Acquisition, collection and processing system for continuous precision tracking of objects
First Claim
1. A system for continuous and precise tracking and timing of a plurality of moving objects at a rate of at least 1 Hz over a known course comprising:
- a plurality of portable tracking units, each portable tracking unit mounted on and moving with a respective object traveling over a known course, each portable tracking unit comprising;
a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver having a plurality of channels for receiving signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites, each channel comprising a plurality of correlators sufficient to enable the receiver to track a satellite signal when the received power level of the signal is at least as low as −
154 dBm, the receiver continuously generating pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values at a predetermined rate of at least 1 Hz for each satellite signal being received by the receiver; and
a mobile communication link that transmits output signals representing the pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values generated by the receiver;
a reference station located in a known fixed position with respect to the known course, the reference station including a reference GNSS receiver having a plurality of channels for receiving signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites, the reference GNSS receiver generating pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values at a predetermined rate of at least 1 Hz for each satellite signal being received by the reference GNSS receiver, the reference station transmitting output signals representing the pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values generated by the reference GNSS receiver;
a race data processor that receives data from the portable tracking units and from the reference station representing the pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values for each satellite signal received by the receiver in each portable tracking unit and for each satellite signal received by the reference GNSS receiver, the race data processor responsive to the data from each portable tracking unit, the data from the reference GNSS receiver, and signal propagation characteristics of the known course to compute an individual GNSS position and timing solution for each portable tracking unit when the GNSS processing system receives the signal data; and
a race systems controller that provides position and movement data for each portable tracking unit based on the GNSS solution for the tracking unit.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method autonomously and precisely track objects moving along a known course. The objects include, for example, racing horses, other racing animals, or racing vehicles. The system and method utilize modern satellite navigation satellite systems, signal processing, radio communications systems and computer processing to acquire and analyze performance data of the moving objects during competitions and during training and practice. The data acquisition is performed continuously at a rate of at least 1 Hz during the competition, training or practice even in the presence of objects which affect the quality of the signals received from the satellite system.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A system for continuous and precise tracking and timing of a plurality of moving objects at a rate of at least 1 Hz over a known course comprising:
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a plurality of portable tracking units, each portable tracking unit mounted on and moving with a respective object traveling over a known course, each portable tracking unit comprising; a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver having a plurality of channels for receiving signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites, each channel comprising a plurality of correlators sufficient to enable the receiver to track a satellite signal when the received power level of the signal is at least as low as −
154 dBm, the receiver continuously generating pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values at a predetermined rate of at least 1 Hz for each satellite signal being received by the receiver; anda mobile communication link that transmits output signals representing the pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values generated by the receiver; a reference station located in a known fixed position with respect to the known course, the reference station including a reference GNSS receiver having a plurality of channels for receiving signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites, the reference GNSS receiver generating pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values at a predetermined rate of at least 1 Hz for each satellite signal being received by the reference GNSS receiver, the reference station transmitting output signals representing the pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values generated by the reference GNSS receiver; a race data processor that receives data from the portable tracking units and from the reference station representing the pseudorange values, delta pseudorange values and signal quality values for each satellite signal received by the receiver in each portable tracking unit and for each satellite signal received by the reference GNSS receiver, the race data processor responsive to the data from each portable tracking unit, the data from the reference GNSS receiver, and signal propagation characteristics of the known course to compute an individual GNSS position and timing solution for each portable tracking unit when the GNSS processing system receives the signal data; and a race systems controller that provides position and movement data for each portable tracking unit based on the GNSS solution for the tracking unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for tracking moving objects in a competition over a known course, comprising:
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placing and activating a portable tracking device on each object in the competition, each tracking device positioned on the respective object to receive signals from a plurality of satellites in a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); collecting GNSS pseudorange and delta pseudorange measurements and satellite almanac and ephemeris data from a reference station in a known, fixed location; transmitting GNSS pseudorange and delta pseudorange measurements and signal quality information for each satellite being tracked by each portable tracking device to a central location before and during the competition; transmitting GNSS pseudorange and delta pseudorange measurements and signal quality information for each satellite being tracked by the reference station to the central processing location before and during the competition; and continually determining an actual position of each object at a rate of at least 1 Hz based on the GNSS pseudorange and delta pseudorange measurements and signal quality information received from the portable tracking unit on the object, based on the GNSS pseudorange and delta pseudorange measurements and signal quality information received from the reference station, and based on signal propagation characteristics of the known course until the conclusion of the competition. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for acquiring, collecting, processing, and tracking at least one object moving along a predetermined course, comprising:
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receiving global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals from a plurality of satellites in view of a moving receiver mounted on the at least one moving object while the object moves from a starting location to an ending location along the predetermined course; continually generating GNSS measurement data at a rate of at least 1 Hz in response to the GNSS signals received by the moving receiver; receiving GNSS signals from a plurality of satellites by a reference receiver in a known location; continually generating GNSS measurement data at a rate of at least 1 Hz in response to the GNSS signals received by the reference receiver; transmitting the GNSS data from the moving receiver to a processing station; transmitting the GNSS data from the reference receiver to the processing station; processing the GNSS data from the moving receiver to calculate an estimated line of sight distance from the moving receiver to each of the satellites in view of the moving receiver; computing differential corrections for each of the calculated line of sight distances using the GNSS data from the reference receiver and applying the differential corrections to the calculated line of sight distances to generate a corrected line of sight distance to each of the satellites in view of the moving receiver; applying an adaptive criteria to each of the corrected line of sight distances to adaptively reject unacceptable measurements and to pass acceptable measurements based in part on known signal propagation characteristics of the predetermined course; generating an updated line of sight distance from the moving receiver to each satellite for which the respective adaptive criteria pass an acceptable measurement; and calculating a location of the moving receiver based on the updated line of sight distances. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for acquiring, collecting, processing, and tracking at least one object moving along a predetermined course, comprising:
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receiving global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals from a plurality of satellites in view of a moving receiver mounted on the at least one moving object while the object moves from a starting location to an ending location along the predetermined course; continually generating GNSS data at a rate of at least 1 Hz in response to the GNSS signals received by the moving receiver; receiving GNSS signals from a plurality of satellites by a reference receiver in a known location; continually generating GNSS data at a rate of at least 1 Hz in response to the GNSS signals received by the reference receiver; processing the GNSS data from the moving receiver to calculate an estimated line of sight distance from the moving receiver to each of the satellites in view of the moving receiver; computing differential corrections for each of the calculated line of sight distances using the GNSS data from the reference receiver and applying the differential corrections to the calculated line of sight distances to generate a corrected line of sight distance to each of the satellites in view of the moving receiver; applying an adaptive criteria to each of the corrected line of sight distances to adaptively reject unacceptable measurements and to pass acceptable measurements based in part on known signal propagation characteristics of the predetermined course; generating an updated line of sight distance from the moving receiver to each satellite for which the respective adaptive criteria pass an acceptable measurement; and calculating a location of the moving receiver based on the updated line of sight distances. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A method of obtaining and displaying a set of competition metrics for a plurality of animals racing over a known course, comprising:
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continually obtaining accurate position data for each of the animals at a rate of at least 1 Hz, the accurate position data based on global network satellite system (GNSS) data received by a respective GNSS receiver mounted on each animal, the GNSS data for each animal adaptively corrected in accordance with the position of each animal on the known course in accordance with satellite signal propagation characteristics affected by known objects proximate to the known course; generating a set of competition metrics for each animal based on the accurate position date for the animal, the set of competition metrics comprising; the current numeric position of the animal in the competition; a distance of the animal laterally with respect to an inner boundary of the predetermined course; and for any animal that is trailing at least one leading animal, the competition metrics further comprising; a relative distance of the animal behind the leading animal; a relative speed of the animal with respect to the leading animal; an amount of time that the animal lags behind the leading animal; and an acceleration of the animal with respect to at least the leading animal. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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Specification