Hierarchical Peer Positioning for GPS-Denied Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing navigation systems, such as GPS, face challenges in providing precise positioning in environments with limited sky access or severe weather, and dead reckoning systems accumulate errors over time without effective correction mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A hierarchical device-to-device positioning network that utilizes decentralized communication between local computing devices to estimate positions in real-time, establishing hierarchical relationships based on accumulated error, allowing devices to update their positions and reduce errors through triangulation and integration of more reliable positional information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS is used for positioning, then absolute position can be determined, but positioning accuracy deteriorates in environments with limited sky access or severe weather conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary devices (peer devices) that act as mediators between GPS and the target device. These peer devices establish hierarchical relationships based on accumulated error, creating a relay positioning system where devices with lower error can correct devices with higher error, thus maintaining positioning reliability when GPS is unavailable or inaccurate
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where devices continuously exchange positional information and accumulated error data. The system uses this feedback to dynamically adjust hierarchical relationships and select optimal peer devices for positioning correction, enabling continuous improvement of positioning accuracy through iterative error correction
2Reliability
If dead reckoning is used for positioning, then positioning can function without GPS, but accumulated error increases over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges dead reckoning with hierarchical peer device correction. Devices combine their own dead reckoning calculations with positional data from peer devices having lower accumulated error, creating a hybrid system that maintains positioning availability while reducing error accumulation through periodic correction from more accurate peers
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes the parameter of accumulated error as the basis for hierarchical relationships. Devices continuously update their error parameters based on movement and time, and these changing parameters determine which devices serve as peers for correction, allowing the system to adapt to varying positioning conditions and prevent error saturation
3Measurement precision
If a hierarchical device-to-device positioning network is implemented, then positioning accuracy is improved through error correction, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service mechanisms where each device autonomously calculates its own accumulated error, determines its hierarchical level, and selects appropriate peer devices for correction. This distributed self-organization eliminates the need for centralized control, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high positioning accuracy through automatic error correction
Data Source
AI summary
A method may include receiving, by a first computing device, a positional message from a second computing device. The positional message may indicate a position and an accumulated error of the indicated position corresponding to the second computing device. The accumulated error of the second computing device may be compared to an accumulated error of the first computing device in which the first and the second accumulated errors respectively represent degrees of uncertainty regarding respective positions and orientations of the first and second computing devices that increase over time. Responsive to the second accumulated error being less than the first accumulated error, a distance and an orientation of the first computing device relative to the second computing device may be assessed and a position of the first computing device in the environment may be updated based on the distance and the orientation.