Patent attributes
A method operates a positioning device which has at least one waveguide laid along a route for positioning a track-bound vehicle on the route. Accordingly, the method proceeds in such a way that measurement data related to the track-bound vehicle are captured by a route-side sensor device. An electromagnetic pulse is fed into the waveguide and a backscatter pattern produced by backscattering of the electromagnetic pulse is detected and is subjected to an evaluation. A vehicle-specific characteristic value determined in the evaluation is verified on the basis of the captured measurement data and, if the verification of the at least one vehicle-specific characteristic value is successful, a positioning signal based on the evaluation of the at least one backscatter pattern and indicating the position of the track-bound vehicle is provided by the positioning device.