Very low power high accuracy time and frequency circuits in GPS based tracking units

• US 5,864,315 A
• Filed: 04/07/1997
• Issued: 01/26/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Frey, Richard Louis, Welles, Kenneth Brakeley II
• Primary Examiner(s): Hellner, Mark
• Application Number:
  US08/833,564
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357, 331/66
• US Class Current: 342/357.74
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/235 Calibration of receiver components
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption

Abstract

A direct sequence spread spectrum signal processing system permits the receiver to be turned off during most of the acquisition phase of reception to significantly reduce the on time of the associated receiver front end. Power requirements are further reduced by use of very low power high accuracy time and frequency circuits in GPS based tracking units. The microprocessor based GPS tracking system is shut down almost all the time, using extremely little electrical power, and is powered up for very short periods of time at scheduled intervals by an extremely low power clock circuit with accuracy that varies with temperature. Each time the microprocessor is powered up, system temperature is recorded in memory. At times when the microprocessor is powered up, the GPS system is accessed and the GPS standard time is read. The difference between the low power clock circuit based time and the GPS based time is correlated with the recorded temperature history. A correction table, built from this data, provides a temperature history based correction to the low power clock based circuit without reference to the GPS system, and provides a highly accurate time standard. An additional table constructed in the microprocessor temperature compensates the local frequency standard used for frequency synthesis in satellite communication channels. This table is constructed by measuring offset between the calculated and actual synthesized frequency required to lock onto the satellite transmitted reference (pilot tone), and correlating this measured offset with the system ambient temperature.

Claims

1. A low power, high accuracy clock circuit for a GPS tracking system comprising:

a microprocessor controlled by a control program and normally being in a low power "sleep" mode;

a local clock providing local time data to the microprocessor;

a memory for storing data for later access by the microprocessor and for preserving data while the microprocessor is in the "sleep" mode;

temperature sensing means controlled by the microprocessor for sampling system temperature, the microprocessor being adapted to periodically store time and system temperature data in the memory; and

a GPS receiver controlled by the microprocessor to periodically turn on and supply data to the microprocessor, the microprocessor being controlled by the control program to detect a difference between the local clock time and a GPS based time and to construct a correction table of correlated temperatures and time differences for storage in the memory, the microprocessor being adapted to access the correction table to provide a temperature history based correction to the local clock.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein the microprocessor is adapted to additionally sample system voltage and store voltage data with the time and system temperature data in the memory, and is further adapted to construct a second correction table of correlated voltages and time differences, the second correction table being stored in memory for access by the microprocessor to provide voltage history based correction to the local clock.

3. The system according to claim 1 further comprising a local frequency synthesizer for generating a signal used to acquire a satellite pilot tone and wherein the microprocessor is further adapted to construct a second correction table of correlated temperatures and frequency differences by measuring an offset between a calculated and an actual synthesized frequency required to lock onto the satellite pilot tone, the microprocessor being further adapted to be controlled by the control program to correct for temperature drift of the local frequency synthesizer before turning on the local frequency synthesizer, thereby minimizing the time and power required for locking onto the satellite pilot tone.

4. The system according to claim 3 wherein the microprocessor is adapted to additionally sample system voltage and store voltage data with the time and system temperature data in the memory, and is further adapted to construct a third correction table of correlated voltages and frequency differences, the third correction table being stored in memory for access by the microprocessor to provide voltage history based frequency correction to the frequency synthesizer.

5. A low power, high accuracy clock circuit comprising:

a microprocessor controlled by a control program and normally being in a low power "sleep" mode;

a local clock providing local time data to the microprocessor;

a memory for storing data for later access by the microprocessor and for preserving data while the microprocessor is in the "sleep" mode;

temperature sensing means controlled by the microprocessor for sampling system temperature, the microprocessor being adapted to periodically store time and system temperature data in the memory; and

an external source of accurate time periodically supplying accurate time data to the microprocessor, the microprocessor being controlled by the control program to detect a difference between the local clock time and the accurate time data and to construct a correction table of correlated temperatures and time differences for storage in the memory, the microprocessor being adapted to access the correction table to provide a temperature history based correction to the local clock.

6. The system according to claim 5 wherein the microprocessor is adapted to additionally sample system voltage and store voltage data with the time and system temperature data in the memory, and is further adapted to construct a second correction table of correlated voltages and time differences, the second correction table being stored in memory for access by the microprocessor to provide voltage history based correction to the local clock.

7. A method of generating highly accurate local time data using a clock circuit comprising the steps of:

periodically recording, at regular intervals, local time and temperature data;

at intervals less frequent than said regular intervals, periodically accessing an external accurate time source;

building and storing a table of clock errors versus a history of temperature; and

accessing the table to correct the local time as a function of present temperature.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

periodically recording system voltage data;

building and storing a second table of clock errors versus a history of voltage; and

accessing the second table to correct the local time as a function of present voltage.

9. The method according to claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

generating a signal used to acquire a satellite pilot tone;

constructing a second correction table of correlated temperatures and frequency differences based on measured offsets between a calculated and an actual synthesized frequency required to lock onto the satellite pilot tone; and

accessing the second correction table to correct for temperature drift of the generated signal frequency.

10. The method according to claim 9 further comprising the steps of:

periodically sampling and recording system voltage;

constructing and storing a third correction table of correlated system voltages and frequency differences; and

accessing the third correction table to provide system voltage history based frequency correction to the generated signal.

11. A low power, high accuracy clock circuit for a GPS tracking system comprising:

a microprocessor controlled by a control program and normally being in a low power "sleep" mode;

a local clock providing local time data to the microprocessor;

a memory for storing data for later access by the microprocessor and for preserving data while the microprocessor is in the "sleep" mode;

voltage sensing means controlled by the microprocessor for sampling system voltage, the microprocessor being adapted to periodically store time and system voltage data in the memory;

a local frequency synthesizer for generating a signal used to acquire a satellite pilot tone; and

a GPS receiver controlled by the microprocessor to periodically turn on and supply data to the microprocessor, the microprocessor being controlled by the control program to construct, and store in memory, a correction table of correlated voltages and frequency differences obtained by measuring an offset between a calculated and an actual synthesized frequency required to lock onto the satellite pilot tone, the microprocessor being adapted to access the table to provide a voltage history based correction to the frequency synthesizer.

12. A method of generating highly accurate local time data using a clock circuit comprising the steps of:

generating a signal used to acquire a satellite pilot tone;

periodically sampling and recording system voltage;

constructing and storing a table of correlated system voltages and frequency differences based on measured offsets between a calculated and an actual synthesized frequency required to lock onto the satellite pilot tone; and

accessing the table to provide system voltage history based frequency correction to the generated signal.