Estimation and resolution of carrier wave ambiguities in a position navigation system

A method for resolving carrier phase floating point ambiguities during position determination of a mobile unit in a satellite navigation system comprising the steps of:

• receiving a laser beam generated by a laser transmitter at a known location;
• calculating an elevation angle between said mobile unit and said laser transmitter;
• and
• resolving floating point ambiguities in carrier waves received by the mobile unit based at least in part on geometric constraint generated from said elevation angle.

Apparatus for resolving ambiguities in a satellite position navigation system having a base station at a known location capable of receiving navigation satellite signals, and also having a laser transmitter, said apparatus comprising:

• a mobile station;
• a satellite receiver on said mobile station;
• an optical sensor on said mobile station capable of receiving laser beams generated from the laser transmitter;
• processor means for analyzing the laser beams to calculate an elevation angle between said mobile station and the base station, and for estimating phase integer ambiguities and floating point ambiguities based at least in part on said elevation angle.

A method for resolving ambiguities during position determination of a mobile unit having an optical sensor to receive multiple laser beams and having an antenna to receive navigation satellite signals, comprising:

• processing the satellite signals received by the antenna of the mobile unit in order to detect cycle and phase parameters;
• analyzing the laser beams received by the optical sensor of the mobile unit in order to calculate an elevation angle between the mobile unit and a base station located at a known location;
• resolving ambiguities in an estimated location of the mobile unit based on calculations incorporating the elevation angle;
• and
• resolving floating point ambiguities based in part on said elevation angle.

A computer readable medium storing computer program instructions which are executable on a computer processor for resolving ambiguities during position determination of a mobile unit having an optical sensor to receive multiple laser beams and having an antenna to receive navigation satellite signals, said computer program instructions defining the following steps:

• processing the satellite signals received by the antenna of the mobile unit in order to detect cycle and phase parameters;
• analyzing the laser beams received by the optical sensor of the mobile unit in order to calculate an elevation angle between the mobile unit and a base station located at a known location;
• and
• resolving both floating point and integer carrier ambiguities using geometric constraint based on calculations incorporating the elevation angle.