High-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles with frequency agile and time division transponder device on board

• US 7,570,195 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2005
• Issued: 08/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universita' Degli Studi Di Roma Tor Vergata (Repubblica Italiana)
• Original Assignee: Univerista Degli Studi Di Roma "Tor Vergata"
• Inventors: Bartolini, Simone, Galati, Gaspare
• Primary Examiner(s): PIHULIC, DANIEL T
• Application Number:
  US11/665,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20080106457A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,393 Days
• Field of Search: 342/36, 342/37, 342/40, 701/120
• US Class Current: 342/37
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/781 Secondary Surveillance Radar [SSR] in general
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/784 Coders or decoders therefor; Degarbling systems; Defruiting systems

Abstract

Cooperating mobiles (ground vehicles, aircraft) are located and identified by Multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) techniques using the frequency band and the format of the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) signals in high traffic situations. Standard messages, transmitted by the mobile on the downlink channel, i.e. to a set of fixed receiving stations, and including the identification code, permit the location of the mobile by multiple time measurements (Multilateration) from a subset of the set of fixed receiving stations; when the message contains the position (GPS and, later, Galileo datum) the mobile may be located with the ADS-B when in view even of a few stations or of a single station. In order to overcome the problem that arises with high traffic, i.e. the superimposition of signals, called garbling.

Claims

1. A high-capacity surveillance and data link system able to locate and identify cooperating mobiles provided with a respective transponder device and a fixed infrastructure comprising fixed transmitting and receiving stations, the system being arranged to locate and identify the cooperating mobiles using Multilateration and/or Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) techniques by means of transmission of position, identification, status information and ancillary data from the mobiles to the fixed receiving stations on the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) Mode S channel, the system being further arranged to transmit commands, controls, nearby traffic information and ancillary data from the fixed transmitting stations to the cooperating mobiles on the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) Mode S channel, the system being characterized in that each transponder is provided with a variable carrier frequency and the system is arranged to implement frequency-division multiple access in the down-link Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) Mode S channel using the variable carrier frequencies.

2. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by a time division multiple access for transmission from and to the mobiles, according to time slots assigned to each mobile and managed by a central processing and managing subsystem (CPMS).

3. A transponder device, which is part of the location and identification system as defined in claim 1, characterized in that for every signal transmitted by this device, the carrier frequency can be changed according to an input from a central processing and managing subsystem or from a human machine interface of the device itself.

4. The device, as in claim 3, characterized in that values of a central frequency variation with respect to a standard value are grouped in a number of different channels corresponding one-to-one to receiving channels in the system'"'"'receiving stations.

5. The device , as in claim 3, characterized in that a central frequency variations, belonging to a set of predefined values, is stored in a digital selector that drives a frequency generation system which, in turn, generates the carrier frequency for signals transmitted by the said device.

6. The device, as in claim 5, characterized in that the frequency generation system synthesizes an intermediate frequency from which the carrier frequency is obtained.

7. The device, as in claim 6, characterized in that the intermediate frequency is obtained by direct digital synthesis.

8. The device Devise, as in claim 6, characterized in that the carrier frequency is obtained from the intermediate frequency by multiplication and frequency conversion.

9. The device, as in claim 3, characterized in that the carrier frequency represents a central frequency of the spectrum of the signal that, after amplitude modulation, is amplified and emitted from an antenna.

10. The device , as in claim 3, further comprising a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver whose position data are used to locate the mobile in the ADS-B operation and whose time datum is used, as an input to a timing unit, to control emission time in a time division multiple access operation.

11. The device , as in claim 3, characterized in that emission time is regulated by a timing unit having at its input, from the central processing and managing subsystem (CPMS), a time information and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) integrity monitoring signal, permitting correct time division multiple access even in the case of unavailability of the Global Navigation Satellite System.

12. The device, as in claim 3, characterized in that it receives, from one or both of nearby devices and the central processing and managing subsystem, signals containing the position of nearby mobiles, and displays traffic information to an operator by a human-machine interface.

13. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by the fixed infrastructure implementing a coordinated and simultaneous use of frequency division multiple access and of time division multiple access for transmission from and to the mobiles, having on board a device characterized in that for every signal transmitted by this device, the carrier frequency can be changed according to an input from a central processing and managing subsystem or from a human machine interface of the device itself.

14. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by the fixed transmitting stations being configured to interrogate transponder device eliciting replies either immediately or in the next time slot assigned to the transponder device itself.

15. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by analysis of time of arrival of signals from the mobiles and from reference signal generators , a detection of time errors with respect of scheduled time values and transmission of error data to each mobile, permitting correction of the timing by a filter/estimator.

16. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by controlling and managing traffic on runways, taxiways and pertaining connections.

17. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by controlling and managing movements and operations on an apron of an airport.

18. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by controlling and managing aircraft nearby an airport, in the Terminal Manoeuvring Area and in a surrounding airways complex.

19. The high-capacity location and identification system for cooperating mobiles, as in claim 1, characterized by managing marine traffic in a vessel traffic system context.

20. A Mode-S transponder system comprising:

transponders each configured for attachment to a respective mobile and each including a carrier frequency selector for variably selecting a carrier frequency within one of a plurality of channels around 1090MHz; and

an infrastructure comprising a fixed transmitter and a fixed receiver,

the transponders being further configured to implement frequency division multiple access in a downlink Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR)-Mode S channel wherein a first one of the transponders is configured to transmit signals comprising one or more of position, identification, status information and ancillary data to the fixed receiver at a first carrier frequency selected via the corresponding carrier frequency selector and a second one of the transponders is configured to transmit signals comprising one or more of position, identification, status information and ancillary data to the fixed receiver at a different, second carrier frequency selected via the corresponding carrier frequency selector.

21. The Mode-S transponder system according to claim 20, wherein the first and second transponders are further configured to transmit their respective signals in a time division multiple access operation.

22. The Mode-S transponder system according to claim 20, wherein the infrastructure comprises at least four fixed receivers and the system is configured to use multilateration to determine transponder position.

23. The Mode-S transpondersystem according to claim 20, wherein the fixed receiver comprises filters provided in correspondence with the plurality of channels.

24. The Mode-S transponder system according to claim 20, wherein the carrier frequency selector selects a carrier frequency in response to a command transmitted by the fixed transmitter.

25. The Mode-S transponder system according to claim 20, wherein the carrier frequency selector selects a carrier frequency in response to an input to a human-machine interface.