Code and carrier phase multipath effects with GNSS receiver

Multipath is a dominant source of positioning errors in global navigation satellite system receivers. It is difficult to design multipath mitigation techniques for binary offset carrier (BOC) signals due to the complicated autocorrelation function of BOC signals and localized variations of multipath. In this paper, a dual high resolution correlators (DHRC) technique is proposed for BOC signals to mitigate code and subcarrier multipath errors, as well as the carrier multipath error that is neglected by common techniques. Based on the concept of dual binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) tracking, the BOC signal is decomposed into two BPSK signals located in the upper and lower sidebands, respectively, thereby transforming the multipath mitigation in the BOC signal into the multipath mitigation in the upper and lower sidebands. Two narrow correlation functions of the upper and lower sidebands are synthesized using multiple correlation values, so the multipath outside the main peak of the synthesized correlation function is eliminated. The peak value of the synthesized correlation function is reduced from the original ACF, resulting in a large noise error. Therefore, a complementary filter is designed to compensate the noise error. Theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the DHRC technique with complementary filters can significantly mitigate multipath errors for BOC signals with slight thermal noise performance loss.

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signal modulation type plays a crucial role in determining the performances of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services. Currently, the binary offset carrier (BOC) modulation signal and binary coded symbol (BCS) modulation signal are both bipolar signals, which greatly restrict the room of improving the GNSS signal performance. Therefore, multi-level coded symbol (MCS) modulation has received great attention in the field of GNSS signal design. The MCS modulation is the most extensive step-coded symbol modulation mode, where BOC modulation and BCS modulation are its special cases. Since the waveform symbol of the MCS modulation signal can be arbitrarily valued, the optimal GNSS signal can be designed. However, like the BOC modulation signal, the MCS modulation signal also has the problem of ambiguous tracking, and then results in a large pseudo range measurement error, which is unacceptable for the new generation GNSS with high accuracy. In recent years, the unambiguous tracking of GNSS signals has become a hot research subject in the navigation signal processing domain and many methods are presented, and those methods can be divided into three categories:BPSK-like method, bump jump (BJ) method, and side-peak cancellation (SC) method. However, these methods are designed for BOC signal, and they are not suitable for MCS signal. Therefore, in this paper we propose a general unambiguous tracking algorithm based on the pseudo correlation function (PCF), which is suitable for MCS modulated signals. Firstly, the unitary expression of MCS modulated signal based on waveform value vector is given, then the unitary formula of cross-correlation function for MCS signal is derived and the definition of PCF is given. Then the constraint condition which should be satisfied to realize unambiguous tracking is analyzed in depth, and the universal constructing method of two reference signals and the relationship between each other are derived according to this constraint condition, which brings great convenience for solving the specific MCS signal. The code tracking loop model of GNSS receiver based on the proposed method is illustrated. It is observed that the proposed method can receive different MCS signals under the same receiver loop framework, and can simplify the design of the receiver while eliminating the tracking ambiguous problem. Finally, as a special case of MCS signal, the applications of the proposed method in four kinds of BOC signals are discussed respectively, and then the waveform value vector of the reference signal and the unitary expression of code discriminator are derived. Simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively solve the ambiguous tracking problem of MCS signal, which has good performance and broad application prospect.

With the rapid development of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The binary offset carrier (BOC) signal was proposed to separate new navigation signal from traditional BPSK in frequency and it has better accuracy and anti-multipath performance compared with the BPSK of the same code rate. But the ambiguity caused by the multi-peaks of auto-correlation function makes traditional acquisition technique not applicable to BOC.A novel unambiguous acquisition algorithm for sine BOC signals is proposed in this paper. There are two types of local reference signals: the BOC signal and a designed binary auxiliary signal. They are both correlated with the received signals. Then, a correlation function unambiguous for acquisition of BOC signal is obtained by multiplying the two correlation results. In the acquisition stage of BOC(10,5), the detection probability of the proposed method is approximately 1.5 dB better than that of GRASS and 2 dB better than that of SPAR. For BOC(14,2), the detection probability advantages of the proposed method increase to 6 dB and 7.5 dB . In conclusion, the proposed method can eliminate ambiguity and has significant performance advantages compared with the above methods.

The long PN code in a Binary Offset Carrier (BOC) modulated signal has a higher rate than the GPS C/A code, which makes the acquisition process in the new global navigation satellite system (GNSS) much more complex.To achieve a fast acquisition of the GNSS signal with a reduced number of correlators and low computational complexity, a two-stage deterministic compressed (DS) GNSS acquisition technique has been proposed.Nevertheless, the ambiguous threat of BOC signal isn't taken into account in the DS technique.To eliminate the ambiguity threat in the acquisition process of BOC (m, n) signal, an unambiguous deterministic compressed acquisition is proposed in this paper.The main idea of the proposed technique is to introduce a simplified GRASS algorithm in the second stage measurement.Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that, at the expense of some performance degradation the proposed technique can completely remove the undesired positive side peaks of BOC (m, n) signal, and reduce the chance of false peak acquisition compared with the DS technique.

With the ever-increasing number of small satellites launched into space, on-board orbit determination is becoming more and more important. Precise satellite positions are needed for constellation maintenance, formation flying, communication optimization, collision avoidance and Earth observation. In addition, accurate time information is required for the functioning of the instruments on board. Low-cost off-the-shelf Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and antennas, adapted to the small size and weight of the satellite, allow precise on-board orbit determination and time synchronization for even the smallest satellites.We analysed more than one year of on-board navigation solutions (NAVSOL) from 8 Astrocast CubeSats, which are equipped with our multi-GNSS single-frequency payload. Based on the residuals from a dynamic orbit fitting, we found that the quality of the NAVSOL from the Astrocast satellites varies strongly both over time and between satellites, with an RMS ranging from a few meters to several tens of meters.In this study, we focus on three main effects that influence the quality of the NAVSOL from the Astrocast satellites: (1) The orbit-fit residuals show a positive radial offset in the range of about 6 m to 15 m, which is caused by ionospheric refraction. Our data show that GNSS signals at negative elevations are very strongly affected by the ionospheric refraction and thus account for the major part of the radial offset. (2) Discrepancies between the NAVSOL positions and velocities, and simulations with a GNSS signal generator show a once-per-revolution periodicity in the out-of-plane component, with amplitudes of 2 m and 5 cm/s in position and velocity, respectively. This effect is probably due to an inappropriate dynamic model used in the real-time navigation algorithm of the GNSS receiver. (3) Depending on the location of the GNSS antenna on board the satellite, the noise level varies by a multiple. This is assumed to be due to the antenna orientations, interference of the GNSS signals with electromagnetic waves coming from the satellite platform, signal attenuation during the transmission from the antenna to the receiver and differences in the soldering or tuning of the individual GNSS antennas.These findings help us refine hardware configurations and firmware settings in preparation for future Astrocast satellites or other nanosatellite missions. By eliminating or minimizing the mentioned effects, we expect to consistently achieve an accuracy on the level of a few meters for the real-time navigation solution of commercial off-the-shelf single-frequency GNSS receivers in space.

Due to the low signal power, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal is vulnerable to interference and even cannot be captured or tracked in harsh environments. As an alternative, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite has been widely used in the navigation field due to the advantages of low cost and strong signals. It is becoming a significant component of the new combined navigation system with GNSS. The combination of an LEO Doppler signal and GNSS observables can improve the positioning accuracy and high-precision positioning convergence time of the GNSS receiver. However, the GNSS signal receiving capability cannot be improved from this data fusion level. We propose a novel assisted structure where GNSS signal acquisition and Doppler tracking are assisted by LEO Doppler positioning. The receiver uses the LEO signal to achieve Doppler positioning firstly. Then, the coarse position with the GNSS navigation messages received from LEO, as well as the estimated clock information, is used to assist in the acquisition and tracking of GNSS. In this way, the GNSS receiver’s sensitivity can get the benefit from this integrated system. The paper presents the structure of the assisted receiver and analyzes the assisted GNSS signal acquisition and carrier tracking performance in detail. Simulation experiments of this assisted structure are carried out to verify its superiority of acquisition and tracking sensitivity in comparison with standalone GNSS receivers. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed acquisition method can achieve 90% detection probability at a carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N0) of 15 dB-Hz, which is about 8 dB higher than the conventional acquisition method without assistance; the proposed tracking method can track weak signals of 5 dB-Hz, which is about 4 dB higher than the conventional method. Therefore, this novel LEO-assisted receiver has significantly improved weak signal acquisition and tracking sensitivity.

In urban road environments, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals may be interrupted due to occlusion by buildings and obstacles, resulting in reduced accuracy and discontinuity of combined GNSS/inertial navigation system (INS) positioning. Improving the accuracy and robustness of combined GNSS/INS positioning systems for land vehicles in the presence of GNSS interruptions is a challenging task. The main objective of this paper is to develop a method for predicting GNSS information during GNSS outages based on a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network to assist in factor graph-based combined GNSS/INS localization, which can provide a reliable combined localization solution during GNSS signal outages. In an environment with good GNSS signals, a factor graph fusion algorithm is used for data fusion of the combined positioning system, and an LSTM neural network prediction model is trained, and model parameters are determined using the INS velocity, inertial measurement unit (IMU) output, and GNSS position incremental data. In an environment with interrupted GNSS signals, the LSTM model is used to predict the GNSS positional increments and generate the pseudo-GNSS information and the solved results of INS for combined localization. In order to verify the performance and effectiveness of the proposed method, we conducted real-world road test experiments on land vehicles installed with GNSS receivers and inertial sensors. The experimental results show that, compared with the traditional combined GNSS/INS factor graph localization method, the proposed method can provide more accurate and robust localization results even in environments with frequent GNSS signal loss.

Signal fading is the main disturbing phenomenon for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers in urban environment, which induces frequent loss of carrier lock in GNSS phase tracking loops. By taking advantage of the prevalent configuration of multi-frequency reception in emerging GNSS receivers, this paper proposes a Frequency Diversity combined GNSS carrier Tracking Loop (FDTL) for robust and centimeter-level positioning under harsh propagation conditions. Specifically, a bank of correlators is used to estimate the signal parameters of interest with a Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) discriminator to avoid the need for a separate acquisition which normally requires the most processing time in GNSS receivers. The Doppler relationship between multifrequency signals offers an inherent constraint which is used to improve accuracy of MLE measurements. In the loop tuning process, a frequency diversity combined Adaptive Kalman Filter (AKF) is implemented for system dynamic propagation and measurement update. The primary advantages of the proposed FDTL algorithm include: 1) significantly improved carrier tracking robustness compared with traditional Phase Lock Loops (PLLs); 2) enhanced sensitivity obtained from the diversity combination. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by simulated and real GNSS fading signals.

Multipath, where GPS signals arrive by more than one path and thereby create a range error, has remained the long-lasting major error source in GPS solutions although having been a target of the GPS research community since the day the system started operating. Seeking to understand the GPS multipath errors, this report aims to ef?ciently mitigate multipath effects at observable levels to improve the accuracy and precision of GPS solutions.Based on an analysis of the geometry of a multipath signal's reflections, and the principle of GPS receiver's tracking loop, geometrical models of multipath errors are developed at observable levels (both code and carrier-phase multipath). More specifically, multipath errors corresponding to a satellite are mathematically proven to be functions of the satellite's geometry with respect to a receiver which is parameterized by azimuth and elevation angles. Hence, the problem of multipath error estimation amounts to a regression problem where the multipath functions are approximated using training data. Whereas the theory behind regression problem is robust, the regression problem solution would be feasible as long as a priori data (e.g. training data) is available. As code multipath errors can be easily isolated using a combination of GPS measurements and satellites' geometrical information can be computed using orbital information broadcast from the satellites, training data for the problem code multipath error estimation can be extracted. An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. A real data set was recorded at 0.1 Hz during 5 days to use for the experiment. After training the multipath estimators with data from 31 visible satellites over four days using the epsilon-SVR algorithm, multipath estimation and correction have been performed on the data from the successive day. Results show approximately 80% reduction in term of code multipath error standard deviation, the proposed method shows great promise for understanding and removing multipath errors. Advantageously, while being scalable with data rate, the proposed method is shown to be not harmful to other signals (simulation). An analogous experiment was also conducted to address carrier-phase multipath error. Unfortunately, for a standalone receiver, carrier-phase multipath error cannot be isolated by a combination of measurements as has been done with code multipath error, a carrier-phase double difference between two short-basedlined receivers needs to be made. It results in combinatorial carrier-phase multipath error of 4 satellite-receiver pairs involved in double-difference. Mitigation of this error is beneficial for relative positioning applications. With the same rationale, the multipath error is modeled as a function of the geometries of 4 satellite-receiver pairs. Training the multipath estimation using 1-Hz data from two short-baselined stations of IGS network, preliminary experimental result showed 57% reduction in multipath error for a pair of satellites. My next target is to unify an evaluation framework for multipath mitigation problems with well-defined tests, and evaluation criteria, as this is missing in the literature. Whereas further experiments on carrier-phase multipath mitigation as well as on data recorded from the field need to be done, there is also still room for improvement in multipath estimation algorithms with the focus on computational complexity reduction and incremental learning ability. Integration of the new signals in GPS modernization plans is also worth exploring.

Binary offset carrier (BOC) modulation signals have been widely adopted in global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) such as Galileo and modernized global positioning system [1] [2]. Although this kind of modulation offers excellent performances, a main drawback of BOC modulation is that ambiguous acquisition and biased tracking for its multi-peak autocorrelation function (ACF). This article presents herein a novel acquisition technique allows removal of side peaks thoroughly and acquire better acquisition performance. This scheme is applicable to BOC (n, n) modulation signals. Theoretical analysis and system simulation demonstrate the algorithm proposed has better performance in acquisition aspect compared with other typical algorithms under the influence of additive white Gaussian noise.

Binary offset carrier (BOC) signal synchronization is based on the correlation between the received and locally generated BOC signals. Thus, the multiple side-peaks in BOC autocorrelation are one of the main error sources in synchronizing BOC signals. Recently, a new correlation function with no side-peaks was proposed for sine or cosine phased BOC signal synchronization by the authors [7]. In this paper, we propose a novel correlation function for composite binary offset carrier (CBOC) signals by using the similar method to that in [7], which has a better power ratio than the CBOC autocorrelation.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide positioning, velocity, and time services for civilian applications. A critical step in the positioning process is the acquisition of visible satellites in the sky. Modern GNSS systems, such as Galileo—developed and maintained by the European Union—utilize a new modulation technique known as Binary Offset Carrier (BOC). However, BOC signals introduce multiple side-peaks in their autocorrelation function, which can lead to significant errors during the acquisition process. In this paper, we propose a novel acquisition method based on higher-order cumulants that effectively eliminates these side-peaks. This method is capable of simultaneously acquiring both conventional ranging signals, such as GPS C/A code, and BOC-modulated signals. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through the acquisition of simulated signals, with a comparison to traditional methods. Additionally, we apply the proposed method to real satellite signals to further validate its performance. Our results show that the proposed method successfully suppresses side-peaks, improves acquisition accuracy in weak signal environments, and demonstrates potential for indoor GNSS applications. The study concludes that while the method may increase computational load, its performance in challenging conditions makes it a promising approach for future GNSS receiver designs.

The impact of L‐band equatorial ionospheric scintillation on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers is investigated in this paper using both real and synthetic scintillation data. To this end, various low‐latitude data sets, recorded during the most recent solar maximum, are exploited in post‐processing to develop and verify realistic simulation tools and evaluate GNSS receiver performance. A scintillation simulation model is implemented based on the phase screen formulation of Dr. Charles Rino (1979, 1982, and 2011) which allows oblique signal propagation in an anisotropic propagation medium with multiple irregularity layers (or phase screens) for multiple GNSS frequencies. The observed real scintillation parameters are used to drive GNSS signal simulations. The subsequent simulated GNSS signal time series are verified through comparison with real data for different signal tracking states including the most severe and challenging tracking scenarios. Using both real and synthetic data sets, the impact of scintillation on observation quality and receiver performance is evaluated in terms of probability of loss of phase and frequency lock, as well as the correlation of disturbed L‐band signals transmitted by GNSS satellites on the same transionsopheric path.

Traditional group delay measurement methods include single carrier phase method and spectrum analysis method based on signal autocorrelation function, but these two methods have their own limitations in GNSS receiver group delay measurement. The single carrier phase method cannot measure the group delay of multi filters and downconverters stage connect channel directly, and the measurement accuracy of group delay of spectrum analysis method based on signal autocorrelation function will deteriorate greatly near the zero point of signal power spectrum. In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a BOC (bi-nary offset carrier) signal group delay measurement method, which can realize the simple and accurate measurement of GNSS receiver group delay. In this paper, a group delay measurement method is analyzed and simulated by software, and verifies the feasibility and accuracy of the method are verified by simulation.KeywordsBOC navigation signalGroup delayGNSS receiver

Implementing the International GNSS Service 2021+ Strategic Plan: Vision and Use Cases