Vehicle navigation using cellular networks
First Claim
1. A method for navigation of a vehicle using cellular networks, the method comprising:
- determining, with an inertial navigation system, an estimate of a location of the vehicle;
steering, by a controller, a transmit antenna and a receive antenna at an angle such that they are both pointed towards a cellular tower;
transmitting, with the transmit antenna, a transmit signal to the cellular tower requesting for a cell identification (CID) of the cellular tower;
receiving, with the receive antenna, a receive signal from the cellular tower containing the CID of the cellular tower;
determining, with at least one digital computer, a location of the cellular tower by looking up the CID of the cellular tower in a lookup table;
determining, with the at least one digital computer, a difference in time from a time the transmit signal was sent by the transmit antenna to a time the receive signal was received by the receive antenna;
calculating, with the at least one digital computer, a distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower by using the difference in time; and
refining, with the at least one digital computer, the estimate of the location of the vehicle by using the location of the cellular tower, the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower, and the angle of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a method for navigation of a vehicle using cellular networks that involves determining, with an inertial navigation system, a vehicle location estimate. The method also involves transmitting, with a transmit antenna, a transmit signal to the cellular tower requesting a cell identification (CID); and receiving, with a receive antenna, a receive signal from the cellular tower containing the CID. Further, the method involves determining the cellular tower location by looking up the CID in a lookup table; determining a difference in time from the time the transmit signal was sent to the time the receive signal was received; calculating the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower by using the time difference; and refining the vehicle location estimate by using the cellular tower location, the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower, and the angle of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna.
27 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for navigation of a vehicle using cellular networks, the method comprising:
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determining, with an inertial navigation system, an estimate of a location of the vehicle; steering, by a controller, a transmit antenna and a receive antenna at an angle such that they are both pointed towards a cellular tower; transmitting, with the transmit antenna, a transmit signal to the cellular tower requesting for a cell identification (CID) of the cellular tower; receiving, with the receive antenna, a receive signal from the cellular tower containing the CID of the cellular tower; determining, with at least one digital computer, a location of the cellular tower by looking up the CID of the cellular tower in a lookup table; determining, with the at least one digital computer, a difference in time from a time the transmit signal was sent by the transmit antenna to a time the receive signal was received by the receive antenna; calculating, with the at least one digital computer, a distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower by using the difference in time; and refining, with the at least one digital computer, the estimate of the location of the vehicle by using the location of the cellular tower, the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower, and the angle of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for navigation of a vehicle using cellular networks, the system comprising:
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an inertial navigation system to determine an estimate of a location of the vehicle; a controller to steer a transmit antenna and a receive antenna at an angle such that they are both pointed towards a cellular tower; the transmit antenna to transmit a transmit signal to the cellular tower requesting for a cell identification (CID) of the cellular tower; the receive antenna to receive a receive signal from the cellular tower containing the CID of the cellular tower; and at least one digital computer to determine a location of the cellular tower by looking up the CID of the cellular tower in a lookup table;
to determine a difference in time from a time the transmit signal was sent by the transmit antenna to a time the receive signal was received by the receive antenna;
to calculate a distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower by using the difference in time; and
to refine the estimate of the location of the vehicle by using the location of the cellular tower, the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower, and the angle of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for navigation of a vehicle using cellular networks, the apparatus comprising:
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an inertial navigation system to determine an estimate of a location of the vehicle; a controller to steer a transmit antenna and a receive antenna at an angle such that they are both pointed towards a cellular tower; the transmit antenna to transmit a transmit signal to the cellular tower requesting for a cell identification (CID) of the cellular tower; the receive antenna to receive a receive signal from the cellular tower containing the CID of the cellular tower; and at least one digital computer to determine a location of the cellular tower by looking up the CID of the cellular tower in a lookup table;
to determine a difference in time from a time the transmit signal was sent by the transmit antenna to a time the receive signal was received by the receive antenna;
to calculate a distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower by using the difference in time; and
to refine the estimate of the location of the vehicle by using the location of the cellular tower, the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower, and the angle of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna.
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Specification