Mobile location finding using ATSC mobile/handheld digital TV RF watermark signals

This paper investigates the use of ATSC M/H digital television (DTV) signal for location finding. In comparison to satellite based location finding system, DTV signals have higher field strength, wider bandwidth, lower frequency band, and DTV transmission towers are pervasively available everywhere. They can be used for indoor and mobile location finding in major cities where satellite based system might not function well. The ATSC receiver can obtain the multiple transmitter impulse responses and signal arrival times using the embedded RF watermark (RFWM) signal, and then derives its geographic coordinates based on the position of ATSC transmitters. As a critical step of this process, the transmitter identification in mobile environment has significant impact on the overall accuracy of location finding. In this paper, we present extensive analytical and simulation results to demonstrate the performance of RFWM technology over mobile channels. ©2010 IEEE.