Modified Rake architecture for GNSS receiver in a multipath environment

Multipath is one of the major error sources in satellite-based navigation systems. This paper proposes a new anti-multipath architecture, named Modified Rake (MRake), for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver. The architecture derives from RAKE receiver in communication system. It can track direct-path and multipath components separately from the received signal without consumption of much hardware resources or complex calculation. The MRake architecture uses an Amplitude Estimation Unit (AEU) to estimate the amplitude of each component, and a noncoherent DLL to adaptively control its time-delay. Since the receiver only uses the direct-path signal to calculate the user's position, the tracked multipath components are subtracted from the composite signal to reduce the multipath effect, and thus to reduce tracking error. MRake receiver shows better performance or consumes much fewer resources than traditional anti-multipath techniques.