Litton Systems, Inc.

Northrop Grumman Guidance and Electronics Company, Inc.

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Charles P Bruner

Robert John Buchler

Gang Kevin Liu

Kevin Liu

A first navigation unit of an apparatus in one example comprises a hybrid global positioning system (GPS)/inertial navigation system (INS) component. The hybrid GPS/INS component provides first GPS information and first INS information for the first navigation unit. The first navigation unit is configured to receive second GPS information and second INS information from a second navigation unit. The second navigation unit comprises a GPS component configured to determine a double-differenced GPS carrier phase measurement through employment of the first GPS information and the second GPS information. The first navigation unit comprises a relative Kalman filter configured to update an INS error estimate for an estimate of a relative position between the first and second navigation units based on the double-differenced GPS carrier phase measurement and the first and second INS information.

Estimate of relative position between navigation units

The invention is a method and apparatus for compensating for acceleration in a GPS-inertial navigation system. A translated satellite signal is a satellite signal translated in the GPS receiver to an intermediate-frequency band by a sequence of M mixing operations, M being an integer greater than or equal to one. The m'th mixing operation consists of mixing the satellite signal with an m'th mixing signal having a frequency f where f can be approximated by a function F of one or more components A , A , and A of the acceleration and one or more parameters P , P , . . . , P that are independent of acceleration. The method consists of (a) obtaining values for one or more components of acceleration, (b) obtaining values for one or more parameters, (c)determining the value of one or more functions F , and (d) utilizing the data obtained in steps (a), (b), and (c) in compensating for the effects of acceleration in a GPS receiver.

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Calabasas, CA, United States of America

Charles P Bruner