Patent ID: 7859452

Claim:
A calibration system for calibrating a position determination system, said position determination system comprising: a positioning transmitter located with an object, said positioning transmitter producing a beacon signal; a plurality of positioning receivers for receiving said beacon signal; each of said positioning receivers of said plurality of positioning receivers having a respective known positioning receiver position; each of said positioning receivers of said plurality of positioning receivers comprising: means for receiving a first signal characteristic of said beacon signal; means for receiving a second signal characteristic of said beacon signal; and a positioning comparison unit for comparing said first signal characteristic and said second signal characteristic of said beacon signal to generate a positioning comparison result; wherein a position for said object is determined by comparing said positioning comparison result with a calibration database; said calibration system comprising: a calibration transmitter producing a calibration signal; a plurality of calibration receivers for receiving said calibration signal; each of said calibration receivers of said plurality of calibration receivers having a respective known calibration receiver position; each of said calibration receivers of said plurality of calibration receivers comprising: means for receiving a first signal characteristic of said calibration signal; means for receiving a second signal characteristic of said calibration signal; and a comparison unit for comparing said first signal characteristic and said second signal characteristic of said calibration signal to generate a calibration comparison result; wherein said calibration transmitter transmits said calibration signal at a plurality of calibration transmitter positions and each said calibration receiver generates a calibration comparison result associated with each calibration transmitter position; said calibration database comprising said calibration comparison results associated with each said calibration transmitter position.