advanced forward link trilateration (location) (AFLT)

Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) is a mobile radio navigation whose position determination is based on triangular measurements, either by means of triangulation or trilateration. In the first case, two known positions of base stations are used to calculate the location. If the angles are known, the position of one's own location can be calculated from them. In trilateration, one's own position is calculated using the distances between the base stations and the mobile station.

In order to achieve an accurate result in a three-dimensional space, at least three positions must be known. The triangle used for the calculation results from the distances of the three base stations to the mobile station. The calculation is performed in the mobile network, which receives the distances from the mobile station. The AFLT technique is similar to the Time Difference of Arrival( TDoA).

The AFLT technique requires mobile stations to be upgraded in software for system-wide synchronization to base stations. In addition, the AFLT technique requires a traffic and control signal to transmit the position data. Position accuracy is between 50 m and 200 m, depending on the radio cell size.

Another positioning method based on triangular measurements is Enhanced Forward Link Trilateration (EFLT), but it has a lower positioning accuracy.