The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 25, 1994
Filed:
Dec. 01, 1992
Christos T Kyrtsos, Peoria, IL (US);
Adam J Gudat, Edelstein, IL (US);
Douglas W Friedrich, Pekin, IL (US);
Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for determining the position of a vehicle relative to the center of the Earth uses navigation signals from a satellite based navigation system which includes a plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth. In one embodiment, a plurality of antennas are mounted on the vehicle. The distance between the antennas is precisely known. This distance is used to constrain the solution of a vehicle position estimate to improve the accuracy of the position estimate. In another embodiment, a plurality of receiver systems are used in place of the plurality of antennas. In yet another embodiment, a plurality of base stations with known positions are used to constrain the solution of the vehicle position estimate.