System and method for location determination using received ADS-B accuracy data
A system and related methods for location determination aboard a subject vehicle not equipped with a GNSS-based positioning system receives position signals transmitted by non-satellite atmospheric vehicles and surface objects, which may include precise locations of the transmitting objects or position metrics associated with containment regions within which the transmitting objects should be to a particular certainty level. The received position signals may include ADS-B signals transmitted by proximate aircraft and facilities. The system may determine ownship location via multilateration of received position signals, via processing the received position metrics and corresponding containment regions, or via combining or correlating the two to determine accurate ownship location data of the subject vehicle.
1. A system for determining position data associated with a vehicle, comprising:
one or more antenna elements couplable to a subject vehicle;
a receiver coupled to the one or more antenna elements and configured to receive, via the one or more antenna elements, a plurality of position signals transmitted by at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects, the at least one receiver including a processor configured to:
extract remote position data from the plurality of position signals, the remote position data associated with at least one of a first proximate object and a second proximate object of the at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects and including one or more of:
1) a plurality of reported positions including at least a first reported position of the first proximate object and a second reported position of the second proximate object;
2) at least one position metric associated with the reported positions and including at least a) a first containment region associated with the first proximate object and b) a second containment region associated with the second proximate object;
and
determine ownship position data corresponding to the subject vehicle based on one or more of the extracted remote position data, the reported positions, and one or more common tangents associated with the first containment region and the second containment region.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more antenna elements include at least one of a directional antenna element and an omnidirectional antenna element.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of position signals includes at least one of an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) signal and a secondary surveillance radar (SSR) signal.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one position signal of the plurality of position signals includes timestamp data associated with a transmission time of the at least one position signal; and
the processor is configured to determine the ownship position data based on multilateration of the at least one position signal.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first containment region corresponds to a first probability that a first actual position of the first proximate object is within the first containment region;
and
the second containment region corresponds to a second probability that a second actual position of the second proximate object is within the second containment region.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the processor is configured to determine the ownship position data based on at least one intersection corresponding to two of the one or more common tangents.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the position metric includes one or more of a NIC value, a SIL value, and a NACp value.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the ownship position data based on monitoring of the plurality of reported positions over time.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the ownship position data includes one or more of:
first ownship position data based on multilateration of the plurality of position signals;
second ownship position data based on one or more of the plurality of reported positions and the at least one position metric.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects include at least one of a manned aircraft, an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), a ground-based facility, and a transmitter associated with a fixed location.
11. A method for determining the location of a vehicle-based receiver, comprising:
receiving, via a vehicle-based receiver, a plurality of position signals transmitted by at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects;
extracting from the plurality of position signals, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one of a reported position and a position metric associated with the reported position, the reported position associated with at least one proximate object of the at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects and the position metric including one or more containment regions, each containment region associated with the at least one proximate object;
and
determining, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one location corresponding to the vehicle-based receiver based on one or more of the plurality of reported positions and a plurality of common tangents, each common tangent associated with two containment regions of the one or more containment regions.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving, via a vehicle-based receiver, a plurality of position signals transmitted by at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects includes:
receiving, via the vehicle-based receiver, a plurality of ADS-B signals transmitted by at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein extracting from the plurality of position signals, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one of a reported position and a position metric associated with the reported position, the reported position associated with at least one proximate object of the at least four of atmospheric vehicles and ground-based objects includes:
extracting from the plurality of position signals, via the vehicle-based receiver, timestamp data associated with a plurality of transmission times of the plurality of position signals.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one location corresponding to the vehicle-based receiver based on a plurality of common tangents, each common tangent associated with two containment regions of the one or more containment regions includes:
determining, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one location corresponding to the vehicle-based receiver based on at least one intersection of the plurality of common tangents.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one location is a first location and determining, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one location corresponding to the vehicle-based receiver based on one or more of the plurality of reported positions and a plurality of common tangents, each common tangent associated with two containment regions of the one or more containment regions includes:
determining at least one second location corresponding to the vehicle-based receiver based on multilateration of the plurality of position signals;
and
determining, via the vehicle-based receiver, the at least one location by correlating the at least one first location and the at least one second location.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one location corresponding to the vehicle-based receiver based on one or more of the plurality of reported positions and a plurality of common tangents, each common tangent associated with two containment regions of the one or more containment regions includes:
determining, via the vehicle-based receiver, at least one location corresponding to the vehicle-based receiver by monitoring the plurality of reported positions over time.