Vehicle Navigation Using Cellular Networks and Inertial Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle navigation systems are susceptible to GPS loss, jamming, and spoofing, which can lead to inaccurate location determination and reliability issues, especially in GPS-denied areas.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using cellular networks with an inertial navigation system, where a transmit antenna and a receive antenna are steered towards a cellular tower to request and receive cell identification signals, allowing digital computers to calculate the vehicle's location by determining the distance and angle to the tower, and refining the location estimate using a lookup table and Kalman filter.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS receiver is used to determine vehicle location, then navigation accuracy is improved, but susceptibility to loss, jamming, and spoofing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces cellular towers as intermediary reference points between the vehicle and the navigation system. Instead of directly relying on GPS satellites, the system uses terrestrial cellular infrastructure to provide location verification and correction, thereby reducing susceptibility to GPS jamming and spoofing while maintaining location determination accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the GPS-based satellite navigation mechanism with a cellular network-based terrestrial navigation mechanism. By substituting the space-based GPS system with ground-based cellular infrastructure, the system eliminates vulnerability to space-based jamming and spoofing while achieving comparable or improved location accuracy
2Reliability
If cellular networks are used for navigation, then reliability against jamming and spoofing is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the existing cellular network infrastructure for multiple purposes: communication and navigation. By making the cellular system multi-functional, the patent avoids adding dedicated navigation hardware, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high reliability against GPS jamming and spoofing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the cellular network's existing broadcast capabilities and infrastructure to provide navigation services. The cellular towers, already deployed for communication, are leveraged to provide location information, eliminating the need for separate dedicated navigation infrastructure and reducing system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a method for navigation of a vehicle using cellular networks that involves determining, with an inertial navigation system, a vehicle location estimate. The method also involves transmitting, with a transmit antenna, a transmit signal to the cellular tower requesting a cell identification (CID); and receiving, with a receive antenna, a receive signal from the cellular tower containing the CID. Further, the method involves determining the cellular tower location by looking up the CID in a lookup table; determining a difference in time from the time the transmit signal was sent to the time the receive signal was received; calculating the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower by using the time difference; and refining the vehicle location estimate by using the cellular tower location, the distance from the vehicle to the cellular tower, and the angle of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna.