JPH10282213A - Acoustic positioning device and synchronous positioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable accurate acoustic positioning without interference even when a plurality of the same positioning devices are used int the same or proximate sea areas by simultaneously transmitting interrogation signals on the basis of seconds by time signals from a GPS receiver. SOLUTION: A GPS receiver 13 receives radio waves from GPS satellites by a GPS antenna 14 to obtain location information, outputs accurate one-second signals, and supplies them to a control computing part 1 via an interrupt circuit 12. The control computing part 1 creates transmission timing signals on the basis of the accurate second signals and supplies them to a transmission control circuit 2. Therefore, as a plurality of ships, the same devices onboard, on the same sea surface can simultaneously transmit the interrogation signals at transmission timing in synchronism with the second signals, it is possible to prevent the mixing of signals from other ships and to perform accurate acoustic positioning without error measurements. At this point, the minimum measurement distance becomes an official slant range.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an acoustic positioning device and a synchronous acoustic positioning system for measuring the position of an underwater object using sound waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a conventional acoustic positioning device,
For example, there is one disclosed in the document name "Ocean Acoustic (Basic and Applied)", Ocean Sound Research Society, 1984, pp. 209-213. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of such a conventional synchronous acoustic positioning device.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a control operation unit, 1
02 is a transmission control circuit, 103 is a transmission circuit, 104 is a transmitter, 105 is a transponder, 106 is underwater, 107 is the sea floor, 108 is a receiver array, 109 is a receiving circuit, 11 is a receiving circuit.
0 is SSBL [Super (Ultra) Short
Base-Line System] Receiver, 111
Is a display circuit.

[0004] In FIG. 4, a transmission timing is created by a control operation unit 101, and a burst wave is formed by a transmission control circuit 102. The burst wave is amplified by the transmission circuit 103 and transmitted to the transmitter 104, where the electric signal is converted into an ultrasonic signal and transmitted to the underwater 106 as an interrogation signal. Transponder 105 installed on seabed 107
Sends a response signal after a certain period of time after receiving the interrogation signal.

[0005] Upon receiving the response signal, the receiver array 108 converts the ultrasonic signal into an electric signal and inputs the electric signal to the receiving circuit 109. After amplification at a certain level in the receiving circuit 109, the SSBL
Send to receiver 110. SSBL receiver 110 is transmitter 1
04 when the sound wave is transmitted from the transponder 1
The time until the signal is received by the receiver array 108 via the line 05 is measured, and the slant range is measured.

[0006] Further, the arrival direction of the sound wave is measured by measuring the phase difference of the signal received by the receiver of each element of the receiver array 108. The obtained data is sent to the control calculation unit 101, and is calculated as position data with respect to the transponder 105. The result is displayed by the display unit 111.

[0007]

However, as described above, there is no problem when one acoustic positioning device is operated. However, as shown in FIG. In the case of operation in a sea area that is as close as possible, if the same apparatus is used with the same interrogation frequency and response frequency, the following problems occur.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the problems of the prior art, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG. In FIG. 5, it is assumed that the interrogation signal is transmitted from the ship P01 and the operation of the ship P02 is stopped. Also, the transponder P1
1, P12 is operating, the transponder P
11, P12 responds. In this case, (P01 and P11
If (distance between) <(distance between P01 and P12), the response signal from the transponder P11 arrives at the ship P01 earlier in time, so that the slant range between P01 and P11 can be accurately measured at the ship P01. Fig. 6
This is shown in the time chart of FIG.

Conversely, the ship P01 stops operating, and the ship P02
In the same way as above, positioning can be performed without any problem. The time chart of FIG.
This applies to the case of the ship P01 alone. Next, FIG.
As shown in the figure, when both vessels P01 and P02 are operated at the same time, a response signal based on an interrogation signal from the vessel P01,
There is a response signal based on the interrogation signal from the ship P02. P0
1, P11, P01 and P02, P12, P0
Considering the route 1, since P01 and P02 each transmit an inquiry signal without permission, the transmission timings of P01 and P02 are shifted as shown in the case of interoperation in FIG. , The response signal of P11 to the inquiry signal of P02 is received earlier in time than the response signal of P11 to the inquiry signal of P01, resulting in erroneous measurement.

As described above, when the same acoustic positioning device is used in the same sea area or a close sea area, the signals have the same frequency and interfere with each other, resulting in erroneous measurement, which is technically satisfactory. Nothing was obtained. The present invention eliminates the above problems, even when using a plurality of the same acoustic positioning device in the same sea area or a close sea area, an acoustic positioning apparatus capable of performing accurate acoustic positioning without interference An object of the present invention is to provide a synchronous acoustic positioning system.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, [1] an acoustic positioning device includes a GPS receiver and a GPS receiver.
A transmitter transmitting the interrogation signal by the acoustic positioning device of the SSBL system by the time signal from the PS receiver, a receiver array receiving the interrogation signal and receiving a response signal from the transponder, and transmitting the interrogation signal. A propagation time until reception of the response signal is measured, a slant range is measured based on the response signal, and acoustic positioning is performed.

Therefore, accurate acoustic positioning can be performed by the time signal from the GPS receiver. [2] In a synchronous acoustic positioning system in which a plurality of the same SSBL type acoustic positioning devices are used in the same sea area or in an adjacent sea area where sound waves can be propagated, a GPS receiver and a time signal from the GPS receiver are used. A plurality of SSBL-type acoustic positioning devices simultaneously transmit an interrogation signal, a receiver array receiving the interrogation signal and receiving a response signal from a transponder, and the response from the interrogation signal transmission. Measure the propagation time until signal reception,
The slant range of each acoustic positioning device is measured based on a response signal first received by each acoustic positioning device, and acoustic positioning is performed.

Therefore, even when a plurality of identical acoustic positioning devices are used in the same sea area or a close sea area, each acoustic positioning apparatus can perform accurate acoustic positioning without interference. [3] In the synchronous acoustic positioning system according to [2], the time signal is a second signal.

Therefore, by transmitting the interrogation signal on the basis of seconds, it is possible for each acoustic positioning device to perform accurate acoustic positioning without interference.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a synchronous acoustic positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, 1 is a control operation unit, 2 is a transmission control circuit, 3 is a transmission circuit, 4 is a transmitter, 5 is a transponder, 6 is underwater, 7 is the sea floor, 8 is a receiver array, and 9 is a reception circuit. , 10 is SSB
L receiver, 11 is a display circuit, 12 is an interrupt circuit, 13
Is a GPS receiver, and 14 is a GPS antenna.

Hereinafter, the operation of the synchronous acoustic positioning device will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1, a GPS antenna 14 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and supplies a signal to a GPS receiver 13. The GPS receiver 13 receives radio waves from satellites, obtains position information, and outputs an accurate one-second signal. This one second signal is extremely accurate, and the output of each receiver is matched with an accuracy of a few μs. This second signal is supplied to the control operation unit 1 via the interrupt circuit 12.

The control operation section 1 outputs a transmission command signal based on the accurate second signal. The transmission timing may use the rising edge of the second signal or may be delayed by a certain time from this. There is no problem if all devices are manufactured to the same standard. If a cycle other than 1 second is required, the time data supplied from the GPS receiver 13 is used, for example, every 2 seconds if set every odd number, or every 10 seconds if set every 10 seconds. The transmission timing can be created.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a synchronous acoustic positioning system showing an embodiment of the present invention. Suppose there is a ship equipped with the same equipment on the same sea level. Ships P01 and P02 are
It receives radio waves from the GPS satellites 21 and sends out a transmission timing signal synchronized with the second signal. That is, both P01 and P02 transmit the interrogation signal at the same time. Here, considering P01, (distance between P01 and P11) <(distance between P01 and P12), the distance between P01 and P11 is obtained as a normal slant range.

FIG. 3 shows a time chart at this time. As shown in this figure, transmission of P01 and P02 are performed simultaneously, and the distance between P01 and P11, which is the shortest distance, becomes the official slant range. By performing simultaneous transmission in this manner, it is possible to obtain an effect of preventing signals from other ships from being mixed and preventing erroneous measurement.

It has been widely known that when two or more acoustic positioning devices of this type are used, they can be used without interference if synchronization is established between the acoustic positioning devices. Once on another high-precision timepiece and sent to another ship, or by sending a synchronization signal via wireless communication, etc., all of which involve the complexity of the device and the time required for synchronization. Satisfied things could not be obtained because of such things.

According to the present invention, accurate acoustic positioning can be performed without being affected by the situation of another ship. In the first embodiment, the synchronization method using the second signal was used. However, since the GPS receiver normally outputs a signal every hour other than the second signal, the same method is used even if this is used. Operation and effects can be obtained.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) According to the acoustic positioning device of the first aspect, accurate acoustic positioning can be performed by the time signal from the GPS receiver.

(2) According to the synchronous acoustic positioning system according to the second aspect, even when a plurality of identical acoustic positioning devices are used in the same sea area or a close sea area, interference is caused by each acoustic positioning apparatus. Accurate acoustic positioning can be performed without any problem. (3) According to the synchronous acoustic positioning system of the third aspect, by transmitting the interrogation signal on the basis of seconds, accurate acoustic positioning can be performed by each acoustic positioning device without interference.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a synchronous acoustic positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an application example of a synchronous acoustic positioning device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing an operation of the synchronous acoustic positioning device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional synchronous acoustic positioning device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a problem of the related art.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control calculation part 2 Transmission control circuit 3 Transmission circuit 4 Transmitter 5 Transponder 6 Underwater 7 Submarine 8 Receiver array 9 Receiver circuit 10 SSBL receiver 11 Display circuit 12 Interrupt circuit 13 GPS receiver 14 GPS antenna 21 GPS satellite

Claims (3)

[Claims] (A) a GPS receiver; (b) a transmitter for transmitting an interrogation signal by an SSBL acoustic positioning device according to a time signal from the GPS receiver; and (c) receiving the interrogation signal. (D) measuring a propagation time from sending the interrogation signal to receiving the response signal, measuring a slant range based on the response signal, and performing acoustic positioning. An acoustic positioning device characterized by the following. 2. A synchronous acoustic positioning system in which a plurality of the same SSBL acoustic positioning devices are used in the same sea area or in an adjacent sea area where sound waves can be propagated.
A GPS receiver; and (b) a transmitter in which the plurality of SSBL-type acoustic positioning devices simultaneously transmit interrogation signals by a time signal from the GPS receiver; and (c) a transponder receiving the interrogation signal from the transponder. And (d) measuring the propagation time from sending the interrogation signal to receiving the response signal, and using the response signal first received by each acoustic positioning device, A synchronous acoustic positioning system characterized by measuring a slant range and performing acoustic positioning. 3. The synchronous acoustic positioning system according to claim 2, wherein said time signal is a second signal.