FAST ACQUISITION POSITION REPORTING SYSTEM

摘要

A geographic tracking system (10) with minimal power and size required at the mobile terminal (18) collects observation data at the mobile terminal (18), forwards the data to a processor, which calculates the position. The mobile terminal (18) needs only to gather a few milliseconds of observation data, and to relay this observation data to the processor. The range from the satellite (14-17) (or other airborne transponder) to the terminal is determined using the known positions of an interrogating transmitter and a satellite, and a known terminal delay between the received signal and the transmission of the return signal, and the round trip time. An arc of locations is determined by computing an intersection of a sphere centered at the satellite having a radius given by the calculated range with a model of the Earth's surface.