Independent Ground Monitor Coverage of GPS Satellites

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to independently monitor signals in space from the Global Positioning System (GPS) for the purpose of providing immediate awareness to civil aviation users of the operational status of GPS when it is used in the National Airspace System. The operational status will be disseminated to Air Traffic Control and will possibly be broadcast from ground monitoring stations to GPS aviation users via a dedicated integrity channel. An algorithm is described that measures the coverage of a configuration of ground monitoring station locations, and is applied to several different configurations of ground monitoring stations to compare the coverage provided. Also included are the resulting ground monitoring station configurations that give the best coverage of GPS signals for several specific geographical areas, the conterminous United States (CONUS), Canada, and Alaska.     

GPS Program Status

The Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) Program is composed of three segments ? Space, Control, and User Equipment. The Space segment is responsible for the development and launch of the GPS satellite constellation. The Control segment is responsible for monitoring the satellite telemetry and providing updated navigation information to the satellites. The User Equipment (UE) segment is responsible for the development and procurement of the GPS receivers for a variety of host vehicle platforms. Recently, approval was given to the User segment to enter Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). This approval marks the beginning of Phase III (production and deployment) of the GPS program. This paper will discuss the overall status of all three segments with an emphasis on the User Equipment segment as it enters the production phase of the program.     

GPS modeling for designing aerospace vehicle navigation systems

The complexity of the design of a Global Positioning System (GPS) user segment, as well as the performance demanded of the components, depends on user requirements such as total navigation accuracy. Other factors, for instance the expected satellite/vehicle geometry or the accuracy of an accompanying inertial navigation system can also affect the user segment design. Models of GPS measurements are used to predict user segment performance at various levels. Design curves are developed which illustrate the relationship between user requirements, the user segment design, and component performance     

Real-time navigation using the global positioning system

This paper presents the results of an investigation of the application of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to real-time integrated missile navigation. We present quantifiable measures of navigation accuracy as a function of GPS user segment parameters. These user segment parameters include antenna phase response accuracy, single versus dual frequency, and Kalman filter structure and size. We also formulate some new phase-locked loop (PLL) filter designs for application in GPS receivers, and demonstrate their superiority over more conventional filters     

Testing the precision lightweight GPS receiver

Innovative field testing techniques are employed at Holloman Air Force Base to help the Global Positioning System (GPS) NAVSTAR Joint Program Office (JPO) test the Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR). Characterizing the PLGR's accuracy in dynamic environments is of prime importance but testing also prescribes the evaluation of its ability to receive differential GPS corrections, real time, and its Electronic Counter Counter Measures. To meet these goals, the 46th Test Group provides the C-12 cargo aircraft for flight testing, an instrumented test van for mobile testing, the High Speed Test Track for high velocity testing, a UH-1 helicopter for rotor blade modulation testing, and special PC laptops for ground troop testing. All of these test capabilities utilize Holloman's well instrumented test environments with thousands of surveyed sites validated by the Defense Mapping Agency. This paper emphasizes the testing techniques that are helping to define Test & Evaluation methodologies for the changing world where Global Positioning with NAVSTAR is becoming a reality     

Crop Dusting using GPS

Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and GPS-based swath guidance systems are used on agricultural aircraft for remote sensing, airplane guidance, and to support variable-rate aerial application of crop inputs such as insecticides, cotton growth regulators, and defoliants. Agricultural aircraft travel at much greater speeds than ground equipment (65 m/s, typically), so longitudinal (along-track) error in GPS-derived position is likely to be pronounced. Due to rapid ground speeds, determination of exact GPS-derived aircraft location requires special methodologies. To meet the need for determining ground position accurately, a ground-based spotting system using two strategically placed mirrors was designed to reflect sunlight to the belly of the aircraft when the plane passed over a ground reference point. The light beam was detected by a photocell on the airplane, causing a solid state relay to close through appropriate circuitry. When the relay closed, a record was placed in the data file for the airplane's Satloc GPS receiver, accurate to 0.01 s allowing exact position to be logged. Two stand-alone GPS receivers were evaluated along with the Satloc system, and their readings were compared with readings from the Satloc. For one day of testing used as an example, the Satloc lagged the ground reference point by an average of -4.53 m (S.D. = 0.68) in the east-west directions and led the reference point in the north-south directions by an average of +7.88 m (S.D. = 0.52). Positioning data from one stand-alone GPS receiver showed a distinct ground speed dependency, making it unsuitable for use in aircraft. Output from the other receiver (designed for aircraft use) was insensitive to ground speed changes but exhibited a look-ahead equivalent to 2-s at the ground speeds evaluated.     

顾及频间偏差的GNSS多频非组合PPP变形监测

精密单点定位(PPP)技术有望解决长距离、大范围等监测场景难以找到稳定基准点的难题。现代化的全球卫星导航系统(GNSS)卫星纷纷开始播发多频信号,多频观测值融合理论上可提升PPP变形监测性能。为了充分利用多频冗余观测数据,详细研究了每个频点的差分码偏差(DCB)和全球定位系统(GPS)存在的相位频率间卫星钟偏差(PIFCB)的改正方法,扩展了多频数据处理的严密理论模型,能够灵活处理GPS三频、Galileo五频和BDS-3五频观测数据。多频PPP振动监测实验结果表明,GPS三频PPP、BDS-3五频PPP、Galileo五频PPP较各自双频PPP位移监测精度可分别提升12%、13%和14%,表明多频PPP技术有利于提升PPP位移监测精度与稳定性。     

Correlations between GPS and USNO Master Clock time

The U.S. Naval Observatory Master Clock is used to steer the Global Positioning System (GPS) time. Time transfer data consisting of the difference between the Master Clock and GPS time has been acquired from all satellites in the GPS constellation covering a time period from 10 October 1995 to 12 December 1995. A Fourier analysis of the data shows a distinct peak in the Fourier spectrum corresponding to approximately a one day period. In order to determine this period more accurately, correlations are computed between successive days of the data, and an average of twenty five correlation functions shows that there exists a correlation equal to 0.52 at delay time 23 h 56 min, which corresponds to twice the average GPS satellite period. This correlation indicates that GPS time, as measured by the U.S. Naval Observatory, is periodic with respect to the Master Clock, with a period of 23 h and 56 min. An autocorrelation of a five day segment of data indicates that these correlations persist for four successive days     

GPS autoland considerations

It is pointed out that fully automatic hands-off landing (autoland) capability for commercial aircraft, using the Global Positioning System (GPS), has not been demonstrated, and that ground multipath errors limit vertical positioning accuracy. An evolving integrated-sensor-based architecture for approach and landing, called the tunnel concept, is examined. The precise velocity information available could substantially reduce the vertical accuracy requirement for autoland     

全球导航完好性通道（GNIC）方案讨论

国际民航组织(ICAO)将采纳 GPS GLONASS INMARSAT 联合组成的 GNSS 系统供全球导航使用。对系统的增强和完好性监控是至关重要的问题。本文介绍近年来提出的各种地面完好性监控通道(GIC)的方案,包括地面监测台网、地面数据传输的通信链路和卫星转发。重点阐述 INMARSAT 提出的静止卫星加发导航信号的重叠(IGO)概念和全球性完好性监测台网(IMN)。然后进行比较和讨论,并提出需进一步跟踪研究。     

DQI-NP application to the OutriderTM Tactical UnmannedAerial Vehicle (TUAV)

A wide variety of applications can benefit from integrated Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System (INS/GPS) technology. However, in many situations, the end user has a preference for a specific GPS receiver. Additionally, in most cases, the user does not desire to expend the time and money necessary to perform a custom INS/GPS integration, but instead wants a low-cost off-the-shelf solution. To address these applications, Boeing has developed the Digital Quartz Inertial Measurement Unit (DQI IMU)-Navigation Processor (DQI-NP) product as an extension of its Miniature Integrated GPS/INS Tactical System (MIGITS^TM) family of integrated INS/GPS products. This paper describes the DQI-NP and its application to the Outrider^TM Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV). The DQI-NP, as currently integrated into the Outrider^TM TUAV, is coupled with a custom Trimble GPS receiver combined with major embedded firmware modifications by IntegriNautics. In conjunction with differential GPS and ground based pseudolites, the overall system is intended to provide autonomous landing capability to the Outrider TUAV. DQI-NP provides an available, low-cost, commercial-off-the-shelf/non-development item (COTS/NDI) solution to a variety of commercial and military applications, of which the Outrider ^TM TUAV is an excellent example     

基于路面分割的高精度地图创建优化方法研究

高精度地图主要利用已采集图像的地面信息生成,但是在真实环境中图像的地面信息容易受动态障碍物遮挡,同时GPS难免会有抖动误差,导致地图拼接效果并不理想。针对上述问题提出了一种基于路面分割的动态障碍物去除与图像配准方法。使用深度学习对全景图像进行语义分割并提取路面信息,在去除动态障碍物干扰后,利用路面特征进行图像配准。融合GPS与里程计信息进行定位优化,利用多帧图像叠加填补空缺形成地图。最终,实验验证了该方法在去除动态障碍物的同时也提高了地图的精度。     

Adaptive SNR-based carrier phase multipath mitigation technique

An improved technique that mitigates specular multipath in Global Positioning System (GPS) differential carrier phase measurements is described. It adaptively estimates the spectral parameters (frequency, amplitude, phase offset) of multipath in the associated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and then constructs a profile of the multipath error in the carrier phase. A multipath correction is subsequently made by subtracting the profile from the actual phase measurement data. The technique is demonstrated on ground based experimental data, as well as flight data from the atmospheric research satellite CRISTA-SPAS. Ground experiments were conducted on static platforms in severe multipath environments. Multipath was deliberately introduced by either strategic placement of reflectors or electronic injection. This allowed for some control over the strength and frequency of the multipath. Averaging the results from 43 ground and 18 flight data sets, the differential carrier phase multipath was reduced by 47%. The complete results for both ground and flight tests are presented and are accompanied by discussions of individual cases     

Kalman filter mechanization for INS airstart

A strapdown mechanization and associated Kalman filter are developed to provide both ground align and airstart capabilities for inertial navigation systems (INSs) using Doppler velocity and position fixes, while not requiring an initial heading estimate. Position update during coarse mode is possible by defining sine and cosine of wander angle as filter states and modeling the position error in geographic frame while integrating velocity in the wander frame. INS Global Positioning System (GPS) differential position due to GPS antenna moment arm can aid heading convergence during hover turns in helicopter applications. Azimuth error state in the fine mode of the filter is defined as wander angle error to provide continuous estimation of navigational states, as well as inertial/aiding sensor errors, across the coarse-to-fine mode transition. Though motivated by a tactical helicopter application, the design can be applied to other vehicles. Advantages over conventional systems in addition to the airstart capability include robustness and versatility in handling many different operational conditions     

Enhancing filter robustness in cascaded GPS-INS integrations

Filter robustness is defined herein as the ability of the Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS-INS) Kalman filter to cope with adverse environments and input conditions, to successfully identify such conditions and to take evasive action. The formulation of two such techniques for a cascaded GPS-INS Kalman filter integration is discussed This is an integration in which the navigation solution from a GPS receiver is used as a measurement in the filter to estimate inertial errors and instrument biases. The first technique presented discusses the handling of GPS position biases. These are due to errors in the GPS satellite segment, and are known to be unobservable. They change levels when a satellite constellation change occurs, at which point they introduce undesirable filter response transients. A method of suppressing these transients is presented. The second technique presented deals with the proper identification of the filter measurement noise. Successful formulation of the noise statistics is a factor vital to the healthy estimation of the filter gains and operation. Furthermore, confidence in the formulation of these statistics can lead to the proper screening and rejection of bad data in the filter. A method of formulating the filter noise statistics dynamically based on inputs from the GPS and the INS is discussed     

Effects of ionospheric scintillation on differential demodulation of GPS data

Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers that must operate under fading propagation conditions can use differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) and reference bits to reliably demodulate GPS data. The demodulation performance of such receivers is analyzed for nonfading and Rayleigh fading channels. Theoretical results derived here are compared with measured error rates taken during scintillation testing of a prototype GPS/DPSK receiver.     

Galileo系统完好性处理的方法研究

对于卫星导航系统而言,系统所能提供的完好性指标和导航定位精度是同样重要的。欧洲的Galileo系统将在2008年建成,届时它将与美国的GPS系统相互补充。本文在对GMileo系统导航定位指标分析的基础上,结合系统完好性监测的设计特点,推导了系统地面完好性信道(GIC)监测算法和用户自主完好性(RAIM)监测算法,建立了数据完好性播发体制。     

GPS/惯性组合方式讨论与导航精度分析

 本文讨论GPS/惯性组合两种方式的优缺点。并以GPS伪距和伪距率与惯导组合为例,按GPS测量误差的不同,以及使用差分机等情况,仿真计算了机载使用的组合导航性能,进行了详细的精度分析。结果表明,这种组合的导航精度比GPS和惯导各自的导航精度高。在采用差分GPS机与惯导组合后,位置误差将进一步减少,使组合导航具有开辟例如飞机进场着陆等新的使用领域的可能性。     

Relative navigation for multi-spacecraft system with GPS

A type of multi-spacecraft system with kinematical restraint but no structural restraint and force action is considered. Both the absolute and relative navigation information is required for this multi-spacecraft system, but the relative information is more critical and the accuracy requirements for relative information will be much higher than those for the absolute information. In this paper, the Global Positioning System (GPS)/Differential GPS (DGPS) are introduced and used for relative navigation. Relative motion of space vehicles is modeled. Relative position, relative velocity and relative attitude are represented and solved by GPS/DGPS measurements. Using a type of commercial GPS receiver onboard spacecraft and relative differential GPS technique, the relative navigation of space vehicles can be implemented in real-time