Investigations into Phase Multipath Mitigation Techniques for High Precision Positioning in Difficult Environments

2007 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Lau ◽  
Paul Cross

The modelling of most Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) errors/biases and developments of data processing techniques have been improved substantially since the birth of Global Positioning System (GPS), however, there has been much less progress in the improvement of phase multipath mitigation techniques. Multipath therefore remains one of the most important error sources in high precision GNSS positioning. This is because multipath is site-dependent and therefore cannot be eliminated by differencing techniques. Also multipath is highly dependent on satellite-reflector-antenna geometry, which usually causes rapid changes in phase multipath errors especially in Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) applications. Multipath mitigation for static antennas such as those at reference stations can be carried out by site calibration, averaging over long observation times, and through the estimation of the error using filtering based on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data. However, multipath mitigation for kinematic antennas is still very difficult today.Nevertheless, much research has been carried out on a particular class of phase multipath mitigation techniques: ones that can be applied within positioning algorithms (rather than incorporated into the receiver tracking loops or antennas). This paper investigates and further develops a number of state-of-the-art techniques in this category. They include phase multipath estimation using SNR data, phase multipath estimation through the use of closely spaced antennas, multipath mitigation stochastic models such as the satellite elevation angle model and SNR-based models (SIGMA-∊ model and our modified SNR-based model), and our own novel ray-tracing method. The techniques are tested with both real and simulated data, the real test datasets have been collected on the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées (LCPC) testbed near Nantes in France, and on the campus of the University of Nottingham during SPACE data collection experiments.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1981
Author(s):  
Ruike Ren ◽  
Hao Fu ◽  
Hanzhang Xue ◽  
Zhenping Sun ◽  
Kai Ding ◽  
...  

High-precision 3D maps play an important role in autonomous driving. The current mapping system performs well in most circumstances. However, it still encounters difficulties in the case of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal blockage, when surrounded by too many moving objects, or when mapping a featureless environment. In these challenging scenarios, either the global navigation approach or the local navigation approach will degenerate. With the aim of developing a degeneracy-aware robust mapping system, this paper analyzes the possible degeneration states for different navigation sources and proposes a new degeneration indicator for the point cloud registration algorithm. The proposed degeneracy indicator could then be seamlessly integrated into the factor graph-based mapping framework. Extensive experiments on real-world datasets demonstrate that the proposed 3D reconstruction system based on GNSS and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors can map challenging scenarios with high precision.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3014
Author(s):  
Feng Wang ◽  
Dongkai Yang ◽  
Guodong Zhang ◽  
Jin Xing ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
...  

Sea surface height can be measured with the delay between reflected and direct global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals. The arrival time of a feature point, such as the waveform peak, the peak of the derivative waveform, and the fraction of the peak waveform is not the true arrival time of the specular signal; there is a bias between them. This paper aims to analyze and calibrate the bias to improve the accuracy of sea surface height measured by using the reflected signals of GPS CA, Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I. First, the influencing factors of the delay bias, including the elevation angle, receiver height, wind speed, pseudorandom noise (PRN) code of GPS CA, Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I, and the down-looking antenna pattern are explored based on the Z-V model. The results show that (1) with increasing elevation angle, receiver height, and wind speed, the delay bias tends to decrease; (2) the impact of the PRN code is uncoupled from the elevation angle, receiver height, and wind speed, so the delay biases of Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I can be derived from that of GPS CA by multiplication by the constants 0.32 and 0.54, respectively; and (3) the influence of the down-looking antenna pattern on the delay bias is lower than 1 m, which is less than that of other factors; hence, the effect of the down-looking antenna pattern is ignored in this paper. Second, an analytical model and a neural network are proposed based on the assumption that the influence of all factors on the delay bias are uncoupled and coupled, respectively, to calibrate the delay bias. The results of the simulation and experiment show that compared to the meter-level bias before the calibration, the calibrated bias decreases the decimeter level. Based on the fact that the specular points of several satellites are visible to the down-looking antenna, the multi-observation method is proposed to calibrate the bias for the case of unknown wind speed, and the same calibration results can be obtained when the proper combination of satellites is selected.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Hossein Shoushtari ◽  
Thomas Willemsen ◽  
Harald Sternberg

There are many ways to navigate in Global Navigation Satellite System-(GNSS) shaded areas. Reliable indoor pedestrian navigation has been a central aim of technology researchers in recent years; however, there still exist open challenges requiring re-examination and evaluation. In this paper, a novel dataset is used to evaluate common approaches for autonomous and infrastructure-based positioning methods. The autonomous variant is the most cost-effective realization; however, realizations using the real test data demonstrate that the use of only autonomous solutions cannot always provide a robust solution. Therefore, correction through the use of infrastructure-based position estimation based on smartphone technology is discussed. This approach invokes the minimum cost when using existing infrastructure, whereby Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) forms the basis of the autonomous position estimation. Realizations with Particle Filters (PF) and a topological approach are presented and discussed. Floor plans and routing graphs are used, in this case, to support PDR positioning. The results show that the positioning model loses stability after a given period of time. Fifth Generation (5G) mobile networks can enable this feature, as well as a massive number of use-cases, which would benefit from user position data. Therefore, a fusion concept of PDR and 5G is presented, the benefit of which is demonstrated using the simulated data. Subsequently, the first implementation of PDR with 5G positioning using PF is carried out.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrez Zribi ◽  
Erwan Motte ◽  
Nicolas Baghdadi ◽  
Frédéric Baup ◽  
Sylvia Dayau ◽  
...  

The aim of this study is to analyze the sensitivity of airborne Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) on soil surface and vegetation cover characteristics in agricultural areas. Airborne polarimetric GNSS-R data were acquired in the context of the GLORI’2015 campaign over two study sites in Southwest France in June and July of 2015. Ground measurements of soil surface parameters (moisture content) and vegetation characteristics (leaf area index (LAI), and vegetation height) were recorded for different types of crops (corn, sunflower, wheat, soybean, vegetable) simultaneously with the airborne GNSS-R measurements. Three GNSS-R observables (apparent reflectivity, the reflected signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), and the polarimetric ratio (PR)) were found to be well correlated with soil moisture and a major vegetation characteristic (LAI). A tau-omega model was used to explain the dependence of the GNSS-R reflectivity on both the soil moisture and vegetation parameters.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Kenji Yamawaki ◽  
Felipe Geremia-Nievinski ◽  
João Francisco Monico

Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) has emerged as a promising remote sensing technique for coastal sea level monitoring. The GNSS-R based on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) observations employs a single antenna and a conventional receiver. It performs best for low elevation satellites, where direct and reflected radio waves are very similar in polarization and direction of arrival. One of the disadvantages of SNR-based GNSS-R for sea level altimetry is its low temporal resolution, which is of the order of one hour for each independent satellite pass. Here we present a proof-of-concept based on a synthetic vertical array. It exploits the mechanical movement of a single antenna at high rate (about 1 Hz). SNR observations can then be fit to a known modulation, of the order of the antenna sweeping rate. We demonstrate that centimetric altimetry precision can be achieved in a 5-minute session. [©2021 IEEE]


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Huang ◽  
Yi Liu ◽  
Qiong Tang ◽  
Guanyi Chen ◽  
Zhuangkai Wang ◽  
...  

By using multi-satellite observations of the L1 signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) taken in 2017, we present the occurrence of nighttime topside ionospheric irregularities in low-latitude and equatorial regions. The most significant finding of this study is the existence of longitudinal structures with a wavenumber 4 pattern in the topside irregularities. This suggests that lower atmospheric waves, especially a daytime diurnal eastward-propagating zonal wave number-3 nonmigrating tide (DE3), might play an important role in the generation of topside plasma bubbles during the low solar minimum. Observations of scintillation events indicate that the maximum occurrence of nighttime topside ionospheric irregularities occurs on the magnetic equator during the equinoxes. The current work, which could be regarded as an important update of the previous investigations, would be readily for the further global analysis of the topside ionospheric irregularities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Avram ◽  
Volker Schwieger ◽  
Noha El Gemayel

Abstract Current trends like Autonomous Driving (AD) increase the need for a precise, reliable, and continuous position at high velocities. In both natural and man-made environments, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals suffer challenges such as multipath, attenuation, or loss-of-lock. As Highway Assist and Highway Pilot are AD next steps, multipath knowledge is necessary for this typical user-case and kinematic situations. This paper presents a multipath performance analysis for GPS and Galileo satellites in static, slow, and high kinematic scenarios. The data is provided from car test-drives in both controlled and unrestricted, near-natural environments. The Code-Minus-Carrier (CMC) and cycle-slip implementations are validated with measurement data from consecutive days. Multipath statistical models based on satellite elevation are evaluated for the three investigated scenarios. Static models derived from the car setup measurements for GPS L1, L2 and Galileo E1 and E5b show a good agreement with a state-of-the-art model as well as the enhanced Galileo signals performance. Slow kinematic multipath results in a controlled environment showed an improvement for both navigation systems compared to the static measurements at the same place. This result is confirmed by static and slow kinematic multipath simulations with the same GNSS receiver. Post-processing analysis on highway measurements revealed a bigger multipath bias, compared to the open-sky static and slow kinematic measurement campaigns. Although less critical as urban or rural, this indicates the presence of multipath in this kind of environment as well. The impact of different parameters, including receiver architecture and Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are analyzed and discussed. Differential position (DGNSS) based on code is computed for each epoch and compared against GNSS/INS integrated position for all three measurement campaigns. The most significant 3D absolute error occurs where the greatest multipath envelope is found.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taro Suzuki ◽  
◽  
Mitsunori Kitamura ◽  
Yoshiharu Amano ◽  
Nobuaki Kubo ◽  
...  

This paper describes the development of a mobile robot system and an outdoor navigationmethod based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) in an autonomous mobile robot navigation challenge, called the Tsukuba Challenge, held in Tsukuba, Japan, in 2011 and 2012. The Tsukuba Challenge promotes practical technologies for autonomous mobile robots working in ordinary pedestrian environments. Many teams taking part in the Tsukuba Challenge used laser scanners to determine robot positions. GNSS was not used in localization because its positioning has multipath errors and problems in availability. We propose a technique for realizing multipath mitigation that uses an omnidirectional IR camera to exclude “invisible” satellites, i.e., those entirely obstructed by a building and whose direct waves therefore are not received. We applied GPS / dead reckoning (DR) integrated based on observation data from visible satellites determined by the IR camera. Positioning was evaluated during Tsukuba Challenge 2011 and 2012. Our robot ran the 1.4 km course autonomously and evaluation results confirmed the effectiveness of our proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.


Author(s):  
A. Sledz ◽  
J. Unger ◽  
C. Heipke

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> This paper deals with two aspects of photogrammetric processing of thermal images: image quality and 3D reconstruction quality. The first aspect of the paper relates to the influence of day light on Thermal InfraRed (TIR) images captured by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Environmental factors such as ambient temperature and lack of sun light affect TIR image quality. We acquire image sequences of the same object during day and night and compare the generated orthophotos according to different metrics like contrast and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Our experiments show that performing TIR image acquisition during night time provides a better thermal contrast, regardless of whether we compute contrast over the whole image or over small patches. The second aspect investigated in this work is the potential of using TIR images for photogrammetric tasks such as the automatic generation of Digital Surface Models (DSM) and orthophotos. Due to the low geometrical resolution of a TIR camera and the low image quality in terms of contrast and noise compared to RGB images, the TIR DSM suffers from reconstruction errors and an orthophoto generated using the TIR DSM and TIR images is visibly influenced by those errors. We therefore include measurements of the UAVs positions during image capturing provided by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to retrieve position and orientation of TIR and RGB images in the same world coordinate system. To generate an orthophoto from TIR images, they are projected onto the DSM reconstructed from RGB images. This procedure leads to a TIR orthophoto of much higher quality in terms of geometrical correctness.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Nor Azme Nordin ◽  
Noraishah Mustapa ◽  
Asiah Abdul Satar

Abstract: Insfrastructure development require significant changes and transformation in Geomatics field for the upcoming decade. The use of new technology in Geomatics and surveying is essential and can be leveraged in many survey application that will help on building the nation towards a sustainable future. In the last 5 years, GNSS technology has been widely used and practiced to replace total station for survey work. Main factors that contributes to this busniness changes are the availability of much cheaper equipment with good technical capability in the market that helps surveyor to perform their work faster and more efficient. Global navigation satellite system services for accurate positioning has also rapidly increased and provide many option and solution for industry player or surveyor to choose. Combination of multiple global navigation satellite system providers such as GPS, GALILEO,GLONASS and BeiDOU has developed good satellite networks and increased numbers of available satellites for observation that improve absolute position accuracy. CHC i70 is among the best selling GNSS model on the market right now. The receiver can receive signal from GPS,GALILEO,GLONASS and BeiDOU simultaneously. This study will outline and focus on the capability of the RTK-Based method ( 30 second to 1 minute observation period) using CHC i70 instrument in high-precision measurement work. The research was done using the GPS calibration test site at Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (POLISAS) and was also practiced in the actual work for establishment of Temporary Bench Mark (TBM) along Jalan Melor to Ketereh, Kelantan. The result of the study found that RTK-Based method can meet the precision work that is permitted under 2cm accuracy. Studies show that the method of using RTK- Based is suitable for high precision work and improve the measurement time and work duration at field.   Keywords : Beidou, Chc and RTK-Based GPS and PDOP


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