Position tracking using overhead aircraft

Abstract

A system for localization of an autonomous vehicle includes a plurality of radio receivers configured to receive automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) radio signals transmitted by a plurality of overhead aircraft, and at least one processor coupled to at least one memory and configured to perform operations comprising: based upon a first, a second, and a third ADS-B radio signals transmitted by a first, a second, and a third overhead aircraft, respectively, computing an angle from, and a distance between, a radio receiver to a respective overhead aircraft, and computing a relative motion of the respective overhead aircraft; and based upon position information included in the first, second, and third ADS-B radio signals, and using the first angle, second angle, third angle, first distance, second distance, third distance, the relative motion of each of the first, second, and third overhead aircraft, performing multilateration to determine a position of the autonomous vehicle.