A Method for Locating Targets Using Range only.

摘要

Suppose that one has the distances to p + 1 targets obtained from a moving platform at discrete times with the (p+1)st target being a reference beacon. Assume that the distances are measured with an additive error which has a zero mean and that the errors are uncorrelated in time and space. Given the knowledge of the error structure, the position of the reference target, and the set of the successive simultaneous ranges, the author presents a statistical method for accurately determining the positions of the remaining targets in a computationally resonable manner, assuming that the platform positions satisfy a certain constraint. Alternatively, reversing the roles of targets and observer, the method can be used to track a moving target platform using ranges simultaneously measured from p observers whose fixed positions are known, provided that there is a (p + 1)st observer at a known position. As long as the target track is sufficiently variable, the discrete-time range data can be used to estimate the position of the p observers and the target track. In practice the method could be used to refine the location estimates of the observers based on successive simultaneous range measurements of the target while tracking the target.