System and method for determining a position of a vehicle

Abstract

A method and system for determining the position of a vehicle comprises a transmitter or transceiver for transmitting a transmission signal from a vehicle to beacons associated with the work area. Each beacon is associated with a corresponding transceiver or receiver for receiving the transmission signal. A data processor at a beacon, the vehicle or both determines an elapsed time including at least one of a first propagation duration and a second propagation duration. The first propagation duration refers to a propagation time of the transmission signal from the vehicle to the particular beacon; the second propagation duration refers to a propagation time of a return signal from the particular beacon to the vehicle. A compensator compensates for one or more of the following associated with at least one of the transmitter and the particular beacon: bias delay, noise, and measurement error. A data processor processes the elapsed times (for paths between vehicles and beacons) into corresponding position curves or temporal curves to estimate a position of a vehicle at a confluence or intersection of the position curves or temporal curves.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.