Method for Remote Determination of Object Coordinates in Space Based on Exact Analytical Solution of Hyperbolic Equations

• Main Authors: Vladimir Kuptsov, Vladimir Badenko, Sergei Ivanov, Alexander Fedotov
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: positioning; unmanned aerial vehicle; time difference of arrival; ambiguity; determination of 3D coordinates; desynchronization in time
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/19/5472

Accurate remote determination of the object coordinates in 3D space is one of the main questions in many applications. In one of the most popular methods, such determination of the location of an object uses the measurement by receiving an electromagnetic signal transmitted by several spatially distributed base stations (BS). The main problem is that it is necessary to reduce errors and computation time. To overcome these difficulties, an analytical method for determining the position of an object based on the analysis of time difference of arrival (TDoA) of signals from the transmitter of the object to the receivers of the BS is proposed. One of the main advantages of this method is that it is possible to eliminate the ambiguity in determining the coordinates of the object in space and to increase the accuracy of determining the coordinates when the TDoA measurement between base stations fluctuates. Applications for autonomous automotive vehicles and spacebased positioning systems are analyzed. The results obtained show that the proposed algorithm has an accuracy of determining coordinates several times higher than the method of linearization of hyperbolic equations and is less sensitive to TDoA fluctuations at base stations.