Position estimation system and method

• US 8,751,127 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2011
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Viittala, Harri, Soderi, Simone, Saloranta, Jani, Hmlinen, Matti, Iinatti, Jari
• Primary Examiner(s): Shafi, Muhammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): LANG, MICHAEL DEAN
• Application Number:
  US13/307,707
• Publication Number:
  US 20130138314A1
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• Field of Search: 701/70, 701/445, 701/469, 701/470
• US Class Current: 701/70
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0027 Radio-based, e.g. using GSM-R
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/025 Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/026 Relative localisation, e.g. using odometer
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/125 using short-range radio transmission
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/74 Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/876 Combination of several spaced transponders or reflectors of known location for determining the position of a receiver G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/466 by Trilateration, i.e. two antennas or two sensors determine separately the distance to a target, whereby with the knowledge of the baseline length, i.e. the distance between the antennas or sensors, the position data of the target is determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems

Abstract

There is provided a vehicle with the capability of estimating its position. An exemplary vehicle comprises a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with one or more second radio responsive devices. The positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received from the first transceiver, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received from the second transceiver.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising:

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with one or more second radio-responsive devices;

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode; and

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate at least one of the fine position or the coarse position by transmitting an outbound signal to the one or more first radio-responsive devices or to the one or more second radio-responsive devices, respectively, receiving a return signal corresponding to the outbound signal from the one or more first radio-responsive devices or the one or more second radio-responsive devices, and measuring the time difference between the transmission of the outbound signal and the receiving of the return signal.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the positioning unit comprises:

a first transceiver for operating in the first mode, the first transceiver configured to communicate with the one or more first radio-responsive devices; and

a second transceiver for operating in the second mode, the second transceiver configured to communicate with the one or more second radio-responsive devices.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

while in the first mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more first radio-responsive devices using a first signal with a first bandwidth; and

while in the second mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more second radio-responsive devices using a second signal with a second bandwidth larger than the first bandwidth.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the first bandwidth is approximately 5 to 40 Megahertz and the second bandwidth is approximately 500 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

while in the first mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more first radio-responsive devices using an IEEE 802.11 protocol; and

while in the second mode, the positioning unit communicates with the one or more second radio-responsive devices using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) pulses.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

the positioning unit is configured to operate in the first mode for communicating with the one or more first radio-responsive devices, said one or more first radio-responsive devices comprising a first set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to a point of interest, and wherein the positioning unit is configured to operate in the second mode for communicating with the one or more second radio-responsive devices, said one or more second radio-responsive devices comprising three or more reflectors disposed at known locations relative to the point of interest, said reflectors being at least one of active or passive reflectors; and

the positioning unit is configured to estimate the fine position based on the time difference between the transmission of the outbound signal and the receiving of the return signal reflected from at least one of three or more reflectors.

7. A vehicle comprising:

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with one or more second radio responsive devices, wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode; and

a control unit coupled to the positioning unit and a braking system configured to receive a braking control signal from a control unit, wherein;

within a coarse area of interest, the braking control signal is based on the coarse position of the vehicle; and

within a fine area of interest the braking control signal is based on the fine position of the vehicle.

8. A system for estimating position, comprising:

a first set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to a point of interest, the point of interest comprising a docking station, a re-fueling station, or a passenger platform;

a second set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to the point of interest; and

a vehicle comprising;

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with the first set of radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with the second set of radio responsive devices;

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode, and wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate at least one of the coarse position or the fine position based on a measured time-of-flight of signals sent to and received from the first set of radio-responsive devices or the second set of radio-responsive devices, respectively.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the positioning unit comprises:

a first transceiver for operating in the first mode, the first transceiver configured to communicate with the first set of radio-responsive devices; and

a second transceiver for operating in the second mode, the second transceiver configured to communicate with the second set radio-responsive devices.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first transceiver communicates with the first set of radio-responsive devices using a first signal with a first bandwidth, the second transceiver communicates with the second set of radio-responsive devices using a second signal with a second bandwidth, and the second bandwidth is larger than the first bandwidth.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first bandwidth is approximately 5 to 40 Megahertz and the second bandwidth is approximately 500 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the first transceiver is an IEEE 802.11 protocol transceiver and the second transceiver is an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) transceiver.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein each radio-responsive device in the first set of radio-responsive devices comprises a wireless communication device configured to receive an outbound signal transmitted from the positioning unit, generate a return signal, and transmit the return signal, wherein the outbound signal and the return signal comprise the signals for which the time-of-flight is measured.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the positioning unit and the wireless communication device communicate using an IEEE 802.11 standard protocol.

15. The system of claim 8, wherein each radio-responsive device in the second set of radio-responsive devices is an active reflector.

16. A system for estimating position, comprising:

a first set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to a point of interest;

a second set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to the point of interest; and

a vehicle comprising;

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with the first set of radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with the second set radio responsive devices;

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode;

wherein the second set of radio-responsive devices comprises three or more active reflectors disposed at known locations relative to the point of interest, and estimating the fine position comprises measuring a time-of-flight of signals sent to and reflected from the three or more active reflectors.

17. A method of estimating position, comprising:

within a first area of interest, communicating with one or more first radio responsive devices to estimate a coarse position;

within a second area of interest, communicating with one or more second radio-responsive devices to estimate a fine position; and

transmitting a braking signal to a braking system, wherein;

within the first area of interest, the braking signal is generated based on the coarse position; and

within the second area of interest, the braking signal is based on the fine position.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices comprises transmitting an outbound signal using an IEEE 802.11 protocol and receiving an inbound signal transmitted by the one or more first radio responsive devices using the IEEE 802.11 protocol.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein communicating with one or more second radio-responsive devices comprises transmitting Ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses and receiving corresponding echoes reflected from the one or more second radio-responsive devices.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein communicating with the first radio-responsive device uses a first bandwidth, and communicating with the second radio-responsive device uses a second bandwidth larger than the first bandwidth.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first bandwidth is approximately 5 to 40 Megahertz and the second bandwidth is approximately 500 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz.

22. A positioning system, comprising:

a positioning unit configured to operate in a first mode for communicating with one or more first radio-responsive devices and operate in a second mode for communicating with one or more second radio-responsive devices;

wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate a coarse position of a vehicle in which the positioning unit is disposed based on data received while operating in the first mode, and estimate a fine position of the vehicle based on data received while operating in the second mode, and wherein the positioning unit is configured to estimate at least one of the coarse position or the fine position based on a measured time-of-flight of signals sent to and received from the first radio-responsive devices or the second radio-responsive devices, respectively.

23. The positioning system of claim 22, wherein:

the positioning unit is configured to operate in the first mode for communicating with the one or more first radio-responsive devices, said one or more first radio-responsive devices comprising a first set of stationary radio-responsive devices disposed relative to a point of interest, and wherein the positioning unit is configured to operate in the second mode for communicating with the one or more second radio-responsive devices, said one or more second radio-responsive devices comprising three or more reflectors disposed at known locations relative to the point of interest, said reflectors being at least one of active or passive reflectors; and

the positioning unit is configured to estimate the fine position based on the measured time-of-flight of the signals sent to and reflected from the three or more reflectors.