Ranging method and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10527716-B2
Application number	US-201615557381-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2016
Priority date	Mar 11, 2015
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of determining a distance or location of a remote device or reflector, the method comprising: receiving a signal from a remote signal transmitter associated with or contained in or attached to the remote device; estimating a first propagation delay associated with the received signal, wherein the first propagation delay represents a first candidate for a correct propagation delay; deriving a relationship between the first candidate and one or more other candidates for a correct propagation delay from the received signal; determining a plurality of other candidates for a correct propagation delay based on said relationship; generating a likelihood histogram based on said candidates for a correct propagation delay; selecting a propagation delay from said candidates based on the likelihood histogram; and determining a distance or location of the remote device or reflector using the selected propagation delay.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of determining a distance or location of a remote device or reflector, the method comprising:
receiving a signal from a remote signal transmitter associated with or contained in or attached to the remote device;
estimating and tracking a first propagation delay associated with the received signal, wherein the first propagation delay represents a first candidate for a correct propagation delay;
deriving a relationship between the first candidate and one or more other candidates for a correct propagation delay from the received signal;
determining a plurality of other candidates for a correct propagation delay based on said relationship;
generating a likelihood histogram based on said candidates for a correct propagation delay;
selecting a propagation delay from said candidates based on the likelihood histogram; and
determining a distance or location of the remote device or reflector using the selected propagation delay.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said relationship is a distance between neighboring candidates for a correct propagation delay in a grid of said candidates.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said candidates correspond to local maxima in a likelihood function or distribution.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying a maximum likelihood estimation to the received signal, thereby to determine said first propagation delay.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tracking said candidates for a correct propagation delay; and
updating the likelihood histogram in a predetermined number of iterations or over a predetermined period of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting the first propagation delay by selecting one of a plurality of candidates for a correct propagation delay using particle filtering.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising uniformly initializing propagation delay particles within a predetermined range of said selected one of said candidates for a correct propagation delay.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
processing the received signal to generate a plurality of blocks of signal samples; and
generating the likelihood histogram over subsequent blocks of signal samples.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first propagation delay is a time-delay propagation delay.

10. A signal and data processing device comprising:
a receiver to receive a signal from a remote signal transmitter associated with or contained in or attached to a remote device;
a signal processing module to convert the received signal into digital data; and
a data processing module to:
determine and track a first propagation delay associated with the received signal, wherein the first propagation delay represents a first candidate for a correct propagation delay;
determine a plurality of other candidates for a correct propagation delay based on a relationship between the first candidate and one or more other candidates for a correct propagation delay;
generate a likelihood histogram based on said candidates for a correct propagation delay;
select a propagation delay from said candidates based on the likelihood histogram; and

determine a distance or location of the remote device using the selected propagation delay.

11. The signal and data processing device of claim 10 , comprising a DLL/PLL receiver to perform a propagation delay estimate to determine said first propagation delay.

12. The signal and data processing device of claim 10 , wherein the first propagation delay is a time-delay propagation delay.

Assignees

• Univ Muenchen Tech

Inventors

• Stein Manuel
• Theiler Sebastian
• Nossek Josef A

Classifications

• G01S13/68

  for angle tracking only · CPC title

• G01S11/02 Primary

  using radio waves (G01S19/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S5/0294

  Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering · CPC title

• G01S13/72

  for two-dimensional [2D] tracking, e.g. combination of angle and range tracking, track-while-scan radar · CPC title

• G01S19/42

  Determining position · CPC title