Balloon-based positioning system and method
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsRichard Wayne DeVaul, Waleed Kadous, Eric Teller, Cliff Biffle, Edward Allen Keyes
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are embodiments of a balloon-based positioning system and method. In one example embodiment, a system includes at least three balloons, with each balloon including a position-determining module (PDM) and a position-broadcasting module (PBM). Each PDM is configured for determining a position of the respective balloon and each PBM is configured for broadcasting a balloon signal containing balloon-positioning data of the respective balloon. The balloon-positioning data includes the determined position of the respective balloon and a corresponding time of broadcast.
Claims33
A system comprising:
- at least three balloons, each balloon comprising a position-determining module (PDM) and a position-broadcasting module (PBM);
- each PDM being configured for determining a position of the respective balloon;
- one balloon of the at least three balloons being a first balloon, the PDM of the first balloon being a first PDM, and the first PDM being configured for determining a position of the first balloon based on a ground-station and a celestial object;
- and
- each PBM being configured for broadcasting a balloon signal containing balloon-positioning data of the respective balloon to facilitate a receiver determining a position of the receiver, the balloon-positioning data comprising (i) the determined position of the respective balloon and (ii) a corresponding time of broadcast of the balloon signal.
A system comprising:
- at least three balloons, each balloon comprising a position-determining module (PDM) and a position-broadcasting module (PBM);
- each PDM comprising a GPS receiver, each PDM being configured for (i) receiving at least three satellite signals, each satellite signal from a respective one of at least three satellites, each satellite signal including satellite-positioning data of the respective satellite, and (ii) determining a position of the respective balloon based on the satellite-positioning data of the at least three satellites.
- each PBM being configured for broadcasting a balloon signal containing balloon-positioning data of the respective balloon to facilitate a receiver determining a position of the receiver, the balloon-positioning data comprising (i) the determined position of the respective balloon and (ii) a corresponding time of broadcast of the balloon signal.
A system comprising:
- at least three balloons, each balloon comprising a position-determining module (PDM) and a position-broadcasting module (PBM);
- each PDM being configured for determining a position of the respective balloon;
- each PBM being configured for broadcasting a balloon signal containing balloon-positioning data of the respective balloon to facilitate a receiver determining a position of the receiver, the balloon-positioning data comprising (i) the determined position of the respective balloon and (ii) a corresponding time of broadcast of the balloon signal.
A method comprising:
- determining a first position of a first balloon in a balloon network;
- determining a second position of a second balloon in the balloon network;
- determining a third position of a third balloon in the balloon network;
- broadcasting a first balloon signal to facilitate a receiver determining a position of the receiver, the first balloon signal including the determined first position and a corresponding time of broadcast of the first balloon signal;
- broadcasting a second balloon signal to facilitate a receiver determining a position of the receiver, the second balloon signal including the determined second position and a corresponding time of broadcast of the second balloon signal;
- and
- broadcasting a third balloon signal to facilitate a receiver determining a position of the receiver, the third balloon signal including the determined third position and a corresponding time of broadcast of the third balloon signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.