Inventors:
Steen A. Parl - Arlington MA
Julian Bussgang - Lexington MA
Jay Weitzen - Chelmsford MA
James M. Zagami - Woburn MA
Assignee:
Signatron Technology Corporation - Concord MA
International Classification:
G01S 302
Abstract:
A position location system includes multiple base stations spaced over a region. A remote unit within the region transmits a locating signal which is received by the base stations. The base stations report amplitude, phase and time data related to the locating signal to a control station. The control station includes a processor and memory that combine the data from all of the participating base stations to directly compute an optimal estimate of the location of the portable unit. The control station generates a locator function based upon the probability that the portable unit is located at a particular position. By optimizing the locator function, the error in the computation is minimized to produce an accurate position estimate.