System and method for robust navigation and geolocation using measurements of opportunity
First Claim
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1. A method of locating an agent, comprising the steps of:
- a. surveying an RF environment by monitoring a range of RF frequencies;
b. receiving a plurality of RF signals of opportunity (SoOP), at an agent, wherein the RF SoOP is an ambient radio frequency (RF) transmission that is not intended for navigation, position or timing for positioning purposes, and wherein the SoOps are transmitted from a communication system different than the communication system of the agent;
c. in a processor, performing ranging measurements on the received RF SoOPs, wherein the ranging measurements are based on a known sequence transmitted in the SoOPs;
d. in a processor, classifying the received RF SoOPs according to a predetermined criteria of parameters;
e. in a processor, ranking the classified received RF SoOps; and
f. in a processor, determining a location of the agent as a function of the performed ranging measurements and the ranking of the received SoOPs;
wherein the RF received SoOPs include at least one synchronized signal and at least one and unsynchronized signal and wherein at least one of the received RF SoOPs is transmitted from a first transmitter of unknown location.
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Abstract
A system and method to opportunistically capture and use measurements on a priori unknown radio signals, not intended for radio navigation or geolocation, to improve navigation/geolocation position estimation yield and accuracy.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of locating an agent, comprising the steps of:
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a. surveying an RF environment by monitoring a range of RF frequencies; b. receiving a plurality of RF signals of opportunity (SoOP), at an agent, wherein the RF SoOP is an ambient radio frequency (RF) transmission that is not intended for navigation, position or timing for positioning purposes, and wherein the SoOps are transmitted from a communication system different than the communication system of the agent; c. in a processor, performing ranging measurements on the received RF SoOPs, wherein the ranging measurements are based on a known sequence transmitted in the SoOPs; d. in a processor, classifying the received RF SoOPs according to a predetermined criteria of parameters; e. in a processor, ranking the classified received RF SoOps; and f. in a processor, determining a location of the agent as a function of the performed ranging measurements and the ranking of the received SoOPs; wherein the RF received SoOPs include at least one synchronized signal and at least one and unsynchronized signal and wherein at least one of the received RF SoOPs is transmitted from a first transmitter of unknown location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of locating an agent, comprising the steps of:
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a. performing an initialization step to determine the location of a first transmitter of a signal of opportunity (SoOP), comprising; (i) surveying the RF environment by monitoring a range of RF frequencies using a first plurality of agents, each agent having a receiver and having a coarse location; (ii) receiving a plurality of SoOPs at each agent, wherein a SoOP is an ambient radio frequency (RF) transmission that is not intended for navigation, position or timing for positional purposes and is transmitted from a communication system different than the communication system of the agent; (iii) at each agent, using a processor, making a ranging measurement for a first SoOP, wherein the ranging measurement is based on a known sequence transmitted in the SoOP and wherein the first SoOP is transmitted from the first transmitter of unknown location; (iv) at a first agent, receiving the ranging measurement for the first SoOP from a plurality of agents (v) at a first agent, using a processor, determining the location of the first transmitter associated with the first SoOP as a function of the ranging measurements for the first SoOP; (b) performing a mapping step to determine the location of a second agent, comprising; (i) surveying the RF environment by monitoring for a range of RF frequencies using a second plurality of agents, each agent having a receiver and including a second agent at an unknown location; (ii) receiving a second SoOPs at each agent of the second plurality of agents; (iii) at each second agent, making a timing measurement for the second SoOP; (iv) at the second agent, receiving the timing measurement for the second SoOP from the second plurality of agents; and (v) at the second agent, using a processor, determining the location of the second agent as a function of (a) the timing measurements for the second SoOP, and (b) and the determined location of the first transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of locating an agent, comprising the steps of:
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a. surveying the RF environment by monitoring a range of RF frequencies transmitted; b. receiving a first plurality of RF signals at an agent at a first coarse location; wherein at least one of the first plurality of received signals is a signal of opportunity (SoOP) wherein the SoOP is an ambient radio frequency (RF) transmission that is not intended for navigation, position or timing for positioning purposes transmitted from a transmitter of unknown location from a communication system different than the communication system of the agent; c. performing ranging measurements on the first plurality of received RF signals, wherein the ranging measurements for the SoOPs are based on a known sequence transmitted in the SoOP; d. receiving a second plurality of RF signals at the agent at a second coarse location, wherein at least one of the second plurality of received signals is transmitted from a transmitter of unknown location; e. performing ranging measurements on the second plurality of received RF signals; and f. determining a location of the agent as a function of the performed ranging measurements of the first and second plurality of received RF signals; wherein the first and second plurality of received RF signals include at least one synchronized signal and at least one and unsynchronized signal. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification