Geolocation

摘要

A method for determining information regarding a location of a target. A signal is sent from a first device to the target, and a total flight time delay is measured. Based on the total flight time delay, a distance of the target from the first device is determined thereby establishing a total possible area for the target location. A medial node with a known location is identified, and a flight time delay from the first device to the medial node is determined thereby permitting a determination of the distance of the target from the medial node and a reduced possible target area. Further reduced areas can be established with iterations of the medial node identification. Refinement can be achieved by automatically applying a probabilistic distribution with geographic regions of reduced confidence and geographic regions of elevated confidence as may be based on physical terrain, population density, and communication bandwidth.

主权项

1. A method for determining information regarding a physical location of a target, the method comprising the steps of:
sending a signal from a first device in a network to the target; measuring a total flight time delay in the network in response to the signal; determining, based on the total flight time delay, first information associated with the physical location of the target comprising a maximum distance of the physical location of the target from the first device based at least in part on the total flight time delay multiplied by an actual or presumed flight speed of the signal whereby a total possible area for the physical location of the target is established; identifying a medial node through which the signal propagated from the first device to the target wherein the medial node has a known location; determining a flight time delay from the first device to the medial node based at least in part on the known location of the medial node and the actual or presumed flight speed; determining, based on the known location of the medial node and the total flight time delay, a maximum distance of the target from the medial node based at least in part on the total flight time delay less the flight time delay from the first device to the medial node to establish a medial node flight time delay whereby a reduced possible area for the physical location of the target is established.