Method for positioning moving vehicles and exchanging communications between the vehicles and a central station

• US 4,701,760 A
• Filed: 03/05/1985
• Issued: 10/20/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Inventors: Raoux, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Ruehl, Charles A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SWARTHOUT, BRENT
• Application Number:
  US06/708,259
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 340/939, 340/993, 340/988, 340/991, 343/6 R, 343/6 A, 343/7 VC, 343/386, 343/396, 343/457, 343/458, 367/99, 367/907, 364/460, 364/449, 342/396, 342/457, 342/458
• US Class Current: 340/993
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/022 Means for monitoring or calibrating
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/308 particularly adapted to Omega systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/10 Position of receiver fixed by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements , e.g. omega or decca systemsG01S5/12 takes precedence ; beacons and receivers cooperating therewith G01S1/306, G01S1/308

Abstract

A method for monitoring vehicles from a central station, consisting of obtaining the approximate coordinates of each vehicle from signals transmitted by stations of the world omega network and using a vehicle-carried receiver. These approximate coordinates are corrected by reception and processing means, connected to fixed radiogoniometry beacons. Processing means connected to the vehicle-carried receiver supply the real coordinates of the vehicle to a vehicle-carried transmitter, the real coordinates being transmitted in coded form to a receiver of the central station. A bilateral sound communication between the station and the vehicles can be conducted by the communication means. Alarms on board vehicles can be transmitted to the station.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the movements of vehicles from a central transmission-reception and processing station, comprising marking the real coordinates of each vehicle in latitude and longitude, as well as the times at which each vehicle occupies these coordinates, said real coordinates being obtained by an automatic correction of approximate coordinates of the vehicles, these real coordinates being supplied by processing means carried by each vehicle, for receiving and processing position finding signals transmitted by stations of the world omega network, vehicle-carried transmission means being capable of transmitting to the central station signals corresponding to the real coordinates, the automatic correction of the coordinates being carried out on the basis of signals supplied by correction receivers, the correction receivers being located in the vicinity of fixed radio navigation transmission beacons occupying fixed positions with known latitude and longitude coordinates, the correction receiver in the vicinity of each beacon receiving the signals transmitted by stations of the world omega network and processing these signals in order to calculate the differences between the real phases and the approximate phases of the world omega network signals received at said known fixed positions of the beacons, these differences being transmitted in the form of coded correction signals, on a carrier wave transmitted by each beacon, to the reception means carried by each vehicle, the vehicle-carried transmission means transmitting to the central station the real coordinate signals of the vehicle reception means and processing means of the central station supplying the real coordinates of the vehicles upon the reception of the signals from the transmission means of the vehicles, wherein the time corresponding to each vehicle position is supplied by a high-precision, transmitting clock, intercepted by the vehicle-carried reception means, said clock synchronizing the transmission and reception means carried by the vehicles, the vehicle-carried transmission means transmitting sequences of interleaved signals for the different vehicles, further comprising the step of transmitting coded signals indicating a vehicle identification number to the central station using a transmission - reception means carried by each vehicle, wherein coordinate corrections are carried out in the central station, which also incorporates a coordinate correction receiver for carrying out said corrections in the case of a failure of the correction receiver located in the vicinity of a beacon, an alarm being provided to indicate said failure.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein after each signal sequence there is a bilateral sound communication period between the vehicle and the central station and vice versa for each individual vehicle.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting to the central station coded signals indicating possible alarms on board the vehicle using vehicle-carried transmission-reception means.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting to the central station coded signals indicating the distance traveled by the vehicle since its departure, these coded signals being transmitted by the vehicle-carried transmission - reception means.