Systems and Methods for Providing a Visualization of Satellite Sightline Obstructions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016125634-A1
Application number	US-201614991380-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 8, 2016
Priority date	Sep 28, 2012
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a visualization of satellite sightline obstructions are provided. An example method includes identifying an approximate position of a receiver antenna. The method further includes providing a rendering of a physical environment surrounding the receiver antenna for display within a user interface. The user interface can be provided on a display. Satellite positional data associated with the position of a satellite is accessed and a sightline between the approximate position of the receiver antenna and the position of the satellite is determined. The method further includes presenting the sightline within the user interface in association with the rendering. An example system includes a data capture system and a computing device to provide a visualization of satellite sightline obstructions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for providing a visualization of sightline obstructions, the method comprising:
identifying, by one or more computing devices, an approximate position of a receiver antenna; providing, by the one or more computing devices, a rendering of a physical environment surrounding the receiver antenna for display within a user interface, wherein the user interface is provided on a display; accessing, by the one or more computing devices, satellite positional data describing a position of a satellite; determining, by the one or more computing devices, a sightline between the approximate position of the receiver antenna and the position of the satellite; and presenting, by the one or more computing devices, the sightline within the user interface in association with the rendering.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the rendering comprises a rendering of a three-dimensional panorama.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the three-dimensional panorama comprises an approximately spherical panorama, and wherein the method further comprises centering, by the one or more computing devices, the rendering of the approximately spherical panorama about the approximate position of the receiver antenna.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the rendering comprises a rendering of data generated from a laser scanner.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the data generated from the laser scanner comprises a plurality of points, wherein each point is associated with a geographic coordinate location.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising:
centering, by the one or more computing devices, the rendering of the data generated from the laser scanner about the approximate position of the receiver antenna.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a request from a user to present the rendering from a vantage point selected by the user; and
presenting, by the one or more computing devices, the rendering within the user interface from the vantage point selected by the user.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the rendering comprises a rendering of an approximately spherical panorama, and wherein the vantage point selected by the user comprises a coordinate location included in the volume enclosed by the approximately spherical panorama.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the rendering comprises a rendering of an approximately spherical panorama, and wherein the vantage point selected by the user comprises a coordinate location external to the approximately spherical panorama.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:
modifying, by the one or more computing devices, a transparency factor associated with the rendering.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the rendering comprises a plurality of elements and the transparency factor is modified for selected of the plurality of elements.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
assessing, by the one or more computing devices, the presence of an obstruction of the sightline based upon the rendering.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , further comprising:
modifying, by the one or more computing devices, data associated with the approximate position of the receiver antenna based upon the assessment.

14 . A computer-implemented method for using a three-dimensional mapping to assess the presence of sightline obstructions, the method comprising:
estimating, by one or more computing devices, a first position of a receiver antenna based at least in part upon a first set of communication data received from a plurality of satellites; mapping, by the one or more computing devices, a local environment surrounding the receiver antenna in a three-dimensional coordinate system; accessing, by the one or more computing devices, satellite positional data describing a position of each of the plurality of satellites; determining, by the one or more computing devices, a sightline between the first position of the receiver antenna and the position of each of the plurality of satellites based at least in part upon the satellite positional data, such that a plurality of sightlines are determined with each of the plurality of sightlines corresponding to one of the plurality of satellites; and mapping, by the one or more computing devices, the plurality of sightlines in the three-dimensional coordinate system.

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 14 , further comprising:
obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, a designation for each of the plurality of satellites, wherein each of the plurality of satellites is designated as either obstructed or non-obstructed based upon the presence of an obstruction of the sightline corresponding to such satellite; purging, by the one or more computing devices, communication data from the first set of communication data that was received from a satellite designated as obstructed such that a second set of communication data is defined; and estimating a second position of the receiver antenna based upon the second set of communication data.

16 . The computer-implemented method of claim 15 , wherein obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, a designation for each of the plurality of satellites comprises receiving, by the one or more computing devices, input from a user, wherein the input provides the designation for each of the plurality of satellites.

17 . The computer-implemented method of claim 15 , wherein obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, a designation for each of the plurality of satellites comprises determining, by the one or more computing devices, the designation for each of the plurality of satellites by performing an image analysis technique to identify the presence of an obstruction for each of the plurality of sightlines.

18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform operations, the operations comprising:
identifying, by the one or more computing devices, an approximate position of a receiver antenna; presenting, by the one or more computing devices, an interactive rendering of a physical environment surrounding the receiver antenna within a user interface, wherein the user interface is provided on a display of the one or more computing devices; accessing, by the one or more computing devices, satellite positional data describing a position of a satellite; determining, by the one or more computing devices, a sightline between the approximate position of the receiver antenna and the position of the satellite; and presenting, by the one or more computing devices, the sightline within the user interface in association with the rendering.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the rendering comprises one of a rendering of an approximately spherical panorama or a rendering of data generated from a laser scanner.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform further operations, the further operations comprising:
receiving

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Robinson Craig Lewin
• Roseborough James Brian
• Filip Daniel Joseph

Classifications

• H04N23/698

  for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture · CPC title

• G06T11/60 Primary

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title

• H04W16/22

  Traffic simulation tools or models · CPC title

• G06T19/006

  Mixed reality (object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00) · CPC title

• H04B7/18519

  Operations control, administration or maintenance · CPC title