Ambiguity resolution for triple-frequency geometry-free and ionosphere-free combination tested with real data

The recent GPS Block IIF satellites SVN62 and SVN63 and the Galileo satellites GIOVE-A, GIOVE-B, PFM and FM2 already send signals on more than two frequencies, and more GNSS satellites will provide tracking data on at least three frequencies in the near future. In this paper, a simplified general method for ambiguity resolution minimizing the noise level for the triple-frequency geometry-free (GF) and ionosphere-free (IF) linear combinations is presented, where differently scaled code noise on the three frequencies was introduced. For the third of three required linear combinations, the most demanding one in triple-frequency ambiguity resolution, we developed a general method using the ambiguity-corrected phase observations without any constraints to search for the optimal GF and IF linear combination. We analytically demonstrate that the noise level of this third linear combination only depends on the three frequencies. The investigation concerning this frequency-dependent noise factor was performed for GPS, Galileo and Compass frequency triplets. We verified the theoretical derivations with real triple-frequency GPS and Galileo data from the Multi-GNSS Experiment (M–GEX) of the International GNSS Service (IGS). The data of about 30 M–GEX stations around the world over 11 days from 29 April 2012 to 9 May 2012 were used for the test. For the third linear combinaton using Galileo E1, E5b and E5a, which is expected to have the worst performance among all the GNSS frequency triplets in our investigation, the formal errors of the estimated ambiguities are in most cases below 0.2 cycles after 400 observation epochs. If more GPS satellites sending signals on three frequencies or more stations tracking Galileo E6 signal are available in the future, an improvement by a factor of two to three can be expected.     

Network-based triple-frequency carrier phase ambiguity resolution between reference stations using BDS data for long baselines

Network-based ambiguity resolution (AR) between reference stations is the prerequisite to realize a precise real-time kinematic positioning service. With the help of BDS triple-frequency signals, we can efficiently deal with the ionospheric delay and tropospheric delay, and achieve rapid and reliable AR. To overcome the inaccurate ionospheric delay estimated by the geometry-free three carrier ambiguity resolution (GF TCAR) technique, which leads to failure in the original ambiguity resolution, we propose an ionospheric-free (IF) TCAR method to resolve the ambiguity between the reference stations over long baselines. Taking full advantage of the known positions of the reference stations, the easily resolved extra-wide-lane (EWL) ambiguity, and the IF phase combinations, we can reliably fix the wide-lane (WL) ambiguity. A Kalman filter is applied to estimate precise IF ambiguities and the original ambiguity is resolved with the fixed WL ambiguity. A numerical analysis with triple-frequency BDS data from three long baselines of a CORS network is provided to compare the AR performance of GF TCAR with that of IF TCAR. The results show that both methods can reliably resolve the WL ambiguity with a remarkable correctly-fixed rate of higher than 99%, and the reliably-fixed rates of the IF TCAR slightly increase from 92.19, 94.67 and 94.61–98.26, 99.54 and 97.51% for the three baselines. Herein “correctly-fixed” and “reliably-fixed” mean the difference between the float ambiguity and the true one are less than ± 0.5 and ± 0.25 cycles, respectively. On the other hand, the AR performance of the original signals with the IF TCAR method is much better than that with the GF TCAR method attaining a 100% correctly-fixed rate, while the GF TCAR method can hardly fix the original ambiguity with the largest bias being as much as 4 cycles because of the amplified systematic bias.     

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.     

中长基线的BDS三频线性组合观测量优化

基于几何无关（geometry-free,GF）和电离层无关（ionosphere-free,IF）的三频原始载波线性组合观测量,由于消除了一阶电离层延迟项以及同卫星与测站间几何距离相关误差项的影响,可有效应用于中长基线模糊度解算。对适用于北斗卫星导航系统（BDS）中长基线模糊度解算的GF和IF线性组合观测量进行了研究和优化,通过对载波观测量与伪距观测量组合,得到噪声最小且基于GF和IF的宽巷组合观测量,然后将模糊度得到固定的两个载波组合观测量与原始载波观测量进行最优线性组合,得到具有最低噪声的基于GF和IF的窄巷组合观测量。该方法充分利用了所有载波及伪距观测量信息,并根据其噪声水平进行了加权优化,公式推导具有普遍性和代表性。通过三频实测基线数据进行了论证分析。结果表明,经过一段时间的平滑之后,宽巷和窄巷模糊度浮点解的偏差能收敛到0.5周以内,从而实现模糊度的快速准确固定。     

GPS/BDS/Galileo三频精密单点定位模型及性能分析

在精细考虑伪距和载波相位硬件偏差时变特性的基础上,导出了更为严谨的非差非组合观测方程,并给出了非组合模式下两类GNSS偏差的数学表达形式.基于此,本文详细研究了3种常用的三频精密单点定位(PPP),即无电离层两两组合IF1213、单个无电离层组合IF123与非组合UC123函数模型的独立参数化方法,系统分析了3种PPP...     

Modeling and quality control for reliable precise point positioning integer ambiguity resolution with GNSS modernization

Recent research has demonstrated that the undifferenced integer ambiguities can be recovered using products from a network solution. The standard dual-frequency PPP integer ambiguity resolution consists of two aspects: Hatch-Melbourne-Wübbena wide-lane (WL) and ionosphere-free narrow-lane (NL) integer ambiguity resolution. A major issue affecting the performance of dual-frequency PPP applications is the time it takes to fix these two types of integer ambiguities, especially if the WL integer ambiguity resolution suffers from the noisy pseudorange measurements and strong multipath effects. With modernized Global Navigation Satellite Systems, triple-frequency measurements will be available to global users and an extra WL (EWL) model with very long wavelength can be formulated. Then, the easily resolved EWL integer ambiguities can be used to construct linear combinations to accelerate the PPP WL integer ambiguity resolution. Therefore, we propose a new reliable procedure for the modeling and quality control of triple-frequency PPP WL and NL integer ambiguity resolution. First, we analyze a WL integer ambiguity resolution model based on triple-frequency measurements. Then, an optimal pseudorange linear combination which is ionosphere-free and has minimum measurement noise is developed and used as constraint in the WL and the NL integer ambiguity resolution. Based on simulations, we have investigated the inefficiency of dual-frequency WL integer ambiguity resolution and the performance of EWL integer ambiguity resolution. Using almanacs of GPS, Galileo and BeiDou, the performances of the proposed triple-frequency WL and NL models have been evaluated in terms of success rate. Comparing with dual-frequency PPP, numerical results indicate that the proposed triple-frequency models can outperform the dual-frequency PPP WL and NL integer ambiguity resolution. With 1 s sampling rate, generally, only several minutes of data are required for reliable triple-frequency PPP WL and NL integer ambiguity resolution. Under benign observation situations and good geometries, the integer ambiguity can be reliably resolved even within 10 s.     

Real-time cycle slip detection in triple-frequency GNSS

The modernization of the global positioning system and the advent of the European project Galileo will lead to a multifrequency global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The presence of new frequencies introduces more degrees of freedom in the GNSS data combination. We define linear combinations of GNSS observations with the aim to detect and correct cycle slips in real time. In particular, the detection is based on five geometry-free linear combinations used in three cascading steps. Most of the jumps are detected in the first step using three minimum-noise combinations of phase and code observations. The remaining jumps with very small amplitude are detected in the other two steps by means of two-tailored linear combinations of phase observations. Once the epoch of the slip has been detected, its amplitude is estimated using other linear combinations of phase observations. These combinations are defined with the aim of discriminating between the possible combinations of jump amplitudes in the three carriers. The method has been tested on simulated data and 1-second triple-frequency undifferenced GPS data coming from a friendly multipath environment. Results show that the proposed method is able to detect and repair all combinations of cycle slips in the three carriers.     

A systematic investigation of optimal carrier-phase combinations for modernized triple-frequency GPS

The upcoming modernization of the GPS signals will allow for measurements on an additional third frequency L5 located at 1176.45 MHz. To take advantage of carrier-phase measurements on this new signal, the strategies for integer ambiguity resolution, required for centimeter-level accuracy, may need to be revised. The Least-squares Ambiguity Decorrelation Adjustment method remains perhaps the most powerful tool for finding the best combinations based on a complete decorrelation of the variance–covariance matrix related to the ambiguities. However, the computational load of that method plus the opportunity to comprehensively study the interaction of multiple frequencies suggest a reconsideration of approaches using predefined combinations between frequencies is not out of place. In this paper a systematic investigation is made of all possible triple-frequency geometry-free carrier-phase combinations which retain the integer nature of the ambiguities. The concept of the lane-number is presented to unambiguously describe the wavelength of a particular combination. The propagation of the observation noise and of the ionospheric bias on these combinations is presented. These noise and ionospheric amplification factors are analysed with respect to the resulting wavelength, in an effort to highlight optimal combinations characterized by a long wavelength, low noise and limited ionospheric impact.     

北斗三频电离层延迟及码硬件延迟解算方法

准确固定非差模糊度是利用相位观测量获取高精度电离层延迟的关键。三频观测条件下常规的处理策略需依次固定超宽巷、宽巷以及窄巷模糊度,通常利用MW（melbourne-wubbena）组合解算宽巷模糊度时易受到码硬件延迟和观测噪声的影响而固定错误。利用北斗三频数据和GIM（grid ionosphenimap）产品,通过固定的超宽巷模糊度以及构造相位无几何组合解算宽巷模糊度,进而重构得到高精度电离层延迟,并且分离了码硬件延迟总量。结果表明,GIM模型辅助条件下宽巷模糊度固定成功率能达到100%,且消除了系统性偏差;电离层重构值与GIM模型改正值存在约1 m的差异,等效精度约6TECU;分离的码硬件延迟变化平稳,标准偏差不超过0.3 m。     

Performance analysis of triple-frequency ambiguity resolution with BeiDou observations

We investigate triple-frequency ambiguity resolution performance using real BeiDou data. We test four ambiguity resolution (AR) methods which are applicable to triple-frequency observations. These are least squares ambiguity decorrelation adjustment (LAMBDA), GF-TCAR (geometry-free three-carrier ambiguity resolution), GB-TCAR (geometry-based three-carrier ambiguity resolution) and GIF-TCAR (three-carrier ambiguity resolution based on the geometry-free and ionospheric-free combination). A comparison between LAMBDA, GF-TCAR and GB-TCAR was conducted over three short baselines and two medium baselines. The results indicated that LAMBDA is optimal in both short baseline and medium baseline cases. However, the performances of GB-TCAR and LAMBDA differ slightly for short baselines. Compared with GF-TCAR, which uses the geometry-free model, the GB-TCAR using the geometry-based model improves the AR performance significantly. Compared with dual-frequency observations, the LAMBDA AR results show a significant improvement when using triple-frequency observations over short baselines. The performance of GIF-TCAR is evaluated using multi-epoch observations. The results indicated that multi-path errors on carrier phases will have a significant influence on GIF-TCAR AR results, which leads to different GIF-TCAR AR performance for different type of satellites. For GEO (Geostationary Orbit) satellites, the ambiguities can barely be correctly fixed because the multi-path errors on carrier phases are very systematic. For IGSO (Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit) and MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) satellites, when the elevation cutoff angle is set as 30°, several tens to several hundreds of epochs are needed for correctly fixing the narrow lane ambiguities. The comparison of positioning performance between dual-frequency observations and triple-frequency observations was also conducted. The results indicated that a minor improvement can be achieved by using triple-frequency observations compared with using dual-frequency observations.     

A new triple-frequency cycle slip detecting algorithm validated with BDS data

Triple-frequency global navigation satellite systems allow the introduction of additional linear observation combinations. We define two geometry-free phase combinations and one geometry-free pseudorange minus phase linear combination to detect and correct cycle slip in real time. At first, the optimal BDS (BeiDou System) triple-frequency geometry-free phase combinations are selected for cycle slip detection. Then, a detailed analysis of the cycle slip detection is performed by examining whether some special cycle slip groups cannot be discovered by the selected combinations. Since there still remain some cycle slip groups undetectable by the two geometry-free phase combinations, we add a pseudorange minus phase linear combination which is linearly independent with these two phase combinations, to be sure that all the cycle slips can be detected. After that, an effective decorrelation search based on LAMBDA and least squares minimum principle is applied to calculate and determine the cycle slips. The method has been tested on triple-frequency undifferenced BDS data coming from a benign observation environment. Results show that the proposed method is able to detect and repair all the small cycle slips in the three carriers.     

北斗三号新三频相位模糊度固定方法

针对北斗三号新的三频观测值,通过分析BDS-3三频线性组合观测值特性,选取高质量组合观测值,采用无几何相关GF(Geometry-Free)模型和无几何无电离层相关GIF(Geometry-Ionospheric-Free)模型分别对实测BDS-3卫星数据进行单历元三频相位模糊度解算TCAR(Triple-freque...     

Triple-frequency GPS precise point positioning with rapid ambiguity resolution

At present, reliable ambiguity resolution in real-time GPS precise point positioning (PPP) can only be achieved after an initial observation period of a few tens of minutes. In this study, we propose a method where the incoming triple-frequency GPS signals are exploited to enable rapid convergences to ambiguity-fixed solutions in real-time PPP. Specifically, extra-wide-lane ambiguity resolution can be first achieved almost instantaneously with the Melbourne-Wübbena combination observable on L2 and L5. Then the resultant unambiguous extra-wide-lane carrier-phase is combined with the wide-lane carrier-phase on L1 and L2 to form an ionosphere-free observable with a wavelength of about 3.4 m. Although the noise of this observable is around 100 times the raw carrier-phase noise, its wide-lane ambiguity can still be resolved very efficiently, and the resultant ambiguity-fixed observable can assist much better than pseudorange in speeding up succeeding narrow-lane ambiguity resolution. To validate this method, we use an advanced hardware simulator to generate triple-frequency signals and a high-grade receiver to collect 1-Hz data. When the carrier-phase precisions on L1, L2 and L5 are as poor as 1.5, 6.3 and 1.5 mm, respectively, wide-lane ambiguity resolution can still reach a correctness rate of over 99 % within 20 s. As a result, the correctness rate of narrow-lane ambiguity resolution achieves 99 % within 65 s, in contrast to only 64 % within 150 s in dual-frequency PPP. In addition, we also simulate a multipath-contaminated data set and introduce new ambiguities for all satellites every 120 s. We find that when multipath effects are strong, ambiguity-fixed solutions are achieved at 78 % of all epochs in triple-frequency PPP whilst almost no ambiguities are resolved in dual-frequency PPP. Therefore, we demonstrate that triple-frequency PPP has the potential to achieve ambiguity-fixed solutions within a few minutes, or even shorter if raw carrier-phase precisions are around 1 mm. In either case, we conclude that the efficiency of ambiguity resolution in triple-frequency PPP is much higher than that in dual-frequency PPP.     

利用UofC消电离层组合的GPS/GLONASS精密单点定位研究

利用码和载波相位观测值半和线性组合可以消除电离层一阶误差的特性,讨论了基于UofC消电离层组合的GPS/GLONASS精密单点定位的数学模型。UofC模型对两个频率上的模糊度参数分别进行估计,为进一步获得模糊度参数的整数解提供了便利。利用IGS跟踪站的GPS/GLONASS观测数据对UofC模型和传统的在两个频率码观测值间进行消电离层组合的模型进行了比较,统计结果表明,UofC模型与传统模型相比在平面位置定位精度上略有提高,但总体上差别不大。     

Three-frequency BDS precise point positioning ambiguity resolution based on raw observables

All BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) satellites are transmitting signals on three frequencies, which brings new opportunity and challenges for high-accuracy precise point positioning (PPP) with ambiguity resolution (AR). This paper proposes an effective uncalibrated phase delay (UPD) estimation and AR strategy which is based on a raw PPP model. First, triple-frequency raw PPP models are developed. The observation model and stochastic model are designed and extended to accommodate the third frequency. Then, the UPD is parameterized in raw frequency form while estimating with the high-precision and low-noise integer linear combination of float ambiguity which are derived by ambiguity decorrelation. Third, with UPD corrected, the LAMBDA method is used for resolving full or partial ambiguities which can be fixed. This method can be easily and flexibly extended for dual-, triple- or even more frequency. To verify the effectiveness and performance of triple-frequency PPP AR, tests with real BDS data from 90 stations lasting for 21 days were performed in static mode. Data were processed with three strategies: BDS triple-frequency ambiguity-float PPP, BDS triple-frequency PPP with dual-frequency (B1/B2) and three-frequency AR, respectively. Numerous experiment results showed that compared with the ambiguity-float solution, the performance in terms of convergence time and positioning biases can be significantly improved by AR. Among three groups of solutions, the triple-frequency PPP AR achieved the best performance. Compared with dual-frequency AR, additional the third frequency could apparently improve the position estimations during the initialization phase and under constraint environments when the dual-frequency PPP AR is limited by few satellite numbers.     

GPS三频无几何相位组合周跳探测与修复

随着GPS现代化的实施和L5频率的开设,GPS进入了三频时代。相对于双频观测数据三频观测值线性组合可以形成更多长波长、弱电离层、低噪声的组合。本文分析了GPS三频无几何相位组合的特性,利用两个GPS三频无几何相位组合和一个三频伪距载波组合组成观测矩阵探测周跳,并采用搜索方法确保周跳修复的正确。最后利用模拟的L5观测数据进行验证,结果表明该算法可以有效地探测并修复周跳。     

北斗短基线三频实测数据单历元模糊度固定

基于北斗实测三频数据,通过分析比较选取了三组线性独立的超宽巷组合,采用无几何模式(geometry-free)和几何模式(geometry-based)相结合的方法对其进行单历元模糊度固定,然后恢复各频率上的原始模糊度,最后进行定位解算。实验结果表明,对于短基线,组合系数的合理选取是模糊度成功固定的关键;在选用合适(长波长、弱电离层、低噪声)的组合时,对于静态和动态短基线,其原始载波模糊度单历元固定成功率分别为99.75%和95.08%,从而可以避开传统解算中周跳探测等复杂的数据预处理过程,单历元取得cm级定位精度。     

北斗三频无几何相位组合周跳探测与修复

推导了Compass三频无几何组合周跳探测的理论模型,并分析了探测精度。通过多频组合理论构造了较优的无几何周跳探测检验量,并对存在的不敏感周跳组合进行了分析。为了保证探测的完备性,联合运用两个合适的无几何组合作为探测检验组合进行周跳探测,并筛选了较优的探测检验组合。针对无几何组合最多只能两个线性无关,无法修复三个频点上的周跳的问题,探索了无几何探测检验组合联合一个伪距/载波组合进行周跳修复的方法。最后利用Compass三频实测数据,选用了无几何探测检验组合(-1,-1,2)与(-1,2,-1)和伪距/载波组合(1,3,-4)进行了验证分析。试验表明,该方法能够探测出所有大小的周跳,并且可以单历元修复周跳值,可适用于动态导航定位,有一定的实用性。     

GNSS antenna array-aided CORS ambiguity resolution

Array-aided precise point positioning is a measurement concept that uses GNSS data, from multiple antennas in an array of known geometry, to realize improved GNSS parameter estimation proposed by Teunissen (IEEE Trans Signal Process 60:2870–2881, 2012). In this contribution, the benefits of array-aided CORS ambiguity resolution are explored. The mathematical model is formulated to show how the platform-array data can be reduced and how the variance matrix of the between-platform ambiguities can profit from the increased precision of the reduced platform data. The ambiguity resolution performance will be demonstrated for varying scenarios using simulation. We consider single-, dual- and triple-frequency scenarios of geometry-based and geometry-free models for different number of antennas and different standard deviations of the ionosphere-weighted constraints. The performances of both full and partial ambiguity resolution (PAR) are presented for these different scenarios. As the study shows, when full advantage is taken of the array antennas, both full and partial ambiguity resolution can be significantly improved, in some important cases even enabling instantaneous ambiguity resolution. PAR widelaning and its suboptimal character are hereby also illustrated.     

GPS三频非差观测数据周跳的自动探测与改正研究

在GPS三频非差观测数据的处理中,由于伪距噪声的影响,利用原始的伪距和载波相位观测数据估计的模糊度误差比较大,不能用于探测和改正周跳。对原始观测数据进行平滑或适当的组合处理,可降低观测噪声的影响。因此,本文选择合适的经过平滑或组合处理后的观测数据作为探测周跳的检验量,探测并改正单个频点上的周跳。在分析了一般周跳的特点并在研究双频周跳自动探测与改正方法基础上,提出了选取检验量的四条基本原则。最后,依此原则选取了三个观测值组合作为周跳检验量,利用该组检验量实现三频非差观测数据周跳的自动探测与改正。