Assessment of Pseudorange Multipath at Continuous GPS Stations in Mexico

We conducted a study to quantify the amount of pseudorange multipath at continuous Global Positioning System (CGPS) stations in the Mexican territory. These CGPS stations serve as reference stations enabling rapid high-precision three-dimensional positioning capabilities, supporting a number of commercial and public safety applications. We studied CGPS data from a large number of publicly available networks spanning Mexico. These include the RGNA (National Active Geodetic Network) administered by INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography), the PBO network (Plate Boundary Observatory) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by UNAVCO (University NAVstar Consortium), the Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN), which is a collaboration effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the UNAM network, operated by the National Seismological System (SSN) and the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Suominet Geodetic Network (SNG) and the CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Station) network, operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). We evaluated a total of 53 CGPS stations, where dual-frequency geodetic-grade receivers collected GPS data continuously during the period from 1994 to 2012. Despite carefully selected locations, all GPS stations are, to some extent, affected by the presence of signal multipath. For GPS network users that rely on pseudorange observables, the existence of pseudorange multipath could be a critical source of error depending on the time scale of the application. Thus, to identify the most and the least affected GPS stations, we analyzed the averaged daily root mean square pseudorange multipath variations (MP1-RMS and MP2-RMS) for all feasible satellites tracked by the CGPS networks. We investigated the sources of multipath, including changes associated with hardware replacement (i.e., receiver and antenna type) and receiver firmware upgrades.

A muon high-resolution pseudorange measurement method: Application to muon navigation in confined spaces

Confined spaces such as polar regions, deep earth and deep ocean are crucial navigation scenarios where traditional navigation techniques have difficulty in obtaining external signals for positioning. The cosmic ray muons, which carry the spatial and energetic information, are easy to penetrate these confined spaces. Therefore, the unique muon characteristic provides a new perspective to estimate detector position, which can be considered using in confined spaces navigation.In this paper, a well-developed theory of muon navigation is established by combining a muon pseudorange measurement method. Moreover, an Equivalent Velocity Calculation Model(EVCM)and a Muon Sequence Matching Technology(MSMT) are proposed. The first model corrects flight pseudorange error caused by the relativistic energy loss and the second technology compensates the random error in pseudorange measurement. Further, a series of simulations are performed to analyze the muon events number which can be received by detector in different scenarios with the variations of zenith angle, detector area, varied detector plates gap, and muon flight distance.Meanwhile, the simulation results demonstrate that the muon navigation update rate every 10 minutes can reach 5.989 in confined spaces at 100 m, and further pseudorange error analysis indicates that the meter-level positioning accuracy can be acquired. Finally, we construct a muon coincidence measurement scheme and verify that the laws of the muon positioning system for high-energy muons are consistent with the simulation results.

Estimation of BDS pseudorange biases with high temporal resolution:feasibility,affecting factors,and necessity

A common practice adopted for the pseudorange bias estimation and calibration assumes that Global Navigation Satellite System satellite-dependent pseudorange biases vary gently over time.Whereupon satellite pseudorange biases are routinely estimated and provided as the products with low temporal resolution,e.g.,hourly or daily,by the agencies.The story sounds unquestionably perfect under the acquainted assumption.To validate the inadequacy of the above hypothesis we herein present an approach to the estimate the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System(BDS)pseudorange biases with high temporal resolution.Its feasibility,affecting factors,and necessity are discussed.Concretely,the Geometry-Free function models are first constructed to retrieve the linear combination of the pseudorange biases;then the pseudorange Observable-specific Signal Bias(OSB)values with respect to baseline frequencies(e.g.,BDS C2I/C6I)are estimated along with the ionosphere modeling;subsequently,all multi-frequency pseudorange OSBs are determined by using the ionospheric information with constraint conditions;finally,the possible Differential Code Bias sets are attainable with the estimated pseudorange OSBs.Using the observation data of four months when the estimated BDS pseudorange biases are stable,their reliability is demonstrated with the stability at the level of sub-nanosecond and the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System(BDS-3)values more stable than that of BeiDou-2 Navigation Satellite System(BDS-2).The comparison between the estimated pseudorange biases and the Chinese Academy of Sciences products reveals that the accuracy of the estimated pseudorange biases is 0.2–0.4 ns.Moreover,the large magnitude of the short-term pseudorange bias variation in the tens of nanoseconds for the BDS-2 and BDS-3 are found in years 2021 and 2022,which are affected by two types of the satellite flex power for the BDS-2 and BDS-3,respectively.We stress that it’s necessary to estimate the BDS pseudorange biases with high temporal resolution in the case of the satellite flex power and the products currently provided by the agencies cannot reflect the true quantity under the circumstance.

Orbit determination for geostationary satellites with the combination of transfer ranging and pseudorange data

Geostationary satellites(GEOs) play a significant role in the regional satellite navigation system.Simulation experiments show that the clock corrections could be mitigated through a single strategy or double differencing strategies for a navigation constellation,but for the mode of individual GEO orbit determination,high precision orbit and clock correction could not be obtained in the orbit determination based on the pseudorange data.A new GEO combined precise orbit determination(POD) strategy is studied in this paper,which combines pseudorange data and C-band transfer ranging data.This strategy overcomes the deficiency of C-band transfer ranging caused by limited stations and tracking time available.With the combination of transfer ranging and pseudorange data,clock corrections between the GEO and the stations can be estimated simultaneously along with orbital parameters,maintaining self-consistency between the satellite ephemeris and clock correction parameters.The error covariance analysis is conducted to illuminate the contributions from the transfer ranging data and the psudoranging data.Using data collected for a Chinese GEO satellite with 3 C-band transfer ranging stations and 4 L-band pseudorange tracking stations,POD experiments indicate that a meter-level accuracy is achievable.The root-mean-square(RMS) of the post-fit C-band ranging data is about 0.203 m,and the RMS of the post-fit pseudorange is 0.408 m.Radial component errors of the POD experiments are independently evaluated with the satellite laser ranging(SLR) data from a station in Beijing,with the residual RMS of 0.076 m.The SLR evaluation also suggests that for 2-h orbital predication,the predicted radial error is about 0.404 m,and the clock correction error is about 1.38 ns.Even for the combination of one C-band transfer ranging station and 4 pseudorange stations,POD is able to achieve a reasonable accuracy with the radial error of 0.280 m and the 2-h predicted radial error of 0.888 m.Clock synchronization between the GEO and tracking stations is achieved with an estimated accuracy of about 1.55 ns,meeting the navigation service requirements.

Initial analysis for characterizing and mitigating the pseudorange biases of BeiDou navigation satellite system

Pseudorange bias has become a practical obstacle in the field of high-precision global navigation satellite system(GNSS)applications,which greatly restricts the further development of high-precision applications.Unfortunately,no studies have been conducted on the pseudorange biases of the BeiDou navigation satellite system(BDS).To mitigate the effects of pseudorange biases on the BDS performance to the greatest extent possible,the origin of such BDS pseudorange biases are first thoroughly illustrated,based upon which the dependency of the biases on the receiver configurations are studied in detail.Owing to the limitations regarding the parameter re-settings for hardware receivers,software receiver technology was used to achieve the ergodicity of the receiver parameters,such as the correlator spacing and front-end bandwidth,using high-fidelity signal observations collected by a 40-m-high gain dish antenna at Haoping Observatory.Based on this,the pseudorange biases of the BDS B1I and B3I signals and their dependency on different correlator spacings and front-end bandwidths were adequately provided.Finally,herein,the suggested settings of the correlator spacing and front-end bandwidth for BDS receivers are in detail proposed for the first time.As a result,the pseudorange biases of the BDS signals will be less than 20 cm,reaching even under 10 cm,under this condition.This study will provide special attention to GNSS pseudorange biases,and will significantly promote a clear definition of the appropriate receiver parameter settings in the interface control documents of BDS and other individual satellite systems.

Single Frequency WAAS Augmentation Observations (L1 vs. L5) on a Ground Based GPS L1 C/A Solution

This paper presents observations on the WAAS L1 and L5 signals quality and their impact on the robustness of the navigation solution by quantifying the contributions of each broadcasted differential correction. This work is undertaken with the intent of defining performance benefits of L5 by dual frequency WAAS users and is to provide useful material for Minimum Operational Performance Standard (MOPS) development. In this perspective, a study of the WAAS signal characteristics is first carried out. The information gathered is then used to compare various GPS solutions in terms of frequency diversity, satellite diversity, pseudorange noise and different signal corrections and their impacts. These solutions are compared against a reference standalone GPS solution. All statistics are computed with respect to a post-processed Novatel Waypoint Real-Time Kinematics (RTK) GPS L1/L2 semi-codeless static solution, considered as the reference. A discussion on some simplifications with respect to specifications (i.e. MOPS) that could be considered by receiver manufacturers closes the paper. It is confirmed that the current WAAS navigation message definition is the same on both the L1 and L5 frequencies, the latter further being Manchester coded, thus avoiding data ambiguity. The +5 dB SNR on L5 has minor impacts in terms of reliability and continuous availability in the presented scenarios, but would become especially beneficial in hostile environments, despite a greater number of pulsed interferers. Another demonstration is that the WAAS message varies slightly from one WAAS satellite to another, even if corrections are generated centrally. Finally, it is observed that WAAS and GPS signals pseudorange noise are comparable on a “per frequency” basis.

面向空间导航系统设计的GPS量测仿真增强研究(英文)

At the stage of preliminary scheme and algorithm design for spaceborne navigation systems, a precise and high-fidelity software global positioning system （GPS） simulator is a necessary and feasible testing facility in laboratory environments, with consideration of the tradeoffs where possible. This article presents a software GPS measurements simulator on the L1 C/A code and carrier signal for space-oriented navigation system design. The simulator, coded in MATLAB language, generates both C/A code pseudorange and carrier phase measurements. Mathematical models in the Earth centered inertial （ECI） frame are formulated to simulate the GPS constellation and to generate GPS measurements. A series of efficient measures are investigated and utilized to rationalize the enhanced simulator, in terms of ephemeris data selection, space ionospheric model and range rate calculation, etc. Such an enhanced simulator has been facilitating our current work for designing a space integrated GPS/inertial navigation system （INS） navigation system. Consequently, it will promote our future research on space-oriented navigation system.