Cell organization and transmission schemes in a wide area positioning system (WAPS)

• US 9,176,217 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2012
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NextNav, LLC
• Original Assignee: NextNav, LLC
• Inventors: Krasner, Norman, Raghupathy, Arun
• Primary Examiner(s): LIU, HARRY K
• Application Number:
  US13/565,614
• Publication Number:
  US 20130057434A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,188 Days
• Field of Search: 342/387, 342/386
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/24 the synchronised signals being pulses or equivalent modulations on carrier waves and the transit times being compared by measuring the difference in arrival time of a significant part of the modulations , e.g. LORAN systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/10 providing dedicated supplementary positioning signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type

Abstract

A position location system comprises transmitters that broadcast positioning signals. Each broadcasted positioning signal comprises a pseudorandom ranging signal. The position location system includes a remote receiver that acquires and measures the time of arrival of the positioning signals received at the remote receiver. During an interval of time, at least two positioning signals are transmitted concurrently by the transmitters and received concurrently at the remote receiver. The two positioning signals have carrier frequencies offset from one another by an offset that is less than approximately twenty-five percent of the bandwidth of each positioning signal of the two positioning signals. Cross-interference between the positioning signals is reduced by tuning the remote receiver to a frequency of a selected signal of the two positioning signals and correlating the selected signal with a reference pseudorandom ranging signal matched to a transmitted pseudorandom ranging signal of the selected signal.

Claims

1. A position location system comprising:

a plurality of transmitters that each broadcast a plurality of positioning signals,

wherein each positioning signal of the plurality of positioning signals comprises a pseudorandom ranging signal,

wherein, during an interval of time, at least two positioning signals are transmitted concurrently, each by a different member of the plurality of transmitters,

wherein the at least two positioning signals have different carrier frequencies offset from one another by an offset that is less than or equal to twenty-five (25) percent of the bandwidth of each positioning signal of the at least two positioning signals,

wherein each carrier frequency is the sum of a base frequency plus an element of a set of frequency offsets, and each of the frequency offsets in the set of frequency offsets is a multiple of a minimum nonzero offset,

wherein the set of frequency offsets corresponds to 0, k₀R+R/Q, 2 k₀R+2R/Q, 3 k₀R+3R/Q . . . , (Q−

1)k₀R+(Q−

1)R/Q, where R represents PN frame rate, k₀ represents a nonzero integer, and Q represents an integer equal to the number of frequency offsets in the set of frequency offsets.

2. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the offset is a multiple of a sum of a frame rate of the pseudorandom ranging signals and a fraction 1/n of the frame rate, where n is an integer.

3. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the at least two positioning signals have different pseudorandom codes.

4. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the at least two positioning signals have the same pseudorandom codes.

5. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the pseudorandom ranging signal is repeated a plurality of times in succession.

6. The position location system of claim 1, wherein during the interval of time at least two additional positioning signals are transmitted non-concurrently by at least two of the plurality of transmitters.

7. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmitters are arranged in a geometric pattern and use a plurality of time slots to broadcast the plurality of positioning signals, wherein the plurality of transmitters comprises at least m transmitters using n time slots in a time multiplexing frame to broadcast the plurality of positioning signals, where m and n are positive integers.

8. The position location system of claim 7, wherein m is greater than n.

9. The position location system of claim 7, wherein m is less than or equal to n.

10. The position location system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the at least m transmitters transmits in more than one slot in a time multiplexing frame.

11. The position location system of claim 1, wherein at least one transmitter of the plurality of transmitters transmits a positioning signal in at least two successive time multiplexing frames of a positioning signal.

12. The position location system of claim 11, wherein the at least two successive time multiplexing frames comprise a primary frame and a secondary frame, wherein positioning data is transmitted in the primary frame, wherein auxiliary data that comprises security data, authentication data, or both the security data and the authentication data, is transmitted in the secondary frame.

13. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the at least two positioning signals are transmitted concurrently by at least two transmitters in a vicinity of one another, wherein the at least two positioning signals have at least one common parameter, and wherein the at least one common parameter is a pseudorandom code, positioning signal data, or both the pseudorandom code and the positioning signal data.

14. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmitters comprises a supergroup of transmitters, wherein the supergroup includes a plurality of groups of transmitters arranged in a geometric pattern, and each group includes a plurality of transmitters arranged in a geometric pattern.

15. The position location system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of groups of a supergroup comprises an n-group repeat pattern, wherein n is an integer.

16. The position location system of claim 14, wherein the at least two positioning signals are transmitted concurrently by at least two transmitters of a first group from the plurality of groups.

17. The position location system of claim 14, wherein the at least two positioning signals are transmitted concurrently by different transmitters, each of which are in a different group from the plurality of groups.

18. The position location system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of positioning signals comprises a set of pseudorandom codes, wherein each group in the plurality of groups of transmitters utilizes a permutation of the set of pseudorandom codes.

19. The position location system of claim 18, wherein the permutation of the set of pseudorandom codes is cyclic with respect to a slot number of the transmitter.

20. The position location system of claim 18, wherein the permutation associates each pseudorandom code in the set to a geographical position of each transmitter in a group, wherein a position of a transmitter in each group is associated with a transmit time slot.

21. The position location system of claim 14, wherein each group of the plurality of groups uses a plurality of time slots to broadcast the plurality of positioning signals.

22. The position location system of claim 21, wherein each group of the plurality of groups comprises n transmitters that use the same n time slots to broadcast the plurality of positioning signals, where n is an integer.

23. The position location system of claim 21, wherein each group of the plurality of groups of a supergroup uses at least one pseudorandom code that is different from the pseudorandom code of any other group.

24. The position location system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of transmitters of the plurality of groups of a supergroup uses a common pseudorandom code for a least a portion of their transmissions, wherein the pseudorandom code is constructed using a maximal length pseudorandom sequence.

25. The position location system of claim 21, wherein each transmitter of a group broadcasts using a different pseudorandom code from any other transmitter of the group, wherein each group of the plurality of groups of a supergroup uses a set of pseudorandom codes that is the same as every other group of the plurality of groups.

26. The position location system of claim 21, wherein each transmitter of the supergroup broadcasts using a different pseudorandom code from any other transmitter of the supergroup.

27. The position location system of claim 21, wherein each group of the plurality of groups of a supergroup uses at least one pseudorandom code constructed using a maximal length pseudorandom sequence, wherein the at least one pseudorandom code of each group of the supergroup is different from the pseudorandom code of any other group of the supergroup.

28. The position location system of claim 21, wherein each group of the plurality of groups of the supergroup uses an offset in frequency that is different than the offset of any other group.

29. The position location system of claim 14, wherein each group of the plurality of groups of a supergroup uses a same set of pseudorandom codes, wherein the pseudorandom codes of each group are permuted relative to slot numbers of every other group of the plurality of groups.

30. The position location system of claim 1, wherein the number of PN frames of the positioning signal that can be coherently integrated by a remote receiver is equal to an integer multiple of Q.

31. The position location system of claim 1, wherein each of the frequency offsets in the set of frequency offsets is equal to or less than twenty-five percent of the bandwidth of each of the plurality of positioning signals.