Extending the Applications and Improving the

Efficiency of Positioning through the Exploitation of

New GNSS Signals
Paul Cross, Marek Ziebart and Lawrence Lau
Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London
paul.cross@cege.ucl.ac.uk; marek@cege.ucl.ac.uk; lawrence@cege.ucl.ac.uk

Washington Ochieng and Shaojun Feng

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London
w.ochieng@imperial.ac.uk; s.feng@imperial.ac.uk

Terry Moore, Chris Hill, Lei Yang and Craig Hancock

Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy, University of Nottingham
terry.moore@nottingham.ac.uk;chris.hill@nottingham.ac.uk

Izzet Kale and Renan Kazazoglu

Department of Electronic, Communication and Software Engineering, University of Westminster
kalei@westminster.ac.uk

BIOGRAPHY University of Nottingham. He has over 20 years

Paul Cross is Professor of Space Geodesy at
University College London (UCL). His main
research interest is precise GNSS positioning with a
current focus on engineering and geophysical
applications.
Marek Ziebart is Professor of Space Geodesy at
UCL. His main research interests are spacecraft
orbit determination and prediction, and definition of
planet scale reference frames and surfaces.
Lawrence Lau is a Research Fellow at UCL. His
current research interest is multipath detection,
modelling and mitigation.
Washington Ochieng is Professor of Positioning
and Navigation Systems at Imperial College
London. His main research interest is navigation
system design with a current focus on integrity
monitoring.
Shaojun Feng is a Research Fellow at Imperial
College London. His research interests cover
systems integration and integrity monitoring.
Terry Moore is Professor of Satellite Navigation
and Director of the Institute of Engineering
Surveying and Space Geodesy (IESSG) at the
research experience in GNSS system design and
applications.
Chris Hill is a Principal Research Officer at the
IESSG at the University of Nottingham. He has
worked on a variety of GPS and GNSS research
projects over the last 20 years.
Lei Yang and Craig Hancock are Research
Associates at the IESSG.
Izzet Kale is Professor of Applied DSP and VLSI
Systems at the University of Westminster. He has
25 years experience in the design and
implementation of efficient real-time system
solutions for the telecommunications and
biomedical industries. His current research interest
is software defined multi-standard, reduced-
complexity, enhanced performance GNSS receivers.
Renan Kazazoglu is a Research Scholar at the
University of Westminster. His research interest is
enhanced performance software defined GNSS
receivers.
ABSTRACT
New signals from developing and modernized
satellite navigation systems will present
opportunities for accurate and reliable positioning in
many more situations than are possible with current
systems. Successful exploitation of these new
signals will enable the development of markets and
applications that will depend on positioning and
timing information in all environments, not just the
relatively benign outdoor environments that suit the
current Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
systems. However, the full benefits of these new
signals will only be realized when a number of
significant scientific and technical barriers have
been overcome.
Four UK leading academic GNSS research centres;
the Department of Civil, Environmental and
Geomatic Engineering at UCL; the Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial
College London; the Institute of Engineering
Surveying and Space Geodesy at the University of
Nottingham and the Department of Electronic,
Communication and Software Engineering at the
University of Westminster have won four linked
grants from the UK Engineering and Physical
Science Research Council (EPSRC) to undertake
collaborative research focussing on the exploitation
of new GNSS signals. The project christened
iNsight, is supported by, and involves collaboration
with nine commercial companies and government
agencies: Air Semiconductors, Civil Aviation
Authority, EADS Astrium, Leica Geosystems,
Nottingham Scientific Limited, Ordnance Survey,
QinetiQ, ST Microsystems, and Thales Research
and Technology UK Limited. The project aims to
investigate the scientific and technical barriers to
using the new signals in a series of seven work
packages as follows.
In the area of Signal Acquisition and Tracking
Techniques, we aim to implement novel acquisition
and tracking approaches, in an architecture which
facilitates the use of multiple different GNSS
systems. We will also investigate the benefits to
acquisition and tracking that can be gained from the
deep integration of GNSS with other positioning
sensors. In the area of Integrity, Quality Control
and Assessment, we will investigate techniques that
can quantify integrity for carrier phase positioning
and integrated systems, by studying a range of novel
algorithms and the impact of various failure modes.
We will address Orbits and Clock Transformation
models in order to ensure that new systems are
interoperable in terms of their position and timing
reference frames, and we will develop suitable
modelling approaches for the clocks and orbits of
the new systems. In Multipath Detection,
Modelling and Mitigation, we aim to investigate the
use of the new signals to tackle the problem of
carrier phase multipath, using a combination of
statistical modelling, antenna design and feedback
from other sensors in an integrated system. In the
modelling of Atmospheric Effects, we aim to take
advantage of the extra signal frequencies and the
extra satellite constellations to improve the
modelling and mitigation of both ionospheric and
tropospheric effects on satellite positioning. In
System Integration, we will study the combination
of GNSS with a variety of other positioning
systems, and we will develop improved flexible
algorithms that will automatically combine the
information from multiple sensors in an optimal
manner, to ensure the highest accuracy and
reliability in all conditions. Finally, in the
Development of Evaluation Platforms and Testing
we will we will build a software-configurable GNSS
discovery enabling platform to test and demonstrate
the results of the other work packages. This will
specifically address the issues of signal acquisition
from all the different systems available with
intelligent self-reconfigurability, to accommodate
changing conditions and environments.
We will specifically consider how the discoveries
we make in these work packages can be used to
enhance and enable the use of GNSS under the
following three specific conditions.
• Precise Point Positioning (PPP), where
extensive research is required to model the
relevant error sources.
• GNSS based sensor networks, where we
believe substantially more sophisticated
spatial and temporal elements to existing
error modelling will be possible.
• GNSS in difficult environments, where we
will carry out the basic research needed to
develop a robust system (including both
hardware and software) that can provide
metre-level indoor positioning accuracy, and
to assess the quality of such a system.
The challenges require expertise in the capture of
user requirements, receiver design and signal
processing, system prototyping, software
development, GNSS error modelling, systems
integration and integrity monitoring. The research
undertaken by the academic team will benefit from
industry’s experience and input in all of these areas
as well as in project management.
This paper gives an overview of the broad range of
areas that the project will address in the field of
GNSS and positioning sensor technology. It
describes the practical objectives of the use of new
signals, the structure of the project, and the way in
which the key research strategies are defined so that
the goals of improved positioning accuracy and
reliability from PPP and GNSS based sensor
networks in clear and difficult environments can be
reached.
INTRODUCTION
Over the past three decades GPS has evolved from
a system designed to provide metre-level
positioning for military applications to one that is
used for a diverse range of unforeseen, and mainly
civilian, applications. This evolution has been both
driven and underpinned by fundamental research,
including that carried out at UK universities,
especially in the fields of error modelling, receiver
design and sensor integration. However, GPS and its
current augmentations still cannot satisfy the ever
increasing demands for higher performance. For
instance there is insufficient coverage in many urban
areas, it is not accurate enough for some engineering
applications such as the laying of road pavements
and receivers cannot reliably access signals indoors.
However, things are changing rapidly. Over the next
few years the current satellite navigation systems are
scheduled to evolve into new and enhanced forms.
Modernised GPS and GLONASS (Russia’s
equivalent to GPS) will bring new signals to
complement those that we have been using from
GPS for the last 30 years. The first five GPS
satellites transmitting the L2C signal are now
operational and we can expect there to be sufficient
numbers of these satellites to reach initial
operational capability by 2014. On 10 April 2009,
the L5 signal was successfully transmitted by a GPS
satellite for the first time, and we are now seeing the
gradual re-population of the GLONASS
constellation with GLONASS-M spacecraft, which
are already transmitting a civil signal on G2, and
future satellites (GLONASS-K and GLONASS-
KM) propose a civil signal at (or close to) the GPS
L5 frequency. Also we will see the early
deployment of four Galileo In-Orbit-Validation
satellites closely followed by the full operational
constellation with its new signals and facilities.
Furthermore we will see the deployment of China’s
Compass system.
These new signals have the potential to extend the
applications of GNSS into those areas that GPS
alone cannot satisfy. They will also enable the
invention of new positioning concepts that will
significantly increase the efficiency of positioning
for many of today’s applications and stimulate new
ones, especially those that will develop in
conjunction with the anticipated fourth generation
communication networks to provide the location
based services that will be essential for economic
development across the whole world, including the
open oceans. This new project seeks to undertake a
number of specific aspects of the research that is
necessary to exploit the new signals and to enable
these new applications. They include those related
to the design of new GNSS sensors, the modelling
of various data error sources to improve positioning
accuracy, and the integration of GNSSs with each
other and with other positioning-related inputs such
as inertial sensors, the eLORAN navigation system,
and a wide range of pseudolite and ultra-wide band
radio systems (Groves, 2008). We are also seeking
to find new ways to measure the quality (integrity)
of integrated systems so that we can realistically
assess their fitness for specific purposes (especially
for safety-critical and legally-critical applications).
As part of our work we will build an evaluation
platform to test our ideas and validate our
discoveries. These are substantial challenges which
we are now able to investigate through the
investment of significant resources by the UK
Engineering and Physical Science Research Council
(EPSRC), including those from industry.
This project builds on the unique legacy of the
SPACE (Seamless Positioning in All Conditions and
Environments, see http://www.space-uk.org/)
project, which was a successful research
collaboration framework that brought together the
leading academic GNSS research centres in the UK,
with many of the most important industrial
organisations and user agencies in the field. The
project laid the foundation for the construction of an
effective, long-term virtual academic team across
the UK’s leading GNSS universities, with an
effective interface to access industry’s needs and
real-world experience.
To address the challenges and opportunities ahead
we have identified a coherent work-plan with seven
linked themes. To facilitate our research we will
build a software-configurable GNSS discovery
enabling platform. This will specifically address
issues of signal acquisition and tracking from all the
different systems available with intelligent self-
reconfigurability to accommodate changing
conditions and environments.
SIGNAL ACQUISITION AND TRACKING
TECHNIQUES
In order to exploit new signals and new antenna
structures research will be conducted in three
interrelated areas.
 Signal Acquisition: The design of new satellite
signals and systems brings into question their
acquisition. A detailed investigation into current
state-of-the-art in signal modulation schemes and
research trends will be carried out in this aspect of
the work. The outcome of this research would be
used to devise a generalized highly flexible
acquisition structure that is able to deal with the new
signal transmission schemes with minimal overhead.
The novel acquisition structure will be modelled,
simulated, built and evaluated in real-time with
synthetic as well as real-life signals using the test
platform. Reconfigurability of the acquisition block
in this strand of the work would mean that future
modifications to current satellite signals would be
effectively handled by the acquisition block.
Signal Tracking: Novel tracking techniques for
efficient multi-signal intelligent self-reconfigurable
receivers will be investigated. With so many new
signals, receivers will have to be able to operate on
more than one GNSS system depending on criteria
such as current position, time of day, day of year
and satellite visibility. Dedicating individual
channels to each of the different systems would
reduce receiver utilization and increase the static
power consumption of the receiver, since depending
on the users current location, some satellite systems
may not provide a satisfactory service. Moreover, a
generalized tracking channel structure capable of
reconfiguring itself depending on satellite
availability should be able to handle any
combination of satellite signals, given enough
channels to operate with. The ability to swap
receiver channels between frequencies in cases
where one frequency has interference and another is
clear will also be explored. Designing a
reconfigurable correlator would also mean that it
could be processing more than one satellite signal in
systems with shorter PRN frame times. Depending
on the application, the correlator complexity and
hence the power consumption could be reduced to
appeal to the mobile/portable market, at the cost of
loosing pseudo-range resolution. Having a fully
reconfigurable tracking channel would also mean
that only minor modifications could be enough to
enable the same tracking channel to process
currently unavailable future satellite signals and
systems. A multi-signal tracking system will be
derived, modelled, simulated and prototyped on the
flexible test platform and tested with synthetic as
well as real-life signals in real-time.
Position Domain and Environment Specific
Feedback: Feedback regarding the velocity,
acceleration, rotation and jerk generated from the
position domain tracking could be used to improve
satellite signal tracking & correlation loop
performance. Further processing of the received
signal would be carried out for filtering and
rejection of multipath signals. Monitoring the
integrity of the incoming signal in the tracking loop
could further assist the decision making process and
improve discriminator outputs. Specific tracking
and acquisition techniques for difficult environment,
e.g. indoor, woodland, urban and canyon regions,
will be revisited with a view to establishing and
utilizing the benefits derived from the new signals
and the added sensor inputs. To this end, special
purpose weak signal processing tracking channels
will be designed, modelled, simulated and
prototyped to dynamically deal with weak satellite
signals. The prototype will also include standard
parts sensors to provide the necessary data. The
intelligent self-reconfigurable tracking channels
would be able to make the decision to reconfigure
the tracking loop and handle the reduced power of
the received signal.
INTEGRITY, QUALITY CONTROL AND
ASSESSMENT
The quality and integrity of the output of
positioning and navigation systems are crucial to
safety, commercial and liability critical applications.
Integrity monitoring at the user level is based on the
established concept of Receiver Autonomous
Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) and its variations,
which exploit redundancy, geometry and
measurement characteristics to check for
measurement consistency to detect the presence of
anomalous data. As most current algorithms have
been developed for pseudorange data (e.g. Lee and
O’Laughlin, 1999; Lee, 2004 and Feng et al.,
2007a), this research focuses on the development of
efficient methods of assessing the integrity of
integrated navigation solutions that involve carrier
phase data from several GNSSs and data from other
sensors (Groves et al., 2008). Such methods are
essential if GNSS is to be used for ubiquitous
mission critical applications. Research on the higher
precision carrier phase based AIM (CAIM) (e.g.
Chang et al., 2001 and Feng et al, 2007b) has been
patchy. Existing algorithms (for the DD observable),
have weaknesses including lack of accountability
for measurement correlation and unreliable
detection of simultaneous multiple failures. These
apply also to PPP depending on the method adopted.
Currently, no reliable integrity algorithm exists for
PPP. We will exploit the increased level of
redundancy at system and measurement levels
offered by the new signals and other sensors to
develop and characterize the performance of CAIM
for integrated navigation solutions involving relative
positioning and PPP. The entire data processing
chain will be monitored to detect anomalies early,
for the benefit of time critical applications. The
work on CAIM consists of three strands.
Residual error characterisation and identification of
failure modes: This strand will identify, for each
data source, the potential sources of error,
system/sensor malfunction, their characteristics in a
variety of conditions, and other issues associated
with the incorporation of the new signals and data
from other sensors. Information on errors will be
used to fully characterise the distributions of the
residual errors in order to determine the parameters
required for Failure Detection and Exclusion (FDE).
Initial work has shown that there is potential in the
application of Extreme Value Theory (EVT) for a
better representation of rare events compared to the
common Gaussian distribution (Panagiotakopoulos
and Ochieng, 2008). Potential failure modes will be
classified and models generated to support the
development of effective integrity algorithms. In
addition to the differences associated with spatial
and temporal references of the relevant GNSSs,
other related issues to be addressed include the
impact of increased redundancy on the probabilities
of occurrence of multiple failures and missed
detection, the relevance of Protection Levels (PL)
based on the slope concept due to its sensitivity to
the number of visible satellite, failure exclusion,
measurement correlation and the impact of noise
level inconsistencies between constellations that
may result in incorrect FDE. This strand will use
extensive simulations and controlled real data tests.
Specification of integrity and quality monitoring
algorithms: We will use the failure model and
distribution parameters from above to develop
flexible algorithms. Particular attention will be paid
to new methods including the use of innovative test
statistics that account for known failure modes
associated with different observables and
measurement combinations, and the associated
thresholds. Furthermore, new algorithms will be
developed for the determination of PLs that account
for the contribution of all data sources instead of the
conventional approaches. As a minimum we will
fully characterize the performances of two methods:
geometry slope and K-sigma (Feng et al., 2007b).
The former measures the level of sensitivity of the
position error to the test statistic, with the associated
PL determined based on this sensitivity and the
assumed measurement quality. K-sigma determines
the PL from the estimated standard deviation of the
position solution. Both require a specified integrity
risk. Finally, based on the failure modes from the
first strand (e.g. common mode failures), the
feasibility of applying and extending the ‘group
separation’ method (Feng and Ochieng, 2006) will
be investigated. The algorithms will be subjected to
detailed tests with simulated and real data to
quantify the performance achievable.
Impact of integrity and quality monitoring on
ambiguity resolution: This strand will have two
objectives: develop innovative approaches to
ambiguity validation, and assess the impact of the
integrity monitoring on the need for integer
ambiguity resolution. Currently there are three main
classes of ambiguity validation algorithms: Fisher-
Test (F-test), Norm test and Integer Aperture (IA).
These methods have been shown to perform
differently depending on the observables and
measurement combinations adopted. We will exploit
the strengths of each of the methods and specify a
cooperative validation strategy. Finally, we will
investigate the impact of new signals and other
sensors on the need for the resolution of integer
ambiguities. A detailed characterization of the
performances of the integrity and quality
algorithms, with and without ambiguity fixing, will
be undertaken, and recommendations made on the
practical application of each approach.
ORBITS AND CLOCK TRANSFORMATION
MODELS
Satellite navigation systems rely upon two
fundamental precepts: knowledge of where the
satellites are in space as a function of time, and the
realisation of a time scale based on the behaviour of
the spacecraft onboard atomic clocks. All GNSS
ranging techniques rely upon definitions of time on
board the satellites and in the ground based
receivers. Modelling the positions of the satellites in
space requires a coordinate system definition and
the realisation of the time frame requires defining a
time scale. In practice these frames depend upon one
another. As we start to consider more than one
constellation of GNSS spacecraft we cannot realise
the benefits of the additional satellites and signals
without determining the relationship between the
underlying space and time reference frames. This is
a non-trivial undertaking, and the international
scientific GNSS community gained valuable
experience of the underlying issues through an
earlier attempt to unify the American GPS and
Russian GLONASS systems in 1998 (Weber and
Springer, 2001, Boucher and Altamimi, 2001,
Lewandowski et al, 2001, Ziebart and Dare, 2001).
Whilst historically satellite navigation systems
have been designed using different spatial and
temporal frames, the trend is to use (nominally)
either identical or very similar reference frames. In
practice, real, deployed systems will differ at some
level: GPS time is maintained to differ nominally
from UTC by an integer number of seconds, and this
is achievable at the level of a few nanoseconds.
However, to maintain this accuracy frequency ramps
are applied to the GPS timescale when necessary.
The best estimates of GPS orbits are discontinuous
at the day boundary, and this discontinuity can be
largely eliminated by a rotation of the orbit around
the Earth Centred Earth Fixed (ECEF) Z-axis,
showing the relationship and dependency of spatial
and temporal frame model errors. Therefore, in
operational terms, transformation models will be
needed to unify the various constellations. The
principal aim of this work package is to develop and
test a generic methodology for computing both
temporal and spatial transformation models for both
real-time and post-processed applications bringing
the satellite orbits and clocks to the common frames
of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame
(ITRF) for space and UTC for time. Research in this
area strongly affects the accuracy of Precise Point
Positioning (PPP) and all applications built upon the
technique. There are three research strands:
Enhanced satellite clock modelling: We will carry
out a systematic study of the evolution of clock
performance and stability of time frame realisation
using the time series of International GNSS Service
(IGS) orbit and clock products for all GPS and
GLONASS satellites by satellite block, orbital plane
and clock model. We will develop an enhanced
clock prediction method by using a more rigorous
model of (a) special and general relativistic effects
(utilising precise satellite to receiver recession
speeds and a complete description of the
gravitational potential variations using the GRACE
gravity field to degree and order 90 as well as
planetary ephemerides), and (b) thermal loading on
the satellite bus using UCL’s established radiation
pressure modelling tools. We will augment this with
the telemetry stream from the Galileo In-Orbit
Validation Element (GIOVE-A) experimental
satellite.
Spatial frame transformation modelling: This
strand both underpins and relies upon improved
models developed by other research within this
project. The aim is to develop optimal algorithms to
combine multiple constellation signals to compute
both real time and post-processed system
transformation models, and to quantify what is
feasible based on error modelling accuracy derived
in other components of the study. The study will
incorporate the impact of enhanced satellite non-
conservative dynamic models on estimation of LOD
and orbital period parameters.
Time frame transformation modelling: We will
develop a methodology for the determination of
time frame offset between satellite constellations
and will study the impact (initially by simulation) of
the impact on positioning services of errors in its
estimation. The method will be derived from carrier
phase and pseudorange time and frequency transfer
algorithms – hence the study will benefit
synergistically from the parallel research work
carried out in this project on observable and bias
modelling.
MULTIPATH DETECTION, MODELLING
AND MITIGATION
Multipath is the limiting factor in the accuracy, and
in many cases the integrity, of GNSS in almost all
current practical applications, especially in difficult
environments, and it will eventually limit what is
achievable with PPP. Over the past decade much
has been done both within the sensors themselves
and within data processing algorithms but its effects
still cannot be completely mitigated. Whilst we do
not believe that new signals can do this we propose
to follow several lines of research that we are certain
will lead to significant improvements. We are
especially committed to mitigating the effects of
short delay multipath, most commonly caused by
reflections from the object carrying the antenna as
the errors that result from this do not exhibit white
noise characteristics. Research will be conducted on
three strands. In all cases we plan to carry out
extensive practical testing with the flexible test
platforms.
Statistical approaches: The potential for multipath
mitigation through averaging and via multiple
outlier detection has already been shown for
simulated data by (Lau and Cross, 2003), (Lau and
Cross, 2008). We will test these ideas with real
signals and extend them to enable diffraction
detection. Ultimately we seek to invent new
reliability indicators for bounding multipath errors
such as the maximum multipath error in
measurement (internal reliability) and the maximum
multipath bias in position (external reliability). Also
we plan to extend (Satirapod and Rizos, 2005)’s use
of wavelets in static conditions to classify the nature
of multipath errors (long-delay or short-delay) for
kinematic antennas. We can then reduce the size of
phase multipath errors through stochastic modelling,
(Lau and Cross, 2006b). Furthermore we aim to
explore new Bayesian filtering techniques to tackle
the temporally correlated multipath errors in slow
and fast changing satellite-reflector-antenna
geometry.

Antenna arrays: There has only been limited
practical exploitation of antenna arrays to mitigate
multipath despite (e.g. Ray et al, 2001) and of
related work on interference suppression, eg.
(Hwang and Shynk, 2006). (Lau and Cross, 2006a)
have already developed a Kalman filter to estimate
the position and relative permittivity of multipath
reflectors but they discovered that there was
insufficient redundancy to recover all reflector
characteristics in practical kinematic operations. We
believe that with additional signals such recovery
will be possible. We will also pursue Multi Input
Multi Output (MIMO) signal transmission
techniques, (Tse and Viswanath, 2005). It has
already been shown that the enhancements that
MIMO brings to the performance of communication
systems are equally applicable to positioning
systems (Xiong et al 2003).
Position domain feedback and other within-sensor
approaches: With more satellites and signals we
will be able to identify measurements impacted by
multipath. We believe that by feeding back this
information into the GNSS sensor we can further
mitigate multipath effects for instance by better
tuning fractional delay filters. This position domain
feedback technique has not yet been tried with new
signals and offers a genuinely new and exciting way
to use all available signals to improve both accuracy
and integrity. Following work by (Bétaille et al.,
2006), we will seek to find new multipath indicators
such as the use of signal correlation coefficients
from tracking loops within software-based
stochastic models and enhanced quality SNR
estimators to solve the well-known sign problem in
the prediction of carrier-phase multipath error from
SNRs (Bétaille et al., 2003), (Lau and Cross,
2006b). Our proposed software-based approach will
lead to enhanced carrier-phase multipath mitigation
within tracking loops to complement recent
advances in code multipath mitigation, e.g. (Fenton
and Jones, 2005).
MODELLING OF ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS
Atmospheric effects remain as limiting factors in
applications that demand the highest positioning
accuracy. In fact, as users become accustomed to
services that offer ever better accuracy, such as
network RTK and Precise Point Positioning,
unmitigated effects of the ionosphere and
troposphere have a greater significance. The aim is
to further improve the modelling and mitigation of
atmospheric effects, taking full advantage of the
benefits that new signals and satellites will bring.
Ionospheric refraction is conventionally tackled in
high accuracy situations by employing dual
frequency techniques that take advantage of the
dispersive nature of the ionosphere. However, this
only allows the first order effect to be determined,
and whilst this accounts for the vast majority of the
effect, higher order effects can still contribute
several centimetres of delay under certain conditions
(Marques et al, 2007),which can lead to position
errors of several centimetres. New satellite signals
offer additional frequencies, and hence the
opportunity to develop and implement new
strategies, including additional ionospheric delay
sampling points, to account for and potentially
correct these higher order effects. We aim to study
these effects, and to develop and test the higher
order mitigation approaches through simulation and
measurement.
In addition to the extra frequencies, the extra
signals offer the possibility of tracking the signals
under more adverse tracking conditions than is
currently possible. Of particular relevance in this
respect are ionospheric electron density disturbances
that lead to effects such as ionospheric scintillations
– the rapid variation in signal phase and amplitude
that may cause GNSS receivers to lose lock on the
carrier frequency (Aquino et al, 2006). A practical
consequence of this is that even the simple dual
frequency first order ionospheric correction is not
possible when one of those frequencies is not
tracked reliably. As well as being a problem for
individual dual frequency users, this represents a
problem for networks of receivers, such as those
providing the ionospheric grid models for use by
EGNOS/WAAS single frequency users. We will
study the benefits of the improved tracking on
multiple frequencies that the new signals will offer
in the area of scintillation monitoring and
mitigation. The use of signal simulators (provided
by our industrial partners) that can inject high rate
phase and amplitude variations into the simulated
RF signal will allow receivers to be tested under a
variety of conditions.
In contrast to the ionosphere, tropospheric
refraction affects all GNSS frequencies by the same
amount, so there will not be the same benefit from
the additional GNSS frequencies that will be
available. For the highest accuracies, tropospheric
delay is typically mitigated by using a network of
reference stations which each determine a single
zenith delay parameter, and then to provide a spatial
model that fits a surface through each of these zenith
delays over a region. This is, for instance, the
approach taken in RTK networks, and the spatial
model may be something as simple as a planar fit
between the three reference stations closest to a
user. Such an approach is used in the MAC and/or
VRS approaches to network RTK. However, one
limitation of this approach is that the zenith delay
parameters at each site contain no information about
the horizontal variation of the delay at each site, and
it is necessary to have a network of stations with
sufficient density to sample all the significant
variations in the tropospheric conditions. A potential
benefit of having many more satellites is therefore
that the horizontal distribution will be better
sampled, and it may be possible to model
tropospheric delay over a large network with fewer
stations. National RTK networks would benefit
from such a reduction in infrastructure. (Crespi et al,
2008, Karabatic et al, 2008).
SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Sensor and system integration will be an essential
aspect of almost all new GNSS applications and
services that require the highest levels of accuracy
and integrity. Over recent years sensor integration
has largely concentrated on the fusion of GPS with
Inertial Sensors. Of special interest now is to
discover whether, with more signals, we can lower
the specification (and hence the cost) of the sensors
needed to provide integrated solutions of sufficient
quality. A further advantage could be gained by
considering the developments in miniaturised
atomic clocks, and how their integration with GNSS
(and inertial sensors) can provide enhanced
capability in difficult environments.
However, we now need to consider the integration
of many systems and signals (Groves, 2008), and
not just GPS and Inertial Sensors. Pseudolites are
(typically) ground-based transmitters of GNSS-like
signals. They are now beginning to be used to
supplement GNSS signal coverage in difficult
environments, such as in dense urban areas. There is
a growing interest in other terrestrial positioning
systems, as a complement to GNSS. Prototype
systems have been developed based on Ultra-Wide
Band (UWB) signals (eg by Thales and UbiSense)
and using ‘signals of opportunity’ (signals
transmitted by third parties and not specifically for
positioning purposes, such as WiFi and DAB).
There is a need to closely harmonise the timing and
coordinate systems of all systems (both amongst
different GNSS systems and between GNSS and
other sensors), to ensure that these signals can be
combined correctly. This research will aim to
further develop the flexible integration software
environment originally developed during the
SPACE project. We will introduce novel algorithms
and architectures which will enable a varying blend
of different GNSS and terrestrial ranging signals as
a user migrates between environments.
In order to provide an effective and independent
back-up to GNSS for safety-of-life navigation and
timing components of critical infrastructure the
Loran-C has been further developed and enhanced
as eLoran. There is a move, see (General Lighthouse
Authorities, 2006), within Europe to coordinate the
various national systems (the UK transmitter
commenced operations in 2008). The low frequency
transmissions of eLoran provide an interesting
complement to GNSS, as there are likely to be few
common modes of failure or interference. Wireless
access to the internet can also provide users with
additional data to augment GNSS capability, such as
access to the data from space-based augmentation
systems (such as EGNOS), or even centimetre level
capability by using data from precise correction
service RTK networks (using standard protocols
such as NTRIP). The integration of network RTK
with other sensors is of interest in this work
package, especially the tracking benefits that deep
integration of the GNSS and other sensors can
bring.
Another particular interest to this project is the use
of external data in Precise Point Positioning (PPP).
PPP aims to achieve centimetre level accuracy using
a single GPS receiver. The advantages PPP offers
are that it does not require complex supporting
infrastructure and is relatively inexpensive. It has
the potential to revolutionize the applications of
satellite positioning and unlock the significant
economical potential associated with location based
services. Research on PPP has been evolutionary,
starting with static positioning using IGS products
(Le and Tiberius, 2007), and leading to research to
realise real-time positioning, aided by near-real time
products and error mitigation models provided by
the Worldwide Differential GPS and other agencies
(Gao et al., 2006; Gao, 2006). To date, decimeter
accuracy with a convergence time of about 30
minutes is possible (Kechine et al., 2003; Gao et al.,
2006). In order for PPP to be viable as an alternative
to conventional real time positioning with carrier
phase, a number of research questions will be
addressed in this strand of the project: (1)
improvement in accuracy, (2) reduction in
convergence time; (3) the contribution of external
products, including live data streams, to real time
centimetric PPP, (4) aiding with terrestrial
sensors/systems, (5) elimination of the need for
external products by generating equivalents within
the user receiver; (6) application of the algorithms
developed in the work package on integrity, to
measure the level of confidence in the resulting
position solution with and without ambiguity fixing,
(7) full characterization of performance and
specification of a number of PPP architectures
ranging from externally aided to autonomous GNSS
based PPP. This strand will address the PPP issues
through the exploitation of the redundancy, signal
diversity and stronger geometry offered by the
combined use of various GNSSs to develop better
error models and use intelligent combination of
measurements (including differencing across
satellites), to improve accuracy and reduce
convergence time. In addition the work will quantify
the benefits of better signal design, for example, in
the case of Galileo with respect to multipath. The
work will also address the potential contribution of
better system level models, such as the envisaged
higher accuracy broadcast Galileo orbit and clock
data. The various PPP architectures will be captured
within the flexible Kalman filter design.
DEVELOPMENT OF EVALUATION
PLATFORMS AND TESTING
To facilitate the research undertaken in this project
we will build a software-configurable modular
GNSS discovery enabling platform. This will
specifically address issues of signal acquisition from
the different systems available in an intelligent and
modular self-reconfigurability to accommodate
changing conditions and environments. The
platform will enable us to effectively explore,
understand and make realistically informed
judgments about the applicability and feasibility,
limitations and strengths of the of the outcomes
from the activities planned in the rest of this project,
playing a central role in the development and
realistic validation of the research work, uncovering
problems associated with the use of the plethora of
new GNSS signals alongside the novel techniques
we shall discover during the course of the project,
that will otherwise go undetected due to the limited
modelling and in many instances simulation only
environments for the basic research. Current
software/hardware platforms for GNSS signal
modelling, generation, reception and interpretation
are prohibitively expensive, and others are inflexible
limiting their scope and performance for real-time
real-life evaluation, experimentation and testing.
The following strands of work will form the core of
our research activity.
Specifications and requirements: Establishing the
specification and identifying the requirements in the
main building blocks to be deployed in the platform,
in close consultation with the rest of the consortium
(industrial and academic) will be the focus here.
Signal modelling: The focus here will be the
development of an extensible/configurable signal
modelling, simulation, and emulation environment
capable of injecting effects of changing
environments, conditions and any impairments and
non-idealities that would otherwise be extremely
difficult to observe and test. An example of this
would be the scenario of one coming out of a tunnel
with an abrupt change of direction. A software
environment of this nature would need to be capable
of not only of accurately generating the signals and
external effects but also have the ability to readily
interface and exchange data/control through the
various standards in real-time. Furthermore, it
should offer the flexibility for hooks/interfaces to
enable users to embed their own code that will link
in and execute on the custom developed high-
performance hardware.
Software platform: Hardware related issues for our
high-performance software configurable platform
will be investigated and developed. The platform
will be an easily accessible and intuitively driven
PC hosted storage rich system, which will host the
high-performance DSP boards capable of real-time
realizations of the computationally demanding
algorithms targeted toward the various aspects of
the new signal enabled/enhanced GNSS
systems/sub-systems. The high-performance of the
DSPs alone will not be sufficient in dealing with the
wide ranging activities and applications that will be
investigated and developed through this project. A
second processing engine capable of taking
computationally demanding algorithms that cannot
be handled by standard parts DSP-hosted engines
will be incorporated to map these algorithms onto
custom digital hardware through a high-density
FPGA populated, flexible and software configurable
part of our processing system, executing the
applications on custom designed hardware mapped
to the onboard FPGAs. The complete hardware
system under the configuration control of the
software environment will also furnish the necessary
interfaces to the RF-front end and the onboard
display(s).
RF front end and data acquisition: The RF-front
end and data acquisition chain is the focus of
research in this activity. The most straightforward
receiver architecture is the heterodyne one, be it
with its inherent complexity. The front-end and the
data acquisition system to be deployed in our setup
will have two architectures: a Low-IF image
rejection receiver and a bandpass sampling one.
Low-IF has its own problems precluding many from
using it, (Hollreiser, 2006). This architecture will
be realised by deploying novel DSP based post
processing (Cetin et al, 2004 and Cetin et al, 2007),
transferring the problems from the analogue domain
to digital and efficiently solving them in DSP. The
ADC to be deployed here will be a custom designed
low-power continuous-time jitter insensitive Sigma-
Delta based approach, extending the principles of
Zare-Hoseini and Kale (2006). The bandpass
sampling receiver will be a continuous-time jitter
insensitive Sigma-Delta one, shifting some of the
fundamental problems inherent in the approach to
the digital domain, circumventing some of the
problems relating to both the Heterodyne and the
Low-IF receivers and inherently eliminating the
need for an explicit ADC in the chain. Standard
parts will be used for the respective antenna(s),
LNAs and filters.
Impairment compensation: Receiver chain
impairment compensation for the software
configurable front-end will be the focus here.
Analog related problems from the receiver
architectures will be addressed in the DSP domain
(Cetin et al, 2007), through the research undertaken
in this strand of work. The prime problems to be
addressed will be the I & Q imbalances/mismatches
(both amplitude and phase) and the mismatches in
the quadrature aspects of the inherent ADC chain
for bandpass sampling. The DSP approaches will be
investigated for deployment in our configurable
GNSS receiver front-end to receive most GNSS
signals/bands. The adaptive DSP-based RF and
other analogue related impairment mitigation
processing (Cetin et al, 2004), will be custom
designed and configured to cater for the receiver
architectures.
Testing and validation: The main strengths and
distinguishing feature of test and evaluation
platform is in its ability to facilitate static/dynamic
re-configuration of its front-end as well as signal
processing platform with its related software
coded/hardware implemented/accelerated
computation engines, being the subject of research
here. Work will concentrate to ensure the
configuration process and related tasks including
scheduling/synchronization addresses all the
requests and possible outcomes from the various
work packages, accommodating the algorithms in
software and any hardware that might be developed
in the rest of the work packages. Design of specialist
test schemes and procedures addressing the needs of
the academic and the industrial partners providing
an easy way into evaluating through test existing
systems and those derived from the new research
results will be undertaken, making provision for
field testing of the novel receiver and processing
structures, architectures and schemes and the new
research results. The possible test scenarios will
include, but will not be limited to, high sensitivity,
PPP, integrity and high accuracy.
SUMMARY
iNsight is a new four-year major collaborative
research project involving four of the leading UK
university GNSS research groups, and key industrial
partners. The project started in January 2009. This
paper has introduced the ambitious aims of the
project and the outline work plans which will
address the many challenges and opportunities
offered by the improving availability and accuracy
of GNSS positioning. Future papers at this and
other conferences, and through journal and press
papers, will report on the progress of the project and
the eventual outputs and other outcomes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
iNsight (www.insight-gnss.org) is a collaborative
research project funded by the UK’s Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
to extend the applications and improve the
efficiency of positioning through the exploitation of
new global navigation satellite systems signals. It is
being undertaken by a consortium of thirteen UK
university and industrial groups: Imperial College
London, University College London, the University
of Nottingham, the University of Westminster, Air
Semiconductor, EADS Astrium, Nottingham
Scientific Ltd, Leica Geosystems, Ordnance Survey
of Great Britain, QinetiQ, STMicroelectronics,
Thales Research and Technology UK Limited, and
the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
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