GPS and Galileo Triple-Carrier Ionosphere-Free Combinations for Improved Convergence in Precise Point Positioning

Basile, Francesco; Moore, Terry; Hill, Chris; McGraw, Gary

Abstract

In recent years, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) precise point positioning (PPP) has become a standard positioning technique for many applications with typically favourable open sky conditions, e.g. precision agriculture. Unfortunately, the long convergence (and reconvergence) time of PPP often significantly limits its use in difficult and restricted signal environments typically associated with urban areas. The modernisation of GNSS will positively affect and improve the convergence time of the PPP solutions, thanks to the higher number of satellites in view that broadcast multifrequency measurements. The number and geometry of the available satellites is a key factor that impacts on the convergence time in PPP, while triple-frequency observables have been shown to greatly benefit the fixing of the carrier phase integer ambiguities. On the other hand, many studies have shown that triple-frequency combinations do not usefully contribute to a reduction of the convergence time of float PPP solutions. This paper proposes novel GPS and Galileo triple-carrier ionosphere-free combinations that aim to enhance the observability of the narrow-lane ambiguities. Tests based on simulated data have shown that these combinations can reduce the convergence time of the float PPP solution by a factor of up to 2·38 with respect to the two-frequency combinations. This approach becomes effective only after the extra wide-lane and wide-lane ambiguities have been fixed. For this reason, a new fixing method based on low-noise pseudo-range combinations corrected by the smoothed ionosphere correction is presented. By exploiting this algorithm, no more than a few minutes are required to fix the WL ambiguities for Galileo, even in cases of severe multipath environments.

Citation

Basile, F., Moore, T., Hill, C., & McGraw, G. (2021). GPS and Galileo Triple-Carrier Ionosphere-Free Combinations for Improved Convergence in Precise Point Positioning. Journal of Navigation, 74(1), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0373463320000454

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 15, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 16, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-01
• Deposit Date: Jan 15, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: May 17, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Navigation
• Print ISSN: 0373-4633
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-7785
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 74
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 5-23
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0373463320000454
• Keywords: GNSS; Precise point positioning (PPP); GPS; Galileo; Ambiguity resolution
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5228658
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-navigation/article/abs/gps-and-galileo-triplecarrier-ionospherefree-combinations-for-improved-convergence-in-precise-point-positioning/F042CB70CB28B452B7CF537CF955434C#article
• Additional Information: Basile, F., Moore, T., Hill, C., & McGraw, G. (2020). GPS and Galileo Triple-Carrier Ionosphere-Free Combinations for Improved Convergence in Precise Point Positioning. Journal of Navigation, 74(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0373463320000454