Portable hybrid location determination system
First Claim
1. Apparatus for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures, the apparatus comprising:
- a radio location determination (LD) module that receives radio LD signals from Q1 (Q1≧
3) terrestrial radio LD signal sources having known locations, that determines present location of the radio LD module from knowledge of relative phases of the radio LD signals as transmitted from the radio LD signal sources, that determines a radio LD signal indicium Irad that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of each of the radio LD signals received, and that issues radio LD module present location information and the radio LD signal indicium as radio LD output signals;
an outdoor LD module that receives outdoor LD signals from outdoor LD signal sources carried on Q2 (Q2≧
3) satellites with known orbits, that determines present location of the outdoor LD module from the outdoor LD signals received, that determines an outdoor LD signal indicium Iout that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of each of the outdoor LD signals received, and that issues outdoor LD module present location information and the outdoor LD signal indicium as outdoor LD output signals;
a controller mechanism, including a microprocessor, that receives the radio LD output signals and the outdoor LD output signals, that compares Irad with a selected threshold value Irad,thr, that compares Iout with a selected threshold value Iout,thr, and that selects at most one of the radio LD signal present location information and the outdoor LD signal present location information to determine a present location of a user that carries the radio LD module and the outdoor LD module, based on the comparisons of Irad and Iout ;
where the indicium Irad is determined by strengths Sj (rad)(j=1, . . . , Q1) of signals received from the Q1 radio LD signal sources and is drawn from the class of indicia consisting of;
##EQU7## where the coefficients aq are selected non-negative numbers and at least one coefficient aq is positive; and
##EQU8## the parameters p(q) are non-negative numbers, and at least one parameter p(q) is positive; and
where the indicium Iout is determined by strengths Sj (out)(j=1, . . . , Q2) of signals received from the Q2 outdoor LD signal sources and is drawn from the class of indicia consisting of;
##EQU9## where the coefficients bq are selected non-negative numbers and at least one coefficient bq is positive; and
##EQU10## the parameters r(q) are non-negative numbers, and at least one parameter r(q) is positive.
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Abstract
Apparatus and method for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures within a region R. The apparatus includes a radio location determination (LD) signal module that receives radiowaves from at least three radio LD signal sources, such as FM carrier or subcarrier signals, and an outdoor LD signal module that receives outdoor LD signals from at three other satellite-based or ground-based outdoor LD signal sources, such as GPS, GLONASS or Loran-C signal sources. The radio LD signals and outdoor LD signals are used to (1) determine the location of the radio LD module, (2) determine the location of the outdoor LD module and (3) determine an indicium representing signal strength or signal quality for the radio LD signals and for the outdoor LD signals. The radio LD signal indicium and the outdoor LD signal indicium are compared with threshold values for these indicia, and at most one of the radio LD module location and the outdoor LD module location is selected as the present location of the apparatus user. The radio LD module and the outdoor LD module can be combined in a hybrid portable LD system, or the two modules can be separated from and move independently of each other.
389 Citations
18 Claims
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1. Apparatus for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures, the apparatus comprising:
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a radio location determination (LD) module that receives radio LD signals from Q1 (Q1≧
3) terrestrial radio LD signal sources having known locations, that determines present location of the radio LD module from knowledge of relative phases of the radio LD signals as transmitted from the radio LD signal sources, that determines a radio LD signal indicium Irad that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of each of the radio LD signals received, and that issues radio LD module present location information and the radio LD signal indicium as radio LD output signals;an outdoor LD module that receives outdoor LD signals from outdoor LD signal sources carried on Q2 (Q2≧
3) satellites with known orbits, that determines present location of the outdoor LD module from the outdoor LD signals received, that determines an outdoor LD signal indicium Iout that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of each of the outdoor LD signals received, and that issues outdoor LD module present location information and the outdoor LD signal indicium as outdoor LD output signals;a controller mechanism, including a microprocessor, that receives the radio LD output signals and the outdoor LD output signals, that compares Irad with a selected threshold value Irad,thr, that compares Iout with a selected threshold value Iout,thr, and that selects at most one of the radio LD signal present location information and the outdoor LD signal present location information to determine a present location of a user that carries the radio LD module and the outdoor LD module, based on the comparisons of Irad and Iout ; where the indicium Irad is determined by strengths Sj (rad)(j=1, . . . , Q1) of signals received from the Q1 radio LD signal sources and is drawn from the class of indicia consisting of;
##EQU7## where the coefficients aq are selected non-negative numbers and at least one coefficient aq is positive; and
##EQU8## the parameters p(q) are non-negative numbers, and at least one parameter p(q) is positive; andwhere the indicium Iout is determined by strengths Sj (out)(j=1, . . . , Q2) of signals received from the Q2 outdoor LD signal sources and is drawn from the class of indicia consisting of;
##EQU9## where the coefficients bq are selected non-negative numbers and at least one coefficient bq is positive; and
##EQU10## the parameters r(q) are non-negative numbers, and at least one parameter r(q) is positive. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. Apparatus for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures, the apparatus comprising:
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a radio location determination (LD) module that receives radio LD signals from Q1 (Q1≧
3) terrestrial radio LD signal sources having known locations, that determines present location of the radio LD module from knowledge of relative phases of the radio LD signals as transmitted from the radio LD signal sources, that determines a radio LD signal indicium Sj,rad that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of radio LD signal number j received (j=1, 2, . . . , Q1), that forms a first sequence of ratios r'"'"'j =(Sj,rad /Srad,thr)K1, where Srad,thr is a selected threshold value and K1 is a selected positive number, and that issues radio LD module present location information and the radio LD signal indicium as radio LD output signals;an outdoor LD module that receives outdoor LD signals from outdoor LD signal sources carried on Q2 (Q2≧
3) satellites with known orbits, that determines present location of the outdoor LD module from the outdoor LD signals received, that determines an outdoor LD signal indicium Sj,out that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of outdoor LD signal number k received (k=1, 2, . . . , Q2), that forms a second sequence of ratios r"k =(Sk,out /Sout,thr)K2, where Sout,thr is a selected threshold value and K2 is a selected positive number, and that issues outdoor LD module present location information and the outdoor LD signal indicium as outdoor LD output signals; anda controller mechanism, including a microprocessor, that receives the radio LD output signals and the outdoor LD output signals, that arranges the indicia ratios r'"'"'j and the indicia ratios r"k in a third monotonically increasing sequence that includes all the indicia ratios from the first and second sequences, and that uses the radio LD signals (j) and the outdoor LD signals (k), corresponding to M highest ratio values in the third sequence, where M is a selected positive integer, to estimate a present location of a user of the apparatus.
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9. Apparatus for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures, the apparatus comprising:
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a radio location determination (LD) module that receives radio LD signals from Q1 (Q1≧
3) terrestrial radio LD signal sources having known locations, that determines present location of the radio LD module from knowledge of relative phases of the radio LD signals as transmitted from the radio LD signal sources, that determines a radio LD signal indicium Sj,rad that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of radio LD signal number j received (j=1, 2, . . . , Q1), that forms a first sequence of differences r'"'"'j =(Sj,rad -Srad,thr)K1, where Srad,thr is a selected threshold value and K1 is a selected positive number, for each signal indicium Sj,rad that is at least as large as Srad,thr, and that issues radio LD module present location information and the radio LD signal indicium as radio LD output signals;an outdoor LD module that receives outdoor LD signals from outdoor LD signal sources carried on Q2 (Q2≧
3) satellites with known orbits, that determines present location of the outdoor LD module from the outdoor LD signals received, that determines an outdoor LD signal indicium Sj,out that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of outdoor LD signal number k received (k=1, 2, . . . , Q2), that forms a second sequence of differences r"k =(Sk,out -Sout,thr)K2, where Sout,thr is a selected threshold value and K2 is a selected positive number, for each signal indicium Sk,out that is at least as large as Sout,thr, and that issues outdoor LD module present location information and the outdoor LD signal indicium as outdoor LD output signals; anda controller mechanism, including a microprocessor, that receives the radio LD output signals and the outdoor LD output signals, that arranges the indicia differences r'"'"'j and the indicia differences r"k in a third monotonically increasing sequence that includes all the indicia differences from the first and second sequences, and that uses the radio LD signals (j) and the outdoor LD signals (k), corresponding to M highest ratio values in the third sequence, where M is a selected positive integer, to estimate a present location of a user of the apparatus.
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10. A method for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving radio location determination (LD) signals at a radio LD module, from Q1 (Q1≧
3) terrestrial radio LD signal sources having known locations, determining present location of the radio LD module from knowledge of relative phases of the radio LD signals as transmitted from the radio LD signal sources, determining at least one radio LD signal indicium Irad that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of the radio LD signals received, and issuing radio LD antenna present location information and the radio LD signal indicium as radio LD output signals;receiving outdoor LD module signals at an outdoor LD signal module from outdoor LD signal sources carried on at least three satellites with known orbits, determining present location of the outdoor LD module from the outdoor LD signals received, determining at least one outdoor LD signal indicium Iout that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of the outdoor LD signals received, and issuing outdoor LD module present location information and the outdoor LD signal indicium as outdoor LD output signals; receiving the radio LD output signals and the outdoor LD output signals, comparing Irad with a selected threshold value Irad,thr, comparing Iout with a selected threshold value Iout,thr, and selecting at most one of the radio LD signal present location information and the outdoor LD signal present location information to determine a present location of a user that carries the radio LD module and the outdoor LD module, based on the comparisons of Irad and Iout ; where the indicium Irad is determined by strengths Sj (rad) (j=1, . . . , Q1) of signals received from the Q1 radio LD signal sources and is drawn from the class of indicia consisting of;
##EQU12## where the coefficients aq are selected non-negative numbers and at least one coefficient aq is positive; and
##EQU13## the parameters p(q) are non-negative numbers, and at least one parameter p(q) is positive; andwhere the indicium Iout is determined by strengths Sj (out)(j=1, . . . , Q2) of signals received from the Q2 outdoor LD signal sources and is drawn from the class of indicia consisting of;
##EQU14## where the coefficients bq are selected non-negative numbers and at least one coefficient bq is positive; and
##EQU15## the parameters r(q) are non-negative numbers, and at least one parameter r(q) is positive. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving radio LD signals at a radio LD module from Q1 (Q1≧
3) terrestrial radio LD signal sources having known locations, determining present location of the radio LD module from knowledge of relative phases of the radio LD signals as transmitted from the radio LD signal sources, determining a radio LD signal indicium Sj,rad that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of radio LD signal number j received (j=1, 2, . . . , Q1), forming a first sequence of ratios r'"'"'j =(Sj,rad /Srad,thr)K1, where Srad,thr is a selected threshold value and K1 is a selected positive number, and issuing radio LD module present location information and the radio LD signal indicium as radio LD output signals;receiving outdoor LD signals at an outdoor LD module from outdoor LD signal sources carried on Q2 (Q2≧
3) satellites with known orbits, determining present location of the outdoor LD module from the outdoor LD signals received, determining an outdoor LD signal indicium Sj,out that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of outdoor LD signal number k received (k=1, 2, . . . , Q2), forming a second sequence of ratios r"k=(Sk,out /Sout,thr)K2, where Sout,thr is a selected threshold value and K2 is a selected positive number, and issuing outdoor LD module present location information and the outdoor LD signal indicium as outdoor LD output signals; andreceiving the radio LD output signals and the outdoor LD output signals, arranging the indicia ratios r'"'"'j and the indicia ratios r"k in a third monotonically increasing sequence that includes all the indicia ratios from the first and second sequences, and that uses the radio LD signals (j) and the outdoor LD signals (k), corresponding to M highest ratio values in the third sequence, where M is a selected positive integer, to estimate a present location of a user of the radio LD module and the outdoor LD module.
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18. A method for determining the present location of a mobile user that carries the apparatus inside or outside buildings and structures, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving radio LD signals at a radio LD module from Q1 (Q1≧
3) terrestrial radio LD signal sources having known locations, determining present location of the radio LD module from knowledge of relative phases of the radio LD signals as transmitted from the radio LD signal sources, determining a radio LD signal indicium Sj,rad that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of radio LD signal number j received (j=1, 2, . . . , Q1), forming a first sequence of differences r'"'"'j =(Sj,rad -Srad,thr)K1, where Srad,thr is a selected threshold value and K1 is a selected positive number, for each signal indicium Sj,rad that is at least as large as Srad,thr, and issuing radio LD module present location information and the radio LD signal indicium as radio LD output signals;receiving outdoor LD signals at an outdoor LD module from outdoor LD signal sources carried on Q2 (Q2≧
3) satellites with known orbits, determining present location of the outdoor LD module from the outdoor LD signals received, determining an outdoor LD signal indicium Sj,out that is a measure of at least one of (i) signal strength and (ii) signal quality of outdoor LD signal number k received (k=1, 2, . . . , Q2), forming a second sequence of differences r"k =(Sk,out -Sout,thr)K2, where Sout,thr is a selected threshold value and K2 is a selected positive number, for each signal indicium Sk,out that is at least as large as Sout,thr, and issuing outdoor LD module present location information and the outdoor LD signal indicium as outdoor LD output signals; andreceiving the radio LD output signals and the outdoor LD output signals, arranging the indicia ratios r'"'"'j and the indicia ratios r"k in a third monotonically increasing sequence that includes all the indicia ratios from the first and second sequences, and that uses the radio LD signals (j) and the outdoor LD signals (k), corresponding to M highest ratio values in the third sequence, where M is a selected positive integer, to estimate a present location of a user of the radio LD module and the outdoor LD module.
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Specification