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US 6,054,950 AGranted
Ultra wideband precision geolocation system
AssigneeMultispectral Solutions, Inc.
InventorRobert J. Fontana
Life of this patent
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AssigneeMultispectral Solutions, Inc.
InventorRobert J. Fontana
Estimating the term…
An ultra wideband (UWB) or short-pulse transmission system that enables precise tracking or geolocation of a target over distances of several kilometers. The system includes a set of N (where N>2) untethered UWB transceivers located at fixed positions, an untethered UWB receiver at the target, and a processor at the target for resolving time-of-flight measurement ambiguities of received pulses to determine precise geolocation by solving a set of equations according to time-of-flight measurements and surveyed positions of N-1 transceivers. To eliminate a clock distribution system, self-synchronizing of pulse timing is achieved by generating a start pulse at one of the untethered transceivers. Alternatively, a timing source may be provided by a GPS or other timing generator at the transceivers in order to synchronize emissions of their pulses.
A system for determining the position of a remote object with a high degree of accuracy, said system comprising plural untethered stations of known positions, each of said untethered stations having an ultra wideband pulse transmitter, an ultra wideband receiver associated with said remote object, and a processor that uses said known positions of said untethered stations and differences in time of reception of ultra wideband pulses transmitted by at least two of said untethered stations to determine the position of said remote object, said processor further utilizing an ultra wideband sync pulse transmitted from an untethered source as a timing reference for said ultra wideband pulses.
A wireless geolocation system for determining the position of a remote object, said system comprising plural untethered stations each having an ultra wideband receiver and transmitter, an ultra wideband pulse receiver associated with said remote object, and a processor that utilizes known position information of said untethered stations, time of arrival information of an ultra wideband sync pulse from an untethered source, and arrival time differences between times of reception at said remote object of ultra wideband pulses transmitted by at least two of said fixed stations in order to determine the position of said remote object.
An untethered geolocation system for monitoring the position of a vehicle with a high degree of accuracy, said system comprising at least three untethered stations having predetermined locations, each of said untethered stations having an ultra wideband transmitter, an ultra wideband receiver located at said vehicle, and a processor that determines the location of said vehicle on the basis of time of reception of an ultra wideband sync pulse, the predetermined locations of said untethered stations and time of arrival differences in reception at said vehicle of pulses transmitted by respective pairs of untethered stations.
A method of detecting the position of an object equipped with an ultra wideband transmitter, said method comprising:
A method of detecting the position of an object equipped with an ultra wideband receiver, said method comprising:
A method of detecting the location of an object in an environment that is substantially impervious to conventional radio frequency signals, said method comprising:
A system for detecting the position of an object in an environment that is substantially impervious to conventional electromagnetic signals, said system comprising:
A point location and measurement system comprising at least three spatially located untethered points, an ultra wideband pulse emitted at one of said points, a time-measuring device for measuring times of arrival of said pulse between pairs of any two of three of said points, and a processor for solving a set of equations for determining the position of at least one of said points according to time of arrival measurements, an ultra wideband time reference pulse, and the position of at least one other point.
A method for determining the position of a point in free space comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.