Navigation with satellite communications
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- a reference station network operable to determine navigation measurements from a plurality of reference stations in the network, cycle ambiguities associated with multiple ones of the reference stations of the network; and
a low earth orbit satellite operable to broadcast the navigation measurements from the plurality of reference stations in the network over a satellite beam to a plurality of users, the broadcast being over a footprint of the beam;
wherein the reference stations comprise differential navigation reference stations in the network;
wherein the low earth orbit satellite also is operable to broadcast with the satellite navigation measurements from the differential navigation reference stations, the network being operable to reduce a data bandwidth over the satellite link;
wherein the data bandwidth reduction is achieved by excluding redundant information by at least one of the reference stations, which monitor the measurements from other reference stations; and
wherein integrity of operation of the reference stations is monitored.
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Abstract
A Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellite is used for broadcasting differential navigation corrections. Using LEO satellites, the “footprint” of the beam is much smaller than for geosynchronous satellites, and therefore data link bandwidth requirements are reduced to sufficiently cover an entire area. With a LEO satellite transmitting in multiple beams, these footprints become even smaller. Corrections targeted to such a small area could have the form of local area corrections (for example, raw measurements taken from a navigation reference station) using the LEO satellites.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a reference station network operable to determine navigation measurements from a plurality of reference stations in the network, cycle ambiguities associated with multiple ones of the reference stations of the network; and a low earth orbit satellite operable to broadcast the navigation measurements from the plurality of reference stations in the network over a satellite beam to a plurality of users, the broadcast being over a footprint of the beam; wherein the reference stations comprise differential navigation reference stations in the network; wherein the low earth orbit satellite also is operable to broadcast with the satellite navigation measurements from the differential navigation reference stations, the network being operable to reduce a data bandwidth over the satellite link; wherein the data bandwidth reduction is achieved by excluding redundant information by at least one of the reference stations, which monitor the measurements from other reference stations; and wherein integrity of operation of the reference stations is monitored. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system comprising:
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a reference station network operable to determine navigation measurements from a plurality of reference stations in the network, cycle ambiguities associated with multiple ones of the reference stations of the network; terrestrial communication links operable to transmit the navigation measurements from the plurality of reference stations in the network to a plurality of users; wherein the reference stations comprise differential navigation reference stations in the network; wherein the network being operable to reduce a data bandwidth over the terrestrial communications link, where the data bandwidth reduction is achieved by excluding redundant information by at least one of the reference stations, which monitor the measurements from other reference stations; wherein integrity of operation of the reference stations is monitored; and wherein the measurements are sent to users without routing through a central control station.
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Specification