Tunnel GPS Signal Replication for Vehicle Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current GPS systems fail to provide precise vehicle positioning within tunnels due to signal loss, and existing solutions often require additional hardware or modifications, making them costly and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A system of GPS transmitters installed within tunnels that replicate the GPS signal a vehicle would receive outside the tunnel, using processing units to generate and broadcast a processed GPS signal that mimics the signal from satellites, allowing continuous positioning without additional hardware or modifications to the vehicle's GPS system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS transmitters are installed within the tunnel to replicate GPS signals, then vehicle positioning precision is improved, but device complexity and infrastructure cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the copying principle by deploying GPS transmitters within the tunnel that replicate and retransmit GPS satellite signals. These transmitters create copies of the original GPS signals, allowing vehicles to receive positioning signals even when direct satellite reception is blocked by the tunnel structure. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining measurement precision through signal replication while using relatively simple transmitter devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The GPS transmitters act as intermediaries between the GPS satellites and the vehicle receivers. They receive or generate GPS satellite signals and retransmit them within the tunnel environment, enabling signal propagation through the obstructing medium. This intermediary approach maintains positioning precision while the infrastructure remains manageable through standardized transmitter units.
2Measurement precision
If additional hardware like external antennas or special equipment is added to determine vehicle position in tunnels, then positioning capability is improved, but ease of operation and cost efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates copies of GPS signals within the tunnel using transmitters that replicate satellite signals. This allows standard vehicle GPS receivers to function normally without requiring special hardware modifications, maintaining ease of operation while improving positioning capability in tunnel environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The GPS transmitters installed in the tunnel serve multiple functions: they amplify existing GPS signals, generate replica signals when satellite signals are unavailable, and provide continuous positioning capability. This universal approach allows standard vehicle equipment to maintain positioning capability without modifications, improving ease of operation.
3Measurement precision
If GPS signals are replicated within the tunnel using transmitters, then signal integrity is maintained, but use of energy and infrastructure maintenance cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The GPS transmitters can operate periodically rather than continuously, activating only when vehicles are detected in the tunnel or during specific time windows when signal replication is needed. This periodic operation maintains signal integrity when required while significantly reducing overall energy consumption compared to continuous transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The transmitter system dynamically adjusts its operation based on detected vehicle presence, tunnel location, and satellite signal availability. This dynamic behavior ensures signal integrity is maintained when needed while minimizing energy consumption during periods when replication is not required, resolving the contradiction between signal integrity and energy use.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
System and method for enabling a position determination of a vehicle in a tunnel. The present invention concerns a method and a system for providing a processed GPS signal enabling a vehicle moving within a tunnel to determine its position, the method comprising the steps - acquiring (201), for each GPS transmitter (41) installed within the tunnel at a specific location, a GPS signal at a position (42) on the earth surface at the vertical of its specific location, and recording GPS data for each GPS signal acquired; - for each GPS transmitter (41), processing (202) the GPS data of at least a part of the acquired GPS signals, and generating, from the processed GPS data, the processed GPS signal, the latter being characterized in that it reproduces the GPS signal that would be received by a GPS receiver of the vehicle moving within the tunnel at said specific location if there was an unobstructed line of sight between said specific location and GPS transmitting satellites (3); - transmitting the processed GPS signal by each of said GPS transmitters (41).