System and method for determining the position of a transmitting unit and watercraft having a system for determining the position of a transmitting unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10802138-B2
Application number	US-201816046068-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2018
Priority date	Aug 2, 2017
Publication date	Oct 13, 2020
Grant date	Oct 13, 2020

Abstract

A system for determining the position of a transmitting unit has an arrangement of at least four transmitting units. A first transmitting unit is designed to emit a first transmission signal to each of the three remaining units, each of which is designed to receive the first transmission signal and, thereafter, to return a first response signal to the first unit. The three remaining units each have stored position data relating to desired positions of the arrangement. The first unit is designed to: determine its relative position data relative to the three remaining units based on the returned first response signals, obtain the stored position data relating to the desired positions from the three remaining units, and assign the determined relative position data to the obtained position data relating to a single desired position to determine the position of the first unit within the arrangement based on the assignment.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for determining the position of a transmitting unit, the system comprising:
an arrangement of at least four transmitting units;
wherein a first transmitting unit of the at least four transmitting units is configured to emit a first transmission signal to each of the three remaining transmitting units;
wherein each of the three remaining transmitting units is configured to receive the first transmission signal and, after receiving the first transmission signal, to return a first response signal to the first transmitting unit;
wherein the first transmitting unit is configured to determine relative position data relating to the first transmitting unit with respect to the three remaining transmitting units on the basis of the returned first response signals;
wherein the three remaining transmitting units each have stored position data relating to desired positions of the arrangement of transmitting units;
wherein the first transmitting unit is configured to obtain the stored position data relating to the desired positions from the three remaining transmitting units;
wherein the first transmitting unit is configured to assign the relative position data determined by the first transmitting unit to the obtained position data relating to a single desired position in order to determine the position of the first transmitting unit within the arrangement of transmitting units on the basis of the assignment.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first transmitting unit is configured to capture a discrepancy between the determined relative position data relating to the first transmitting unit and the assigned desired position and to calibrate a transmission parameter of the first transmitting unit on the basis of the captured discrepancy.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the calibration of the first transmitting unit comprises setting a time parameter and/or a frequency parameter of the first transmitting unit.

4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission signal and/or the first response signals is/are radio-frequency-based signals.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first response signals have the position data relating to the desired positions of the arrangement of transmitting units.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first response signals have data relating to a geometric boundary condition for an arrangement of the individual transmitting units within the arrangement of transmitting units.

7. The system according to claim 6 , wherein the first transmitting unit is configured to assign the relative position data determined by the first transmitting unit to the obtained position data relating to a single desired position using the data relating to the geometric boundary condition in order to determine the position of the first transmitting unit within the arrangement of transmitting units on the basis of the assignment.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the geometric boundary condition specifies the arrangement of the at least four transmitting units in a plane.

9. The system according to claim 6 , wherein the geometric boundary condition specifies the arrangement of the at least four transmitting units in a plane.

10. The system according to claim 1 , wherein each transmitting unit in the arrangement of at least four transmitting units is configured to receive a radar signal from an object moving relative to the arrangement and to consequently emit a response signal to the moving object, with the result that a relative position of the moving object with respect to the arrangement of at least four transmitting units can be determined.

11. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the arrangement has a total of eight transmitting units, at least six transmitting units of which are arranged substantially in one plane.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein two transmitting units of the total of eight transmitting units are arranged at a distance from the plane.

13. A watercraft having a system according to claim 1 .

14. The watercraft according to claim 13 , wherein the arrangement of at least four transmitting units bounds a landing area for an aircraft.

15. A method for determining the position of a transmitting unit, comprising:
arranging at least four transmitting units in an installation environment;
emitting a first transmission signal from a first transmitting unit to each of the three remaining transmitting units;
receiving the emitted first transmission signal by each of the three remaining transmitting units and returning a first response signal to the first transmitting unit by each of the three remaining transmitting units;
determining relative position data relating to the first transmitting unit with respect to the three remaining transmitting units on the basis of the returned first response signals;
storing position data relating to desired positions of the arrangement of transmitting units by the three remaining transmitting units;
obtaining the stored position data relating to the desired positions from the three remaining transmitting units;
assigning the relative position data determined by the first transmitting unit to the obtained position data relating to a single desired position in order to determine the position of the first transmitting unit within the arrangement of transmitting units on the basis of the assignment.

Assignees

• Airbus Defence & Space Gmbh

Inventors

• Kittmann Klaus
• Burns Simon

Classifications

• G01S13/876

  Combination of several spaced transponders or reflectors of known location for determining the position of a receiver (G01S13/874 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S7/40

  Means for monitoring or calibrating · CPC title

• G01S13/913 Primary

  for landing purposes · CPC title

• G01S13/91

  for traffic control (G01S13/93 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S13/74

  Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems · CPC title