Positioning system
First Claim
1. A positioning system that determines a position of a positioning terminal, the system including a plurality of first signal sources each emitting a respective first signal, and one or more second signal sources each emitting a respective second signal, the first signals being synchronous with a reference time and the second signals being non-synchronous with the first signals, that, based on a signal propagation time and signal propagation speed of the first signals, determines a distance from the positioning terminal, said positioning system comprising:
- a measurement device that receives the first signals from the first signal sources to determine a position P of the measurement device and a time of measurement when the measurement device receives the first signals and that, based on the time of measurement, measures a receiving time (TR), based on the reference time, of a predetermined event of the second signals;
a control device that determines a signal propagation time (t) between the measurement device and one of the second signal sources by calculating a relative distance |P−
Q| between the measurement device and the one second signal source based on the position P measured by the measurement device and a position Q of the one second signal source and by dividing the resulting distance by the signal propagation speed, and determining a time (TT), based on the reference time, at which the one second signal source originates the predetermined event by solving TR-t;
the positioning terminal having a receiving device that receives the signals from the first and second signal sources; and
a communication device that communicates between the control device and the positioning terminal,wherein the positioning terminal uses the time TT to limit a search for the signals from the first signal sources, and uses the signals from the first signal sources to determine the position of the positioning terminal;
wherein the measurement device further comprises a mobile terminal in good condition;
wherein the position P of the measurement device can be determined without accurate time information; and
wherein the measurement device measures P and TR and voluntarily reports the measured P and TR to the control device.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A positioning system is provided having a first signal source for originating synchronous signals, and a second signal source for originating a signal which is not synchronous with the signal from the first signal source. The system determines, based on a signal propagation time and signal propagation speed from the first or second signal source, the distance to this signal source so as to determine a position of a receiving point.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A positioning system that determines a position of a positioning terminal, the system including a plurality of first signal sources each emitting a respective first signal, and one or more second signal sources each emitting a respective second signal, the first signals being synchronous with a reference time and the second signals being non-synchronous with the first signals, that, based on a signal propagation time and signal propagation speed of the first signals, determines a distance from the positioning terminal, said positioning system comprising:
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a measurement device that receives the first signals from the first signal sources to determine a position P of the measurement device and a time of measurement when the measurement device receives the first signals and that, based on the time of measurement, measures a receiving time (TR), based on the reference time, of a predetermined event of the second signals; a control device that determines a signal propagation time (t) between the measurement device and one of the second signal sources by calculating a relative distance |P−
Q| between the measurement device and the one second signal source based on the position P measured by the measurement device and a position Q of the one second signal source and by dividing the resulting distance by the signal propagation speed, and determining a time (TT), based on the reference time, at which the one second signal source originates the predetermined event by solving TR-t;the positioning terminal having a receiving device that receives the signals from the first and second signal sources; and a communication device that communicates between the control device and the positioning terminal, wherein the positioning terminal uses the time TT to limit a search for the signals from the first signal sources, and uses the signals from the first signal sources to determine the position of the positioning terminal; wherein the measurement device further comprises a mobile terminal in good condition; wherein the position P of the measurement device can be determined without accurate time information; and wherein the measurement device measures P and TR and voluntarily reports the measured P and TR to the control device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A positioning system that determines a position of a positioning terminal, the system including a plurality of first signal sources each emitting a respective first signal, and one or more second signal sources each emitting a respective second signal, the first signals being synchronous with a reference time and the second signals being non-synchronous with the first signals, that, based on a signal propagation time and signal propagation speed of at least one of the first and second signal sources determines a position of the positioning terminal, said positioning system comprising:
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a measurement device associated with each second signal source that receives the first signals from the first signal sources to determine a position P of the measurement device and a time of measurement when the measurement device receives the first signals and that, based on the time of measurement, measures a receiving time (TR), based on the reference time, of a predetermining event of the second signals; a control device that determines a signal propagation time (t) between the measurement device and its associated second signal source by calculating a relative distance |P−
Q| between the measurement device and its associated second signal source based on the position P measured by the measurement device and a position Q of the second signal source and by dividing the resulting distance by the signal propagation speed, and that determines a time (TT), based on the reference time, at which the second signal source originates the predetermined event by solving TR-t;the positioning terminal having a receiving device that receives the signals from the first and second signal sources; and a communication device that communicates between the control device and the positioning terminal, wherein the positioning terminal uses the time TT as a reference to receive the first signals and receives the first and second signals to determine the position of the positioning terminal; wherein the measurement device further comprises a mobile terminal in good condition; wherein the position P of the measurement device can be determined without accurate time information; and wherein the measurement device measures P and TR and voluntarily reports the measured P and TR to the control device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A positioning terminal that determines a position of the positioning terminal, the positioning terminal including a receiving device that receives signals from a plurality of first signal sources each emitting a respective first signal and one or more second signal sources each emitting a respective second signal, the first signals being synchronous with a reference time and the second signals being non-synchronous with the first signals, that, based on a signal propagation time and signal propagation speed of the first signals, determines a distance from the positioning terminal, said positioning terminal comprising:
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a calculation device that calculates TT=TR−
|P−
Q|/c;wherein the P is a position of a measurement device when the measurement device received the first signals from the first signal sources; the Q is a position of the one second signal source; the |P−
Q| is a relative distance between the measurement device and the one second source;the c is a signal propagation speed; the TR is a receiving time, based on the reference time, when the measurement device received a predetermined event of the second signals at the position P; wherein the positioning terminal uses the time TT to limit a search for the signals from the first signal sources, and uses the signals from the first signal sources to determine the position of the positioning terminal; wherein the measurement device further comprises a mobile terminal in good condition; wherein the position P of the measurement device can be determined without accurate time information; and wherein the measurement device measures P and TR and voluntarily reports the measured P and TR to a control device in the same mobile communication network. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A positioning terminal that determines a position of the positioning terminal, the positioning terminal including a receiving device that receives signals from a plurality of first signal sources each emitting a respective first signal and one or more second signal sources each emitting a respective second signal, the first signals being synchronous with a reference time and the second signals being non-synchronous with the first signals, for, based on a signal propagation time and signal propagation speed of at least one of the first and second sources determines a position of the positioning terminal, said positioning terminal comprising:
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a calculation device that calculates TT=TR−
|P−
Q|/c;wherein the P is a position of a measurement device when the measurement device received the first signals from the first signal sources; the Q is a position of the one second signal source; the |P−
Q| is a relative distance between the measurement device and the one second source;the c is a signal propagation speed; the TR is a receiving time, based on the reference time, when the measurement device received a predetermined event of the second signals at the position P; wherein the positioning terminal uses the time TT as a reference to receive the signals from the first signal sources and receives the first and second signals to determine the position of the positioning terminal; wherein the measurement device further comprises a mobile terminal in good condition; wherein the position P of the measurement device can be determined without accurate time information; and wherein the measurement device measures P and TR and voluntarily reports the measured P and TR to a control device in the same mobile communication network. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification