Determination of state vector, timing, and navigation quality metrics from reception of SBS transmissions

1. A method of determining the position of a mobile device, comprising:

receiving at the mobile device a plurality of time-slotted messages from a respective plurality of reference devices, each of the time-slotted messages being broadcast during an assigned time slot having a known timing relative to a reference time, wherein each of the time-slotted messages contains a slot identification (ID) indicating the assigned time slot;

determining a time of reception of each of the time-slotted messages received at the mobile device;

using the slot ID to determine the time of transmission of each of the time-slotted messages received at the mobile device; and

determining a position of the mobile device via multi-lateration based on the time of transmission and the time of reception of each of the time-slotted messages and known positions of the reference devices.

2. The method claim 1 , wherein the time-slotted messages are received from respective Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground stations.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the plurality of time-slotted messages comprises receiving a plurality of Flight Information Service—Broadcast (FIS-B) messages containing the slot ID and latitude and longitude information for respective Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground stations transmitting the FIS-B messages.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

broadcasting from the mobile device the position of the mobile device determined from the time-slotted messages.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time of transmission is determined relative to a Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) epoch.

6. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver disposed on a mobile platform and configured to receive a plurality of time-slotted messages from a respective plurality of reference devices, each of the time-slotted messages being broadcast during an assigned time slot having a known timing relative to a reference time, wherein each of the time-slotted messages contains a slot identification (ID) indicating the assigned time slot; and

a processor disposed on the mobile platform, the processor being configured to:

determine a time of transmission of each of the time-slotted messages received at the mobile platform the time of transmission being determined from the slot ID; and

determine a position of the mobile platform via multi-lateration based on the time of transmission and a time of reception of each of the time-slotted messages and known positions of the reference devices.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the time of transmission of each of a plurality of time-slotted messages received by the receiver from Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground stations.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine the time of transmission of each of a plurality Flight Information Service—Broadcast (FIS-B) messages received by the receiver from a respective plurality of Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground stations, the time of transmission of each FIS-B message being determined from the slot ID contained therein; and

determine the position of the mobile platform based on SBS ground station position information contained in the FIS-B messages.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to supply the position of the mobile device to a transmitter system for broadcast.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the time of transmission relative to a Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) epoch.

11. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions and, when the software is executed, operable to:

determine a time of transmission of each of a plurality of time-slotted messages received at a mobile platform from a respective plurality of reference devices, each of the time-slotted messages being broadcast during an assigned time slot having a known timing relative to a reference time, wherein each of the time-slotted messages contains a slot identification (ID) indicating the assigned time slot, the time of transmission being determined from the slot ID; and

determine a position of the mobile platform via multi-lateration based on the time of transmission and a time of reception of each of the time-slotted messages and known positions of the reference devices.

12. The computer readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the instructions that are operable to determine the time of transmission comprise instructions that are operable to determine the time of transmission of time slotted messages received from Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground stations.

13. The computer readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein:

the instructions that are operable to determine the time of transmission comprise instructions that are operable to determine the time of transmission of each of a plurality of Flight Information Service—Broadcast (FIS-B) messages received from a respective plurality of Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground stations, the time of transmission of each FIS-B message being determined from the slot ID contained therein; and

the instructions that are operable to determine the position of the mobile platform include instructions that are operable to perform multi-lateration based on SBS ground station position information contained in the FIS-B messages.

14. The computer readable storage media of claim 11 , further comprising instructions operable to supply the position of the mobile device to a transmitter system for broadcast.

15. The computer readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the instructions that are operable to determine the time of transmission comprise instructions that are operable to determine the time of transmission relative to a Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) epoch.

16. A method of determining the position of a mobile device, comprising:

receiving at the mobile device a plurality of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) messages from a respective plurality of Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground stations;

determining a time of reception of each of the ADS-B messages received at the mobile device;

determining a time of transmission of each of the ADS-B messages received at the mobile device from information contained in a field of each of the ADS-B messages or within a field of respective subsequent messages; and

determining a position of the mobile device via multi-lateration based on the time of transmission and the time of reception of the ADS-B messages and known positions of the SBS ground stations.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the ADS-B messages are designated as beacon messages.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving the time of transmission of each of the ADS-B messages via the respective subsequent messages, wherein the respective subsequent messages comprise aircraft ID & category (ACID) messages reconfigured to contain the time of transmission of the respective ADS-B messages.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

broadcasting from the mobile device the position of the mobile device determined from the ADS-B messages.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the time of transmission of each of the ADS-B messages received at the mobile device is randomized.