Patent ID: 7557754

Claim:
A method of determining a dilution of precision in returning a target position by a multilateration system, said method comprising: selecting a primary receiver from a set of receivers; forming a first group of receivers, said first group including the primary receiver and others of the set of receivers; calculating a position estimate of the target using the first group; calculating a geometric dilution of precision for the first group; calculating a geometric dilution of precision contribution for each receiver in the first group; determining a particular receiver of the first group which has the greatest geometric dilution of precision contribution; modifying the first group by removing the particular receiver from the first group to form a modified group; calculating a geometric dilution of precision for the modified group; comparing the geometric dilution of precision for the first group and the modified group; and if the geometric dilution of precision for the modified group is smaller than that for the first group, then calculating a subsequent position estimate of the target using the modified group; and if the geometric dilution of precision for the modified group is the same as or larger than that for the first group, then using the first group to calculate a subsequent position estimate of the target.