Navcom Technology, Inc.

Magnavox Government and Industrial Electronics Company

Deere & Company

Leica Geosystems Ag

Magnavox Electronic Systems Company

L & H Company, Inc.

Hatch, Ronald R.

Ronald R Hatch

Richard T Sharpe

Liwen L Dai

Richard Gerald Keegan

Frederick William Nelson

Daniel J Eslinger

Yunchun Yang

Terence Daniel Pickett

Wei Yu

Min Wang

Scott Adam Stephens

Jerry Eugene Knight

Yujie Zhang

Chaochao Wang

Gary V Jones

Terrence D Pickett

James R Hume

Jing Sun

A multi-band satellite navigation receiver for carrier and code tracking using a fixed point sigma rho filter with improved stability is described. The receiver simplifies and speeds up the data processing in the filter to adaptively accommodate common information from aggregate bands and obtain the accurate position of the receiver in real time. The filter may utilize a standard deviation function and a cross correlation function while determining adaptive scale factors to ensure that the filter is stable and reliable.

Satellite navigation receiver with fixed point sigma rho filter

Satellite navigation receiver with fixed point sigma RHO filter

A method for mitigating a multi-path-induced error in a global navigation satellite system comprises, for a respective measurement epoch, obtaining respective representations of a composite signal including a plurality of value-pairs of the composite signal. The method further comprises, with respect to the measurement epoch: obtaining a plurality of coefficients for a set of linear equations based on the plurality of value-pairs of the composite signal; iteratively obtaining solutions for the set of linear equations, thereby solving for a code tracking timing offset, a time delay of a multi-path signal of the composite signal relative to its direct-path signal, and orthogonal representations of the multi-path signal; determining a phase error between the composite signal and the direct-path signal, due to the time delay, in accordance with the orthogonal representations of the multi-path signal; and correcting for the code tracking timing offset and the phase error.

Phase multi-path mitigation

A system and method for providing improved correction information to navigation receivers includes receiving, from a plurality of reference stations at known locations, a plurality of satellite navigation measurements of signals from a plurality of global navigation satellites. A state of the plurality of global navigation satellites is computed based on the received satellite navigation measurements. Baselines, each corresponding to a pair of the reference stations, are identified. For each identified baseline, computing floating and integer values for a double-differenced integer ambiguity. Double-differenced integer ambiguities that satisfy a set of predefined conditions are identified, and the computed state of the plurality of global navigation satellites is adjusted in accordance with an integer value constraint applied to each double-differenced integer ambiguity that satisfies the set of predefined conditions. The correction information is computed from the adjusted computed state of the plurality of global navigation satellites.

Navigation system and method for resolving integer ambiguities using double difference ambiguity constraints

A system and method for compensating for faulty satellite navigation measurements. A plurality of measurements in a system is received for a measurement epoch. A Kalman filter is used to calculate a state of the system for the measurement epoch based on the plurality of measurements, wherein the state of the system for the measurement epoch is calculated using a first closed-form update equation. A faulty measurement is detected in the plurality of measurements for the measurement epoch and a revised state of the system for the measurement epoch that compensates for the faulty measurement is calculated, using the calculated state of the system for the measurement epoch as an input to the revised state calculation, and using a revised closed-form update equation comprising the first closed-form update equation modified with respect to the faulty measurement.

System and method for compensating for faulty measurements

A method for mitigating atmospheric errors in code and carrier phase measurements based on signals received from a plurality of satellites in a global navigation satellite system is disclosed. A residual tropospheric delay and a plurality of residual ionospheric delays are modeled as states in a Kalman filter. The state update functions of the Kalman filter include at least one baseline distance dependant factor, wherein the baseline distance is the distance between a reference receiver and a mobile receiver. A plurality of ambiguity values are modeled as states in the Kalman filter. The state update function of the Kalman filter for the ambiguity states includes a dynamic noise factor. An estimated position of mobile receiver is updated in accordance with the residual tropospheric delay, the plurality of residual ionospheric delays and/or the plurality of ambiguity values.

Distance dependent error mitigation in real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning

Distance dependant error mitigation in real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning

A method for performing integer ambiguity resolution in a global navigation satellite system is disclosed. A set of ambiguities, which are associated with carrier phase measurements of at least some of the signals received from the satellites in an identified set of satellites, are identified. Integer ambiguities are estimated and a best candidate set and a second best candidate set of integer ambiguity values are determined. Upon determining that the best set of integer ambiguity values fail to meet a discrimination test, each ambiguity for which integer ambiguity values in the best candidate set and second best candidate set fail to meet predefined criteria are removed from the set of ambiguities to produce a reduced set of ambiguities. The integer ambiguities in the reduced set of ambiguities are then resolved and an output is generated in accordance with the resolved integer ambiguities.

Partial search carrier-phase integer ambiguity resolution

A mobile satellite navigation receiver for calculating an offset between a local positioning system and a wide-area satellite positioning system is presented. The mobile satellite navigation receiver determines a first solution of a position of the mobile satellite navigation receiver relative to a first local positioning system, wherein the first local positioning system includes one or more reference receivers at known locations. The mobile satellite navigation receiver determines a second solution of the position of the satellite navigation receiver relative to a wide-area differential satellite positioning system. The mobile satellite navigation receiver then calculates an offset between the first solution and the second solution.

Navigation receiver and method for combined use of a standard RTK system and a global carrier-phase differential positioning system

A new three-frequency technique for obtaining geometry free, refraction-corrected, ambiguity-resolved, carrier-phase measurements has been described. First, the ambiguities on at least two wide-lane carrier-phase measurement differences are obtained by averaging the corresponding frequency weighted code measurements. These two ambiguity-resolved measurements are then combined into a composite refraction-corrected measurement. The resulting composite measurement is quite noisy due to the amplification of the multipath noise in the original carrier-phase measurements. But this noisy refraction-corrected carrier-phase measurement can be smoothed with another minimum-noise, refraction-corrected carrier-phase composite measurement. The minimum-noise, refraction-corrected composite measurement is constructed from the primary carrier-phase measurements prior to resolving their whole-cycle ambiguities. By smoothing the difference in the two refraction-corrected measurements, the noise can be reduced and the bias in the low-noise measurement (due to incorrect ambiguities) can be estimated and subsequently corrected.

Method for using three GPS frequencies to resolve whole-cycle carrier-phase ambiguities

The present invention includes a method for a combined use of a local positioning system, a local RTK system and a regional, wide-area, or global differential carrier-phase positioning system (WADGPS) in which disadvantages associated with the local positioning system, the RTK and the WADGPS navigation techniques when used separately are avoided. The method includes using a known position of a user receiver that has been stationary or using an RTK system to initialize the floating ambiguity values in the WADGPS system when the user receiver is moving. Thereafter, the refraction-corrected carrier-phase measurements obtained at the user GPS receiver are adjusted by including the corresponding initial floating ambiguity values and the floating ambiguity values are treated as well known (small variance) in subsequent processes to position the user receiver in the WADGPS system.

Method for combined use of a local positioning system, a local RTK system, and a regional, wide-area, or global carrier-phase positioning system

The present invention includes a method for a combined use of a local positioning system, a local RTK system and a regional, wide-area, or global differential carrier-phase positioning system (WADGPS) in which disadvantages associated with the local positioning system, the RTK and the WADGPS navigation techniques when used separately are avoided. The method includes determining a first position of the object based on information from the WADGPS, and determining a second position of the object based on position information from a local positioning/RTK positioning system. Thereafter, position determined by the WADGPS and the position determined by the local positioning/RTK positioning system are compared. The WADGPS position is used for navigating the object when the WADGPS position and local positioning/position differ by more than a predefined threshold, and using the local positioning/RTK position for navigating the object when the WADGPS position and local positioning/RTK position differ by less than the predefined threshold.

Method for increasing the reliability of position information when transitioning from a regional, wide-area, or global carrier-phase differential navigation (WADGPS) to a local real-time kinematic (RTK) navigation system

A method and system are provided to determine a relative position vector between primary receiver associated with a reference station and secondary receiver associated with a user. The method and system determine a position of the reference station at the reference station according to signals received thereat from a plurality of satellites, determine a position of the user receiver at the user based on measurements obtained thereat and on error corrections computed at the reference station, and compute the relative position vector by differencing the position of the reference station and the position of the user.

Moving reference receiver for RTK navigation

The present invention includes a process for navigating an object according to signals from satellites by propagating the position of the object forward in time using successive changes in the carrier-phase measurements. The process computes at a low rate matrices required for solving for the position of the objects, and repeatedly uses the most recently computed matrices to compute position updates at a high rate until the next low-rate computation is completed.

GPS navigation using successive differences of carrier-phase measurements

The present invention includes a method for a combined use of a local RTK system and a regional, wide-area, or global differential carrier-phase positioning system (WADGPS) in which disadvantages associated with the RTK and the WADGPS navigation techniques when used separately are avoided. The method includes using a known position of a user receiver that has been stationary or using an RTK system to initialize the floating ambiguity values in the WADGPS system when the user receiver is moving. Thereafter, the refraction-corrected carrier-phase measurements obtained at the user GPS receiver are adjusted by including the corresponding initial floating ambiguity values and the floating ambiguity values are treated as well known (small variance) in subsequent processes to position the user receiver in the WADGPS system.

Growing community of inventors

Wilmington, CA, United States of America

Ronald R Hatch