U.S. patent application number 10/359468 was filed with the patent office on 2003-09-18 for method and apparatus for locating mobile receivers using a wide area reference network for propagating ephemeris.
Invention is credited to Diggelen, Frank van.
Application Number | 20030176969 10/359468 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 24463997 |
Filed Date | 2003-09-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030176969 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Diggelen, Frank van |
September 18, 2003 |
Method and apparatus for locating mobile receivers using a wide
area reference network for propagating ephemeris
Abstract
A method and apparatus for distribution and delivery of global
positioning system (GPS) satellite telemetry data using a
communication link between a central site and a mobile GPS
receiver. The central site is coupled to a network of reference
satellite receivers that send telemetry data from all satellites to
the central site. The mobile GPS receiver uses the delivered
telemetry data to aid its acquisition of the GPS satellite signal.
The availability of the satellite telemetry data enhances the
mobile receiver's signal reception sensitivity.
Inventors: |
Diggelen, Frank van; (San
Jose, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MOSER, PATTERSON & SHERIDAN L.L.P.
595 SHREWSBURY AVE
FIRST FLOOR
SHREWSBURY
NJ
07702
US
|
Family ID: |
24463997 |
Appl. No.: |
10/359468 |
Filed: |
February 5, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10359468 |
Feb 5, 2003 |
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09989625 |
Nov 20, 2001 |
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6587789 |
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09989625 |
Nov 20, 2001 |
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09615105 |
Jul 13, 2000 |
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6411892 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
701/469 ;
342/357.43; 342/357.64 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01S 19/258 20130101;
G01S 19/06 20130101; G01S 19/28 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/213 ;
342/357.06 |
International
Class: |
G01S 001/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for assisting a satellite positioning system mobile
device comprising: receiving satellite ephemeris data from all
satellites in a global positioning system constellation of
satellites; communicating satellite ephemeris data to a central
processing site; selecting ephemeris data for a subset of all the
satellites; and providing the selected ephemeris data to said
mobile device.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said selecting step further
comprises selecting ephemeris data for at least one satellite that
is in view of the mobile device.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein said selecting step further
comprises selecting ephemeris data for at least one satellite that
will be within view of the mobile device.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said at least one satellite will
be within view of said mobile device within about four hours.
5. The method of claim 2 further comprising acquiring at least one
satellite signal using said selected ephemeris data.
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising: a. computing a
frequency window having a plurality of frequency bins from said
selected ephemeris data, a mobile receiver approximate position,
and an approximate time; b. searching for a signal correlation in a
frequency bin within said frequency window; c. determining whether
there are signal correlations within said frequency bin; and d.
repeating steps (b) and (c) using different frequency bins until a
signal correlation is detected.
7. The method of claim 5 further comprising computing position of
the mobile receiver using said selected ephemeris data.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein said computing step is performed
in the mobile device.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein said computing step is performed
at a location remote from said mobile device.
10. The method of claim 3 further comprising acquiring said at
least one satellite, in the future, using said selected ephemeris
data.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising: a. computing a
frequency window having a plurality of frequency bins from said
selected ephemeris data, a mobile receiver approximate position,
and an approximate time; b. searching for a signal correlation in a
frequency bin within said frequency window; c. determining whether
there are signal correlations within said frequency bin; and d.
repeating steps (b) and (c) using different frequency bins until a
signal correlation is detected.
12. The method of claim 10 further comprising computing position of
the mobile device using said selected ephemeris data.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein said computing step is performed
in the mobile device.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein said computing step is performed
at a location remote from said mobile device.
15. The method of claim 5 further comprising using information
derived from said at least one satellite signal to assist in
acquisition of other satellite signals.
16. The method of claim 15 further comprising: a. computing a
frequency window having a plurality of frequency bins and a code
delay window having a plurality of code bins from said selected
ephemeris data, and a receiver time and receiver frequency offsets;
b. searching for a signal correlation in a frequency bin within
said frequency window and a code bin within said code delay window;
c. determining whether there are signal correlations within said
frequency bin and said code bin; d. repeating steps (b) and (c)
using different frequency bins and code bins until a signal
correlation is detected; e. using said signal correlation to
improve the receiver time offset and the frequency offset; f.
recomputing frequency delay windows and code delay windows for
other satellite signals; and g. acquiring at least one other
satellite signal.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein said ephemeris data is used to
derive at least one pseudo-range model.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein said selecting step further
comprises selecting ephemeris data for at least one satellite that
is in view of the mobile device.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein said selecting step further
comprises selecting ephemeris data for at least one satellite that
will be within view of the mobile device.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein said at least one satellite will
be within view of said mobile device within, about four hours.
21. The method of claim 18 further comprising acquiring at least
one satellite signal using said selected ephemeris data.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising: a. computing a
frequency window having a plurality of frequency bins from said
selected ephemeris data, a mobile receiver approximate position,
and an approximate time; b. searching for a signal correlation in a
frequency bin within said frequency window; c. determining whether
there are signal correlations within said frequency bin; and d.
repeating steps (b) and (c) using different frequency bins until a
signal correlation is detected.
23. The method of claim 19 further comprising acquiring a satellite
signal from said at least one satellite, in the future, using said
selected ephemeris data.
24. The method of claim 23 further comprising: a. computing a
frequency window having a plurality of frequency bins from said
selected ephemeris data, a mobile receiver approximate position,
and an approximate time; b. searching for a signal correlation in a
frequency bin within said frequency window; c. determining whether
there are signal correlations within said frequency bin; and d.
repeating steps (b) and (c) using different frequency bins until a
signal correlation is detected.
25. The method of claim 21 wherein information derived from said at
least one satellite signal is used to assist in acquisition of
other satellite signals.
26. The method of claim 25 further comprising: a. computing a
frequency window having a plurality of frequency bins and a code
delay window having a plurality of code bins from said selected
ephemeris data, and a receiver time and receiver frequency offsets;
b. searching for a signal correlation in a frequency bin within
said frequency window and a code bin within said code delay window;
c. determining whether there are signal correlations within said
frequency bin and said code bin; d. repeating steps (b) and (c)
using different frequency bins and code bins until a signal
correlation is detected; e. using said signal correlation to
improve the receiver time offset and the frequency offset; f.
recomputing frequency delay windows and code delay windows for
other satellite signals; and g. acquiring at least one other
satellite signal.
27. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one pseudo-range
model comprises a pseudorange, and a pseudorange rate, and a
pseudorange acceleration.
28. The method of claim 1 where said subset of all the satellites
is based on an estimated position of said mobile device.
29. The method of claim 28 where said estimated position is the
last known position of said mobile device.
30. The method of claim 28 where said estimated position is a
position within a region served by a communications network used by
the mobile device.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein said position within the region
is at the center of said region.
32. The method of claim 28 where said estimated position is derived
from a location of a radio tower used by the mobile device.
33. Apparatus for assisting a satellite positioning system mobile
receiver comprising: a network of satellite signal receivers
receiving satellite ephemeris from all satellites in a global
positioning system constellation of satellites and communicating
satellite ephemeris data to a central processing site; and said
central processing site selecting ephemeris data from a subset of
all the satellites and providing the selected ephemeris data to a
mobile receiver.
34. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein said selected ephemeris data
comprises ephemeris data for at least one satellite that is in view
of the mobile receiver.
35. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein said selected ephemeris data
comprises ephemeris data for at least one satellite that will be
within view of the mobile receiver.
36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said at least one satellite
will be within view of said mobile device within about four
hours.
37. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said mobile device comprises
means for acquiring at least one satellite signal using said
selected ephemeris data.
38. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said mobile device further
comprises: a. means for computing a frequency window having a
plurality of frequency bins from said selected ephemeris data, a
mobile receiver approximate position, and an approximate time; b.
means for searching for a signal correlation in a frequency bin
within the frequency window; c. means for determining whether there
are signal correlations within said frequency bin; and d. means for
repeating operation of means (b) and (c) using different frequency
bins until a signal correlation is detected.
39. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said central processing site
comprises means for computing a position of the mobile device using
said selected ephemeris data.
40. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said mobile device comprises
means for computing a position of said mobile device.
41. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein a location remote from said
mobile device comprises means for computing a position of said
mobile device.
42. The apparatus of claim 35 said at least one satellite signal is
acquired, in the future, using said selected ephemeris data.
43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said mobile device further
comprises: a. means for computing a frequency window having a
plurality of frequency bins from said selected ephemeris data, a
mobile receiver approximate position, and an approximate time; b.
means for searching for a signal correlation in a frequency bin
within the frequency window; c. means for determining whether there
are signal correlations within said frequency bin; and d. means for
repeating operation of means (b) and (c) using different frequency
bins until a signal correlation is detected.
44. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said central processing site
comprises means for computing a position of the mobile device using
said selected ephemeris data.
45. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said mobile device comprises
means for computing a position of said mobile receiver.
46. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein a location remote from said
mobile device comprises means for computing a position of said
mobile device.
47. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said central processing site
comprises means for utilizing information derived from said at
least one satellite signal to assist in acquisition of other
satellite signals.
48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein said mobile device comprises:
a. means for computing a frequency window having a plurality of
frequency bins and a code delay window having a plurality of code
bins from said selected ephemeris data, and a receiver time and
receiver frequency offsets; b. means for searching for a signal
correlation in a frequency bin within said frequency window and a
code bin within said code delay window; c. means for determining
whether there are signal correlations within said frequency bin and
said code bin; d. means for repeating operation of means (b) and
(c) using different frequency bins and code bins until a signal
correlation is detected; e. means for using said signal correlation
to improve the receiver time offset and the frequency offset; f.
means for recomputing frequency delay windows and code delay
windows for other satellite signals; and g. means for acquiring at
least one other satellite signal.
49. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein said central processing site
comprises a means for utilizing said ephemeris data to derive at
least one pseudo-range model.
50. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein said central processing site
is further configured to select ephemeris data for at least one
satellite that is in view of the mobile device.
51. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein said central processing site
comprises a means for selecting ephemeris data for at least one
satellite that will be within view of the mobile device.
52. The apparatus of claim 51 wherein said at least one satellite
will be within view of said mobile device within about four
hours.
53. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein said mobile device further
comprises a means for acquiring at least one satellite signal using
said selected ephemeris data.
54. The apparatus of claim 53 wherein said mobile device further
comprises: a. means for computing a frequency window having a
plurality of frequency bins from said selected ephemeris data, a
mobile receiver approximate position, and an approximate time; b.
means for searching for a signal correlation in a frequency bin
within the frequency window; c. means for determining whether there
are signal correlations within said frequency bin; and d. means for
repeating operation of means (b) and (c) using different frequency
bins until a signal correlation is detected.
55. The apparatus of claim 51 said at least one satellite signal is
acquired, in the future, using said selected ephemeris data.
56. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein said mobile device further
comprises: a. means for computing a frequency window from said
selected ephemeris data, and means for computing a frequency window
having a plurality of frequency bins from said selected ephemeris
data, a mobile receiver approximate position, and an approximate
time; b. means for searching for a signal correlation in a
frequency bin within the frequency window; c. means for determining
whether there are signal correlations within said frequency bin;
and d. means for repeating operation of means (b) and (c) using
different frequency bins until a signal correlation is
detected.
57. The apparatus of claim 53 wherein said mobile device comprises
a means for utilizing information derived from said at least one
satellite signal to assist in acquisition of other satellite
signals.
58. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein said mobile device comprises:
a. means for computing a frequency window and a code delay window
from said selected ephemeris data, and an approximate location of
said mobile receiver, and an approximate receiver time and
frequency offsets; b. means for searching for a signal correlation
in a frequency/code bin within said frequency window and code delay
window; c. means for determining whether there are signal
correlations within said frequency/code bin; d. means for repeating
operation of means (b) and (c) using different frequency/code bins
until a signal correlation is detected; e. means for using said
signal correlation to improve said receiver time offset and said
frequency offset; f. means for recomputing frequency delay windows
and code delay windows for remaining satellites; and g. means for
acquiring at least one other satellite.
59. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein said pseudo-range models
comprise a pseudorange, and a pseudorange rate, and a pseudorange
acceleration.
60. The apparatus of claim 33 where said subset of all the
satellites is based on the estimated position of said mobile
device.
61. The apparatus of claim 60 where said estimated position is the
last known position of said mobile device.
62. The apparatus of claim 60 where said estimated position is a
position within a region served by a communications network used by
the mobile device.
63. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein said position within said
region is at the center of said region.
64. The apparatus of claim 60 where said estimated position is
derived from a location of a radio tower used by the mobile device.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/989,625, filed Nov. 20, 2001, which is a
divisional of U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,892, issued Jun. 25, 2002, each
of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to signal processing in GPS
receivers. In particular, the present invention relates to a method
and apparatus for delivering satellite data to GPS receivers to
enable a GPS receiver to acquire and lock on to GPS satellite
signals in low signal strength environments (e.g., indoors).
[0004] 2. Description of the Background Art
[0005] Conventional GPS receivers require an inordinate amount of
time to acquire and lock onto the satellite signals. Then, once
locked, a GPS receiver extracts telemetry data (almanac and
ephemeris) from the signal. From these data the GPS receiver can
calculate information that enhances its ability to lock onto the
satellite signal. A relatively high signal strength satellite
signal is necessary to enable the system to achieve an initial
lock. Once the GPS signal is acquired, the signal strength must
remain high while the almanac and/or ephemeris data is extracted
from the satellite signal. Any severe attenuation of the signal can
cause a loss of lock and the signal will require re-acquisition. As
such, the system has an inherent circularity that makes it
difficult or impossible for GPS receivers to acquire signals in low
signal strength environments.
[0006] To aid initial acquisition of the satellite signal, many GPS
receivers store a copy of the almanac data, from which the expected
Doppler frequency of the satellite signal can be calculated.
Several techniques have been developed to calculate useful
information at a separate GPS receiver and then transmit this data
to another GPS receiver. U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,336, issued May 16,
2000, collects almanac data at a separate GPS receiver, then
transmits the almanac data to a mobile receiver. The mobile
receiver then uses the almanac data to compute the expected Doppler
frequency of the satellite signal, thus aiding in initial signal
acquisition.
[0007] The advantage of receiving the almanac is that each GPS
satellite repeatedly transmits a complete almanac containing orbit
information for the complete GPS constellation, thus a single GPS
receiver, tracking any satellite, can collect and propagate the
almanac for all satellites in the constellation. The disadvantage
of using the almanac is that it is a fairly rough model of the
satellite orbit and satellite clock errors, thus the almanac is
only useful in reducing the frequency uncertainty and cannot be
used to enhance receiver sensitivity by reducing the search window
of code-delay uncertainties.
[0008] If a GPS receiver had a complete set of ephemeris data for
all satellites in view, before said receiver attempted to lock onto
those satellites, the receiver would have significantly improved
acquisition times and enhanced sensitivity. This is because the
ephemeris data contains an accurate description of the satellite
position, velocity, and clock errors; and the GPS receiver can use
this data to increase its sensitivity by reducing significantly the
search windows for frequency uncertainty and code-delay
uncertainty. The disadvantage of the ephemeris is that each
satellite only transmits its own ephemeris; thus a single GPS
receiver cannot collect and propagate ephemeris for all the
satellites in the constellation.
[0009] Therefore there is a need in the art for a GPS receiver
system that propagates satellite ephemeris for all satellites in
the constellation, thereby enhancing the speed of acquisition and
signal sensitivity of mobile receivers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The invention comprises a method and apparatus for
distribution and delivery of the Global Positioning System (GPS)
satellite ephemeris using a communication link between a central
site and a wide area network of GPS receivers. The wide area
network of GPS receivers collects the ephemeris data that is
transmitted by the satellites and communicates the data to the
central site. The central site delivers the ephemeris to the mobile
receiver. The mobile GPS receiver uses the delivered data to
enhance its sensitivity in two ways. First, the data allows the
receiver to detect very weak signals that the receiver would not
ordinarily be able to detect, and second, the GPS receiver does not
have to track the satellite signals for very long before a position
can be calculated.
[0011] In one embodiment of the invention, the satellite ephemeris
data is retransmitted without manipulating the data in any way. The
GPS receiver may then use this data exactly as if the receiver had
received the data from the satellite. In another embodiment, a
satellite pseudo-range model is computed at the central site from
the ephemeris data, and this pseudo-range model is transmitted to
the GPS receiver. The pseudo-range model has the characteristic
that the model is more concise than the complete ephemeris. As
such, the GPS receiver does not have to perform as many
calculations when using the pseudo-range model as when using the
complete ephemeris.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0012] The teachings of the present invention may be readily
understood by considering the following detailed description in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 depicts an architecture for a wide area reference
station network in accordance with the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 depicts a GPS orbital sphere;
[0015] FIG. 3 depicts the intersection of the GPS orbital sphere
and the horizon planes of three reference stations;
[0016] FIGS. 4A and 4B depict the intersection of the GPS orbital
sphere and the horizon planes of four reference stations;
[0017] FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of a method of generating
pseudo-range models;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the timing (pseudo-range) and
frequency (pseudo-range rate) uncertainty for a mobile GPS
receiver, and the improvement in sensitivity that is gained by
reducing both these uncertainties;
[0019] FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of a method of searching
through the time (pseudo-range) and frequency (pseudo-range rate)
windows; and
[0020] FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of a method for using
pseudo-range information of satellites having high signal strength
to improve receiver sensitivity for signals received from
satellites having low signal strength.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] To facilitate understanding, the description has been
organized as follows:
[0022] Overview, introduces each of the components of the
invention, and describes their relationship to one another.
[0023] Global Tracking Network, describes how a worldwide network
of tracking stations is constructed and deployed to ensure that all
satellites are tracked at all times.
[0024] Ephemeris Processing, describes an embodiment of the
invention that provides a more compact, and simpler, model of the
satellite ephemeris.
[0025] Signal Detection, describes how the retransmitted satellite
ephemeris data is used in a GPS receiver to detect signals that
would otherwise be undetectable.
[0026] Sensitivity Enhancement, describes how the two strongest
satellite signals may be used to compute the time and correlator
offset at the mobile receiver. This information is, in turn, used
to enhance sensitivity for weaker GPS signals that are received by
the mobile receiver.
Overview
[0027] FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a global positioning system
(GPS) satellite data distribution system 100 comprising:
[0028] a) A reference station network 102 comprising a plurality of
tracking stations 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2, . . . 104.sub.n coupled to
one another through a communications network 105. The reference
stations 104 are deployed over a wide area and contain GPS
receivers 126 so that ephemeris may be collected from all
satellites 106 within a global network of satellites e.g., the
global positioning system (GPS). Ephemeris information comprises a
900 bit packet containing satellite position and clock
information.
[0029] b) A central processing site 108 that collects the ephemeris
from the tracking stations 104 comprises an ephemeris processor 128
that removes duplicate occurrences of the same ephemeris, and
provides the latest ephemeris data for redistribution to mobile GPS
receivers 114 and 118.
[0030] c) A communications link 120 from the central processing
site to the mobile GPS receiver 114. The link 120 may be a landline
110, or other direct communications path, that couples the mobile
GPS receiver 114 directly to the central processing site 108.
Alternatively, this link may have several parts, for example: a
landline 112 to a wireless transmitter 116, and a wireless link 122
from the transmitter 116 to a mobile receiver 118.
[0031] d) A mobile GPS receiver 114 or 118 that uses the
redistributed ephemeris data (or a modified form thereof) to aid
the receiver in detecting GPS signals from satellites 106 in a
satellite constellation.
[0032] e) A position processor 130, where the position of a GPS
receiver 114 or 118 is calculated. This could be the GPS receiver
itself, the central processing site 108, or some other site to
which the mobile GPS receivers send the measurement data that has
been obtained from the satellites 106.
[0033] In operation, each of the satellites 106 continually
broadcast ephemeris information associated with a particular
satellite. To comprehensively and simultaneously capture the
ephemeris data of all the satellites 106 in the constellation, the
network 106 is spread worldwide.
[0034] To obtain all the ephemeris data, three or more tracking
stations 104 are needed. Each of the 28 satellites has an orbit
inclined at 55 degrees relative to the equator of the earth. As
such, no satellite ever travels outside of a plus or minus 55
degree range on an orbital sphere. Consequently, three stations
placed 120 degrees apart and lying exactly on the equator of the
earth, would have all the satellites in view. However, placing
reference stations at or close to those exact locations on the
equator is impractical. To place reference stations in large cities
around the world, a realistic, minimum number that will achieve
viewing of all the satellites 106 is four.
[0035] Each of the tracking stations 104 contains a GPS receiver
126 that acquires and tracks satellite signals from all satellites
106 that are in view. The stations 104 extract the ephemeris
information that uniquely identifies the position of each satellite
as well as satellite clock information e.g., a 900 bit packet with
a GPS signal. The ephemeris information is coupled to the central
processing site 108 via, for example, a terrestrial land line
network 105.
[0036] The central processing site 108 sends all or part of the
ephemeris information to one or more mobile GPS receivers 114 and
118. If the central processing site knows the approximate position
of the mobile GPS receiver, the central processing site 108 may
only send the ephemeris information for satellites that are
presently (or about to be) in view of the mobile GPS receiver 114
or 118. The ephemeris information can be coupled directly through a
land line 110 or other communication path (e.g., internet,
telephone, fiber optic cable, and the like). Alternatively, the
ephemeris information can be coupled to a mobile GPS receiver 118
through a wireless system 116 such as a cell phone, wireless
Internet, radio, television, and the like. The processing and
utilization of the ephemeris information is described below (see
EPHEMERIS PROCESSING and SIGNAL DETECTION).
Global Tracking Network
[0037] The global GPS reference network 102 has stations 104
arranged such that all satellites are in view all the time by the
tracking stations 104 in the network 102. As such, the ephemeris
for each satellite 106 is available to the network in real time, so
that the network, in turn, can make the ephemeris, or derived
pseudo-range models, available to any mobile receiver that needs
them.
[0038] The minimum complete network of reference stations comprises
three stations, approximately equally placed around the earth, on
or close to the equator. FIG. 2 shows the GPS orbital sphere 202
surrounding the earth 204, and an indication 206 of all orbits of
the satellites. FIG. 3 shows the intersection of the horizon planes
of 3 tracking stations, (denoted A, B, and C), with the GPS orbital
sphere. In FIG. 3, the orbital sphere is shaded gray in any region
above the horizon of a tracking station. Regions on the orbital
sphere above the horizons of two tracking stations are shaded
slightly darker. The orbital sphere is white in the regions, above
and below 55 degrees, where there are no GPS satellites. From FIG.
3, it is clear that any point on any GPS orbit is always above the
horizon of at least one reference station A, B or C.
[0039] It is not commercially or technically practical to place
reference stations around the equator. Preferred sites are major
cities with good communications infrastructure to enable the
ephemeris to be coupled to the control processing site via a
reliable network. When the reference stations are moved away from
the equator, more than three stations are needed to provide
coverage of all satellites all the time. However, it is possible to
create a network of only four reference stations with complete
coverage of all GPS satellites all the time, and with the four
stations located in or near major cities. For example, the stations
may be placed in Honolulu, Hawaii (USA), Buenos Aires (Argentina),
Tel Aviv (Israel) and Perth (Australia). FIG. 4A and 4B show the
intersection of the horizon planes of these stations with the GPS
orbital sphere. Any point of any GPS orbit is always above the
horizon of at least one of the reference stations. FIG. 4A and 4B
show the orbital sphere viewed from two points in space, one point
(FIG. 4A) in space approximately above Spain, and the other (FIG.
4b) from the opposite side of the sphere, approximately above New
Zealand. The figure is shaded in a similar way to FIG. 3. Gray
shading shows regions of the GPS orbital sphere above the horizon
of at least one tracking station and darker gray regions represent
portions of the orbital sphere accessible to two stations.
Ephemeris Processing
[0040] The ephemeris is used to compute a model of the satellite
pseudo-range and pseudo-range rate. From the pseudo-range rate the
mobile GPS receiver can calculate the Doppler frequency offset for
the satellite signal. The computation of the pseudo-range model can
be done at the mobile receiver, or at the central processing site.
In the preferred embodiment the pseudo-range model is computed at
the central site as follows.
[0041] FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of a method 500 for generating
a pseudo-range model. At step 502, the ephemeris data from all the
tracking stations is brought to the central processing site.
Ephemeris data is transmitted continually by all satellites, mostly
this is repeated data; new ephemeris is typically transmitted every
2 hours. The ephemeris is tagged with a "Time of Ephemeris",
denoted TOE. This tag indicates the time at which the ephemeris is
valid. Ephemeris calculations are highly accurate within 2 hours of
TOE. A satellite first transmits an ephemeris 2 hours ahead of the
TOE, thus any ephemeris is highly accurate for a maximum of four
hours.
[0042] At step 506, the central processing site keeps all the
ephemeris data with TOE closest to the time T at which the mobile
receiver requires ephemeris (or a pseudo-range model). Time T is
provided by the mobile receiver at step 504. Usually T will be the
current real time, however, it could be a time up to 4 hours in the
future for mobile receivers that are collecting
ephemeris/pseudo-range models in advance of when they need them. T
could also be a time in the past, for mobile receivers processing
previously stored data.
[0043] At step 508, the central processing site then calculates the
satellite positions at time T. In the preferred embodiment, this is
performed using the equations provided in the GPS Interface Control
Document, ICD-GPS-200-B.
[0044] At step 512, the central processing site obtains the
approximate position of the mobile GPS Receiver. In the preferred
embodiment, the mobile GPS receiver communicates with the central
processing site over a wireless communications link, such as a
2-way paging network, or a mobile telephone network, or similar
2-way radio networks. Such 2-way radio networks have communication
towers that receive signals over a region of a few miles. The
central processing site obtains the reference ID of the radio tower
used to receive the most recent communication from the mobile GPS.
The central processing site then obtains the position of this radio
tower from a database. This position is used as the approximate
mobile GPS position.
[0045] In an alternative embodiment, the approximate position of
the mobile GPS receiver may be simply the center of the region
served by a particular communications network used to implement
this invention.
[0046] In another alternate embodiment, the approximate position of
the mobile GPS receiver may be the last known point of said
receiver, maintained in a database at the central processing
site.
[0047] It is understood that many combinations and variants of the
above methods may be used to approximate the mobile GPS receiver
position.
[0048] Having calculated the satellite positions, and obtained the
approximate user position, the central processing site computes (at
step 510) which satellites are, or will soon be, above the horizon
at the mobile GPS receiver. For applications requiring simply the
redistribution of the ephemeris data, at step 514, the central
processing site now outputs the ephemeris for those satellites
above, or about to rise above, the horizon.
[0049] In the preferred embodiment, a pseudo-range model is
computed that comprises: time T, and, for each satellite above, or
about to rise above, the horizon: the satellite PRN number,
pseudo-range, pseudo-range rate, and pseudo-range acceleration.
[0050] To compute a pseudo-range model, the central processing site
first computes at step 516 the pseudo-ranges of all satellites
above, or about to rise above, the mobile GPS receiver horizon. .
The pseudo-range is the geometric range between the satellite and
the approximate GPS position, plus the satellite clock offset
described in the ephemeris.
[0051] At step 518, the pseudo-range rate may be computed from the
satellite velocity and clock drift. Satellite velocity may be
obtained directly by differentiating the satellite position
equations (in ICD-GPS-200-B) with respect to time. In an
alternative embodiment, satellite velocity may be computed
indirectly by computing satellite positions at two different times,
and then differencing the positions.
[0052] In another alternative embodiment, the pseudo-range rates
may be computed indirectly by computing the pseudo-ranges at two
different times, and then differencing these pseudo-ranges.
[0053] At step 520, the pseudo-range acceleration is then computed
in a similar fashion (by differentiating satellite velocity and
clock drift with respect to time, or by differencing pseudo-range
rates).
[0054] The complete pseudo-range model is then packed into a
structure and output to the mobile GPS receiver at step 522.
[0055] The mobile GPS receiver may use the pseudo-range model for
the period of validity of the ephemeris from which it was derived.
To apply the pseudo-range model at some time after time T, the
mobile receiver propagates the pseudo-ranges and range rates
forward using the rate and acceleration information contained in
the pseudo-range model.
[0056] In an alternative embodiment, the central processing site
propagates the unaltered ephemeris 519 and the derivation of the
pseudo-range model and pseudo-range rate is performed at the mobile
GPS receiver.
[0057] Krasner (U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,336) has taught that the
availability of Doppler information can aid the mobile GPS receiver
by reducing the frequency uncertainty. U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,336
describes a system and method for delivering to a mobile receiver
Almanac information from which Doppler may be derived; or for
delivering equivalent information, derived from the Almanac; or for
delivering the Doppler measurement itself from a base station near
to the mobile receiver. In another alternative embodiment of the
current invention, the Ephemeris may be used to derive Doppler
information. In the section that follows (SIGNAL DETECTION) it will
be appreciated that the use of this Doppler information will aid in
signal acquisition to the extent of reducing the Pseudo-range rate
uncertainty, i.e., the number of frequency bins to search, but the
Doppler information will not reduce the Pseudo-range uncertainty
(i.e. the code delays).
Signal Detection
[0058] There are several ways in which the availability of
ephemeris data (or the derived pseudo-range model) aid the signal
acquisition and sensitivity of the mobile GPS receiver, described
below.
[0059] The ephemeris or pseudo-range models can predict the
elevation angle to the satellite, allowing the receiver to focus on
acquiring high elevation satellite signals, which are generally
less subject to obstruction. Satellites that are calculated to be
below the horizon (negative elevation angles) can be ignored. This
satellite selection can also be performed using an almanac of
satellite orbital information, but providing models, or ephemeris
from which models can be created, eliminates the need for
non-volatile storage for the almanac within the mobile receiver.
Thus, the ephemeris provides some advantage in this respect,
however the main advantage of the invention is in the improvement
in signal acquisition and receiver sensitivity, described
below.
[0060] The "re-transmitted" or "re-broadcast" ephemeris information
improves the operation of the mobile receiver in two ways.
[0061] First, the mobile receiver does not need to collect the
ephemeris from the satellite. The ephemeris is broadcast from a
satellite every 30 seconds and requires 18 seconds to transmit. In
order to receive ephemeris without the use of the present
invention, a mobile receiver needs clear, unobstructed satellite
reception for the entire 18-second interval during which the
ephemeris is being transmitted. Depending on the environment and
usage of the receiver, it may be minutes before the situation
allows the ephemeris to be collected and in many applications, for
example, indoor use, the mobile receiver may never have an
unobstructed view of a satellite. To eliminate the data collection
delay, the present invention provides the ephemeris data directly
to the mobile receiver.
[0062] Second, the ephemeris is used, as described above, to form
the pseudo-range models of the satellite signals being received at
the mobile receiver. These models can accelerate the acquisition
process in several ways.
[0063] The models predict the pseudo-range and pseudo-range rate of
the received signals. If the approximate user position is fairly
accurate, these models will be very accurate in estimating the
pseudo-range and pseudo-range rate. Using the models, the receiver
can focus the correlation process around an expected signal.
[0064] FIG. 6 shows a graph 601 that illustrates the usual
frequency and timing uncertainty for a mobile GPS receiver. On the
y-axis 602, the various rows show different pseudo range rates, and
on the x-axis 604 the various columns show different pseudo ranges.
Without an accurate model, such as available using the present
invention, the possibilities for range rates will vary considerably
because a wide range of satellite motions are possible, and the
possibilities for ranges will also vary over many cycles of the PN
codes. With an accurate model provided by the ephemeris
information, the uncertainties can be reduced to a small range,
depicted by the black cell 606. Many receivers will be able to
search this small range in a single pass that eliminates a time
consuming sequential search and allows the use of longer
integration times for better sensitivity, as will now be
described.
[0065] Better sensitivity is achieved as follows: The sensitivity
of a GPS receiver is a function of the amount of time that the
receiver can integrate the correlator outputs. The relationship
between sensitivity and integration time is shown by the graph 608.
With many bins to search, the integration time 610 equals the total
available search time divided by the number of search bins. With
only a single bin to search, the integration time 612 equals the
total available search time, increasing the sensitivity as shown
608.
[0066] It should be noted that in some receivers, the pseudo-ranges
and pseudo-range rates that can be predicted from the pseudo-range
models will not be accurate because of a lack of synchronization of
the local clock. In this case, a search over a wide range of
uncertainties will still be initially required, but only for the
strongest satellite(s). If the local clock is known to be correct
to within approximately one second of GPS time then any one
satellite will be enough to synchronize the local correlator
offset. Thereafter, the expected pseudo-range and pseudo-range
rates can be accurately computed for the remaining satellites. If
the local clock is not known to within approximately one second,
then two satellites must be used to compute the two required clock
parameters: the local clock and the correlator offset. The fact
that two satellites are required is an often misunderstood point.
In the GPS literature, it is often mentioned that one satellite is
enough to solve for an unknown clock offset without realizing that
this is only true for systems where the local clock is already
approximately synchronized with GPS time. In traditional GPS
receivers that continuously track the GPS signals, the local clock
is synchronized to GPS time to much better than one second
accuracy. In some more modern implementations (e.g., U.S. Pat. No.
6,064,336), the local clock is synchronized to a network time
reference, which is synchronized to GPS time. However, the current
invention is specifically intended to operate in implementations
where the local clock is not synchronized to GPS time. The manner
in which one solves for these clock parameters is described in
detail below.
[0067] Once the unknown clock parameters have been computed, the
parameters can then be used to adjust the pseudo-range models for
the remaining, weaker satellites to reduce the range of uncertainty
back to a narrow region; thus enhancing sensitivity precisely when
high sensitivity is needed, i.e., for detecting the weaker
satellite signals.
[0068] In other receivers, the local clock and clock rate may be
quite accurate. For example, if the clock signals are derived from
a wireless media that is synchronized to GPS timing (e.g., a
two-way paging network), then the clock parameters are typically
accurate. In this case, there is no clock effect and a narrow
search region can be used from the onset.
[0069] To quantify the benefits of the invention, consider an
example where the user position is known to within the radius of
reception of a 2-way pager tower (2-miles). In this case the
pseudo-range (expressed in milliseconds) can be pre-calculated to
an accuracy of one-hundredth of a millisecond. Without the
invention, a GPS receiver would search over a full millisecond of
all possible code delays to lock onto the code transmitted by the
satellite. Using the invention the search window is reduced by up
to one hundred times, making the GPS receiver faster, and, more
importantly, allowing the use of longer integration times (as
described above), making the receiver capable of detecting weaker
signals, such as occur indoors.
[0070] An additional advantage of having ephemeris, or the derived
pseudo-range model, at the mobile receiver is that the process of
identifying the true correlation is more robust, since, apart from
increasing the integration time as described above, the chance that
a "false peak" would be identified is greatly reduced by
considering only correlations that occur within the expected
range.
[0071] One embodiment of the use of ephemeris (or derived
pseudo-range models) to enhance sensitivity is described further
with respect to FIG. 7.
[0072] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method 700 of signal search.
The method begins at step 702 with an input of the pseudo-range
model. As noted earlier this pseudo-range model is calculated from
the ephemeris, either at the mobile receiver itself, or at the
central processing site. At step 704, the model is applied at the
current time in the mobile device and is used to estimate the
expected current frequency and timing of GPS satellite signals, as
well as the expected uncertainties of these quantities, to form a
frequency and code delay search window for each satellite. This
window is centered on the best estimates of frequency and delay but
allows for actual variations from the best estimates due to errors
in the modeling process including inaccuracies in the rough user
position, errors in the time and frequency transfer from the
wireless carrier etc. In addition, the frequency uncertainty is
divided into a number of frequency search bins to cover the
frequency search window. As shown in FIG. 6, the number of search
bins is dramatically reduced by using the pseudo-range model.
[0073] In step 706, the detection and measurement process is set to
program the carrier correction to the first search frequency. At
step 708, a code correlator is invoked to search for signal
correlations within the delay range of the delay window. Such a
code correlator is standard in the art, but the present invention
dramatically reduces the number of possible code delays over which
the correlator must search thereby increasing the integration time
for each code delay, and thus the sensitivity of the receiver.
[0074] At step 710, the method 700 queries whether a signal is
detected. If no signal is detected, the carrier correction is set,
at step 712, to the next search frequency and the search continues
until a signal is found or the frequency search bins are
exhausted.
[0075] If, at step 710, the method 700 affirmatively answers the
query, the signal is used at step 714 to further improve the
estimate of clock time delay and clock frequency offset. This
information is utilized at step 716 to re-compute the frequency and
delay search windows for the remaining undetected satellites. In
step 718, the process continues until all satellites have been
detected or the search windows have been exhausted.
[0076] The method of FIG. 7 is illustrative of one of a variety of
algorithms that can be used to guide the search process based on
the GPS signal processing's ability to estimate time and frequency.
Additionally, the algorithms could be altered to include various
retry mechanisms since the signals themselves may be fading or
blocked.
Sensitivity Enhancement
[0077] To enhance the sensitivity of the receiver (as described
with respect to FIG. 6), the invention uses the approximate
position of the mobile device to compute expected pseudo-range,
this reduces the pseudo-range uncertainty. However, before the
inventive receiver can compute the expected pseudo-range the
following three items are required:
[0078] 1. the approximate position of the mobile device (to within
a few miles of a true position)
[0079] 2. the approximate time at the mobile device (to within
approximately one second of the true time)
[0080] 3. the correlator clock offset at the mobile device (to
within a few microseconds of the true offset).
[0081] The more accurately each of the three terms is known, the
more precisely the invention can bound the pseudo-range
uncertainty, and thus the greater the sensitivity (see FIG. 6). In
the preferred embodiment, the approximate position of the mobile
device is determined from the known location of the radio tower
last used by the device. The radius of reception of radio towers
for 2-way pagers and cell-phones is typically 3 kilometers. Thus
the approximate position of the mobile device is known to within 3
kilometers, and the induced error on the pseudo-range estimate will
be no more than 3 kilometers. With reference to FIG. 6., note that
the full pseudo-range uncertainty for an unaided GPS receiver is
equal to one code epoch, which is approximately 300 kilometers.
Thus, even knowing an approximate position as roughly as 3
kilometers can reduce the pseudo-range uncertainty one hundred
times.
[0082] The timing errors also induce errors on the expected
pseudo-range. To compute expected pseudo-range, the receiver must
calculate the satellite position in space. The satellite range from
any location on earth varies at a rate between plus and minus 800
meters per second. Thus each second of time error will induce a
range error (and pseudo-range error) of up to 800 meters.
[0083] The mobile device correlator delay offset induces a direct
error in the pseudo-range measurement, as is well known in the GPS
literature. Each microsecond of unknown correlator delay offset
induces 300 meters of error in the range measurement.
[0084] Thus, to keep the pseudo-range estimate within a range of a
few kilometers (as illustrated in FIG. 6), the receiver of the
present invention requires estimates of position, time and
correlator delay offset in the ranges shown above.
[0085] In an implementation where the real time at the mobile
device is not known to better than a few seconds, and the
correlator delay offset is not known, one solves for both using two
satellite measurements, as follows.
[0086] The equation relating pseudo-range errors to the two clock
errors is:
y=c*dt.sub.c-rangeRate*dt.sub.s (1)
[0087] where:
[0088] y is the "pseudo-range residual", i.e., the difference
between the expected pseudo-range and the measured
pseudo-range;
[0089] c is the speed of light;
[0090] dt.sub.c is the correlator delay offset; and
[0091] dt.sub.s is the offset of the real time estimate.
[0092] FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of a method 800 for improving
the clock parameters, and then improving the receiver sensitivity.
Method 800 comprises:
[0093] Step 802. Using the best known clock parameters, compute
expected pseudo-ranges for all the satellites.
[0094] Step 804. Measure the pseudo-ranges for the two strongest
satellites with the highest signal strength.
[0095] Step 806. Using these two measurements, solve equation (1)
for the two unknowns: dt.sub.c and dt.sub.s.
[0096] Step 808. Use dt.sub.c and dts to improve the estimate of
the expected pseudo-ranges for the remaining (weaker)
satellites.
[0097] Step 810. Use these improved expected pseudo-ranges to
reduce the pseudo-range uncertainty, thus improving the sensitivity
of the receiver, as shown in FIG. 6.
[0098] Although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings
of the present invention have been shown and described in detail
herein, those skilled in the art can readily devise many other
varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings.
* * * * *