Navigation receiver with coupled signal-tracking channels

• US 5,343,209 A
• Filed: 05/07/1992
• Issued: 08/30/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: David Senffner, James W. Sennott
• Original Assignee: David Senffner, James W. Sennott
• Inventors: Sennott, James W., Senffner, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Issing, Gregory C.
• Application Number:
  US07/880,135
• Time in Patent Office: 845 Days
• Field of Search: 342/352, 342/356, 342/357, 342/358, 342/378, 342/386-387, 342/388, 342/423, 342/424, 364/443, 364/449, 364/452
• US Class Current: 342/357.29
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/43 using carrier phase measurements, e.g. kinematic positioning; using long or short baseline interferometry
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/53 Determining attitude
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/54 using carrier phase measurements; using long or short baseline interferometry

Abstract

The navigation receiver with coupled-tracking channels is intended for use in radio navigation systems based on trilateration wherein the times of arrival of radio signals transmitted by a plurality of ground- or space-based terminals are measured by a user terminal and utilized by the user terminal in calculating its position and orientation. The coupled-tracking navigation receiver periodically measures carrier phase, carrier frequency, modulation phase, and carrier amplitude for all of the signals arriving at the receiving ports of the receiver and periodically estimates the present values of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for all of the received signals, the estimating process utilizing for each parameter estimate the parameter measurements for a plurality of the received signals properly combined in a statistically appropriate manner by taking into account the relative geometry of the line-of-sight paths, receiver clock time dynamics, and dynamics and motion constraints of the receiver platform, thereby obtaining better performance under poor signal reception conditions and more accurate estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for each of the received signals than independent measurements alone could provide. It follows that these more accurate estimates of the basic signal parameters lead to more accurate estimates of platform position and attitude and the rates of change of these quantities.

Claims

1. A navigation receiver for use on platforms or vehicles of a variety of types, some types of said platforms being equipped with platform velocity sensors that provide velocity inputs to said receiver, said velocity sensors being characterized by a velocity bias parameter, some types of said platforms being equipped with attitude reference systems that provide inputs to said receiver of heading in some cases, heading and elevation in other cases, and heading, elevation, and yaw in still other cases, all of said attitude data being referenced to an earth-fixed coordinate system, said platforms being characterized by platform dynamics characterization data comprising platform velocity random process correlation time, platform rotation rate random process correlation time, platform velocity random process state noise disturbance power, and platform rotation rate random process state noise disturbance power, said receiver being capable of receiving a plurality of signals, said signals being transmitted by a plurality of spatially-distributed transmitters with known positions and velocities and being propagated to said receiver over a plurality of line-of-sight paths, said transmitted signals being modulated sinusoidal carriers, said transmitted signals being particular functions of time, said time being maintained in synchronized transmitter clocks, said transmitted signals being received through at least one of a plurality of spatially-distributed receiver ports, said received signals being characterized by signal parameters comprising carrier phase, carrier frequency, modulation phase, modulation phase rate-of-change, and carrier amplitude, said receiver having a clock, said receiver clock being maintained in synchronism with said transmitter clocks, said navigation receiver comprising:

a means for periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of received signals with a plurality of reference signals, said measured correlations having noise components characterized by a correlation measurement noise covariance matrix; and

a means for periodically estimating the values of a plurality of said signal parameters for each of said plurality of received signals, said estimating means utilizing said correlation measurements for a plurality of said received signals in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals thereby obtaining more reliable estimates of said signal parameter values for each of said received signals than could be obtained by direct measurements of said signal parameters for each of said received signals or by estimates of said signal parameters based only on information derived from the received signal to which each pertains.

2. The navigation receiver of claim 1 wherein said measuring means is comprised of:

a means for generating said reference signals, said reference signals being replicas of said transmitted signals, said reference signals being characterized by a carrier phase, a carrier frequency, and a modulation phase, said received signals and said reference signals being grouped according to the transmitter with which said signals are associated; and

a means for correlating each of said reference signals with the received signal in its group.

3. The navigation receiver of claim 2 further comprising:

a means for adjusting said reference signal carrier phase, said reference signal carrier frequency, and said reference signal modulation phase in accordance with commands supplied at an input port of said adjusting means;

a means for generating said adjustment commands from said signal parameter estimates and for supplying said adjustment commands to said adjusting means, said adjustment commands to result in each of said reference signals having a carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase within predetermined increments of said estimated values.

4. The navigation receiver of claim 1 wherein said estimating means comprises:

a means for periodically estimating the present values of the correlations of said received signals with said reference signals utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

a means for perodically generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters;

a means for periodically calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and the present measured values of the correlations for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

5. The navigation receiver of claim 2 wherein said estimating means comprises:

a means for periodically estimating the present values of the correlations of said received signals with said reference signals utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

a means for periodically generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters;

a means for periodically calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and the present measured values of the correlations for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

a means for adjusting said reference signal carrier phase, said reference signal carrier frequency, and said reference signal modulation phase in accordance with commands supplied at an input port of said adjusting means;

a means for generating said adjustment commands from said signal parameter estimates and for supplying said adjustment commands to said adjusting means, said adjustment commands to result in each of said reference signals having a carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase within predetermined increments of said estimated values.

6. The navigation receiver of claim 1 wherein said estimating means comprises:

a means for periodically estimating the present values of the correlations of said received signals with said reference signals utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

a means for periodically estimating carrier amplitude for each of said received signals utilizing said measured correlations;

a means for entering said correlation measurement noise covariance matrix into said navigation receiver thereby making said covariance matrix available for calculations performed within said navigation receiver;

a means for entering said platform dynamics characterization data into said navigation receiver thereby making said characterization data available for calculations performed within said navigation receiver;

a means for periodically generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters, said set of weighting coefficients constituting a row of the filter gain matrix, said set of weighting coefficients to be used in estimating the present value of the associated signal parameter, the generation of said filter gain matrix utilizing user-supplied, measured, and calculated data comprising said carrier amplitude estimates, said correlation measurement noise covariance matrix, and said platform dynamics characterization data;

a means for periodically calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and the present measured values of the correlations for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

7. The navigation receiver of claim 1 further comprising a means for entering velocity data from said platform velocity sensor and platform attitude data from said attitude reference system into said navigation receiver thereby making said platform velocity and platform attitude data available for calculations performed within said navigation receiver, said signal parameter estimating means also providing estimates of the projections of said platform velocity bias on said line-of-sight paths of said received signals, said signal parameter estimating means also utilizing the projections of said platform velocity on said line-of-sight paths in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals.

8. The navigation receiver of claim 1 further comprising a means for entering differential correction data into said navigation receiver thereby making said data available for calculations performed within said navigation receiver, said differential correction data compensating for errors in predicted positions and velocities of said reference transmitters, propagation anomalies, and clock drifts, said differential correction data comprising corrections to said estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency for said plurality of received signals, said differential corrections being provided by an external source, said estimating means obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by adding said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates.

9. The navigation receiver of claim 1 further comprising a means for obtaining position and velocity data of said reference transmitters, said estimating means also obtaining present estimates of the position of said platform and the rate of change of said position utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals and said position and velocity data of said reference transmitters.

10. The navigation receiver of claim 9 wherein said estimating means also obtains present estimates of the attitude of said receiver platform and the rate of change of said attitude utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals.

21. A method of using the navigation receiver of claim 8 comprising the steps:

recording said received signals prior to measuring said correlations;

playing back said recorded signals into said correlation measuring means in place of said real-time received signals, said correlation measuring means thereby periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of recorded received signals with a plurality of reference signals.

22. The method of claim 21 comprising the additional steps:

recording said differential correction data;

playing back said recorded differential correction data into said receiver in place of said real-time differential correction data in synchronism with playback of said recorded received signals thereby obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by the adding of said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates in said receiver.

11. A tracking receiver for use on fixed or mobile platforms in the cooperative tracking of other platforms, said other platforms being known as tracked platforms, said mobile tracking platforms being equipped with independent navigation means, said tracked platforms being of a variety of types, some types of said tracked platforms being equipped with platform velocity sensors that provide velocity inputs to said tracking receiver by means of a communication link, said velocity sensors being characterized by a velocity bias parameter, some types of said tracked platforms being equipped with attitude reference systems that provide inputs to said tracking receiver by means of said communication link of heading in some cases, heading and elevation in other cases, and heading, elevation, and yaw in still other cases, all of said attitude data being referenced to an earth-fixed coordinate system, said tracked platforms being characterized by platform dynamics characterization data comprising platform velocity random process correlation time, platform rotation rate random process correlation time, platform velocity random process state noise disturbance power, and platform rotation rate random process state noise disturbance power, said tracking receiver being capable of receiving signals through a plurality of spatially-distributed receiver ports, said signals being transmitted from said tracked platform to said tracking platform over a plurality of line-of-sight paths, said transmitted signals being modulated sinusoidal carriers transmitted through at least one transmit port, said received signals being characterized by signal parameters comprising carrier phase, carrier frequency, modulation phase, modulation phase rate-of-change, and carrier amplitude, said navigation receiver comprising:

a means for periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of received signals with a plurality of reference signals, said measured correlations having noise components characterized by a correlation measurement noise covariance matrix; and

a means for periodically estimating the values of a plurality of said signal parameters for each of said plurality of received signals, said estimating means utilizing said correlation measurements for a plurality of said received signals in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals thereby obtaining more reliable estimates of said signal parameter values for each of said received signals than could be obtained by direct measurements of said signal parameters for each of said received signals or by estimates of said signal parameters based only on information derived from the received signal to which each pertains.

12. The tracking receiver of claim 11 wherein said measuring means is comprised of:

a means for generating said reference signals, said reference signals being replicas of said transmitted signals, said reference signals being characterized by a carrier phase, a carrier frequency, and a modulation phase, said received signals and said reference signals being grouped according to the transmitter with which said signals are associated; and

a means for correlating each of said reference signals with the received signal in its group.

13. The tracking receiver of claim 12 further comprising:

a means for adjusting said reference signal carrier phase, said reference signal carrier frequency, and said reference signal modulation phase in accordance with commands supplied at an input port of said adjusting means;

a means for generating said adjustment commands from said signal parameter estimates and for supplying said adjustment commands to said adjusting means, said adjustment commands to result in each of said reference signals having a carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase within predetermined increments of said estimated values.

14. The tracking receiver of claim 11 wherein said estimating means comprises:

a means for periodically estimating the present values of the correlations of said received signals with said reference signals utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

a means for periodically generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters;

a means for periodically calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and the present measured values of the correlations for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

15. The tracking receiver of claim 12 wherein said estimating means comprises:

a means for periodically estimating the present values of the correlations of said received signals with said reference signals utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

a means for periodically generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters;

a means for periodically calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and the present measured values of the correlations for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

a means for adjusting said reference signal carrier phase, said reference signal carrier frequency, and said reference signal modulation phase in accordance with commands supplied at an input port of said adjusting means;

a means for generating said adjustment commands from said signal parameter estimates and for supplying said adjustment commands to said adjusting means, said adjustment commands to result in each of said reference signals having a carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase within predetermined increments of said estimated values.

16. The tracking receiver of claim 11 wherein said estimating means comprises:

a means for periodically estimating the present values of the correlations of said received signals with said reference signals utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

a means for periodically estimating carrier amplitude for each of said received signals utilizing said measured correlations;

a means for entering said correlation measurement noise covariance matrix into said navigation receiver thereby making said covariance matrix available for calculations performed within said navigation receiver;

a means for entering said platform dynamics characterization data into said navigation receiver thereby making said characterization data available for calculations performed within said navigation receiver;

a means for periodically generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters, said set of weighting coefficients constituting a row of the filter gain matrix, said set of weighting coefficients to be used in estimating the present value of the associated signal parameter, the generation of said filter gain matrix utilizing user-supplied, measured and calculated data comprising said carrier amplitude estimates, said correlation measurement noise covariance matrix, and said platform dynamics characterization data;

a means for periodically calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and the present measured values of the correlations for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

17. The tracking receiver of claim 11 further comprising a means for entering velocity data from said tracked platform velocity sensor and attitude data from said tracked platform attitude reference system into said tracking receiver thereby making said tracked platform velocity and said tracked platform attitude data available for calculations performed within said tracking receiver, said signal parameter estimating means also providing estimates of the projections of said platform velocity bias on said line-of-sight paths of said received signals, said signal parameter estimating means also utilizing the projections of said platform velocity on said line-of-sight paths in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals.

18. The tracking receiver of claim 11 further comprising a means for entering differential correction data into said tracking receiver thereby making said data available for calculations performed within said tracking receiver, said differential correction data compensating for errors in predicted positions and velocities of said tracking platforms, propagation anomalies, and clock drifts, said differential correction data comprising corrections to said estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency for said plurality of received signals, said differential corrections being provided by an external source, said estimating means obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by adding said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates.

19. The tracking receiver of claim 11 further comprising a means for obtaining position and velocity data of said tracking platform, said estimating means also obtaining present estimates of the position of said tracked platform and the rate of change of said position utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals and said position and velocity data of said tracking platform.

20. The tracking receiver of claim 19 wherein said estimating means also obtains present estimates of the attitude of said tracked platform and the rate of change of said attitude utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals.

23. A method of using the navigation receiver of claim 18 comprising the steps:

recording said received signals prior to measuring said correlations;

playing back said recorded signals into said correlation measuring means in place of said real-time received signals, said correlation measuring means thereby periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of recorded received signals with a plurality of reference signals.

24. The method of claim 23 comprising the additional steps:

recording said differential correction data;

playing back said recorded differential correction data into said receiver in place of said real-time differential correction data in synchronism with playback of said recorded received signals thereby obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by the adding of said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates in said receiver.

25. A method of using a navigation receiver on platforms or vehicles of a variety of types, some types of said platforms being equipped with platform velocity sensors that provide velocity inputs to said receiver, said velocity sensors being characterized by a velocity bias parameter, some types of said platforms being equipped with attitude reference systems that provide inputs to said receiver of heading in some cases, heading and elevation in other cases, and heading, elevation, and yaw in still other cases, all of said attitude data being referenced to an earth-fixed coordinate system, said platforms being characterized by platform dynamics characterization data comprising platform velocity random process correlation time, platform rotation rate random process correlation time, platform velocity random process state noise disturbance power, and platform rotation rate random process state noise disturbance power, said receiver being capable of receiving a plurality of signals, said signals being transmitted by a plurality of spatially-distributed transmitters with known positions and velocities and being propagated to said receiver over a plurality of line-of-sight paths, said transmitted signals being modulated sinusoidal carriers, said transmitted signals being particular functions of time, said time being maintained in synchronized transmitter clocks, said transmitted signals being received through at least one of a plurality of spatially-distributed receiver ports, said received signals being characterized by signal parameters comprising carrier phase, carrier frequency, modulation phase, modulation phase rate-of-change, and carrier amplitude, said receiver having a clock, said receiver clock being maintained in synchronism with said transmitter clocks, said navigation receiver comprising:

a means for periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of received signals with a plurality of reference signals, said measured correlations having noise components characterized by the correlation measurement noise covariance matrix; and

a means for periodically estimating the values of a plurality of said signal parameters for each of said plurality of received signals, said estimating means utilizing said correlation measurements for a plurality of said received signals in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals thereby obtaining more reliable estimates of said signal parameter values for each of said received signals than could be obtained by direct measurements of said signal parameters for each of said received signals or by estimates of said signal parameters based only on information derived from the received signal to which each pertains;

said method of using comprising the steps;

recording said received signals prior to measuring said correlations;

playing back said recorded signals into said correlation measuring means in place of said real-time received signals, said correlation measuring means thereby periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of recorded received signals with a plurality of reference signals.

26. The method of claim 25, said navigation receiver further comprising a means for entering differential correction data into said navigation receiver thereby making said data available for calculations performed within said navigation receiver, said differential correction data compensating for errors in predicted positions and velocities of said reference transmitters, propagation anomalies, and clock drifts, said differential correction data comprising corrections to said estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency for said plurality of received signals, said differential corrections being provided by an external source, said estimating means obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by adding said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates, said method comprising the additional steps:

recording said differential correction data;

playing back said recorded differential correction data into said receiver in place of said real-time differential correction data in synchronism with playback of said recorded received signals thereby obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by the adding of said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates in said receiver.

27. A method of using a tracking receiver on fixed or mobile platforms in the cooperative tracking of other platforms, said other platforms being known as tracked platforms, said mobile tracking platforms being equipped with independent navigation means, said tracked platforms being of a variety of types, some types of said tracked platforms being equipped with platform velocity sensors that provide velocity inputs to said tracking receiver by means of a communication link, said velocity sensors being characterized by a velocity bias parameter, some types of said tracked platforms being equipped with attitude reference systems that provide inputs to said receiver by means of said communication link of heading in some cases, heading and elevation in other cases, and heading, elevation, and yaw in still other cases, all of said attitude data being referenced to an earth-fixed coordinate system, said tracked platforms being characterized by platform dynamics characterization data comprising platform velocity random process correlation time, platform rotation rate random process correlation time, platform velocity random process state noise disturbance power, and platform rotation rate random process state noise disturbance power, said receiver being capable of receiving signals through a plurality of spatially-distributed receiver ports, said signals being transmitted from said tracked platform to said tracking platform over a plurality of line-of-sight paths, said transmitted signals being modulated sinusoidal carriers transmitted through at least one transmit port, said received signals being characterized by signal parameters comprising carrier phase, carrier frequency, modulation phase, modulation phase rate-of-change, and carrier amplitude, said tracking receiver comprising:

a means for periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of received signals with a plurality of reference signals, said measured correlations having noise components characterized by the correlation measurement noise covariance matrix; and

a means for periodically estimating the values of a plurality of said signal parameters for each of said plurality of received signals, said estimating means utilizing said correlation measurements for a plurality of said received signals in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals thereby obtaining more reliable estimates of said signal parameter values for each of said received signals than could be obtained by direct measurements of said signal parameters for each of said received signals or by estimates of said signal parameters based only on information derived from the received signal to which each pertains;

said method of using comprising the steps;

recording said received signals prior to measuring said correlations;

playing back said recorded signals into said correlation measuring means in place of said real-time received signals, said correlation measuring means thereby periodically measuring the correlations of each of said plurality of recorded received signals with a plurality of reference signals.

28. The method of claim 27, said tracking receiver further comprising a means for entering differential correction data into said tracking receiver thereby making said data available for calculations performed within said tracking receiver, said differential correction data compensating for errors in predicted positions and velocities of said tracking platforms, propagation anomalies, and clock drifts, said differential correction data comprising corrections to said estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency for said plurality of received signals, said differential corrections being provided by an external source, said estimating means obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by adding said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates, said method comprising the additional steps:

recording said differential correction data;

playing back said recorded differential correction data into said receiver in place of said real-time differential correction data in synchronism with playback of said recorded received signals thereby obtaining corrected estimates of carrier phase and carrier frequency by the adding of said differential corrections to said uncorrected estimates in said receiver.

29. A method for obtaining navigation data from signals received from a plurality of spatially-distributed reference transmitters with known positions and velocities, said method being used on platforms or vehicles of a variety of types, some types of said platforms being equipped with platform velocity sensors, said velocity sensors being characterized by a velocity bias parameter, said velocity and velocity bias parameter being used in practicing said method, some types of said platforms being equipped with attitude reference systems that provide heading in some cases, heading and elevation in other cases, and heading, elevation, and yaw in still other cases, said attitude data being used in practicing said method, all of said attitude data being referenced to an earth-fixed coordinate system, said platforms being characterized by platform dynamics characterization data comprising platform velocity random process correlation time, platform rotation rate random process correlation time, platform velocity random process state noise disturbance power, and platform rotation rate random process state noise disturbance power, said platform dynamics data being used in practicing said method, said transmitted signals being modulated sinusoidal carriers, said transmitted signals being particular functions of time, said time being maintained in synchronized transmitter clocks, said transmitted signals being propagated to said platforms over a plurality of line-of-sight paths and being received through at least one of a plurality of spatially-distributed receiving ports, said received signals being characterized by signal parameters comprising carrier phase, carrier frequency, modulation phase, modulation phase rate-of-change, and carrier amplitude, said method comprising the steps:

measuring periodically the correlations of each of said plurality of received signals with a plurality of reference signals, said measured correlations having noise components characterized by the correlation measurement noise covariance matrix; and

estimating periodically the values of a plurality of said signal parameters and the projection of said velocity sensor bias on the line-of-sight path for each of said plurality of received signals, said estimating means utilizing said correlation measurements for a plurality of said received signals, the projections of said platform velocity on said line-of-sight paths, said correlation measurement noise covariance matrix, and said platform dynamics data in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals thereby obtaining more reliable estimates of said signal parameter values and velocity bias projection for each of said received signals than could be obtained by direct measurements of said signal parameters and velocity bias projection for each of said received signals or by estimates of said signal parameters and velocity bias projection based only on information derived from the received signal to which each pertains.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said estimating step comprises the steps:

estimating the present values of said correlations of said received signals with said reference signals and said velocity projection utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters;

calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters and said velocity bias projection, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and velocity projection and the present measured values of the correlations and velocity projection for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter or velocity bias projection being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

31. The method of claim 29 comprising the additional steps:

obtaining position and velocity data of said reference transmitters;

obtaining present estimates of the position of said platform and the rate of change of said position utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals and said position and velocity data of said reference transmitters;

obtaining present estimates of the attitude of said platform and the rate of change of said attitude utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals.

32. A method of cooperatively tracking mobile platforms known as tracked platforms, said tracked platforms transmitting at least one signal, said method being practiced on fixed or mobile platforms known as tracking platforms, said mobile tracking platforms being equipped with independent navigation means, said tracked platforms being of a variety of types, some types of said tracked platforms being equipped with platform velocity sensors that provide velocity inputs to said tracking receiver by means of a communication link, said velocity sensors being characterized by a velocity bias parameter, said velocity and velocity bias parameter being used in practicing said method, some types of said platforms being equipped with attitude reference systems that provide inputs by means of said communication link of heading in some cases, heading and elevation in other cases, and heading, elevation, and yaw in still other cases, said attitude data being used in practicing said method, all of said attitude data being referenced to an earth-fixed coordinate system, said tracked platforms being characterized by platform dynamics characterization data comprising platform velocity random process correlation time, platform rotation rate random process correlation time, platform velocity random process state noise disturbance power, and platform rotation rate random process state noise disturbance power, said platform dynamics data being used in practicing said method, said signals being transmitted from said tracked platform to said tracking platform over a plurality of line-of-sight paths, said signals being received through a plurality of spatially-distributed receiving ports, said transmitted signals being modulated sinusoidal carriers transmitted through at least one transmit port, said received signals being characterized by signal parameters comprising carrier phase, carrier frequency, modulation phase, modulation phase rate-of-change, and carrier amplitude, said method comprising the steps:

measuring periodically the correlations of each of said plurality of received signals with a plurality of reference signals, said measured correlations having noise components characterized by the correlation measurement noise covariance matrix; and

estimating periodically the values of a plurality of said signal parameters and the projection of said velocity sensor bias on the line-of-sight path for each of said plurality of received signals, said estimating means utilizing said correlation measurements for a plurality of said received signals, the projections of said platform velocity on said line-of-sight paths, said correlation measurement noise covariance matrix, and said platform dynamics data in obtaining said estimated signal parameter values for each of said received signals thereby obtaining more reliable estimates of said signal parameter values and velocity bias projection for each of said received signals than could be obtained by direct measurements of said signal parameters and velocity bias projection for each of said received signals or by estimates of said signal parameters and velocity bias projection based only on information derived from the received signal to which each pertains.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said estimating step comprises the steps:

estimating the present values of said correlations of said received signals with said reference signals and said velocity projection utilizing the most recent estimates of signal parameter values;

generating for each of said received signals a set of weighting coefficients for each of said signal parameters;

calculating for each of said received signals the estimated present value of each of said signal parameters and said velocity bias projection, said calculation consisting of taking the differences between said present-value estimates of the correlations and velocity projection and the present measured values of the correlations and velocity projection for a plurality of received signals, multiplying each of said differences by the appropriate weighting coefficient from the set associated with the particular received signal and the particular signal parameter or velocity bias projection being calculated, summing the weighted differences over the plurality of correlations, and adding the weighted sum to the prior estimate of the value of the signal parameter extrapolated to the present.

34. The method of claim 32 comprising the additional steps:

obtaining position and velocity data of said tracking platform;

obtaining present estimates of the position of said tracked platform and the rate of change of said position utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals and said position and velocity data of said tracking platform;

obtaining present estimates of the attitude of said tracked platform and the rate of change of said attitude utilizing said present estimates of carrier phase, carrier frequency, and modulation phase for a plurality of said received signals.