Assessing the IRNSS L5-signal in combination with GPS,Galileo, and QZSS L5/E5a-signals for positioning and navigation

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), which is being developed for positioning services in and around India, is the latest addition to the global family of satellite-based navigation systems. As IRNSS only shares the L5-frequency with GPS, the European Galileo, and the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), it has at least at present a limited interoperability with the existing systems. Noting that the L5-frequency capability is under development even for GPS, this contribution assesses the interoperability of the IRNSS L5-signal with the GPS, Galileo, and QZSS L5/E5a-signals for positioning and navigation using real data collected in Perth, Australia. First, the noise characteristic of the IRNSS L5-signal and its comparison with that of the GPS, Galileo, and QZSS L1/E1- and L5/E5a-signals is presented. Then, the L5-observables of combined systems (formed from IRNSS, GPS, Galileo, and QZSS) are assessed for real-time kinematic positioning using the standard LAMBDA method and for instantaneous attitude determination using the constrained LAMBDA method. The results show that the IRNSS L5-signal has comparable noise characteristics as that of the other L5/E5a-signals. For single-frequency carrier phase-based positioning and navigation, the results show better ambiguity resolution performance of L5/E5a-only processing than that of L1/E1-only processing.     

Characterization of between-receiver GPS-Galileo inter-system biases and their effect on mixed ambiguity resolution

The Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo will transmit signals on similar frequencies, that is, the L1–E1 and L5–E5a frequencies. This will be beneficial for mixed GPS and Galileo applications in which the integer carrier phase ambiguities need to be resolved, in order to estimate the positioning unknowns with centimeter accuracy or better. In this contribution, we derive the mixed GPS + Galileo model that is based on “inter-system” double differencing, that is, differencing the Galileo phase and code observations relative to those corresponding to the reference or pivot satellite of GPS. As a consequence of this, additional between-receiver inter-system bias (ISB) parameters need to be solved as well for both phase and code data. We investigate the size and variability of these between-receiver ISBs, estimated from L1 and L5 observations of GPS, as well as E1 and E5a observations of the two experimental Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element (GIOVE) satellites. The data were collected using high-grade multi-GNSS receivers of different manufacturers for several zero- and short-baseline setups in Australia and the USA. From this analysis, it follows that differential ISBs are only significant for receivers of different types and manufacturers; for baselines formed by identical receiver types, no differential ISBs have shown up; thus, implying that the GPS and GIOVE data are then fully interoperable. Fortunately, in case of different receiver types, our analysis also indicates that the phase and code ISBs may be calibrated, since their estimates, based on several datasets separated in time, are shown to be very stable. When the single-frequency (E1) GIOVE phase and code data of different receiver types are a priori corrected for the differential ISBs, the short-baseline instantaneous ambiguity success rate increases significantly and becomes comparable to the success rate of mixed GPS + GIOVE ambiguity resolution based on identical receiver types.     

Geometry-free undifferenced, single and double differenced analysis of single frequency GPS, EGNOS and GIOVE-A/B measurements

This paper demonstrates a geometry-free GNSS measurement analysis approach and presents results of single frequency GPS, EGNOS and GIOVE short and zero baseline measurements. The purpose is to separate the different contributions to the measurement noise of pseudo range code and carrier phase observations at the receiver. The influence of multipath on the different combinations of observations is also determined. Quantitative results are presented for the thermal code and phase measurement noise and for the correlation between the observations. Comparison of the results with theoretical approximations confirms the validity of the used approach. Results from field measurements clearly show less thermal noise on the Galileo E1BC observations than on the GPS L1C/A observations due to the new signal modulation. The feasibility of ambiguity resolution with a geometry-free model is also discussed including the significant impact of multipath thereon.     

基于GPS新型L5信号的地表雪深反演研究

利用GPS多路径反射信号测量地表雪深具有全天候和高时空分辨率的特点，因此其可作为一种代替气象站监测雪深的新手段。然而，先前大多数研究仅使用了GPS L1和L2C波段信噪比数据探测积雪深度。为验证新型的L5信号在雪深反演方面的优越性，本文阐述了GPS-R技术反演雪深的原理，利用Lomb-Scargle周期图法所处理的受积雪表层影响的信噪比数据计算了频谱振幅强度，通过获取频谱特征值与天线高度的关系求解雪深值，最后分别与L1反演结果和实测雪深数据进行了对比。试验结果表明：与现有的GPS-R测量雪深结果相比，利用新型的L5反射信号反演地表雪深的精度更佳；采用GPS-R技术探测雪深对把握测站区域内的雪深变化情况和淡水资源储量具有重要价值。     

Precise position determination using a Galileo E5 single-frequency receiver

The European Galileo system offers one dedicated signal that is superior to all other signals currently available in space, namely the broadband signal E5. This signal has a bandwidth of at least 51 MHz using an AltBOC modulation. It features a code range noise at centimeter level. Additionally, the impact of multipath effects on this signal is significantly lower compared to all other available GNSS signals. These unique features of Galileo E5 drastically improve the precision of code range measurements and hence enable precise single-frequency positioning. Certain scientific and non-scientific applications in the positioning domain could likely benefit from the exploitation of E5 measurements. A positioning approach based on an additive combination of code range and carrier phase measurements (CPC—“code-plus-carrier”) to eliminate the ionospheric delay could be used to perform precise positioning over long distances. Unfortunately, this derived observable contains the ambiguity term as an additional unknown what normally requires longer observation windows in order to allow sufficient convergence of the ambiguity parameters. For this reason, a rapid convergence algorithm based on Kalman filtering was implemented in addition to the conventional CPC approach that is also discussed. The CPC-based results yield a positioning precision of 2–5 cm after a convergence time of about 3 h. The rapid convergence filter allows fixing the ambiguity terms within a few minutes, and the obtained position results are at the sub-decimeter level. Regarding one selected test, real data from Galileo experimental satellite GIOVE A were used in order to confirm our assumptions. However, since the current Galileo constellation is not sufficient for real-world positioning trials yet, all major results are based on simulated data.     

Combined L1/L2 Kalman filter-based tracking scheme for weak signal environments

A Kalman filter-based method combining the energy of both L1 C/A and L2C GPS signals in a combined tracking loop method to enhance performance under adverse conditions is developed. Standard tracking methods and the ionospheric effect on GPS signals are reviewed and compared to a new Kalman filter that simultaneously estimates delay, phase and total electron content by combining L1 C/A and L2C code and phase discriminator outputs. The new filter is tested and compared to standard methods for tracking L1 C/A and L2C using both simulated and real data. The new method is found to have improved sensitivity of 3 dB compared to standard L1 tracking and 4.5 dB compared to standard L2C tracking while at the same time providing an accurate estimate of the total electron content along the signal path.     

Characterization of Compass M-1 signals

An analysis of observations from China’s first medium earth orbit satellite Compass M-1 is presented, with main focus on the first orbit and clock solution for this satellite. The orbit is computed from laser ranging measurements. Based on this orbit solution, the apparent clock offset is estimated using measurements from two GNSS receivers, which allow Compass tracking. The analysis of the clock solutions reveals unexpectedly high dynamics in the pseudorange and carrier-phase observations. Furthermore, carrier-to-noise density ratio, pseudorange noise, and multipath are analyzed and compared to GPS and GIOVE. The results of the clock analysis motivate further research on the signals of the geostationary satellites of the Compass constellation.     

BDS-3新频点B1C/B2a动态数据特性及PPP精度分析

通过载噪比(CNR)、数据完整率、伪距与载波相位观测值噪声和伪距多路径效应四个指标对北斗三号卫星导航系统(BDS-3)新频点B1C/B2a车载动态数据的特性进行了分析,测试了BDS-3新频点动态精密单点定位(PPP)的性能,并与其它全球卫星导航系统(GNSS)进行了对比. 试验结果表明,BDS-3新频点B2a平均CNR优于北斗卫星导航系统(BDS)其它频率,但略差于GPS L5;相较于其它GNSS,BDS数据完整率相对较高,其中BDS-3 B2a新频点数据完整率最高;BDS-3 B2b伪距观测值噪声最小,B1C和B2a伪距观测值噪声约为B2b信号的3倍,但不同频率相位观测值噪声处于同一量级;对于伪距多路径而言,BDS-3 B1C/B2a 信号略小于B2b 信号. 总体而言,GPS L5信号抑制多路径效应的能力最强. 在动态PPP性能方面,BDS-3 B1C/B2a双频组合动态PPP定位精度最优,其三维(3D)均方根(RMS)误差为0.439 m,相比BDS B1I/B3I、GPS L1/L2、GLONASS G1/G2和Galileo E1/E5a双频组合PPP,其精度改善率分别为49%、56%、81%和42%.      

L5载波相位观测值的模拟分析

GPS现代化计划目前只在几颗卫星上加入了L5信号,第三频率观测数据尚不能进行组网数据处理.如何验证现有多频理论的有效性,以及进行更深入、更广泛的多频数据处理理论应用研究,L5数据的获取成为一个重要问题.文中结合载波相位观测值之间的物理相关性,模拟L5载波相位观测值,对L5载波相位观测值的精度进行了分析,取得了一些有益的结论.     

两颗GPS现代化卫星L5载波信号的比较

本文分析了GPS现代化信号L5载波的结构及相对于非现代化信号的改进,比较了GPS L5载波和WAAS L5载波的区别;比较了2颗现代化卫星SVN49和SVN62播发的L5载波的信号结构及信噪比,结果表明:SVN49播发的L5载波演示信号的抗干扰能力较差,而SVN62播发的L5载波具有更强的抗干扰能力,满足设计规范要求。     

GPS,Galileo, QZSS and IRNSS differential ISBs: estimation and application

Knowledge of inter-system biases (ISBs) is essential to combine observations of multiple global and regional navigation satellite systems (GNSS/RNSS) in an optimal way. Earlier studies based on GPS, Galileo, BDS and QZSS have demonstrated that the performance of multi-GNSS real-time kinematic positioning is improved when the differential ISBs (DISBs) corresponding to signals of different constellations but transmitted at identical frequencies can be calibrated, such that only one common pivot satellite is sufficient for inter-system ambiguity resolution at that particular frequency. Recently, many new GNSS satellites have been launched. At the beginning of 2016, there were 12 Galileo IOV/FOC satellites and 12 GPS Block IIF satellites in orbit, while the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) had five satellites launched of which four are operational. More launches are scheduled for the coming years. As a continuation of the earlier studies, we analyze the magnitude and stability of the DISBs corresponding to these new satellites. For IRNSS this article presents for the first time DISBs with respect to the L5/E5a signals of GPS, Galileo and QZSS for a mixed-receiver baseline. It is furthermore demonstrated that single-frequency (L5/E5a) ambiguity resolution is tremendously improved when the multi-GNSS observations are all differenced with respect to a common pivot satellite, compared to classical differencing for which a pivot satellite is selected for each constellation.     

BDS-3新频点单点定位研究

针对目前有关北斗卫星导航系统（BDS-3）中MEO卫星（BDS-3M）增加的B1C、B2a新频点单点定位研究较少的现状,本文开展了基于新频点B1C、B2a的双频单点定位试验,结合国际GNSS监测评估系统（iGMAS）5个跟踪站连续10 d的数据,对BDS-3的新频点进行数据质量分析、双频伪距单点定位（SPP）和双频静态精密单点定位（PPP）研究,并与GPS的L1、L2频点和BDS-3的B1I、B3I频点进行对比。试验结果表明：在伪距单点定位方面,BDS-3新信号在E、N、U 3方向的精度分别优于10、12、11 m,低于GPS的L1、L2双频伪距单点定位和BDS-3的旧频点双频伪距单点定位精度;在精密单点定位方面,BDS-3新频点在收敛速度方面略低于GPS的收敛速度,BDS-3新信号在E、N、U 3方向都能达到分米级精度。     

Compass B2a与GPSL5信号间干扰仿真分析

首先介绍了卫星导航系统间干扰评估方法，仿真计算了CompassB2a与GPSL5信号间的相互干扰。干扰分析结果表明：Compass B2和GPSL5信号之间可以实现兼容，为进一步开展B2与L5信号间的互操作研究打下了基础。     

GPS民用广播星历中ISC参数精度分析及其对导航定位的影响

2005年起发射的GPS Block IIR-M卫星在L2频率上新增了L2C民用信号,2010年起发射的Block IIF卫星新增了L5频率及L5I、L5Q两种民用信号。为此,GPS民用广播星历在原有时间群延迟(TGD)参数的基础上,新增了ISC_(C/A)、ISC_(L2C)、ISC_(L5I)及ISC_(L5Q)4种ISC(inter-signal correction)参数,以服务GPS实时导航定位用户。本文给出了ISC参数在GPS单/双频定位中的改正方法、利用不同机构提供的后处理差分码偏差(DCB)产品评估了ISC参数的实际精度、研究了ISC参数对GPS民用导航定位精度的影响。在明确TGD、ISC和DCB 3类参数之间区别与联系的基础上,本文研究表明:GPS广播的ISC_(C/A)参数精度可达0.2ns,TGD、ISCL2C及ISCL5Q参数精度可达0.5ns;以2014年连续11d全球12个MGEX(multi-GNSS experiment)站为例,经由ISC参数改正后,GPS L2C单频标准单点定位(SPP)的位置解精度提高了30.6%,L1C/A+L2C双频SPP的位置解精度提高了12.2%,该精度与L1P(Y)+L2P(Y)消电离层组合SPP的位置解精度相当。     

Short-term analysis of GNSS clocks

A characterization of the short-term stability of the atomic frequency standards onboard GNSS satellites is presented. Clock performance is evaluated using two different methods. The first method derives the temporal variation of the satellite’s clock from a polynomial fit through 1-way carrier-phase measurements from a receiver directly connected to a high-precision atomic frequency standard. Alternatively, three-way measurements using inter-station single differences of a second satellite from a neighboring station are used if the receiver’s clock stability at the station tracking the satellite of interest is not sufficient. The second method is a Kalman-filter-based clock estimation based on dual-frequency pseudorange and carrier-phase measurements from a small global or regional tracking network. Both methods are introduced and their respective advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The analysis section presents a characterization of GPS, GLONASS, GIOVE, Galileo IOV, QZSS, and COMPASS clocks based on these two methods. Special focus has been set on the frequency standards of new generation satellites like GPS Block IIF, QZSS, and IOV as well as the Chinese COMPASS/BeiDou-2 system. The analysis shows results for the Allan deviation covering averaging intervals from 1 to 1,000 s, which is of special interest for real-time PPP and other high-rate applications like processing of radio-occultation measurements. The clock interpolation errors for different sampling rates are evaluated for different types of clocks and their effect on PPP is discussed.     

IRNSS/NavIC and GPS: a single- and dual-system L5 analysis

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has recently (May 2016) become fully operational. In this contribution, for the fully operational IRNSS as a stand-alone system and also in combination with GPS, we provide a first assessment of L5 integer ambiguity resolution and positioning performance. While our empirical analyses are based on the data collected by two JAVAD receivers at Curtin University, Perth, Australia, our formal analyses are carried out for various onshore locations within the IRNSS service area. We study the noise characteristics (carrier-to-noise density, measurement precision, time correlation), the integer ambiguity resolution performance (success rates and ambiguity dilution of precision), and the positioning performance (ambiguity float and ambiguity fixed). The results show that our empirical outcomes are consistent with their formal counterparts and that the GPS L5-data have a lower noise level than that of IRNSS L5-data, particularly in case of the code data. The underlying model in our assessments varies from stand-alone IRNSS (L5) to IRNSS \(+\) GPS (L5), from unconstrained to height-constrained and from kinematic to static. Significant improvements in ambiguity resolution and positioning performance are achievable upon integrating L5-data of IRNSS with GPS.     

Characterization of GPS/GIOVE sensor stations in the CONGO network

The Cooperative Network for GIOVE Observation (CONGO) is a global network of real-time capable multi-constellation GNSS receivers, which has been established by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) as a test bed for experimentation with the new Galileo signals. The CONGO network employs a variety of different antennas and receivers which have become available for public use over the last 2 years. Following an overview of the network and the employed user equipment, the paper discusses the achieved GPS/GIOVE tracking performance. This includes a characterization of antenna gain patterns as well as receiver noise and multipath errors. Special attention is given to the discussion of inter-system biases. The nature and variation of these biases is illustrated based on a set of three different receivers operated in a zero-baseline configuration at the Wettzell site.     

北斗卫星伪距偏差标定及对用户定位精度影响

伪距偏差是指卫星导航信号非理想特征导致的不同技术状态接收机产生的伪距测量常数偏差。本文将伪距偏差作为一种用户段误差,提出基于并置接收机的伪距偏差计算方法和基于DCB参数的伪距偏差计算方法,以实现伪距偏差与其他误差的分离。然后利用实测数据测量了北斗卫星伪距偏差,结果表明伪距偏差标定序列波动STD约为0.1 m,不随时间明显变化,不同地点接收机测量的伪距偏差具有较好的一致性。在1.5 G频段,北斗卫星B1I频点伪距偏差最大。北斗卫星新体制信号B1C伪距偏差最小,较北斗卫星B1I频点伪距偏差明显改善,也明显好于GPS卫星L1C/A频点伪距偏差。在其他频段,GPS卫星L2C伪距偏差略大于北斗卫星B3I伪距偏差,L5C频点伪距偏差次之,B2a频点伪距偏差最小。最后,利用实测数据分析了伪距偏差对定位精度的影响。结果表明伪距偏差与卫星群延迟参数高度相关。若用户接收机与群延迟参数计算采用的接收机技术状态差异较大,用户接收机定位精度将明显恶化。     

GPS现代化重大进展——GPSL5和L3频率的发射

由于技术原因，原定于2005年发射的GPS现代化ⅡF卫星系列延误了好长时间，现在终于在2009年3月24日成功发射了一颗GPS现代化中属于ⅡR卫星系列的ⅡR20-（M）卫星，它具有发射L1，L2，L3，L5频道信号的功能，是GPS现代化走向发播三个民用频率（L1，L2，LS）的第一步，是GPS现代化进程的一个里程碑。而对这一GPS卫星还首次检测到它在发射L3频道信号，据有关资料，它是为安装在GPS上的，用于发现核爆炸或其他高能量红外辐射事件的核爆炸侦察系统（NDS）平台提供通讯联系。     

Initial assessment of the COMPASS/BeiDou-3: new-generation navigation signals

The successful launch of five new-generation experimental satellites of the China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, namely BeiDou I1-S, I2-S, M1-S, M2-S, and M3-S, marks a significant step in expanding BeiDou into a navigation system with global coverage. In addition to B1I (1561.098 MHz) and B3I (1269.520 MHz) signals, the new-generation BeiDou-3 experimental satellites are also capable of transmitting several new navigation signals in space, namely B1C at 1575.42 MHz, B2a at 1176.45 MHz, and B2b at 1207.14 MHz. For the first time, we present an initial characterization and performance assessment for these new-generation BeiDou-3 satellites and their signals. The L1/L2/L5 signals from GPS Block IIF satellites, E1/E5a/E5b signals from Galileo satellites, and B1I/B2I/B3I signals from BeiDou-2 satellites are also evaluated for comparison. The characteristics of the B1C, B1I, B2a, B2b, and B3I signals are evaluated in terms of observed carrier-to-noise density ratio, pseudorange multipath and noise, triple-frequency carrier-phase ionosphere-free and geometry-free combination, and double-differenced carrier-phase and code residuals. The results demonstrate that the observational quality of the new-generation BeiDou-3 signals is comparable to that of GPS L1/L2/L5 and Galileo E1/E5a/E5b signals. However, the analysis of code multipath shows that the elevation-dependent code biases, which have been previously identified to exist in the code observations of the BeiDou-2 satellites, seem to be not obvious for all the available signals of the new-generation BeiDou-3 satellites. This will significantly benefit precise applications that resolve wide-lane ambiguity based on Hatch–Melbourne–Wübbena linear combinations and other applications such as single-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) based on the ionosphere-free code–carrier combinations. Furthermore, with regard to the triple-frequency carrier-phase ionosphere-free and geometry-free combination, it is found that different from the BeiDou-2 and GPS Block IIF satellites, no apparent bias variations could be observed in all the new-generation BeiDou-3 experimental satellites, which shows a good consistency of the new-generation BeiDou-3 signals. The absence of such triple-frequency biases simplifies the potential processing of multi-frequency PPP using observations from the new-generation BeiDou-3 satellites. Finally, the precise relative positioning results indicate that the additional observations from the new-generation BeiDou-3 satellites can improve ambiguity resolution performance with respect to BeiDou-2 only positioning, which indicates that observations from the new-generation BeiDou-3 satellites can contribute to precise relative positioning.