Time synchronization via over-determined measurements
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for determining a location of an emitter, comprising:
- acquiring, in a Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system that includes a central processing station and a plurality of reporting stations, a time-stamp value from at least an N number of reporting stations each reporting station being configured to receive an emitted signal from an emitter and to transmit a time-stamp signal containing a time stamp value, each reporting station being associated with a respective clock, and the clocks of said reporting stations being in an unsynchronized state;
calculating, with a processor, a plurality of position values each position value being indicative of a possible position of said emitter based on said time-stamp values of at least N−
1 of said reporting stations, each position value being calculated based on time-stamp values from a unique group of N−
1 of said plurality of reporting stations;
calculating, with a processor, clock deviations of said station clocks based at least on the plurality of position values;
correcting, with a processor, said time-stamped values based on the calculated clock deviations; and
determining, with a processor, a location of said emitter based on said corrected time-stamp values.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are a method and a system for clock synchronization estimation using position over-determination principles applied to TDOA measurements of well-tracked targets with a height of about 5 km and higher. Clock correction factors or delays can then be applied to sensor clock signals, providing accurate tracking of targets such as aircraft, even in the event of GPS failure or jamming.
14 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A method for determining a location of an emitter, comprising:
-
acquiring, in a Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system that includes a central processing station and a plurality of reporting stations, a time-stamp value from at least an N number of reporting stations each reporting station being configured to receive an emitted signal from an emitter and to transmit a time-stamp signal containing a time stamp value, each reporting station being associated with a respective clock, and the clocks of said reporting stations being in an unsynchronized state; calculating, with a processor, a plurality of position values each position value being indicative of a possible position of said emitter based on said time-stamp values of at least N−
1 of said reporting stations, each position value being calculated based on time-stamp values from a unique group of N−
1 of said plurality of reporting stations;calculating, with a processor, clock deviations of said station clocks based at least on the plurality of position values; correcting, with a processor, said time-stamped values based on the calculated clock deviations; and determining, with a processor, a location of said emitter based on said corrected time-stamp values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification