| This thesis introduces a new method for estimating the relative positions of aircraft flying in formation using terahertz frequency (THz) signals. We look specifically at the military precision airdrop application, where THz signals have two advantages: (1) stealth due to preferential propagation in the horizontal direction at high altitudes and (2) robustness for operations in GPS-denied environments. This thesis presents two system concepts for implementation. The first, dubbed the straight-and-level (SAL) architecture, produces high precision position estimates during straight and level flight, but suffers from systematic biases when the receiving aircraft performs a maneuver. In support of this architecture, we published the first ever paper on THz relative positioning, and introduced a new filtering method inspired by the well-known GPS Hatch Filter. The second, dubbed the refined-for-maneuvers (RFM) architecture, produces position estimates that are less precise than the SAL architecture, but have no systematic bias when the aircraft maneuver. Simulations are used to predict the performance of the architectures. |
