Estimation and tracking of position information in a distributed radio frequency (rf) communications system

Abstract

Position information estimation in a distributed radio frequency (RF) communications system is provided. Embodiments disclosed herein facilitate high-precision estimations of positions, orientations, velocities, and acceleration of network nodes in a distributed RF network. The distributed RF communications system incorporates a series of estimation processes which makes it susceptible to propagation of errors. To ensure robustness of the distributed RF communications system, relative positions of network nodes are tracked by iteratively tracking parameters used for estimating position information. Some embodiments take advantage of Kalman filtering algorithms by leveraging principles directed by physics. At every network node, several filtering algorithms can be employed to synchronize clocks, track delay between multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas and estimate position and orientation of other network nodes. Information from other sensors like global positioning system (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) can also be employed to further improve estimation processes.