Method and a device for locating at least one obstacle in a communications network, a corresponding computer program

A device for locating at least one obstacle between a transmitter and a receiver, the device comprising:

• means for determining at least one elliptical ring in which said obstacle is situated, said elliptical ring being defined by two confocal ellipses having focuses that correspond to said transmitter and to said receiver, each elliptical ring being associated with a physical echo generated by an obstacle;
• means for estimating a distance between said obstacle and one of said focuses as a function of determining the separation between said confocal ellipses at said obstacle in a plane normal to the axis defined by said focuses, so as to obtain a set of potential location zones for said obstacle in said ring;
• and
• means for lifting the ambiguity between the various potential location zones for said obstacle as a function of said distance so as to deliver a location zone for said obstacle.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a computer program product recorded thereon and executable by a processor, the product comprising program code instructions for executing steps of a method of locating at least one obstacle between a transmitter and a receiver when said program is executed by the processor, wherein the instructions comprise:

• instructions that configure the processor to determine at least one elliptical ring in which said obstacle is situated, said elliptical ring being defined by two confocal ellipses, having their focuses corresponding to said transmitter and to said receiver, each elliptical ring being associated with a physical echo generated by an obstacle on the basis of three propagation delays corresponding respectively to at least two meaningful peaks of the impulse response of the transmission channel between said transmitter and said receiver:
• a delay τ0 corresponding to a main meaningful peak of said impulse response, representing the direct path between said transmitter and said receiver, making it possible to determine the distance between the two focuses;
• and
• two delays (τ1, τ2) corresponding to a given relative amplitude of a secondary meaningful peak resulting from at least two paths reflected by said obstacle, making it possible to determine a thickness for the elliptical ring;
• instructions that configure the processor to estimate a distance between said obstacle and said focuses as a function of determining a separation between said confocal ellipses at said obstacle in a plane normal to the axis defined by said focuses so as to obtain a set of potential location zones for said obstacle in said elliptical ring;
• and
• instructions that configure the processor to lift ambiguity between the potential location zones of said obstacle as a function of said distance so as to deliver a location zone of said obstacle.