10 and 2.45 GHz short baseline interferometers for positioning systems

The positioning process is often associated with the Global Positioning System (GPS) or other heavy techniques needing a central monitor station and precise reference time. A simpler real time method of positioning is described in this paper. Based on interferometry, this method is first tested by means of a prototype, operating at 10 GHz, with an area under investigation of 1 square meter, and an accuracy between 1 and 2 centimeters. The extension of the area under investigation toward several square decameters has been obtained, at 2.45 GHz, with a second prototype. For the both situations the size of the system does not exceed 16 cm/spl times/16 cm.