ACCURATE RANGE AND RANGE RATE DETERMINATION IN A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

摘要

The present invention is a system and method for accurately determining the distance (range) between one or more satellites and a user terminal and the rate of change (range rate) of that distance. When accurately determined according to the present invention, these quantities can be used to determine the location of the user terminal with a high degree of accuracy. When one satellite is available, the present invention determines the range and range rate based on the Doppler frequency shift that a signal experiences between the satellite and the user terminal, the round trip delay a signal experiences during transmission from the satellite to the user terminal and back via a satellite to a gateway, the Doppler frequency shift a signal experiences between the satellite and the gateway, and the timestamps of the measurements. When a second satellite is available, the present invention determines the range and range rate between the second satellite and the user terminal based on the round trip delay, the Doppler frequency shift that a signal experiences between the second satellite and the user terminal, and the difference in arrival times at the user terminal of the signals from the satellites.