signal with a first bandwidth; and

while in the second mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more second radio-responsive devices using a second signal with a second bandwidth larger than the first bandwidth.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the first bandwidth is approximately 5 to 40 Megahertz and the second bandwidth is approximately 500 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

while in the first mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more first radio-responsive devices using an IEEE 802.11 protocol; and

while in the second mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more second radio-responsive devices using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) pulses.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to estimate the fine position and the coarse position by transmitting an outbound signal, receiving a return signal corresponding to the outbound signal, and measuring the time difference between the transmission of the outbound signal and the receiving of the return signal.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a railway vehicle.

9. A system for estimating position, comprising:

a first set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to a point of interest;

a second set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to the point of interest; and

a vehicle comprising;

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with the first set of radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with the second set radio responsive devices;

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode.

10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the positioning unit comprises:

a first transceiver for operating in the first mode, the first transceiver configured to communicate with the first set of radio-responsive devices; and

a second transceiver for operating in the second mode, the second transceiver configured to communicate with the second set radio-responsive devices.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first transceiver communicates with the first set of radio-responsive devices using a first signal with a first bandwidth, the second transceiver communicates with the second set of radio-responsive devices using a second signal with a second bandwidth, and the second bandwidth is larger than the first bandwidth.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first bandwidth is approximately 5 to 40 Megahertz and the second bandwidth is approximately 500 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the first transceiver is an IEEE 802.11 protocol transceiver and the second transceiver is an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) transceiver.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein each radio-responsive device in the first set of radio-responsive devices comprises a wireless communication device configured to receive an outbound signal transmitted from the positioning unit, generate a return signal, and transmit the return signal.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the positioning unit and the wireless communication device communicate using an IEEE 802.11 standard protocol.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein each radio-responsive device in the second set of radio-responsive devices is an active reflector.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the second set of radio-responsive devices comprises three or more active reflectors disposed at known locations relative to the point of interest, and estimating the fine position comprises measuring a time-of-flight of signals sent to and reflected from the three or more active reflectors.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the vehicle is a locomotive and the point of interest is one of a docking station, a re-fueling station, or a passenger platform.

19. A method of estimating position, comprising:

within a first area of interest, communicating with one or more first radio responsive devices to estimate a coarse position;

within a second area of interest, communicating with one or more second radio-responsive devices to estimate a fine position.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices comprises transmitting an outbound signal using an IEEE 802.11 protocol and receiving an inbound signal transmitted by the one or more first radio responsive devices using the IEEE 802.11 protocol.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein communicating with one or more second radio-responsive devices comprises transmitting Ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses and receiving corresponding echoes reflected from the one or more second radio-responsive devices.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein communicating with the first radio-responsive device uses a first bandwidth, and communicating with the second radio-responsive device uses a second bandwidth larger than the first bandwidth.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the first bandwidth is approximately 5 to 40 Megahertz and the second bandwidth is approximately 500 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz.

24. The method of claim 19, comprising transmitting a braking signal to a braking system, wherein:

within the first area of interest, the braking signal is generated based on the coarse position; and

within the second area of interest, the braking signal is based on the fine position.

25. A positioning system, comprising:

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with one or more second radio responsive devices;

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of a vehicle in which the positioning unit is disposed based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode.