Method and apparatus for positioning via unmanned aerial vehicles

• US 10,627,524 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2016
• Issued: 04/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bennett, Robert, Henry, Paul Shala, Gerszberg, Irwin, Barzegar, Farhad, Willis, III, Thomas M., Barnickel, Donald J.
• Primary Examiner(s): McPherson, James M
• Application Number:
  US15/369,964
• Publication Number:
  US 20180156616A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• Field of Search: 701 3
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/10 autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/104 using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/10 providing dedicated supplementary positioning signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/115 Airborne or satellite based pseudolites or repeaters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/33 Multimode operation in different systems which transmit time stamped messages, e.g. GPS/GLONASS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0094 involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a positioning system for use with a corresponding one of a plurality of UAVs, the positioning system operable to receive at least one Low Bit Rate (LBR) signal that includes satellite location data from at least one satellite via a receiver of the UAV. Current location data is generated based on the at least one LBR signal. A global positioning system (GPS) signal is generated based on the current location data for transmission, via a transmitter of the UAV, for reception by a GPS receiver. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A positioning system for use with a corresponding one of a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), comprising:

a processing system that includes a processor;

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations comprising;

receiving at least one digital broadcast signal that includes satellite location data from at least one satellite via a receiver of the UAV;

generating current location data based on the at least one digital broadcast signal;

generating a global positioning system (GPS) signal based on the current location data;

transmitting the GPS signal, via a transmitter of the UAV, for reception by a GPS receiver;

determining a new position;

generating navigation data based on the current location data and the new position; and

controlling the UAV to travel to the new position based on the navigation data.

2. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the at least one satellite is associated with at least one of:

a media content provider or an internet access provider.

3. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal comprises a plurality of digital broadcast signals that is received from the at least one satellite that comprises a plurality of satellites that further includes timing data, and wherein the generating the current location data is further based on a triangulation method utilizing the satellite location data and the timing data of the plurality of satellites.

4. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal is received in response to a GPS outage event.

5. The positioning system of claim 4, wherein a processing system of the at least one satellite determines that the GPS outage event occurred, and wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal is transmitted automatically by the at least one satellite in response to the GPS outage event.

6. The positioning system of claim 4, wherein the GPS outage event includes a failure of at least one GPS satellite of the at least one satellite.

7. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the GPS receiver receives a plurality of GPS signals from a subset of the plurality of UAVs, and wherein a GPS processing system corresponding to the GPS receiver determines a position of the GPS receiver based on the plurality of GPS signals.

8. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal further includes at least one of:

outage data or disaster recovery data.

9. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the new position is determined based on new position instruction data included in the digital broadcast signal received from the at least one satellite.

10. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting at least one obstruction based on sensor data received via at least one sensor device of the UAV;

wherein the new position is determined based on the at least one obstruction.

11. The positioning system of claim 1, wherein the new position is one of a plurality of new positions corresponding to the plurality of UAVs, and wherein the plurality of new positions is determined based on a coverage strategy.

12. The positioning system of claim 11, wherein the GPS receiver corresponds to a master processing system, wherein the GPS receiver receives a plurality of GPS signals from the plurality of UAVs, wherein the coverage strategy is determined by the master processing system based on the plurality of GPS signals, and wherein a plurality of new position instructions is transmitted by a transmitter of the master processing system to the plurality of UAVs based on the coverage strategy.

13. The positioning system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the plurality of new position instructions from the master processing system;

wherein generating the navigation data is further based on the new position instructions.

14. A method for use by a positioning system that includes a processor, the method comprising:

receiving at least one digital broadcast signal that includes satellite location data from at least one satellite via a receiver of a corresponding unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal is received in response to a GPS outage event;

generating current location data based on the at least one digital broadcast signal;

generating a global positioning system (GPS) signal based on the current location data; and

transmitting the GPS signal, via a transmitter of the UAV, for reception by a GPS receiver.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one satellite is associated with at least one of:

a media content provider or an internet access provider.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal comprises a plurality of digital broadcast signals that is received from the at least one satellite that comprises a plurality of satellites that further includes timing data, and wherein the generating the current location data is further based on a triangulation method utilizing the satellite location data and the timing data of the plurality of satellites.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein a processing system of the at least one satellite determines that the GPS outage event occurred, and wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal is transmitted automatically by the at least one satellite in response to the GPS outage event.

18. A positioning system, comprising:

means for receiving at least one digital broadcast signal that includes satellite location data from at least one satellite via a receiver of a corresponding unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein the at least one digital broadcast signal is received in response to a GPS outage event;

means for generating current location data based on the at least one digital broadcast signal;

means for generating a global positioning system (GPS) signal based on the current location data; and

transmitting the GPS signal, via a transmitter of the UAV, for reception by a GPS receiver.