Method and system for processing pulse signals within an inertial navigation system

In an inertial navigation system that has been calibrated so as to establish known calibration parameters, a method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of pulse signals from a known inertial sensor;
• upon reception of each individual pulse signal of the plurality of pulse signals, processing each pulse signal using the known calibration parameters so as to establish individually corrected pulse signals;
• accumulating the individually corrected pulse signals so as to establish respective groups of signals;
• processing each respective group of signals so as to establish a representation of the plurality of pulse signals from the known inertial sensor;
• and
• outputting an indication of the representation of the plurality of pulse signals.

A navigation system comprising:

• a plurality of inertial sensors operable to output a plurality of pulse signals;
• and
• a processor coupled to the plurality of inertial sensors, the processor operable to receive the plurality of pulse signals,
• wherein upon reception of each individual pulse signal of the plurality of pulse signals, the processor individually processes each pulse signal of the plurality of pulse signals using predetermined calibration parameters so as to establish individually corrected pulse signals, and wherein the processor processes the individually corrected pulse signals so as to establish a representation of the plurality of pulse signals from the plurality of inertial sensors.

In a navigation system having a plurality of inertial sensors operable to output a plurality of pulse signals, a processor comprising:

• a compensator coupled to the plurality of inertial sensors, the compensator operable to receive the plurality of pulse signals and to calibrate the plurality of pulse signals so as to establish calibrated pulse signals;
• an accumulator coupled to the compensator, the accumulator operable to correlate signals within the calibrated pulse signals that were output from the plurality of inertial sensors at substantially the same time;
• and
• an integrator coupled to the accumulator, the integrator operable to process the correlated signals so as to transform the correlated signals into a navigational frame of reference.