TIME-DIFFERENCE POSITION-DETERMINATION SYSTEM FOR AEROSPACE AND TERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS

John E. Gaffney, Jr.

Peer Reviewed

Abstract: THIS PAPER DESCRIBES a system for the position determination of space, surface, and airborne vehicles. The use of the system in those applications in which the positions would be determined in three dimensions is stressed. With this system, the vehicle would emit radio frequency signals which would be received at four base stations. The times-of arrival of the signals would be measured there, and the positions of the vehicle calculated as being at the intersection of the three hyperboloids defined by the three time differences thereby determined. It is shown that the coordinates of the vehicle in the Cartesian format can be readily calculated from three linear equations, rather than from the considerably more complicated second order ones that would at first thought appear to be the only ones that would be obtainable. The applications of the proposed system to a satellite navigation problem and to air traffic control use are described. Profiles of position errors are provided for the “sample” casesc onsidered.
Published in: NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 16, Number 2
Pages: 182 - 190
Cite this article: Gaffney, John E., Jr.,, "TIME-DIFFERENCE POSITION-DETERMINATION SYSTEM FOR AEROSPACE AND TERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 16, No. 2, Summer 1969, pp. 182-190.
Full Paper: ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit
Sign In