USING TIME-DIFFERENCE-OF-ARRIVAL TO DETECT A POSITION OF A TARGET TRANSMITTER

摘要

Multiple time-difference-of-arrival units, each having two or more receiver antennas can be used to determine a location of a target transmitter without synchronizing or connecting together the units. Specifically, a clock on each unit can be used to determine a difference of arrival of radio-frequency signals amongst antennas on the units. Each unit's clock can be asynchronous with the clocks on the other units. Target estimation can therefore be achieved easily with limited wiring and the problems associated with synchronization can be reduced or eliminated. The multiple time-difference-of-arrival units can be used in indoor, outdoor (or a combination thereof) applications.

主权项

1. A system for detecting position of a target transmitter, comprising:
two or more time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) units, each TDOA unit including two or more receivers that are synchronized together within the TDOA unit to obtain one or more TDOA measurements, but wherein each TDOA unit operates asynchronously with respect to the other TDOA units; and a centralized data processing unit that receives the TDOA measurements or TDOA information calculated based on the TDOA measurements from the two or more TDOA units in order to estimate a position of the target transmitter.