Method and apparatus for precision attitude determination

Claim 3

A method as defined in claim 1, and further comprising the steps of: making redundant carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from other additional satellites; and eliminating other false solutions from the set of potential solutions, based on a comparison of the additional redundant carrier phase measurements with the initial set of potential solutions.

Claim 4

A method as defined in claim 1, and further comprising the steps of: comparing items in the set of potential solutions with solutions obtained in a prior time interval, to provide another basis for eliminating false solutions.

Claim 5

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein: the step of deriving an initial set of potential solutions includes locating points of intersection of planar carrier wavefronts defining possible locations of the secondary antenna within the region of uncertainty; and the step of eliminating false solutions includes, locating a set of planar carrier wavefronts from the additional satellite such that the wavefronts also define possible locations of the secondary antenna within the region of uncertainty, selecting, for each of the initial set of potential solutions, a planar carrier wavefront from the additional satellite such that the selected wavefront is the one closest to the potential solution, and disregarding each potential solution for which the closest wavefront from the additional satellite is spaced from the potential solution by more than a selected threshold.

Claim 6

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein: the initial set of potential solutions is initially stored in a local tangent coordinate system, x, y, z, where z is a vertical axis; and the method further comprises, after the step of making redundant carrier phase measurements, the additional step of rotating the coordinate system of the set of potential solutions, to point the z axis toward the additional satellite and thereby facilitate the step of eliminating false solutions.

Claim 7

A method as defined in claim 4, wherein: the initial set of potential solutions is initially stored in a local tangent coordinate system, x, y, z, where z is a vertical axis; and the method further comprises, after the step of making redundant carrier phase measurements, the additional step of rotating the coordinate system of the set of potential solutions, to point the z axis toward the additional satellite and thereby facilitate the step of eliminating false solutions.

Claim 8

A method as defined in claim 6, wherein the step of selecting a planar carrier wavefront from the additional satellite is performed by comparing the z-axis component of each potential solution with possible positions of wavefronts in the region of uncertainty.

Claim 9

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein: the method further comprises the steps of making carrier phase measurements and deriving potential solutions for a third antenna located at a fixed distance from each of the secondary and reference antennas, and the further step of determining the angular position of the third antenna with respect to an axis of rotation through the reference and secondary antennas; and and wherein the two satellites also function as redundant satellites by providing additional carrier phase information to the third antenna.

Claim 12

A method as defined in claim 9, wherein: the carrier phase measurements are first-difference measurements made measuring the phase difference between signals arriving simultaneously at the two antennas from a single satellite source.

Claim 13

A method as defined in claim 10, and further comprising the steps of: making redundant carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from other additional satellites; and eliminating other false solutions from the set of potential solutions, based on a comparison of the additional redundant carrier phase measurements with the initial set of potential solutions.

Claim 14

A method as defined in claim 10, and further comprising the steps of: comparing items in the set of potential solutions with solutions obtained in a prior time interval, to provide another basis for eliminating false solutions.

Claim 15

A method as defined in claim 10, wherein: the step of deriving an initial set of potential solutions includes locating points of intersection of planar carrier wavefronts defining possible locations of the secondary antenna within the region of uncertainty; and the step of eliminating false solutions includes locating a set of planar carrier wavefronts from the additional satellite such that the wavefronts also define possible locations of the secondary antenna within the region of uncertainty, selecting, for each of the initial set of potential solutions, a planar carrier wavefront from the additional satellite such that the selected wavefront is the one closest to the potential solution, and disregarding each potential solution for which the closest wavefront from the additional satellite is spaced from the potential solution by more than a selected threshold.

Claim 16

A method as defined in claim 10, wherein: the initial set of potential solutions is initially stored in a local tangent coordinate system, x, y, z, where z is a vertical axis; and the method further comprises, after the step of making redundant carrier phase measurements, the additional step of rotating the coordinate system of the set of potential solutions, to point the z axis toward the additional satellite and thereby facilitate the step of eliminating false solutions.

Claim 17

A method as defined in claim 13, wherein: the initial set of potential solutions is initially stored in a local tangent coordinate system, x, y, z, where z is a vertical axis; and the method further comprises, after the step of making redundant carrier phase measurements, the additional step of rotating the coordinate system of the set of potential solutions, to point the z axis toward the additional satellite and thereby facilitate the step of eliminating false solutions.

Claim 18

A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the step of selecting a planar carrier wavefront from the additional satellite is performed by comparing the z-axis component of each potential solution with possible positions of wavefronts in the region of uncertainty.

Claim 19

A method as defined in claim 13, wherein: the method further comprises the steps of making carrier phase measurements and deriving potential solutions for a third antenna located at a fixed distance from each of the secondary and reference antennas, and the further step of determining the angular position of the third antenna with respect to an axis of rotation through the reference and secondary antennas; and and wherein the first two satellites also function as redundant satellites by providing additional carrier phase information to the third antenna.

Claim 20

Apparatus for determining the angular position of a secondary receiving antenna with respect to a reference receiving antenna in a satellite-based positioning system, the secondary antenna being held at a fixed distance from the reference antenna, the apparatus comprising: means for making carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from each of a plurality N of satellites, where N is the number of satellites needed to compute the relative position of the secondary antenna, and is at least two; means for deriving from the carrier phase measurements an initial set of potential solutions for the relative position, wherein the initial set of potential solutions all fall within a region of uncertainty defined by the surface of a sphere having a radius equal to the distance between the two antennas, and wherein multiple potential solutions arise because of whole-cycle ambiguity of the carrier signal; means for making redundant carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from an additional (N+1)th satellite; means for eliminating false solutions from the initial set of potential solutions, based on a comparison of the redundant carrier phase measurements with the initial set of potential solutions, to reduce the number of potential solutions to close to one, whereby the number of potential solutions is not increased by use of the redundant carrier phase measurements; and the apparatus further comprises means for determining from the relative position of the secondary antenna the angular attitude of a line between the two antennas, with respect to a selected set of coordinate axes.

Claim 21

Apparatus for determining the angular position of a secondary receiving antenna with respect to a reference receiving antenna in a satellite-based positioning system, the secondary antenna being held at a fixed distance from the reference antenna, the apparatus comprising: means for making carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from each of a plurality N of satellites, where N is the number of satellites needed to compute the relative position of the secondary antenna, and is at least two; means for deriving from the carrier phase measurements an initial set of potential solutions for the relative position, wherein the initial set of potential solutions all fall within a region of uncertainty defined by the surface of a sphere having a radius equal to the distance between the two antennas, and wherein multiple potential solutions arise because of whole-cycle ambiguity of the carrier signal; means for making redundant carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from an additional (N+1)th satellite; means for eliminating false solutions from the initial set of potential solutions, based on a comparison of the redundant carrier phase measurements with the initial set of potential solutions, to reduce the number of potential solutions to close to one, whereby the number of potential solutions is not increased by use of the redundant carrier phase measurements; and the apparatus further comprises means for determining from the relative position of the secondary antenna the angular attitude of a line between the two antennas, with respect to a selected set of coordinate axes.

Claim 22

Apparatus as defined in claim 18, and further comprising: means for making redundant carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from other additional satellites; and means for eliminating other false solutions from the set of potential solutions, based on a comparison of the additional redundant carrier phase measurements with the initial set of potential solutions.

Claim 23

Apparatus as defined in claim 18, and further comprising: means for comparing items in the set of potential solutions with solutions obtained in a prior time interval, to provide another basis for eliminating false solutions.

Claim 24

Apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein: the means for deriving an initial set of potential solutions includes means for locating points of intersection of planar carrier wavefronts defining possible locations of the secondary antenna within the region of uncertainty; and the means for eliminating false solutions includes means for locating a set of planar carrier wavefronts from the additional satellite such that the wavefronts also define possible locations of the secondary antenna within the region of uncertainty, means for selecting, for each of the initial set of potential solutions, a planar carrier wavefront from the additional satellite such that the selected wavefront is the one closest to the potential solution, and means for disregarding each potential solution for which the closest wavefront from the additional satellite is spaced from the potential solution by more than a selected threshold.

Claim 25

Apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein: the initial set of potential solutions is initially stored in a local tangent coordinate system, x, y, z, where z is a vertical axis; and the apparatus further comprises means for rotating the coordinate system of the set of potential solutions, to point the z axis toward the additional satellite and thereby facilitate elimination of false solutions.

Claim 26

Apparatus as defined in claim 21, wherein: the initial set of potential solutions is initially stored in a local tangent coordinate system, x, y, z, where z is a vertical axis; and the apparatus further comprises means for rotating the coordinate system of the set of potential solutions, to point the z axis toward the additional satellite and thereby facilitate elimination of false solutions.

Claim 27

Apparatus as defined in claim 23, wherein the means for selecting a planar carrier wavefront from the additional satellite includes means for comparing the z-axis component of each potential solution with possible positions of wavefronts in the region of uncertainty.

Claim 28

Apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein: the apparatus further comprises means for making carrier phase measurements and deriving potential solutions for a third antenna located at a fixed distance from each of the secondary and reference antennas, and means for determining the angular position of the third antenna with respect to an axis of rotation through the reference and secondary antennas; and wherein the two satellites also function as redundant satellites by providing additional carrier phase information to the third antenna.

Claim 29

Apparatus for determining the angular attitude of a line of fixed length between a reference receiving antenna and a secondary receiving antenna, from the relative position of the secondary receiving antenna with respect to the reference receiving antenna as determined in a satellite-based positioning system, the apparatus comprising: means for making carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from each of two satellites, where two is the minimum number of satellites needed to compute the relative position of the secondary antenna; means for deriving from the carrier phase measurements an initial set of potential solutions for the relative position, wherein the initial set of potential solutions all fall within a region of uncertainty defined by the surface of a sphere having a radius equal to the fixed distance between the two antennas, and wherein multiple potential solutions arise because of whole-cycle ambiguity of the carrier signal; means for making redundant carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from a third satellite; and means for eliminating false solutions from the initial set of potential solutions, based on a comparison of the redundant carrier phase measurements with the initial set of potential solutions, to reduce the number of potential solutions to close to one, whereby the number of potential solutions is not increased by use of the redundant carrier phase measurements.

Claim 30

Apparatus for determining the angular attitude of a line of fixed length between a reference receiving antenna and a secondary receiving antenna, from the relative position of the secondary receiving antenna with respect to the reference receiving antenna as determined in a satellite-based positioning system, the apparatus comprising: means for making carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from each of two satellites, where two is the minimum number of satellites needed to compute the relative position of the secondary antenna; means for deriving from the carrier phase measurements an initial set of potential solutions for the relative position, wherein the initial set of potential solutions all fall within a region of uncertainty defined by the surface of a sphere having a radius equal to the fixed distance between the two antennas, and wherein multiple potential solutions arise because of whole-cycle ambiguity of the carrier signal; means for making redundant carrier phase measurements based on the reception of a carrier signal from a third satellite; and means for eliminating false solutions from the initial set of potential solutions, based on a comparison of the redundant carrier phase measurements with the initial set of potential solutions, to reduce the number of potential solutions to close to one, whereby the number of potential solutions is not increased by use of the redundant carrier phase measurements.