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AssigneeTRW Inc.
InventorsGeorge C. Hughes, Michael J. Wehner, Mark L. Hanson, D. Hobson Lane, Paul A. Lavoie, Warren H. Taylor, Bryan H. Kang, Paul Steiner, Arnold J. Galloway, Michael Busby
Estimating the term…
A method that allows a space vehicle to determine navigation information represented by the contents of a state vector. The method includes the steps of intermittently receiving navigation signals, initializing the state vector with an estimate of the navigation information, and generating a predicted state vector that represents the predicted values for the navigation information after a predetermined time increment in the future. The method further determines whether a navigation signal has been received within a predetermined window of time from a navigation beacon. If a navigation signal has been received, the method updates the state vector and the contents of the state vector are propagated forward in time to provide an estimate of the navigation information after a predetermined time increment. In some instances, however, a navigation signal is not received within the predetermined window of time. In such situations, the method simply propagates the contents of the predicted state vector forward in time. Thus, the predicted state vector maintains an estimate of the current navigation information even in the absence of a navigation signal.
A method for autonomously determining, given intermittent reception of navigation signals, navigation information for a space vehicle operating in Earth orbit, the navigation information represented by the contents of a state vector, the method comprising the steps of:
A method for autonomously determining, given inconsistent reception of navigation signals, navigation information for a deep space vehicle operating beyond MEO altitude, the navigation information represented by the contents of a state vector, the method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.