Electronic tape measure on a cellphone

• US 10,101,465 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2015
• Issued: 10/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Inventors: Loomis, Peter Van Wyck, Wallace, Gregory Craig, Weisenburger, Shawn D., Talbot, Nicholas C., Janky, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E
• Application Number:
  US14/849,456
• Publication Number:
  US 20160003948A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,133 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/41 Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/43 using carrier phase measurements, e.g. kinematic positioning; using long or short baseline interferometry

Abstract

A radio frequency component receives and digitizes a first plurality of L1 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals and a second plurality of L2C GNSS signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites. A software defined GNSS receiver operating on a processor of a cellular telephone separate from the radio frequency component derives carrier phase measurements from the first plurality of L1 GNSS signals and the second plurality of L2C GNSS signals during an epoch. A wireless message from a communication device located at a base location is received conveying pseudorange and carrier measurements derived from the first plurality of L1 GNSS signals from said plurality of GNSS satellites during the epoch. The cellular telephone determines a distance from the base location to said first location.

Claims

1. A method of implementing an electronic tape measure, said method comprising:

receiving at a first location a first plurality of L1 Global Positioning System (GPS) signals from a plurality of GPS satellites during an epoch and digitizing said first plurality of L1 GPS signals;

receiving at said first location a second plurality of L2C GPS signals from said plurality of GPS satellites during said epoch and digitizing said second plurality of L2C GPS signals;

using a software defined GPS receiver operating on a processor of a cellular telephone to derive pseudorange and carrier phase measurements from said first plurality of L1 GPS signals and pseudorange and carrier phase measurements from said second plurality of L2C GPS signals;

receiving a wireless message from a communication device located at a base location conveying pseudorange and carrier phase measurements derived from said first plurality of L1 GPS signals from said plurality of GPS satellites during said epoch; and

determining by said cellular telephone a distance from said base location to said first location.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said processor of said cellular telephone is located outside of a GPS receiver chipset of said cellular telephone.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said cellular telephone further comprises a radio frequency hardware component which is located proximate to said cellular telephone, said method further comprising:

digitizing said first plurality of L1 GPS signals from an analog form into a first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals with a digitizer of said radio frequency hardware component;

digitizing said second plurality of L2C GPS signals from an analog form into a second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals with a said digitizer of said radio frequency hardware component; and

receiving said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals at said cellular telephone, said cellular telephone comprising an internal GPS receiver chipset which is separate from said processor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said receiving said digitized GPS signals at said cellular telephone located proximate to said radio frequency hardware component comprises:

receiving a serial transmission of said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals at said cellular telephone located proximate to and removably coupled with said radio frequency hardware component, wherein said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals are serialized into said serialized transmission by a serializer of said radio frequency hardware component.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving said first plurality of L1 GPS signals from said plurality of GPS satellites and digitizing said first plurality of L1 GPS signals;

receiving said second plurality of L2C GPS signals from said plurality of GPS satellites and digitizing said second plurality of L2C GPS signals;

using a software defined GPS receiver operating on a second processor of said communication device at said base location to derive pseudorange and carrier phase measurements of said first plurality of L1 GPS signals for said epoch and pseudorange and carrier phase measurements of said second plurality of L2C GPS signals for said epoch; and

sending said wireless message conveying pseudorange and carrier phase measurements of said first plurality of L1 GPS signals from said plurality of GPS satellites in said epoch.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said communication device comprises a cellular telephone and wherein said second processor of said communication device is located outside of a second GPS receiver chipset of said communication device.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said communication device further comprises a second radio frequency hardware component which is located proximate to said communication device, said method further comprising:

digitizing said first plurality of L1 GPS signals from an analog form into a first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals with a digitizer of said second radio frequency hardware component;

digitizing said second plurality of L2C GPS signals from an analog form into a second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals with a said digitizer of said second radio frequency hardware component; and

receiving said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals at said communication device, said communication device comprising a second internal GPS receiver chipset which is separate from said second processor.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said a second plurality of L2C GPS signals is not continuously tracked by said processor of said cellular telephone, said method further comprising:

subtracting the frequency of said L2C signal from the frequency of said L1 signal to create a third frequency; and

using said third frequency to resolve integer ambiguity of said L2C signal.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

performing by said cellular telephone a single-differencing operation wherein pseudorange measurements of an L1 GPS signal from a first GPS satellite received by said communication device are subtracted from pseudorange measurements of said L1 GPS signal from said first GPS satellite received by said cellular telephone to derive a first residual value and determine said distance from said base location to said first location.

10. An electronic tape measure system comprising:

a first electronic tape measure (ETM) unit at a first location, comprising;

a first radio frequency hardware component comprising;

a first digitizer configured for digitizing a first plurality of L1 Global Positioning System GPS signals received from a plurality of GPS satellites during an epoch into a first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and for digitizing a second plurality of L2C GPS signals received from said plurality of GPS satellites during said epoch into a second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals; and

a communication device configured to receive said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals, said communication device comprising;

a wireless communication transceiver configured to receive a wireless message from a second ETM unit at a second location conveying pseudorange and carrier phase measurements derived from said first plurality of L1 GPS signals from said plurality of GPS satellites in said epoch;

a processor configured for operating a software defined GPS receiver to determine a distance estimate from said first location to said second location; and

said second ETM unit at said second location comprising;

a second radio frequency hardware component comprising;

a second digitizer configured for digitizing said first plurality of L1 GPS signals received from said plurality of GPS satellites during said epoch into a third plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and for digitizing said second plurality of L2C GPS signals received from said plurality of GPS satellites during said epoch into a fourth plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals; and

a second communication device configured to receive said third plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said fourth plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals, said second communication device comprising;

a second wireless communication transceiver configured to send a wireless message to said first ETM unit, said wireless message conveying pseudorange and carrier phase measurements derived from said third plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals; and

a second processor configured for operating a second software defined GPS receiver to determine said geographical position of said second GPS antenna.

11. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10, wherein said first radio frequency hardware component further comprises:

a serializer configured for serializing said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals into a serialized output signal; and

wherein said first radio frequency hardware component comprises a stand-alone radio frequency hardware component, disposed proximate to said communication device, and is configured for conveying said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals, as said serialized output signal, directly from said stand-alone radio frequency hardware component to said communication device.

12. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10, wherein said second radio frequency hardware component further comprises:

a second serializer configured for serializing said third plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said fourth plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals into a second serialized output signal; and

wherein said second radio frequency hardware component comprises a second stand-alone radio frequency hardware component disposed proximate to said second communication device and is configured for conveying third plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals and said fourth plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals, as said second serialized output signal, directly from said second stand-alone radio frequency hardware component to said second communication device.

13. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10, wherein said first digitizer comprises:

a first Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) configured for digitizing said first plurality of L1 GPS signals into said first plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals; and

a second RFIC configured for digitizing said second plurality of L2C GPS signals into said second plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals.

14. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10, wherein said second digitizer comprises:

a third Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) configured for digitizing said first plurality of L1 GPS signals into said third plurality of respective digitized L1 GPS signals; and

a fourth RFIC configured for digitizing said second plurality of L2C GPS signals into said fourth plurality of respective digitized L2C GPS signals.

15. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10, wherein said processor and said second processor comprise processors selected from the group of processors consisting of:

a host processor, a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), and a digital signal processor (DSP).

16. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10, wherein said communication device and said second communication device are selected from the group of communication devices consisting of:

a cellular telephone;

a tablet computer;

a two-way non-cellular radio, a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) radio which complies with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11p standards, and a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) radio which is implemented as a software defined radio in compliance with IEEE 802.11p standards.

17. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10 wherein said processor of said communication device is configured to perform a single-differencing operation wherein pseudorange measurements of an L1 GPS signal from a first GPS satellite received by said second communication device are subtracted from pseudorange measurements of said L1 GPS signal from said first GPS satellite received by said first communication device to derive a first residual value and determine said distance from said first location to said second location.

18. The electronic tape measure system of claim 17 wherein said processor of said communication device is configured to perform a double-differencing operation wherein pseudorange measurements of an L1 GPS signal from a second GPS satellite received by said second communication device are subtracted from pseudorange measurements of said L1 GPS signal from said second GPS satellite received by said first communication device to derive a second residual value, and wherein said first communication device subtracts said first residual value from said second residual value to determine said distance from said first location to said second location.

19. The electronic tape measure system of claim 10 wherein said processor of said communication device is configured to generate a geographical position of a GPS antenna of said first radio frequency hardware component.

20. A method of implementing an electronic tape measure, said method comprising:

receiving at a first location a first plurality of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites at a first frequency during an epoch and digitizing said first plurality of GNSS signals;

receiving at said first location a second plurality of GNSS signals from said plurality of GNSS satellites at a second frequency different from said first frequency during said epoch and digitizing said second plurality of GNSS signals;

using a software defined GNSS receiver operating on a processor of a cellular telephone to derive pseudorange and carrier phase measurements from said first plurality of GNSS signals and pseudorange and carrier phase measurements from said second plurality of GNSS signals;

receiving a wireless message from a communication device located at a base location conveying pseudorange and carrier phase measurements derived from said first plurality of GNSS signals from said plurality of GNSS satellites during said epoch; and

determining by said cellular telephone a distance from said base location to said first location.