Microwave short baseline interferometers for localization systems

Abst. Positioning determination is often associated with Global Positioning System (GPS) or other complex techniques needing a central monitor station and precise reference time. For distances smaller than several tenths of m eters, a simpler real-time method for determining position is described in this paper. This method is based on interferometry, whose features are main ly governed by geometrical parameters. This method is first tested by means of a prototype, operating at 10 GHz, with a test area of approximately 0.5 m(2), for which the location error is about 1 or 2 cm. The extension of th is area size to several square decameters has been obtained at 2.45 GHz. Fo r both situations, the size of the receiving system does not exceed 16 cm x 16 cm.