PNT SENSOR RELAY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20160041252A1
• Filed: 08/07/2014
• Published: 02/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Cintron-Aponte, Alexandra, Wellman, Cassandra L., Rubin, Alan K., Arroyo, Angel V., Rios, Angel J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,983,190 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/1654 with electromagnetic compass
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0264 at least one of the systems being a non-radio wave positioning system

Abstract

A PNT sensor short-range relay communication system includes an electronic PNT sensor module configured to determine a first position of the PNT sensor module and to output a PNT signal indicating a second position of the PNT sensor module with respect to the first position. A mobile relay module is in signal communication with the PNT sensor module. The mobile relay module is configured to communicate the PNT signal to at least one terminal device located remotely from the PNT sensor module and the mobile relay module. In this manner, positional information can be determined without relying on a satellite navigation system.

Claims

1. A PNT sensor short-range relay communication system comprising:

an electronic PNT sensor module configured to determine a first position of the PNT sensor module and to output a PNT signal indicating a second position of the PNT sensor module with respect to the first position; and

a mobile relay module in signal communication with the PNT sensor module, the mobile relay module configured to communicate the PNT signal to at least one terminal device located remotely from the PNT sensor module and the mobile relay module.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one terminal device determines the position of the PNT sensor module based on the PNT signal without using satellite navigation system data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the PNT sensor module selectively determines the second position in response to receiving a PNT enable signal output from the mobile relay module.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the mobile relay module is configured to electrically communicate with a satellite navigation system, and outputs the PNT enable signal in response to detecting a malfunction of the satellite navigation system.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the PNT sensor module includes a PNT sensor configured to measure a plurality of different physical quantities realized by the PNT sensor module.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the PNT sensor comprises a gyroscope unit configured to sense an angular momentum and determine an orientation of the PNT sensor module based on the sensed angular momentum, an accelerometer unit configured to sense an acceleration of the PNT sensor module, and a timing unit to determine a time period over which at least one of the gyroscope unit, the accelerometer unit and the magnetometer unit measures data.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the PNT sensor module executes an initialization procedure that determines the first reference position based on satellite positioning data determined by the satellite navigation system.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the satellite positioning data is provided to the PNT sensor module by at least one of a user input or a reference position signal output from the mobile relay module.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the PNT sensor module further comprises a wireless transceiver configured to communicate data between the PNT sensor module and the mobile relay module.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the wireless transceiver communicates the data using short-wavelength radio waves.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the PNT sensor module further comprises at least one power source that powers the PNT sensor module and the low-power wireless transceiver.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one power source includes at least one of a piezoelectric energy device, a saltwater fuel cell device, a battery and a solar power cell.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the mobile relay module is configured to move simultaneously together with the PNT sensor module.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the PNT sensor module moves independently from the mobile relay module while maintaining the range of communication.

15. A method of determining a position of an object without using a satellite navigation system, the method comprising:

measuring a plurality of different quantities of the object using a PNT module coupled thereto in response to moving the object from a first position to a second position, and transmitting the measured quantities to a mobile relay module located remotely from the PNT sensor module at a first communication range, and

relaying the measured quantities from the mobile relay module to at least one terminal device located remotely from the mobile relay module at a second communication range that is greater than the first communication range, the at least one terminal device configured to determine a location of the second position based on the measured quantities without communicating with the satellite navigation system.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the measured quantities include angular momentum, orientation, acceleration, speed, and a time period over which the object moves.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the PNT sensor module selectively measures the quantities based on an operating status of the satellite navigation system, and wherein the mobile relay module determines the operating status of the satellite navigation system, and controls the PNT sensor module to begin measuring the quantities in response to detecting a loss of communication with the satellite navigation system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the measured quantities are transmitted across the first communication range using short-wavelength radio waves.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the PNT sensor module and the mobile relay module move simultaneously together with one another while maintaining the range of communication.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the PNT sensor module moves independently from the mobile relay module while maintaining the range of communication.