JP5730473B2 - Angle of arrival locator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides an arrival angle locating device that determines the arrival angles of received waves arriving at a plurality of antennas, and a received wave is transmitted by applying predetermined navigation to the plurality of arrival angles obtained by the arrival angle locating device. The present invention relates to a position locating device for obtaining the position of a spot.

The sonobuoy that wirelessly transmits the sound below the surface of the water must be specified in advance by a position locating device mounted on a moving body such as an aircraft (hereinafter simply referred to as “aircraft”).
In the conventional position locating device, the position of the Sonobuoy position has been realized under the following premise.

(1) It is known whether the direction in which the sonobuoy is located is the left or right direction with respect to the aircraft body.
(2) The direction of the sonobuoy subject to location determination is identified as the value of the direction cosine of the arrival angle θ of the received wave arriving from the sonobuoy, and is thus limited to either the left or right direction of the aircraft. The
(3) The initial value of the Sonobuoy position can be obtained with a certain degree of accuracy.

The prior arts related to the present invention include the prior arts listed below.
(1) “Multipath error compensation table 6 having data that compensates for multipath errors of the aircraft, and navigation data error compensation table 7 having data that compensates for errors in navigation data based on navigation signals output from the navigation device 20; The arrival angle is calculated based on the phase difference error compensation table 8 having data for compensating the phase difference error regarding the sonobuoy signal obtained by receiving and converting the transmission signal from the sonobuoy, and the angle signal and the navigation signal from the angle measuring unit 4. In this case, by including an error compensation / position evaluation calculator 5 that calculates the set position of the Sonobuoy using the arrival angle that has been error-compensated by referring to the error compensation data from the error compensation tables 6, 7, and 8, A simple configuration can suppress phase difference detection errors and movement state-related errors (navigation errors) inherent to the moving object (aircraft), and stable positioning of Sonobuoy Sonobuoy position evaluation device characterized in that it can be performed accurately and quickly ... Patent Document 1

(2) “The reference position is demodulated by the reception demodulator 24 from the received signal, and the reference position transmission buoy direction as viewed from the mobile object by the radio wave arrival angle detector 23 is received from the signal, and the two positions of the mobile object are received. Based on the orientation of the reference position transmission buoy at the two positions, the position of the reference position transmission buoy is evaluated by the evaluation processing unit 26 using the principle of triangulation, and the position correction data generation unit 25 performs the reference Position correction data representing an error between the rated position of the position transmitting buoy and the demodulated reference position is created, and the radio wave from the Sonobuoy is similarly processed by the radio wave arrival angle detecting unit 23 and the rating processing unit 26 to determine the position of the Sonobuoy. The sonobuoy position detection method characterized in that the position of the sonobuoy can be detected in a short time with high accuracy and at a low cost by evaluating and correcting this with position correction data by the position correction unit 27. Patent Document 2

(3) “The mobile device 104 includes devices 2 and 3 that transmit signals obtained by spectrum-spreading transmission time information using a mobile spreading code. The sonobuoy device receives the signal, and After despreading with the spreading code and demodulating the transmission time information, the transmission time information is spread again with the Sonobuoy spreading code and transmitted to the mobile device 104. Receiving the signal transmitted from the Sonobuoy device, despreading the signal with the Sonobuoy spreading code, demodulating the transmission time information, and calculating the difference between the transmission time information and the reception time information; The position of the sonobuoy can be detected with high accuracy in the moving body by providing the "8" sonobuoy position detection method ... Patent Document 3

JP-A-8-110373 JP-A-8-114664 JP-A-8-114665

However, in the above-described conventional example, if any of the sonobuoys is located in the direction of the left wing side or the right wing side of the airframe, it has not been specified correctly.
Also, the direction of the sonobuoy that can be located is identified only as the value of the direction cosine of the arrival angle θ of the received wave coming from the sonobuoy, and is thus limited to only the left or right direction of the aircraft. It was.

Furthermore, in the conventional example, depending on the flight path and attitude of the aircraft, it may be difficult to specify whether the direction in which the sonobuoy is located is on the right wing side or the left wing side of the aircraft.
Moreover, since the position of the sonobuoy on the water surface can change depending on the tidal current or the like, it has often been difficult to specify in which direction the right wing side or the left wing side of the aircraft is located.

An object of the present invention is to provide an angle-of-arrival locating apparatus capable of obtaining an arrival angle of a received wave flexibly and accurately without causing any significant complication of the configuration or a significant increase in running cost. And

In the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of the recording means is not arranged on the same straight line , and the moving means is combined with received waves arriving at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas mounted on the moving body. The position and posture of the moving body given by the body navigation system are recorded. The selecting means sequentially selects unique n (≦ N) pairs of two different received waves from the received waves recorded by the recording means. For each pair selected by the selection means, the arrival angle estimation means includes the phase difference and wavelength of the two received waves included , and the position of the moving body recorded in the recording means together with the two received waves included. and an attitude, sequentially obtains the arrival angle of the two ways determined by said distance between two antennas receiving waves arrives included. The uncertainty eliminating unit searches for one specific arrival angle that is included in the plurality of two arrival angles already obtained by the arrival angle estimating unit. The selecting means aborts the selection of the subsequent pair when the specific one angle of arrival is specified by the uncertainty eliminating means.

That is, the elimination of the uncertainty of the arrival angle is realized without wastefully selecting the pair applied for the elimination of the uncertainty.
Therefore, along with the reduction of running cost, the restrictions on mounting and thermal design can be eased.

  According to the present invention, the arrival angle ambiguity that has occurred in the conventional example is stable without significantly increasing the hardware configuration or processing amount, and without reducing accuracy. Eliminated.

In addition, the position of the transmission point of the received wave is not limited by the uncertainty, and the accuracy of the transmission point is not reduced due to an error included in the arrival angle of each received wave. It is required while flexibly following the displacement of the position.
Therefore, according to the present invention, the restriction on the location of the transmission point of the received wave is greatly relaxed, the orientation accuracy is stably maintained high, and flexible application to various fields is possible.

It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the antenna in this embodiment. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the angle-of-arrival calculation part in this embodiment. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the position location part in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the principle of operation of this embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, the position locating device 10 is mounted on, for example, an aircraft 30 and configured as follows. The aircraft 30 flies over the sea surface on which the sonobuoys 20-1 to 20-k are dropped, and antennas 31-1 to 31-N are attached to the aircraft 30. Note that the suffix numbers “1” to “N” added to the reference numeral “31” of the antennas 31-1 to 31-N are assigned in ascending order of the distance from the tip of the nose of the aircraft 30. The antennas 31-1 to 31- (N / 4), 31- (N / 4 + 1) to 31- (N / 2), 31- (N / 2 + 1) to 31- (3N / 4) , 31- (3N / 4 + 1) to 31-N, for example, when the number N of antennas 31-1 to 31-N is “8”, as shown in FIG. Arranged on B, C, and D at a constant interval d, the straight lines A and B cross each other, and the straight lines C and D also cross each other.

  The feeding points of the antennas 31-1 to 31-N are connected to the inputs of the plurality of receivers 11-1 to 11-N, respectively. The outputs of these receivers 11-1 to 11 -N are connected to corresponding inputs of the arrival angle calculation unit 12, and the outputs of the arrival angle calculation unit 12 are connected to the first input of the position location unit 13. A position and attitude of the aircraft 30 are given to the second input of the position locating unit 13 by a navigation system (not shown) of the aircraft 30, and outputs of the position locating unit 13 include sonobuoys 20-1 to 20-20. The individual positions (orientation results) that are standardized with respect to -k are output.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the arrival angle calculation unit in the present embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the position locating unit in the present embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation principle of this embodiment.

  The operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the following, among the sonobuoys 20-1 to 20-k, a specific sonobuoy for which the position is to be determined is assigned a code “20” that does not include any of the suffix numbers “1” to “k”. write.

Receiver 11-1 to 11-N takes the received wave r ₁ ~r _N coming from the sonobuoy 20 to the antenna 31-1 to 31-N, for example, the angle of arrival is calculated as a predetermined intermediate frequency signal or baseband signal Delivered to part 12.

The arrival angle calculation unit 12 performs the following process (hereinafter referred to as “arrival angle calculation process”).
(1) Based on the position and attitude of the aircraft 30 given from the navigation system described above, and the mounting positions on the aircraft 30 of the antennas 31-1 to 31-N from which these received waves r _{1 to} r _N arrive Then, absolute positions of these antennas 31-1 to 31-N in a predetermined coordinate system (hereinafter referred to as “positioning coordinate system”) are obtained (step S1 in FIG. 3).

(2) The received waves r _{1 to} r _N are converted into digital signals (step S2 in FIG. 3), and the absolute positions of the antennas 31-1 to 31-N are stored together with these digital signals (see FIG. 3 step S3).

(3) Received waves r _{1 to} r _{(N / 4)} , r _{(N / 4 + 1) to} r _{(N / 2 )} , r _{(N / 2 + 1) to} r _{(3N / 4)} , stored in this way from _{r (3N / 4 + 1)} ~r n, two different reception wave pair (hereinafter, referred to as "received wave pair".) each number n of _{(= 1 ≦ (n / 2} ) C 2) or by selecting ( FIG. 3 step S4). In the following, it is assumed that the number N of antennas 31-1 to 31-N is “8”.

(4) Of the received wave pairs selected in this way, for example, the following processes (4-1) to (4-3) are performed on the received wave pair (r ₁ , r ₂ ).

(4-1) The phase difference δ1 of the received wave pair (r ₁ , r ₂ ) is obtained (step S5 in FIG. 3). Such a phase difference δ1 is caused by a difference in propagation path length between the received waves r ₁ and r ₂ (FIG. 5 (a)).

(4-2) An arrival angle α1 (FIG. 5 (b)) represented by the following equation is obtained with respect to the wavelength λ of the received waves r ₁ and r ₂ and the distance d between the antennas 31-1 and 31-2 ( FIG. 3 step S6). The term α1 in the following equation is the arrival angle (0 ≦ α1 <2π) of the received waves r ₁ and r ₂ shown with reference to the positions of the antennas 31-1 and 31-2 on the straight line A described above. .
α1 = cos ⁻¹ (λ · δ1 / (2πd))

(4-3) An arrival angle α1 ′ (0 ≦ α1 ′ <2π) (FIG. 5 (d)) indicating a direction (FIG. 5 (c)) symmetrical to the direction of the arrival angle α1 with respect to the straight line A is obtained. (FIG. 3, step S7).

(5) The following processes (5-1) to (5-3) are performed on the received wave pair (r ₃ , r ₄ ).
(5-1) The phase difference δ2 of the received wave pair (r ₃ , r ₄ ) is obtained (step S8 in FIG. 3). Such a phase difference δ2 is caused by a difference in propagation path length between the received waves r ₃ and r ₄ (FIG. 5 (e)).

(5-2) An arrival angle α2 (FIG. 5 (f)) expressed by the following equation is obtained with respect to the wavelength λ of the received waves r ₃ and r ₄ and the distance d between the antennas 31-3 and 31-4 ( FIG. 3 step S9). The term α2 in the following expression is the arrival angle (0 ≦ α2 <2π) of the received waves r ₃ and r ₄ shown with reference to the positions of the antennas 31-3 and 31-4 on the straight line B described above. .
α2 = cos ⁻¹ (λ · δ2 / (2πd))

(5-3) An arrival angle α2 ′ (0 ≦ α2 ′ <2π) (FIG. 5 (h)) indicating a direction (FIG. 5 (g)) symmetrical to the direction of the arrival angle α2 with respect to the straight line B is obtained. (FIG. 3, step S10).

(6) by performing a process according to the above process (4-1) to (4-3) on the received wave pair (r _{5, r 6),} the arrival of the received wave r _5, r ₆ of the following formula The angles α3 and α3 ′ are obtained (step S11 in FIG. 3). The terms α3 and α3 ′ in the following expression are shown with reference to the positions of the antennas 31-5 and 31-6, and are symmetric with respect to the straight line on which the antennas 31-5 and 31-6 are arranged. The angles of arrival of the received waves r ₅ and r ₆ (0 ≦ α3 <2π, 0 ≦ α3 ′ <2π).
α3 = cos ⁻¹ (λ · δ3 / (2πd))

(7) by performing the processing according to the above process (4-1) to (4-3) on the received wave pair (r _{7, r 8),} arrival of the received wave r _7, r ₈ of the following formula The angles α4 and α4 ′ are obtained (step S12 in FIG. 3). The terms α4 and α4 ′ in the following formula are shown with reference to the positions of the antennas 31-7 and 31-8, and are symmetric with respect to the straight line on which the antennas 31-7 and 31-8 are arranged. The arrival angles of the received waves r ₇ and r ₈ (0 ≦ α4 <2π, 0 ≦ α4 ′ <2π).
α4 = cos ⁻¹ (λ · δ4 / (2πd))

(8) Among the arrival angles α1, α1 ′, one arrival angle ψ1 (0 ≦ ψ1 <2π) that satisfies the following expression is specified for the crossing angle χ _AB of the straight lines A and B (step in FIG. 3). S13).
ψ1 = π−χ _AB −α2 (or π−χ _AB −α2 ′)

(9) The arrival angle ψ1 is converted into the arrival angle ψ1 ′ in the positioning coordinate system described above by performing the arithmetic operation shown in the following equation. Here, K1 is a correction value associated with the positions of the antennas 31-1 to 31-4 being indicated by the positioning coordinate system (step S14 in FIG. 3).
ψ1 '= ψ1 + K1

(10) Among the arrival angles α3 and α3 ′, one arrival angle ψ2 (0 ≦ ψ2 <2π) for which the following equation is established with respect to the intersection angle χ _CD of the straight lines C and D is specified (step in FIG. 3). S15).
ψ2 = π−χ _CD −α4 (or π−χ _CD −α4 ′)

(11) By performing the arithmetic operation shown in the following equation, the angle of arrival ψ2 is converted to the angle of arrival ψ2 'in the positioning coordinate system described above. Here, K2 is a correction value associated with the positions of the antennas 31-5 to 31-8 indicated in the positioning coordinate system (step S16 in FIG. 3).
ψ2 '= ψ2 + K2

For example, each time the arrival angles ψ1 ′ and ψ2 ′ described above are calculated by the arrival angle calculation unit 12, the position determination unit 13 performs the following process (hereinafter referred to as “position determination process”).
(1) The center of gravity (middle point) GA between the antennas 31-1 and 31-2 on the straight line A (or the center of gravity of the section between the antennas 31-3 and 31-4 on the straight line B ( Midpoint) GB) and the center of gravity (midpoint) GC between the antennas 31-5 and 31-6 on the straight line C (or between the antennas 31-7 and 31-8 on the straight line D) The coordinates in the positioning coordinate system with the center of gravity (midpoint GD) of the section are identified (step S1 in FIG. 4).

(2) A first half line that can be drawn from the center of gravity (midpoint) GA (or GB) in the direction of the arrival angle ψ1 ′, and a drawing from the center of gravity GC (or GD) in the direction of the arrival angle ψ2 ′. A second half line that can be identified is identified (step S2 in FIG. 4).
(3) The position of the sonobuoy 20 is specified as the intersection of these half lines (step S3 in FIG. 4).

  That is, the uncertainty or ambiguity of the sonobuoy that has occurred in the conventional example can be easily eliminated without significantly increasing the hardware configuration or the processing amount.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, compared with the conventional example, the restrictions on the orientation of the position of the sonobuoy are greatly relaxed, and the accuracy of the orientation is stably maintained high.
In this embodiment, since the number of antennas arranged on each of the straight lines A, B, C, and D is “2” or more, the antennas are arranged on these straight lines A, B, C, and D, respectively. The number of received wave pairs arriving at the selected antenna is limited to one.

  However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, when the number of antennas respectively disposed on part or all of the straight lines A, B, C, and D is “3” or more, The phase difference of the received waves individually arriving at these three or more antennas is an integration process that improves the accuracy of one arrival angle (for example, arrival angle ψ1 ′) obtained by eliminating the uncertainty described above. Etc. may be applied.

In the present embodiment, the arrival angle calculation process and the position location process are realized as digital domain processes.
However, in these cases, for example, in the case where none of the received waves arriving at the antennas 31-1 to 31-N is stored, the analog domain processing equivalent to the above-described processing is performed in parallel. May be applied.

  Furthermore, when the above-described arrival angle calculation processing and position location processing are to be realized as “processing in which the altitude of the aircraft 30 with respect to the sea surface is taken into consideration”, for example, three antennas 31-1 to 31-N are provided. It may be expanded to three dimensions by arranging a plurality of each on a straight line.

In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a position locating device that locates the position of the sonobuoy 20 based on the angle of arrival of the received wave.
However, the present invention is not limited to such positioning of the position of the sonobuoy 20, but can also be applied to determine the azimuth and position of various radio frequency signal transmission points.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the arrival angles of received waves individually arriving at a plurality of antennas from any one of the sonobuoys 20-1 to 20-k are obtained, and the position of the one sonobuoy is determined based on these arrival angles. The present invention has been applied to standardize.
However, the present invention is not limited to such an application. For example, if different wireless transmission paths are formed between the plurality of sonobuoys by applying a predetermined multiple access method, the plurality of these multiple access methods are used. It is equally applicable to the orientation of the individual angles of arrival and position of Sonobuoy.

In this embodiment, since the number N of the antennas 31-1 to 31-N is “8”, the received waves r _{1 to} r _{(N / 4)} and r _{(N / 4 + 1) to} r _{(N / 2), r (N / 2} + 1) ~r (3N / 4), r (3N / 4 + 1) none of the ~r _N corresponds to one of the received wave pair, Therefore, these received wave _r 1 ~r _{( N / 4), r (N} / 4 + 1) ~r (N / 2), select _{r (N / 2 + 1)} ~r (3N / 4), r (3N / 4 + 1) ~r plurality of received waves pairs from _N The processing to do is unnecessary.

However, according to the present invention, when the number N of the antennas 31-1 to 31-N is “9”, the received waves r _{1 to} r _{(N / 4)} and r _{(N / 4 + 1) to} r _{(N / 2), r (N / 2} + 1) ~r (3N / 4), r (3N / 4 + 1) ~r plurality of received waves pairs from some or all of the _N is appropriately selected, such redundant reception wave It may be used to increase the accuracy of the arrival angle ψ1 ′ (ψ2 ′).

In this embodiment, the received waves r _{1 to} r _{(N / 4)} , r _{(N / 4 + 1) to} r _{(N / 2 )} , r _{(N / 2 + 1) to} r _{(3N / 4)} , r _{(3N / 4 + 1) to} r _N , both of a process for selecting a desired number of received wave pairs and the process described above applied to all selected received wave pairs are performed.
However, when the arrival angle ψ1 ′ (ψ2 ′) is obtained with the desired accuracy, all or one of the process of selecting a new received wave and the process performed based on the surplus received wave pair is aborted. As a result, the running cost can be reduced, and the restrictions on mounting and thermal design can be eased.

Further, in the present embodiment, any of the antennas 31-1 to 31-N is physically attached to the aircraft 30 and these antennas 31-1 to 31-N are included in every four groups divided. Based on the phase difference of the received waves arriving at the two antennas, the arrival angle of the received waves (azimuth angle of the sonobuoy 20) and the position of the sonobuoy 20 are realized.

However, the present embodiment is not limited to such a configuration. For example, even if the arrangement and the number N of antennas that can be mounted on the aircraft 30 are limited, the arrival angle is configured as follows. It is possible to improve the accuracy of (azimuth angle) and position orientation.

(1) The number N of antennas is set to a small number of “2” or more.
(2) The arrival angle (azimuth angle) and position are obtained under the navigation coordinate system given by the navigation system of the aircraft 30. When such an arrival angle (azimuth angle) cannot be obtained under the navigation coordinate system, the arrival angles (azimuth angles) obtained at different positions of the aircraft 30 are transferred to the common navigation coordinate system. After mapping, it may be used for position location.

(3) The above-mentioned conditions “the straight line A and the straight line B intersect” and “the straight line C and the straight line D intersect” are based on the position and posture of the aircraft 30 given by the navigation system ( Or the direction of the nose).

(4) The physical distance between the two antennas belonging to some or all of the above four groups is such that the change in the position (the position of these two antennas) according to the movement of the aircraft 30 is the navigation coordinate system described above. By being specified below, a large value can be set flexibly and accurately.

In the present embodiment, the antennas 31-1 to 31-N are attached to the aircraft 30, and the orientation and position of the sonobuoy 20 are determined based on the phase difference of the received waves that have arrived at these antennas 31-1 to 31-N. Orientation has been realized.
However, the present invention can be applied to transmitters other than the Sonobuoy 20 and orientation of the transmission points, and the antennas 31-1 to 31 -N may be attached to a moving body other than the aircraft 20.

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various configurations can be made within the scope of the present invention, and any improvement may be applied to all or some of the components.

In the present embodiment, the arrival angles ψ1 ′, ψ2 ′ (or ψ1, ψ2) are all obtained as a plurality of values in a desired coordinate system, and these plurality of values are described above. Accuracy may be increased by integration or averaging prior to (or subsequent to) elimination of uncertainty (ambiguity).

Hereinafter, the inventions disclosed in the present application will be organized and listed in a format according to the descriptions in the “Claims” and “Means for Solving the Problems” columns.

[ 1 ] Unique n (≦ N) pairs of two received waves selected from received waves arriving at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line The angle of arrival for obtaining two arrival angles determined by the phase difference between the two received waves included individually, the interval between the antennas where the two received waves included individually arrive, and the wavelength of the two received waves. A rough estimate and
An arrival angle locating device comprising: uncertainty elimination means for obtaining one specific arrival angle that is included in the two arrival angles obtained for the n pairs.

In the invention described in [1] , the arrival angle estimation means is selected from received waves that have arrived at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line, and from two different received waves For a unique n (≦ N) pair, the phase difference between the two received waves individually included, the interval between the antennas from which the two received waves included individually, and the wavelengths of the two received waves Find the two angles of arrival determined by The uncertainty exclusion unit obtains one specific arrival angle included in both of the two arrival angles obtained for the n sets of pairs.

  That is, for any of the above unique n pairs of pairs, the arrival angle uncertainty that arises because there are two (or more) arrival angles of received waves that arrive at two different antennas with the same phase difference is: An arrival angle that is also included in the arrival angles obtained based on different pairs is excluded by being selected.

  Therefore, the angle of arrival of the received waves arriving at a plurality of N antennas can be obtained stably and with high accuracy regardless of the direction in which the transmission source of the received waves is located with respect to these antennas.

[ 2 ] Recording means for recording received waves arriving at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line;
A phase difference between two received waves individually included in a unique n (≦ N) pair selected from the received waves recorded by the recording means and consisting of two different received waves, and the individually included Arrival angle estimation means for obtaining two arrival angles determined by the interval between the antennas where the two received waves arrived and the wavelengths of the two received waves;
An arrival angle locating device comprising: uncertainty elimination means for obtaining one specific arrival angle that is included in the two arrival angles obtained for the n pairs.

In the invention described in [2] , the recording unit records the received waves that have arrived at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line. The arrival angle estimating means is selected from the received waves recorded by the recording means, and for the unique n (≦ N) pairs of two received waves, the phase difference between the two received waves included individually. Then, two arrival angles determined by the interval between the antennas where the two received waves included individually arrive and the wavelength of the two received waves are obtained. The uncertainty exclusion unit obtains one specific arrival angle included in both of the two arrival angles obtained for the n sets of pairs.

The aforementioned arrival angle uncertainty is eliminated in the same manner as in the invention described in [1] above by selecting the n pairs from the recorded received waves that arrive at a plurality of N antennas. Is done.
Therefore, the elimination of such uncertainty is achieved stably and with high accuracy even when a plurality of N antennas are physically irregularly installed.

[ 3 ] In the angle of arrival locating device according to [2 ] above ,
The arrival angle locating device, wherein the uncertainty eliminating unit terminates the processing for obtaining the specific one arrival angle when the specific one arrival angle can be specified with a predetermined accuracy.

In the invention described in [3] , in the arrival angle locating device described in [2] , the uncertainty eliminating unit can specify the specific arrival angle when the specific one arrival angle can be specified with a predetermined accuracy. The processing for obtaining one angle of arrival is terminated.
An arrival angle locating device characterized by that.

That is, the uncertainty of the arrival angle can be eliminated without performing unnecessary processing by the uncertainty eliminating means.
Therefore, along with the reduction of running cost, the restrictions on mounting and thermal design can be eased.

[ 4 ] In the arrival angle locating device according to any one of [1] to [3] ,
The arrival angle estimation means is:
The arrival angle locating device characterized in that the two arrival angles are obtained in a coordinate system provided by a navigation system of a moving body on which the plurality of N antennas are mounted.

In the invention according to [4] , in the arrival angle locating device according to any one of the above [1] to [3] , the arrival angle estimation means is a mobile object on which the plurality of N antennas are mounted. The two angles of arrival are obtained in the coordinate system given by the navigation system.

That is, even when the position of the mobile body (a plurality of N antennas) changes, the arrival angle of the received wave can be obtained in the coordinate system provided by the navigation system of the mobile body.
Therefore, such an arrival angle can be flexibly applied to various positioning and ranging suitable for the navigation system.

[ 5 ] Recording means for recording received waves arriving at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line;
Selection means for sequentially selecting unique n (≦ N) pairs of two received waves from the received waves recorded by the recording means;
There are two types determined by the phase difference between the two received waves included in the pair selected by the selection means, the interval between the antennas where the two received waves included individually arrived, and the wavelength of the two received waves. Arrival angle estimation means for sequentially determining the arrival angle;
Uncertainty eliminating means for searching for a specific arrival angle that is included in a plurality of two arrival angles already obtained by the arrival angle estimation means,
The selection means includes
An arrival angle locating apparatus, wherein when the specific one angle of arrival is specified by the uncertainty eliminating means, selection of a subsequent pair is terminated.

In the invention described in [5] , the recording unit records the received waves that have arrived at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line. The selecting means sequentially selects unique n (≦ N) pairs of two different received waves from the received waves recorded by the recording means. The arrival angle estimation means includes a phase difference between the two received waves included in the pair selected by the selecting means, an interval between the antennas where the two received waves included individually have arrived, and a wavelength of the two received waves. The two arrival angles determined by The uncertainty eliminating unit searches for one specific arrival angle that is included in the plurality of two arrival angles already obtained by the arrival angle estimating unit. The selecting means aborts the selection of the subsequent pair when the specific one angle of arrival is specified by the uncertainty eliminating means.

That is, the elimination of the uncertainty of the arrival angle is realized without wastefully selecting the pair applied for the elimination of the uncertainty.
Therefore, along with the reduction of running cost, the restrictions on mounting and thermal design can be eased.

[ 6 ] The arrival angle locating device according to any one of [1] to [5] , wherein the uncertainty eliminating unit includes arrivals included in the plurality of two arrival angles together with a specified accuracy. An angle-of-arrival locating apparatus, wherein the specific one angle of arrival is obtained as an average value of angles.

In the invention described in [6] , in the angle-of-arrival locating device according to any one of [1] to [5] , the uncertainty eliminating means is defined by the plurality of two arrival angles. The specific one arrival angle is obtained as an average value of the arrival angles included together with accuracy.

That is, the arrival angle of the received wave is not only due to fluctuations or errors in the position of the plurality of N antennas, but also due to sudden fluctuations in the position of the transmission source of the received wave, or fluctuations in the characteristics of the propagation path through which the received wave propagates This is required without causing a large error.
Therefore, the accuracy of the arrival angle of the conventional wave is increased and maintained stably.

[ 7 ] First to pth for individually obtaining arrival angles ψ1 to ψp of received waves arriving at a plurality of p sets of antennas individually including a plurality (≧ 3) of antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line The arrival angle locator of
Positioning means for determining the position of the transmission point of the received wave based on the arrival angles ψ1 to ψp of the received wave arriving at the p sets of antennas and the position of the p set of antennas;
The first to p-th arrival angle locating devices include:
The position locating device according to any one of the above [1] to [6] .

In the invention according to [7] , the first to p-th arrival angle locating devices arrive at a plurality of p sets of antennas individually including a plurality (≧ 3) of antennas, at least one of which is not arranged on the same straight line. The received angles ψ1 to ψp of the received waves are obtained individually. The positioning means obtains the position of the transmission point of the received wave based on the arrival angles ψ1 to ψp of the received wave that has arrived at the p sets of antennas and the position of the p set of antennas. The first to pth arrival angle locating devices are the arrival angle locating devices according to any one of [1] to [6] .

That is, the position of the transmission point of the received wave is obtained based on the arrival angle obtained without any uncertainty by the arrival angle locating device according to any one of [1] to [6] . When the first to pth arrival angle locating devices are the arrival angle locating devices described in [4] above , the arrival angles ψ1 to ψp of the received waves are the positions of the mobile body (multiple N antennas). Even if is changed, it is obtained in the coordinate system given by the navigation system of the moving body.

Therefore, the position of the transmission point of the received wave flexibly follows not only the displacement of the position of the transmission point and the positions and postures of the multiple N antennas, but also the characteristics of the wireless transmission path from these transmission points to the antenna. It is demanded. Further, when the first to p-th arrival angle locating devices are the arrival angle locating devices described in [4] , the position of the transmission point of the received wave is larger as the change in the position of the moving body is larger. Since the positions of the p sets of antennas are physically large and distributed in the region, they are required with high accuracy.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Position location apparatus 11 Receiver 12 Arrival angle calculation part 13 Position location part 20 Sonobuoy 30 Aircraft

Claims (1)

The position and posture of the mobile body provided by the navigation system of the mobile body in combination with received waves that have arrived at a plurality of N (≧ 3) antennas that are not arranged on the same straight line and are mounted on the mobile body Recording means for recording,
Selection means for sequentially selecting unique n (≦ N) pairs of two received waves from the received waves recorded by the recording means;
For each pair selected by the selection means, the phase difference and wavelength of the two received waves included, the position and orientation of the moving body recorded in the recording means together with the two received waves included, and the included and the distance between the two antennas receiving waves arrives the arrival angle of the two types and the arrival angle estimated means found sequentially determined by that,
Uncertainty eliminating means for searching for a specific arrival angle that is included in a plurality of two arrival angles already obtained by the arrival angle estimation means,
The selection means includes
An arrival angle locating apparatus, wherein when the specific one angle of arrival is specified by the uncertainty eliminating means, selection of a subsequent pair is terminated.