JTIDS Relative Navigation with Measurement Sharing: Design and Performance

Alternative approaches for conducting relative navigation (relnav) using the joint tactical information distribution system (JTIDS) communication network are presented. The design and performance of the current JTIDS relnav with estimate sharing are discussed, including its shortcomings. We offer first a conceptually simpler alternate design that provides more accurate relnav between any pair of members, provided they have time to maneuver. A second alternative design includes the features of the first plus measurement sharing by designated primary members. It has even better performance including faster more accurate relnav fixes and relaxed maneuvering requirements. Simulation results are presented showing the superior performance of the new designs. The advantages and disadvantages of relnav with measurement sharing compared with relnav with estimate sharing are summarized.     

Stability of the Decentralized Estimation in the JTIDS Relative Navigation

The joint tactical information distribution system (JTIDS) includes a relative navigation capability with which each member can estimate its own position by utilizing the broadcast position estimates of other members plus the measured times of arrival of the radio signals. Previous simulation studies of the system have shown that unrestricted ranging between members can produce unstable navigation errors, but a covariance-based hierarchy may be stable. We have succeeded in proving, analytically, the stability of a closely related organization?a fixed-rank hierarchy. For all ownstate organizations we present time-domain equations for computing estimation-error covariance and for analyzing stability. A simple simulation is able to demonstrate the stability issues.