Millimeter-Precision Ultrasonic DSSS Positioning Technique With Geometric Triangle Constraint

In this paper, we present a 3-D ultrasonic measurement technique that uses direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) with simultaneous multiple code-division multiple access (CDMA) signals. This technique can be applied in precise indoor locating systems. By placing three microphones close to one another separated by distances on the order of the ultrasound wavelength and imposing the constraint that one transducer and two from the three microphones form three triangles in the space (i.e., the triangle constraint) for 3-D ultrasonic DSSS trilateration measurement, millimeter 3-D positioning precision is achieved. The experimental results for a positioning system comprising a set of three microphones and four ultrasound transducers, each of them transmitting its respective 256-bit DSSS code, demonstrate that the proposed system can measure the spatial 3-D location of the receiver with a standard deviation of less than 1.21 mm. The proposed technique is suitable for potential future indoor positioning system (IPS) applications that require sub-centimeter 3-D positioning.