| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 701216000 | Having an self-contained position computing means (e.g., dead reckoning) | 42 |
| 20080234935 | MULTI-SENSOR DATA COLLECTION and/or PROCESSING - The subject matter disclosed herein relates to the control and utilization of multiple sensors within a device. For an example, motion of a device may be detected in response to receipt of a signal from a first sensor disposed in the device, and a power state of a second sensor also disposed in the device may be changed in response to detected motion. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080262728 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR NAVIGATION USING GPS VELOCITY VECTOR - A navigation device includes a computer platform that includes a global positioning system (GPS) receiver operable to acquire and track a GPS signal, a processor assembly, and a memory. The memory includes at least one of last recorded Ephemeris and Almanac information, and a GPS velocity vector determination module operable to generate a velocity vector output in the absence of current Ephemeris based upon the tracked GPS signal and the last recorded GPS information. A method of vehicle navigation in the absence of current Ephemeris includes acquiring and tracking a GPS signal, retrieving from a memory a last recorded location of a vehicle, setting a dead reckoning startup location equal to the last recorded location, retrieving from a memory at least one of a last recorded Ephemeris and Almanac, determining a current velocity vector and determining a current location based upon the velocity vector and the dead reckoning startup location. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080294342 | Position Detecting Device And Position Detecting Method - A dead reckoning unit calculates vehicle position from a pitch angle and a yaw angle of dead reckoning sensors, a sensor installation pitch angle and a sensor installation yaw angle, and a moving distance calculated by a speed sensor, and calculates vehicle speed from an acceleration signal. On a first cycle, a first correction unit calculates the vehicle speed from signals output from the speed sensor, and corrects the pitch angle, the sensor installation pitch angle, and the sensor installation yaw angle, based on the difference between the thus calculated vehicle speed and the vehicle speed calculated by the dead reckoning unit. On a second cycle, a second correction unit corrects the pitch angle, the sensor installation pitch angle, the yaw angle, and the sensor installation yaw angle, by using vehicle position and speed output from a GPS receiver and vehicle position and speed output from the dead reckoning unit. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20090030612 | GPS-based attitude determination system with self-diagnosis function - A GPS-Based ADS for determining attitude and heading of a moving body comprises a GPS receiver, an inertial sensor unit, a blockage area calculator, a sensor anomaly detector and a monitor. The GPS-Based ADS provides information useful for making a judgment on appropriateness of installation sites and mounting conditions of a GPS antenna and inertial sensors based on blockage area information concerning each satellite signal blockage area obtained by the blockage area calculator and sensor signal anomaly information concerning each inertial sensor anomaly obtained by the sensor anomaly detector. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090037106 | Collaborative GPS/INS system and method - A real-time integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) system in which each aids the other to offer continuously available navigation information by each GPS and INS subsystem calculating an initial solution, providing the initial solution to the other GPS or INS subsystem, and then each GPS and INS subsystem calculating a collaborative solution based on the initial solution received from the other GPS or INS subsystem. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090063051 | Method And Apparatus Of Updating Vehicle Position And Orientation - A method of updating the position and orientation of a vehicle at startup of a navigation system using both a GPS receiver and a dead reckoning sensor includes the acts of storing the vehicle position and orientation when the navigation system is inoperative and setting the stored vehicle position and orientation as the initial vehicle position and orientation when the navigation system is operative; estimating a vehicle position and orientation by using a signal output from the dead reckoning sensor and the initial vehicle position and orientation after the navigation system becomes operative; determining whether the reliability of a GPS orientation obtained by the GPS receiver becomes sufficiently high after the navigation system becomes operative; and updating the current vehicle position by using the GPS orientation and the estimated vehicle position when the reliability of the GPS orientation obtained by the GPS receiver becomes sufficiently high. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090070038 | Navigation Device with Automatic Gps Precision Enhancement - A navigation device is disclosed including a processor arranged to receive position information from a positioning device. The processor is also arranged to receive movement information from a movement detector and determine whether said device is standing still using said movement information. In at least one embodiment, if a standstill of the device is determined, the processor calculates an average position over time using information on consecutive positions received from the positioning system during a time period in which the device is standing still. The average position is used for navigation purposes, such as giving instructions to the user. By averaging during a standstill, a more accurate position can be determined which can be used to give better instructions. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090076727 | Integrated positioning apparatus and implementation method thereof - An integrated positioning apparatus includes a processing module, a satellite positioning module, an inertial positioning module, a transmission interface and a switching module. The processing module is utilized for executing a navigation program. The satellite positioning module functions to provide satellite positioning information. The inertial positioning module is used for generating inertial positioning information. The switching module is connected between the processing module and the transmission interface for receiving a control signal furnished by the processing module and is selectively switched to a first status or a second status based on the control signal. While in the first status, the switching module drives the transmission interface to connect to the satellite positioning module so as to transmit the satellite positioning information to the processing module for navigating. While in the second status, the switching module drives the transmission interface to connect to the inertial positioning module so as to transmit the inertial positioning information to the processing module for navigating. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090082966 | NAVIGATION DEVICE - A navigation device is designed to calculate the present position thereof based on the output data of a GPS unit in association with an acceleration sensor and a magnetic sensor. When the absolute value of the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor is above the prescribed threshold, the navigation device calculates the present position based on the previously detected values of the position and running speed stored in memory. When the absolute value of the acceleration is below the prescribed threshold, the navigation device detects the uniform motion applied thereto; hence, it calculates the present position based on the bearing detected by the magnetic sensor as well as the previously detected values of the position and running speed stored in the memory with high precision irrespective of the offset error of the acceleration sensor. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090088976 | AZIMUTH DETECTING DEVICE AND AZIMUTH DETECTING METHOD - An azimuth detecting device mounted in a mobile object and having: a geomagnetic sensor; GPS signal receiving means; and measuring means for measuring a position of the mobile object by using a GPS signal, the azimuth detecting device being characterized in calculating a gain correction amount by means of a method of least squares, using an output value of the geomagnetic sensor when a level of the GPS signal received by the GPS signal receiving means is lower than a predetermined level, and calculating a declination correction amount and/or an inclination correction amount on the basis of information obtained from the GPS signal and correcting the output value of the geomagnetic sensor, when the level of the GPS signal is at least the predetermined level. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090099774 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVED POSITION DETERMINATION OF VEHICLES - Systems and methods for determining a position of a vehicle are described. The system includes at least one GNSS sensor mounted to the vehicle for receiving GNSS signals of a global positioning system and at least one physical sensor mounted to the vehicle for generating physical data indicative of a physical parameter of at least a part of the vehicle. The system also includes a recursive statistical estimator, such as a Kalman Filter, in communication with the GNSS sensor(s) for seeding the recursive statistical estimator with an output of the GNSS sensor(s) to determine an estimated position of the vehicle. A data fusion module combines the estimated position and velocity of the vehicle with the physical data thus generating combined data, which is used to seed the recursive statistical estimator to determine an updated estimated position of the vehicle. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090138200 | Portable Navigation System - An apparatus and method for providing personal navigation and location information is disclosed. For one embodiment, a personal navigation system includes a navigation module to receive and determine personal navigation and location information and a display communicatively coupled to the sensor for displaying the personal navigation and location information to a user. The display is detachably joined to the sensor allowing the display to be detached from the sensor and moved such that movement of the display does not impair the determination of the personal navigation and location information. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090254278 | LOW AUTHORITY GPS AIDING OF NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR ANTI-SPOOFING - A method and apparatus for generating navigation solutions. A global positioning system based navigation solution unit; an inertial navigation solution unit; a correction unit, a limiter, and an adding unit. The global positioning system based navigation solution unit is capable of generating a first navigation solution. The inertial navigation solution unit is capable of generating a second navigation solution. The correction unit is capable of generating a raw correction. The limiter is capable of selectively modifying the raw correction to fall within a selected range of corrections to form a correction. The adding unit is capable of adding the correction to the second navigation solution to form a navigation solution. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090265104 | Navigation System and Method of Obtaining Accurate Navigational Information in Signal Challenging Environments - A present invention embodiment includes a navigation system with a front-end GPS receiver, auxiliary sensors and a digital signal processor providing filtering and other processing. The navigation system enhances a UTC type architecture by employing an inertial compensation unit and a stochastic regulator. The inertial compensation unit compensates for inertial errors within the sensors, while the stochastic regulator applies an optimal stochastic control law to control system operation. The inertial compensation unit and stochastic regulator mitigate instability within the navigation system and provide: the functionality to attain high position accuracy in the sub-meter range that is stable and reliable; an optimal solution evident in the process of signal recovery time after loss and reacquisition, thereby resulting in signal-loss recovery with an order of magnitude improvement; and the ability to mitigate inertial errors that originate in the sensors. The navigation system provides navigation information for indoor and urban environmental conditions. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090287413 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING MAGNETIC HEADING OUTPUT FROM AN INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM - Systems and methods for determining magnetic heading information for a vehicle. In one example, the system identifies at least one polar exclusion area based on predefined rate-of-change of magnetic variation (magvar). Locally stored magvar information is retrieved based on received vehicle position information that is outside the polar exclusion areas. Magnetic heading is determined based on the retrieved magvar information, the received position information, and the received true heading information. In another example, the magnetic heading is determined based on the retrieved magvar and magvar rate-of-change information, on the received vehicle position and true heading information, and on the received date information. In another example, the magnetic heading is determined based on the received vehicle position, true heading, and date information, and on the magvar retrieved from a world magnetic model utilizing stored model coefficients. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090319186 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A NAVIGATIONAL STATE OF A VEHICLE - Methods and apparatus are provided for determining a navigational state of a vehicle, the vehicle having at least one pivotable wheel and a plurality of front wheels. The apparatus comprises a steering angle sensor coupled to the at least one pivotable wheel for determining a steering angle, a plurality of wheel speed sensors each coupled to a different one of the plurality of pivotable wheels for determining an angular velocity of each of the plurality of pivotable wheels, a GPS receiver coupled to the vehicle for receiving GPS positioning data, and a processor coupled to the steering angle sensor, the plurality of wheel speed sensors, and the GPS receiver. The processor is configured to determine a yaw rate for the vehicle based on the positioning data, the steering angle, and the longitudinal angular velocity of each of the plurality of front wheels, and integrate the yaw rate to determine a heading for the vehicle. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20100030470 | GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM AND DEAD RECKONING (GPS&DR) INTEGRATED NAVIGATION SYSTEM - A global positioning system and dead reckoning (GPS&DR) integrated navigation system includes a GPS receiver coupled to a moving object for periodically generating GPS navigation information of said moving object, a DR system coupled to said moving object for periodically calculating DR navigation information of said moving object, and a filter coupled to said GPS receiver and said DR system for periodically calculating navigation information of said moving object, wherein said filter gets observation information by integrating said GPS navigation information and said DR navigation information according to a weight value of said GPS navigation information and a weight value of said DR navigation information, and calculates a current navigation information by integrating said observation information with previous navigation information from a plurality of previous cycles. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100049439 | APPARATUS FOR INTEGRATED NAVIGATION BASED ON MULTI FILTER FUSION AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING NAVIGATION INFORMATION USING THE SAME - Provided are an integrated navigation apparatus and a method for providing navigation information using the same. The integrated navigation apparatus includes a first filter, a second filter, a mode probability updating unit, a first navigation information calculating unit, a second navigation information calculating unit, a fusion unit and a navigation information fusion unit. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100121572 | System and Method for Tracking a Moving Person - Systems and methods are provided for tracking a moving person. The system comprises a controller configured to receive acceleration data that characterizes an acceleration of the moving person in three dimensions. The controller comprises a step rate component that determines a step rate for the person based on a vertical component of the acceleration data. The controller also comprises a body offset component that determines a body offset angle based on a spectral analysis of the acceleration data and the step rate. The controller further comprises a velocity component that determines a reference velocity vector based on the body offset angle and the step rate. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100179758 | AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION USING THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM AND AN ATTITUDE AND HEADING REFERENCE SYSTEM - A vehicle navigation technique uses a receiver for signals of a global positioning system to produce a first position indication and a first velocity indication. An attitude and heading reference system employs accelerometers and gyroscopes oriented along three axes. The raw signals from the accelerometers and gyroscopes are used to derive a second position indication and a second velocity value. A Kalman filter function is applied to the first and second position indications and to the first and second velocity indications to thereby produce a present position indication and a present velocity indication. The Kalman filter function exploits GPS data to corrects periodic drift in the position and velocity indications derived form the accelerometers and gyroscopes by calculating accelerometer and gyroscope biases, thereby enabling relatively inexpensive devices to be utilized. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100198511 | Portable Navigation System - A portable navigation module and its method of operation are disclosed for seamlessly providing navigation and positioning information to a user. The module comprises: means, such as a GPS receiver, for receiving a first set of navigational information from an external source, such as satellites; and an inertial sensor unit for generating a second set of navigational information at the module. The navigational information is used by a processor programmed with a core algorithm, to identify the mode of conveyance algorithm and an orientation or misalignment algorithm. The algorithm utilizes the navigational information, aided by the mode of conveyance information and the orientation information, to produce a filtered navigation solution (which comprises position, velocity and attitude). The solution is suitably displayed, preferably on a detachable display unit. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100211315 | GPS COMPOSITE NAVIGATION APPARATUS - In a GPS composite navigation apparatus of a configuration having a GPS receiver, variation in an estimated position, an estimated velocity, and an estimated azimuth of a moving body when the moving body is not moving is resolved, and the GPS/INS integrated navigation system with good response characteristics from a stationary state to a moving state. A stationary detector for determining the stationary state of the moving body is provided, and when it is determined to be the stationary state by the stationary detector, a measurement model used for measurement-update of a Kalman filter is changed, while a changed amount of an error covariance matrix by the update is corrected. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100211316 | HIGHLY INTEGRATED GPS, GALILEO AND INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM - The navigation system described here utilizes GPS and Galileo satellite signals combined with Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), where a Coupled Antenna (CAN) provides both GNSS and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data to a Highly Integrated GNSS-Inertial (Hi-Gi) receiver. Such receiver makes use of a high fidelity relation between GNSS unprocessed Correlator Output (COUT) I and Q data and the user trajectory, and inertial sensor data, which in turn are combined within a Kalman Filter (KF). The KF determines the navigation solution that is also used to provide feedback to the receiver demodulation signal processing stage, thus eliminating the need of dedicated structures such as Delayed Locked Loops (DLL) and Phase Locked Loops (PLL), allowing a significant improvement in navigation performance. The improvement allows this system to provide high quality measurements and operate in circumstances where usual techniques are not usable; for example during satellite signal interruption due to obstruction, or in very high dynamics or even in attenuated signal environments, due to, for example, the canopy of trees. The KF also makes use of particular Galileo signal characteristics, lock detectors and Coupled Antenna that allow the system to operate in such environments. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100217524 | Navigation device, method, and program - Devices, methods, and programs identify a leading candidate point by calculating a cost for candidate points on a road, and match a vehicle position to the identified leading candidate point. The devices, methods, and programs acquire an estimated vehicle position based on dead reckoning navigation, acquire a GPS position of the vehicle, and set the candidate points for the vehicle position on nearby roads. The devices, methods, and programs calculate for each candidate point a normal cost of the candidate point with respect to the estimated position and a correction cost that corresponds to a value L | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100250133 | GNSS METHOD AND RECEIVER WITH CAMERA AID - A method of computing navigation information in a portable device comprising a GNSS receiver arranged to receive navigation signals from a plurality of navigation satellites, and a GNSS processor to extract a GNSS position information from said navigation signals. The GNSS receiver is also arranged to obtain image data from a camera module. The method comprises the steps of: deriving a set of position information from the camera module; providing the camera-derived position information to a navigation processor; using said set of camera-derived position information and said navigation signals, to generate a position fix of the GNSS receiver; computing navigation information based on said generated position fix. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100268465 | POSITION DETERMINATION APPARATUS AND METHOD - A method of determining a location of a User Equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes generating, by the UE, a database of location data for a plurality of locations; receiving at least one navigation signal at a particular area; determining an identity of a cell in which the UE is currently located at the particular area; and determining the location of the UE at the particular area using the at least one navigation signal, the identity of the current cell, and at least a portion of the data stored in the database. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100274485 | Information communication device and navigation system having the same - A communication unit communicates information via near-field wireless communications. An information generating unit derives a travel distance, by which a movable object moves in a predetermined time period, and generates travel information including at least the generated travel distance. A transmission control unit transmits the generated travel information to a portable navigation device via the communication unit. A GPS receiver receives a signal from a GPS Satellite. A current position deriving unit successively derives a current position according to the signal received by the GPS receiver. A travel information obtaining unit obtains the generated travel information. A position estimating unit estimates an estimated current position moved from a previous current position, which is previously derived by the current position deriving unit, according to the travel information obtained by the travel information obtaining unit. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100324821 | System and Method for Locating Network Nodes - As system for locating a network node may be implemented as a static network device for determining location of a mobile node. The system includes a transceiver for receiving a device identifier over a public network from the mobile node, the device identifier based on a user-configurable parameter and a non-user-configurable parameter of the mobile node, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and to memory containing executable code. When executed, the code effects method steps for: accessing, in response to the transceiver receiving the device identifier, a database of authorized device identifiers corresponding to known mobile nodes, establishing, in response to the device identifier matching one of the authorized device identifiers, a secure private network with the mobile node, and communicating with two additional static network devices, the three static network devices implementing triangulation to determine a location of the mobile node. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100324822 | Navigation System Using Hybridization by Phase Measurements - The invention relates to a navigation system for aircraft comprising inertial sensors, a GNSS receiver and potentially a baro-altimeter. The measurements from the inertial sensors are hybridized with the code and phase measurements from the receiver within a main Kalman filter and, possibly, secondary filters. The said measurements are corrected for several types of errors, notably those due to the passage of the satellite signals through the ionospheric layers. The precision of the determination of the position of the aircraft is greatly improved, both in the horizontal plane and in the vertical direction. This is also the case for the corresponding protection radii, which allows margins to be created in order to satisfy the integrity constraints for the navigation solution. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100332135 | SATELLITE NAVIGATION/DEAD-RECKONING NAVIGATION INTEGRATED POSITIONING DEVICE - Even when inertial navigation is performed, whether or not the correction of a value detected by an external sensor is appropriate can be judged, so that a dramatically degraded positioning result is prevented from being outputted. A navigation device ( | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110054791 | POSITION ESTIMATION FOR GROUND VEHICLE NAVIGATION BASED ON LANDMARK IDENTIFICATION/YAW RATE AND PERCEPTION OF LANDMARKS - A landmark-based method of estimating the position of an AGV (autonomous ground vehicle) or conventional vehicle, which has an onboard database of landmarks and their location coordinates. During travel, the AGV looks for and identifies landmarks. It navigates according to position estimations that are based on measured yaw rate and speed. When a landmark is encountered and recognized, its true location coordinates are looked up from the database. These true coordinates are then used to enhance position estimation accuracy between landmarks. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110106450 | SATELLITE NAVIGATION/DEAD-RECKONING NAVIGATION INTEGRATED POSITIONING DEVICE - Disclosed is a satellite navigation/dead-reckoning navigation integrated positioning device with improved accuracy of navigation data including position, velocity, and the like, which can be constituted at low cost. A tracking processing module ( | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110112767 | Systems and Methods for Determining Heading - Systems and methods for determining heading of a traveling vehicle are provided. The systems and methods employ an image system to capture and match multiple distinctive features of an image area at a first and second point in time and to determine unit-vectors associated with the multiple distinctive features. A global positioning system (GPS) provides a translation vector for the first and second point and time and a coupled processor employs the unit-vectors and the translation vector to provide a corrected heading. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110125404 | SPATIAL ALIGNMENT DETERMINATION FOR AN INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNIT (IMU) - The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a system and method for determining a spatial alignment of an inertial measurement unit (IMU). By way of example, a method is described in which a first vehicle-based direction is identified, and the first vehicle-based direction is associated with a first direction that is transformable to an earth-based coordinate frame. A spatial alignment of the IMU is determined based at least partially on the first direction. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110178707 | APPARATUS AND METHODOLOGY FOR CALIBRATION OF A GYROSCOPE AND A COMPASS INCLUDED IN A HANDHELD DEVICE - Novel techniques for estimating compass and gyroscope biases for handheld devices are disclosed. The handheld devices can include wireless phones, navigational devices and video gaming systems. The compass bias can be determined by causing a small movement of the handheld device and comparing the data obtained from the compass with the data obtained from the gyroscope. The gyroscope bias can be determined by obtaining a quaternion based angular velocity term of the handheld device when the accelerometer and compass data are reliable, and then comparing the angular velocity term to with the gyro data estimate the gyro bias. When the compass and/or the accelerometer data are unreliable, a previously determined quaternion angular velocity term is used, which was determined when the compass and the accelerometer were providing reliable data. The gyroscope bias can also be determined by measuring gyroscope biases at various temperatures in a non-factory setting, and storing that data in a memory, and using the data to estimate gyro biases when the accelerometer and/or the compass data are unreliable. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110184645 | USE OF ACCELEROMETER ONLY DATA TO IMPROVE GNSS PERFORMANCE - The present invention provides apparatus and methods for improving satellite navigation by assessing the dynamic state of a platform for a satellite navigation receiver and using this data to improve navigation models and satellite tracking algorithms. The dynamic state of the receiver platform may be assessed using only accelerometer data, and does not require inertial navigation system integration. The accelerometers may not need to be very accurate and may not need to be aligned and/or accurately calibrated. A method of accelerometer assisted satellite navigation may comprise: detecting a stationary condition of an accelerometer set; gross-calibrating the accelerometer set when in the stationary condition, wherein gross-calibrating includes determining a combined-bias of the accelerometer set; defining at least two acceleration levels using the combined-bias; collecting accelerometer data; categorizing the accelerometer data into one of the acceleration levels; and utilizing the categorized accelerometer data to enhance satellite navigation. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110191024 | PORTABLE MOBILE TRANSCEIVER FOR GPS NAVIGATION AND VEHICLE DATA INPUT FOR DEAD RECKONING MODE - A mobile transceiver device comprises a GPS receiver module to receive GPS signals and calculate current positions. The current positions are used in a navigation module. The mobile transceiver device comprises one or more local interface technologies, such as Bluetooth and USB. These local interface technologies can be used to communicate with an automobile data system. In situations where there is sporadic GPS coverage, the mobile transceiver device receives inputs from the automobile data system, such as speed or velocity information, and heading information, such as output from a compass, as available. These inputs are used in the navigation module of the mobile transceiver device to navigate by dead reckoning until an updated position fix based on received GPS signals can be calculated. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110208430 | MOBILE NAVIGATION DEVICE - A mobile navigation device operating in a first mode and a second mode is provided. In the first mode, a satellite positioning module is activated while a dead reckoning module is disabled. A processor calculates the coordinates of the mobile navigation device based on the satellite navigation signals received by the satellite positioning module. In the second mode, the satellite positioning module is disabled while the dead reckoning module is activated, and the processor updates the coordinates based on displacements and rotations detected by the dead reckoning module. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110238308 | PEDAL NAVIGATION USING LEO SIGNALS AND BODY-MOUNTED SENSORS - A navigation system includes a navigation radio and sensor mountable to a pedal subject. The navigation radio processes RF signals to derive successive range observables for one or more overhead assets such as low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. A sensor is operable to generate output useful in computing successive positional dead reckoning (PDR) data under pedal motion. The radio includes navigation code operable to obtain a navigation solution including an absolute position solution and one or more of a velocity solution, time solution, and attitude solution based on the successive range observables, ephemerides for the corresponding LEO satellite, and the generated successive PDR data. A PDR component including pedal motion constraints is corrected by occasional LEO satellite ranging data to generate a highly-accurate pedal navigation solution in environments where GPS fails, such as in buildings, shopping malls, dense forests, deep open-pit mines, urban canyons, or in jammed signal environments. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110282580 | METHOD OF IMAGE BASED NAVIGATION FOR PRECISION GUIDANCE AND LANDING - A method to improve landing capability for an aircraft is provided. The method includes storing calibrated-offline-reference images of at least one runway in the aircraft and capturing real-time images of a destination runway during an approach to the destination runway. The destination runway is one of the at least one runway. The method further includes comparing the real-time images of the destination runway with the calibrated-offline-reference images of the destination runway to select respective closest calibrated-offline-reference images from the calibrated-offline-reference images for the associated real-time images; evaluating translational differences and rotational differences between associated real-time images and selected closest calibrated-offline-reference images; and determining errors in translational coordinates and rotational coordinates provided by a navigation system in the aircraft during the approach based on the evaluated translational differences and rotational differences. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20120004843 | AZIMUTH DETECTING DEVICE AND AZIMUTH DETECTING METHOD - An azimuth detecting device mounted in a mobile object and having: a geomagnetic sensor; GPS signal receiving means; and measuring means for measuring a position of the mobile object by using a GPS signal, the azimuth detecting device being characterized in calculating a gain correction amount by means of a method of least squares, using an output value of the geomagnetic sensor when a level of the GPS signal received by the GPS signal receiving means is lower than a predetermined level, and calculating a declination correction amount and/or an inclination correction amount on the basis of information obtained from the GPS signal and correcting the output value of the geomagnetic sensor, when the level of the GPS signal is at least the predetermined level. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120029811 | PND REPOSITIONING DETECTOR FOR BETTER NAVIGATION ACCURACY IN A CAR - An apparatus and method for a personal navigation apparatus comprising a personal navigation device (PND) for providing navigational guidance information. The PND may include a single-dimensional magnetic detector for sensing magnetic flux amplitudes of a magnetic field generated by a magnet. Alternatively, the PND may include a three-dimensional magnetic detector and a magnetic calibration module for determining an ambient magnetic field calibration value representing immediate surroundings of the PND. | 02-02-2012 |
