Apparatus and Method for a Mobile Navigation Computer
OwnerGeorge William Hindmaninventor
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Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for a robust and configurable mobile computer architecture with navigation computational capabilities. The present invention further provides a bus network which allows for an efficient and durable Input/Output (I/O) management system. The I/O management system has configurable connections to allow for modular addition, expansion, or replacement of navigation, crash detection, and communication line replacement units (LRUs). Additional I/O device connections allow several modes of input into the computational system. The present invention is a single, self-contained unit and provides an accessible user interface to the computer system.
Claims16
An apparatus for computation in a mobile environment comprising a computer architecture with processing means, a data bus network, means for reading and writing to memory, and means of inputting and outputting data, wherein:
- said architecture manages data acquisition and data dissemination in the mobile environment;
- and
- said architecture manages data acquisition and data dissemination between single or multiple line replacement units.
A method for determining the position of a mobile user, comprising:
- an a priori estimate of position and velocity in a coordinate system;
- a computer system and architecture with processing means to determine a mobile user's position and velocity within the same said coordinate system based upon signals received from a plurality of satellites;
- and
- same said computer system and architecture executing a statistical analysis algorithm which provides an enhanced mobile user position and velocity by incorporating correction terms to the initially calculated, satellite derived position and velocity by a method comprising the steps of:
- comparing the initially calculated, satellite derived position and velocity with the position of virtually known base stations to determine if the initially calculated position is within some predetermined distance;
- calculating correction terms for position and velocity if within the predetermined distance of a virtually known base station position;
- and
- determining subsequent positions and velocities by applying the correction terms to the positions and velocities calculated from the signals received from a plurality of satellites.
A method for detecting the occurrence and characteristics of sudden changes in acceleration of a mobile user, comprising
- two or more sensing units which are skewed relative to each other;
- and
- said sensing units calculate any sensed accelerations in multiple coordinate systems for the purposes of improving acceleration detection reliability and identifying faulty sensing units.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.