High resolution autonomous precision positioning system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of vehicle navigation using an Active Traveling-Wave Device (ATWD), comprising:
- storing information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path;
using said ATWD during movement to obtain information of said features along and to the sides of said movement path;
comparing said stored information with said information obtained by ATWD to determine successive different match points representing different ground locations;
determining the range and range rate of each of said match points;
determining the vehicle'"'"'s location and velocity based on repetitive range and range rate measurements of said match points; and
supplementing the accuracy of said vehicle location and velocity determination with information from at least one of an additional navigation unit.
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Abstract
A vehicle navigation method and system employing echo or doppler analysis to provide autonomous or enhanced navigational capabilities by correlating stored scene information with echo analysis information derived from an Active Traveling-Wave Device (ATWD) output representing information concerning the vehicle'"'"'s state and velocity vectors with respect to a mapped scene.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method of vehicle navigation using an Active Traveling-Wave Device (ATWD), comprising:
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storing information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path;
using said ATWD during movement to obtain information of said features along and to the sides of said movement path;
comparing said stored information with said information obtained by ATWD to determine successive different match points representing different ground locations;
determining the range and range rate of each of said match points;
determining the vehicle'"'"'s location and velocity based on repetitive range and range rate measurements of said match points; and
supplementing the accuracy of said vehicle location and velocity determination with information from at least one of an additional navigation unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 16, 19)
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8. A method of vehicle navigation using ATWD, comprising:
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storing information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path;
using said ATWD during flight to obtain information of said features along and to the sides of said movement path;
comparing said stored information with said information obtained by ATWD to determine match points representing different ground locations;
determining the range and range rate of said match points; and
using said range and range rate in the navigation or state vector measurements of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 20)
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13. A method of using ATWD to improve the errors of a vehicle navigation system comprising:
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using said ATWD during movement to obtain information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of the movement path;
dynamically creating a reference scene from all or a subset of said information;
locally storing said reference scene;
using said ATWD after a time delay to again obtain information of the same said reference scene; comparing said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine reference scene match points representing different vehicle locations;
determining the range and range rate of said match points in both sets of information; and
using said range and range rate and the changes in range and range rate over said time in the navigation or state vector measurements of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 18, 21)
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22. A three-dimensional navigation system comprising:
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a memory that stores information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path, said information including positional information in a three-dimensional reference coordinate system;
an Active Traveling-Wave Device (ATWD) that obtains at least range and range-rate information during movement of said features along and to the sides of said movement path;
a processing system that compares said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine the location and velocity of match points in said stored information relative to said ATWD and then by the use of successive different said match points having different reference coordinate system geometries determine a three-dimensional position and velocity of said ATWD with respect to said reference coordinate system. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 37, 40)
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25. A navigation system comprising:
a memory that stores information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path;
an Active Traveling-Wave Device (ATWD) that obtains information during movement of said features along and to the sides of said movement path; and
a processing system that compares said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine successive different match points representing different ground locations, said processing system determining the range and range rate of each of said match points, and determining the vehicle'"'"'s location and velocity based on repetitive range and range rate measurements of said match points;
wherein a phase changing effect created by motion of said system is reduced, and wherein said processing system also defines subsets of a frequency hopped signal and a center frequency for each subset, bounces said signal off of an object and receives a reflected version of said signal to determine a phase change in said signal, receives reflected versions of said subsets, and subtracts phase effects from the samples that correspond to the center frequency of said subset.
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26. A navigation system comprising:
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a memory that stores information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path;
an Active Traveling-Wave Device (ATWD) that obtains information during movement of said features along and to the sides of said movement path; and
a processing system that compares said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine successive different match points representing different ground locations, said processing system determining the range and range rate of each of said match points, and determining the vehicle'"'"'s location and velocity based on repetitive range and range rate measurements of said match points;
wherein phase compensation is provided for said ATWD, and wherein said processing system stores a pseudo-random frequency order in a memory, changes a transmission frequency of an ATWD signal based on said pseudo-random frequency order, uses said pseudo-random frequency order to sample a received ATWD signal which is a reflected version of said transmitted ATWD signal, thereby generating samples of said received ATWD signal, and reorders said samples in an order of increasing frequency. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A three-dimensional vehicle navigation system, comprising:
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a memory that stores information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path, said information including positional information in a three-dimensional reference coordinate system;
an ATWD that obtains at least range and range-rate information during movement of said features along and to the sides of said movement path;
a processing system that compares said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine the location and velocity of match points in said stored information relative to said ATWD and then by the use of successive different said match points having different reference coordinate system geometries determine three dimensional vehicle state vector estimates suitable for use in the state vector or navigation of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (38, 41)
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30. A vehicle navigation system, comprising:
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a memory that stores information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path;
an ATWD that obtains information during motion of said features along and to the sides of said movement path; and
a processing system that compares said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine match points representing different ground locations, determines the range and range rate of said match points, and uses said range and range rate in the navigation or state vector measurements of said vehicle;
wherein a phase changing effect created by motion of said navigation unit is reduced, and wherein said system defines subsets of a frequency hopped ATWD signal and a center frequency for each subset, bounces said ATWD signal off of an object and receives a reflected version of said signal to determine a phase change in said signal, receives reflected versions of said subsets, and subtracts phase effects from the samples that correspond to the center frequency of said subset.
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31. A vehicle navigation system, comprising:
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a memory that stores information of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of a movement path;
an ATWD that obtains information during motion of said features along and to the sides of said movement path; and
a processing system that compares said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine match points representing different ground locations, determines the range and range rate of said match points, and uses said range and range rate in the navigation or state vector measurements of said vehicle;
wherein phase compensation is provided for said ATWD, and wherein said navigation system stores a pseudo-random frequency order, changes a transmission frequency of a ATWD signal based on said pseudo-random frequency order, uses said pseudo-random frequency order to sample a received ATWD signal which is a reflected version of said transmitted ATWD signal, thereby generating samples of said received ATWD signal, and reorders said samples in an order of increasing frequency. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A three-dimensional navigation system for a vehicle comprising:
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an ATWD operable to obtain at least range and range-rate information during movement of cultural or natural features in an area of the ground along and to the sides of the movement path;
a processing system that dynamically creates a reference scene from all or a subset of said information, and locally stores said reference scene within a three-dimensional inertial coordinate system;
said navigation system using said ATWD after a time delay to again obtain information of the same said reference scene, comparing said stored information with said information obtained by said ATWD to determine match points representing different ground locations, determining the location and velocity relative to said ATWD of said match points in both sets of information, and using successive such measurements to determine the three-dimensional velocity and velocity changes over said time in the navigation or state vector estimates of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 39, 42)
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Specification