Patent US3710331A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3710331A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Range change method of determining positions
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1971-04-08
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Granted: 1973-01-09
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Expires: 1991-04-08
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for determining coordinates of unknown ground positions and positions of objects above the earth''s surface by the use of code-modulated radio signals in conjunction with stable oscillators. An aircraft transmits a signal which is acquired and tracked by known and unknown ground stations. Range changes are obtained from the measurements of the phase shift between the received signal and an internal reference signal. From the large number of range change measurements obtained as the aircraft moves with respect to the ground positions, the positions of the aircraft as well as the positions of the unknown points are computed by solving large groups of equations simultaneously.
Inventors
- 👤 A Kiisk
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 10:52
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S5/00; G01S5/02; G01S5/14; G01S11/00; G01S11/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
414 words
A method for determining the locations of a plurality of unknown positions relative to each other comprising: a. providing means for travel relative to said unknown positions, said means including a first signal generating and transmitting means; b. producing in said signal generating means a carrier signal and a first modulating signal whose overall wave-length in air is long in comparison with the distance travelled by said means for travel in any one direction during a determination of unknown positions and having distinct and measurable phase characteristics at all points along the overall wavelength in varying increments; c. periodically superimposing on said modulated carrier signal a second modulating signal including readout command signals and readout identifier signals; d. providing said unknown positions with signal receiving means, including means for received signal acquisition and tracking and for the generation of a second signal which is identical to the first modulating signal but is delayed in phase in exact proportion to the distance between said means for travel and the unknown point, means for detecting readout commands, means for generating a third signal whose frequency and phase characteristics are in a known relationship to said first modulating signal, means for measuring phase shifts between said second signal and said third signal and means for storage of phase shift measurements data; e. providing a central computing means and means for transferring data from all unknown positions to said computing means; f. providing computer controlled display means for visual display of computed data; g. transmitting said first signal while said means for travel is travelling in the vicinity of said unknown positions; h. receiving said first signal and measuring said phase shifts in synchronism at all said unknown positions at the instants of occurrence of said readout commands, said shifts representing range changes of said means for travel relative to said unknown positions; i. transferring said Measurements from all unknown positions to said computing means; j. computing the coordinates of said unknown positions through solution of simultaneous equations, wherein range change measurements are included as terms and establishing a system of orthogonal coordinates by assuming and including in the computations all three coordinates of one unknown position, the vertical and one horizontal coordinate of a second unknown position and the vertical coordinate of a third unknown position; and k. displaying the results including the coordinates of each unknown position and the distances between the unknown positions and the azimuth and elevation angles with respect to assumed reference planes.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
414 words
A method for determining the locations of a plurality of unknown positions relative to each other comprising: a. providing means for travel relative to said unknown positions, said means including a first signal generating and transmitting means; b. producing in said signal generating means a carrier signal and a first modulating signal whose overall wave-length in air is long in comparison with the distance travelled by said means for travel in any one direction during a determination of unknown positions and having distinct and measurable phase characteristics at all points along the overall wavelength in varying increments; c. periodically superimposing on said modulated carrier signal a second modulating signal including readout command signals and readout identifier signals; d. providing said unknown positions with signal receiving means, including means for received signal acquisition and tracking and for the generation of a second signal which is identical to the first modulating signal but is delayed in phase in exact proportion to the distance between said means for travel and the unknown point, means for detecting readout commands, means for generating a third signal whose frequency and phase characteristics are in a known relationship to said first modulating signal, means for measuring phase shifts between said second signal and said third signal and means for storage of phase shift measurements data; e. providing a central computing means and means for transferring data from all unknown positions to said computing means; f. providing computer controlled display means for visual display of computed data; g. transmitting said first signal while said means for travel is travelling in the vicinity of said unknown positions; h. receiving said first signal and measuring said phase shifts in synchronism at all said unknown positions at the instants of occurrence of said readout commands, said shifts representing range changes of said means for travel relative to said unknown positions; i. transferring said Measurements from all unknown positions to said computing means; j. computing the coordinates of said unknown positions through solution of simultaneous equations, wherein range change measurements are included as terms and establishing a system of orthogonal coordinates by assuming and including in the computations all three coordinates of one unknown position, the vertical and one horizontal coordinate of a second unknown position and the vertical coordinate of a third unknown position; and k. displaying the results including the coordinates of each unknown position and the distances between the unknown positions and the azimuth and elevation angles with respect to assumed reference planes.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
113 words
The method as set forth in claim 1 for additionally determining the geographic or map grid coordinates of a plurality of unknown positions, said method further comprising: a. providing receiving means additionally at three or more geometrically suitable known positions; b. effecting range change measurements at said known positions in synchronism with measurements at unknown positions; c. computing solutions of simultaneous equations including range change measurements obtained at said known as well as unknown positions and substituting the coordinates of said known positions in lieu of the assumed coordinates of said three unknown positions; and d. displaying the computed results in the coordinate system used for fixing the locations of said known positions.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
81 words
The method as set forth in claim 1 for additionally determining the positions of said means for travel at selected points along its path of travel, said positions being determined relative to said unknown positions whose locations are being simultaneously determined, said method further comprising the step of directing the computing means to additionally display the coordinates of said means for travel corresponding to the instants of occurrence of readout commands, said coordinates obtained upon determination of the unknown position coordinates.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
75 words
The method as set forth in claim 2 for additionally determining the positions of said means for travel at selected points along its path of travel, said positions being determined in geographic or map grid coordinates, said method further comprising the step of directing said computing means to display the coordinates of said means for travel corresponding to the instants of occurrence of readout commands, said coordinates obtained upon determination of the unknown position coordinates.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 3 wherein said means for travel is an extraterrestial object.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 4 wherein said means of travel is an extraterrestial object.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
176 words
The method as set forth in claim 3 for additionally determining the locations of passive unknown positions relative to other passive and active unknown positions without transfer of data from the passive unknown positions, said method further comprising: a. providing said passive unknown positions with means for receiving and processing data and means for computing and displaying position information; b. providing said central computing means with means for transmission of data; c. transmitting from said central computing means data consisting of the coordinates of said means for travel at selected points along its path of travel, said coordinates determined from range change measurements obtained from at least four unknown positions adapted to transmit measurements to said central computing means; and d. receiving and processing said data, transmitted from said central computing means, at said passive unknown positions and computing the coordinates of said passive unknown positions by solving simultaneous equations wherein the coordinates of said means for travel and corresponding range change measurements obtained at said passive unknown stations are used as terms in said equations.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
176 words
The method as set forth in claim 4 for determining the geographic or map grid coOrdinates of passive unknown positions without transfer of data from the passive unknown positions, said method further comprising the steps of: a. providing said passive unknown positions with means for receiving and processing data and means for computing and displaying position information; b. providing said central computing means with means for transmission of data; c. transmitting from said central computing means data consisting of the coordinates of said means for travel at selected points along its path of travel, said coordinates determined from range change measurements obtained at positions adapted to transmit measurements to said central computing means, said positions including at least three known positions; and d. receiving and processing said data, transmitted from said central computing means, at said passive unknown positions and computing the coordinates of said positions by solving simultaneous equations wherein the coordinates of said means of travel and corresponding range change measurements obtained at said passive unknown stations are used as terms in said equations.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
148 words
The method as set forth in claim 4 for determining the positions of an extraterrestial object along its path of travel in real time for the purpose of tracking or navigating, said method further comprising the steps of: a. providing interconnections between said central computing means and one or more known positions so that each range change measurement obtained at said positions can be immediately transmitted to said computing means; b. determining the approximate initial position, altitude, heading and velocity of said extraterrestial object and entering this information into said computing means; c. performing range change measurements and immediately transferring said measurements from said one or more known positions to said computing means; and d. computing the coordinates and the path of travel of said extraterrestial object by the use of simultaneous equations in conjunction with the computational technique known as Kalman filtering or estimation and recursive updating.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
98 words
The method as set forth in claim 1 for determining the locations of unknown positions wherein said means for travel is replaced by three or more fixed reference positions as signal sources for range change measurements, all said positions including said first signal generating and transmitting means including means for keeping said first modulating signals of all said fixed reference positions in a known relationship to each other, and means for sequential control of the transmission whereby the effect on the unknown stations that a single signal generating means was transported from one point to another is obtained.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
108 words
A method as set forth in claim 10 for determining the locations of passive unknown positions relative to fixed known positions further comprising the steps of: a. establishing the coordinates of said fixed reference positions and making this information available to unknown positions; b. providing said unknown positions with local means for computing and displaying position information; c. transmitting said first signals in sequence from said fixed reference positions; d. receiving said signals and performing range change measurements; and e. computing the coordinates of said unknown positions through solution of simultaneous equations wherein range change measurements and the coordinates of said fixed reference positions are included as terms.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
236 words
A system for determining the locations of unknown positions, said system comprising: a. a first transceiver located in means for travel above the earth''s surface, said transceiver including circuit means for generating a carrier modulated with a code and readout commands and identification signals, and circuit means for receiving and retransmitting data; b. ground transceivers positioned on at least four locations, at least one of which is an unknown location, each of said ground transceivers having circuit means for receiving and detecting signals from said first transceiver, including means for generating a tracking code, correlation detection means for keeping the tracking code aligned with the code received from said first transceiver, means for generating a reference code clocked by a stable oscillator, phase shift measuring means for determining the shift of said tracking code relative to said reference code at the instant of the reception of a readout command, storage means for retaining the phase shift measurements, and means for transmitting said measurements in preselected time slots to computing means via said first transceiver; and c. computing means including means for receiving and displaying data, said computing means programmed for processing of the phase shift measurements received from all known and unknown positions and for simultaneously solving equations wherein said phase shift measurements are included as terms, said measurements representing range changes with respect to the initial range between said travelling means and the ground stations.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
236 words
A system for determining the locations of unknown positions, said system comprising: a. a first transceiver located in means for travel above the earth''s surface, said transceiver including circuit means for generating a carrier modulated with a code and readout commands and identification signals, and circuit means for receiving and retransmitting data; b. ground transceivers positioned on at least four locations, at least one of which is an unknown location, each of said ground transceivers having circuit means for receiving and detecting signals from said first transceiver, including means for generating a tracking code, correlation detection means for keeping the tracking code aligned with the code received from said first transceiver, means for generating a reference code clocked by a stable oscillator, phase shift measuring means for determining the shift of said tracking code relative to said reference code at the instant of the reception of a readout command, storage means for retaining the phase shift measurements, and means for transmitting said measurements in preselected time slots to computing means via said first transceiver; and c. computing means including means for receiving and displaying data, said computing means programmed for processing of the phase shift measurements received from all known and unknown positions and for simultaneously solving equations wherein said phase shift measurements are included as terms, said measurements representing range changes with respect to the initial range between said travelling means and the ground stations.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
120 words
A system as defined in claim 12 wherein the transmitter portion of said first transceiver comprises: a. a code generating means; b. oscillator means connected to and providing stable clock pulses to said code generating means; c. means for generating readout command and identifier signals; d. means for modulating or adding said command and identifier to said code, the input of said means connected to said code generating means and said means for generating readout command and identifier signals; e. carrier signal generating means including means for selecting different carrier frequencies; and f. modulator means connected to said carrier signal generating means and to the output of said means for modulating or adding said command and identifier to said code.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
185 words
A system as defined in claim 12 wherein the receiver portion of each of said ground transceivers comprises: a. means for generating tracking code signals; b. first oscillator means connected to said tracking code signal generating means providing clocked pulses thereto, the frequency of said pulses being controllable by signals from a correlator circuit means; c. readout command signal detecting means; d. correlator circuit means for synchronizing said tracking code signals with received code signals, said correlator circuit means connected to said readout command detector and to said first oscillator means; e. carrier signal generating means; f. modulator means connected to said carrier signal generating means, said tracking code generating means and said correlator circuit means; g. reference code generating means; h. second oscillator means connected to said reference code generating means to provide clocked pulses thereto; i. data storage means; and j. circuit means for measuring the shift of said tracking code, with respect to said reference code, the input of said means connected to tracking code, reference code and readout command signal detecting means, and the output connected to said data storage means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
77 words
A system as recited in claim 13 wherein said means for generating readout command and identifier signals comprises counter means whose input is connected to said code generating means for counting the number of code repetitions, said counter stages connected to a readout frequency and identifier selector for selecting the outputs of adjacent groups of 4-6 stages up or down the counter, depending on the desired frequency of readouts, to serve as both readout command and identifier.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
70 words
A system as recited in claim 13 wherein said means for generating readout command and identifier signals comprises counter means whose input is connected to means operated manually or remotely through a relay to produce a pulse whenever the exact position of said means for travel is desired to be knOwn, the outputs of the counter stages, or the states of the counter, serving as both readout command and identifier.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
17 words
A system as recited in claim 14 wherein said first oscillator means is a voltage controlled oscillator.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
80 words
A system as recited in claim 14 wherein said reference code is generated by a counter which is clocked by a stable oscillator of a known frequency relationship to the frequency of the oscillator used as a clock for the code in said first transceiver, and the measurements of phase shift consist of reading out the counter states and the counter clock phase with respect to the tracking code clock phase at the instant of reception of a readout command.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
149 words
A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the circuit means for measuring the shift of said tracking code includes a logic circuit for generating a readout command signal which is not affected by distortions and delays in the detection of the readout command word, said logic circuit comprising: a. a first gate whose inputs are connected to the stages of said tracking code generating means so that a short pulse is produced at the rate of the code repetition frequency; and b. a second gate whose one input is connected to said first gate and a second input to readout command signal detecting means so that each readout command enables said second gate to produce one output pulse at the instant of occurrence of the pulse at the output of said first gate, said output pulse of said second gate being used to execute a range change measurement.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
92 words
A system as defined in claim 14 wherein said memory or data storage means comprises: a. a readout register connected to the output of said circuit means for measuring the shift of said tracking code; b. display means connected to said readout register for visual display of the contents of said register; and c. memory means connected to said readout register, said memory means being removable from said ground transceiver for physical transfer of said memory means including stored data to a computing means for readout of data at said computing means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3242494A
Cited
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-01-09 | 1976-07-10 | 1977-01-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-01-09 | 1980-07-10 | 1981-01-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-01-09 | 1984-07-10 | 1985-01-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |