System and method of relative navigation in a network of mobile vehicles

A method for relative navigation of a mobile vehicle within a network of independently maneuvering mobile vehicles, comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of navigation systems wherein each respective navigation system is hosted on one of a plurality of independently maneuvering mobile vehicles operating in a common environment,
• each navigation system comprising:
• a transmitter;
• a two-dimensional receiver array including at least three receivers;
• and
• a digital processing unit in communication with said transmitter and said two-dimensional receiver array;
• providing a communication system operating between the respective navigation systems;
• for each navigation system, said transmitter directing energy at said common environment, said environment reflecting energy back to said at least three receivers, said at least three receivers capturing and digitizing said reflected energy,
• for each navigation system, said digital processing unit creating a coherent two-dimensional image from the digitized reflected energy captured by each of said three receivers,
• each of said plurality of navigation systems distributing said created two-dimensional images to the other of said plurality of navigation systems,
• each of said plurality of navigation systems selectively producing a plurality of two-dimensional interferograms from a plurality of pair-wise combinations of said created coherent two-dimensional images, and
• each of said plurality of navigation systems further processing the plurality of two-dimensional interferograms to produce estimates of error of the position and orientation of the mobile vehicle relative to the expected system position and orientation and incorporating said errors into a navigation solution of said mobile vehicle.