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GNSS and Integrated Navigation and Positioning

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Navigation and Positioning".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2024) | Viewed by 5644

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Prof. Dr. Günther Retscher

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Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Technische Universitat Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Interests: positioning and navigation with GNSS; location-based services; indoor and pedestrian navigation; applications of multi-sensor systems; smartphone positioning and sensor fusion
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The term integrated navigation and positioning refers to the process of combining measurements from multiple sensors to determine the precise location and velocity of a moving object. This approach integrates measurements from different sources such as GNSS, inertial sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes), and other sensors such as magnetometers, barometers, LIDARs, and cameras. By combining the measurements from these different sensors, integrated navigation and positioning systems can provide more accurate and reliable location and velocity information than GNSS alone. Integrated navigation and positioning systems are used in a wide range of applications, including aviation, maritime, land transportation, and surveying.

By combining data from multiple sensors, sensor fusion systems can overcome the limitations and uncertainties that may arise from the individual sensors' characteristics. The primary goal of sensor fusion is to extract useful information from multiple sources and obtain a more reliable and accurate understanding of the system or environment being observed. Sensor fusion is widely used in various applications, including robotics, autonomous vehicles, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

Cooperative positioning plays a further important role. In this technique, devices exchange information among themselves to obtain more accurate and robust location estimates. In addition to the use of fixed reference points, cooperative positioning can also be achieved using other devices, such as smartphones, that exchange information about their positions and environmental features, such as Wi-Fi signals, to improve location accuracy. The technique enables more accurate and robust location estimates than traditional positioning techniques.

This Special Issue, therefore, aims to put together original research and review articles on recent advances, technologies, solutions, applications, and new challenges in the field of GNSS and integrated navigation and positioning.

Prof. Dr. Günther Retscher
Guest Editor

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Keywords

GNSS
inertial navigation (IN) sensors
vision-based navigation
complementary sensor integration
integrated positioning technologies
multisensor systems
sensor fusion
cooperative positioning
robust positioning

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 11737 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Stochastic Model Based on Optimal Satellite Subset Selection Strategy for Smartphone Pseudorange Relative Positioning

by Jian Deng, Huayin Wang, Shuen Wei and Aiguo Zhang

Sensors 2024, 24(8), 2598; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24082598 - 18 Apr 2024

Viewed by 468

Abstract

In order to overcome the limitations of traditional stochastic models for smartphones, we introduce a double-difference code pseudorange residual (DDPR)-dependent stochastic model based on an optimal satellite subset, with the goal of mitigating the constraints imposed by the quality of GNSS observations in smartphones on the accuracy and reliability of phone-based GNSS positioning. In our methodology, the satellite selection process involved considering the integrated carrier-to-noise density ratio (C/N0) index of both the reference station and the smartphone, enabling us to construct a satellite subset characterized by superior observation quality. Furthermore, by leveraging the optimal subset of satellites and incorporating the C/N0-dependent stochastic model, we could determine the approximate location of the terminal through pseudorange differential positioning. Subsequently, we estimated the DDPRs for all satellites and utilized these values as prior information to build a stochastic model of the observations. Our findings indicate that in occluded environments, the DDPR-dependent stochastic model significantly enhances positioning accuracy for both the Huawei Mate40 and P40 terminals compared to the C/N0-dependent model. Numerically, the improvements in the north (N), east (E), and up (U) directions were approximately 30%, 32%, and 34% for the Mate40, and 26%, 33%, and 24% for the P40 terminal. This suggests that the proposed DDPR-dependent stochastic model effectively identifies and mitigates large gross error signals caused by multipath and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals, thereby assigning lower weights to these problematic observations and ultimately enhancing positioning accuracy. Moreover, the weighting method involves minimal computations and is straightforward to implement, making it particularly suitable for GNSS positioning applications on smartphones in complex urban environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GNSS and Integrated Navigation and Positioning)

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18 pages, 18411 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Noise of MEMS IMU Sensors of Different Grades for GNSS/IMU Navigation

by Vladimir Suvorkin, Miquel Garcia-Fernandez, Guillermo González-Casado, Mowen Li and Adria Rovira-Garcia

Sensors 2024, 24(6), 1953; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24061953 - 19 Mar 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1560

Abstract

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are key components of various applications including navigation, robotics, aerospace, and automotive systems. IMU sensor characteristics have a significant impact on the accuracy and reliability of these applications. In particular, noise characteristics and bias stability are critical for proper filter settings to perform a combined GNSS/IMU solution. This paper presents an analysis based on the Allan deviation of different IMU sensors that correspond to different grades of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)-type IMUs in order to evaluate their accuracy and stability over time. The study covers three IMU sensors of different grades (ascending order): Rokubun Argonaut navigator sensor (InvenSense TDK MPU9250), Samsung Galaxy Note10 phone sensor (STMicroelectronics LSM6DSR), and NovAtel PwrPak7 sensor (Epson EG320N). The noise components of the sensors are computed using overlapped Allan deviation analysis on data collected over the course of a week in a static position. The focus of the analysis is to characterize the random walk noise and bias stability, which are the most critical for combined GNSS/IMU navigation and may differ or may not be listed in manufacturers’ specifications. Noise characteristics are calculated for the studied sensors and examples of their use in loosely coupled GNSS/IMU processing are assessed. This work proposes a structured and reproducible approach for working with sensors for their use in navigation tasks in combination with GNSS, and can be used for sensors of different levels to supplement missing or incorrect sensor manufacturers’ data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GNSS and Integrated Navigation and Positioning)

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26 pages, 3745 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthetic Meta-Signal Observations: The Beidou Case

by Daniele Borio and Ciro Gioia

Sensors 2024, 24(1), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24010087 - 23 Dec 2023

Viewed by 743

Abstract

A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) meta-signal is obtained when two or more side-band components from different frequencies are jointly processed as a single entity. This requires advanced signal processing techniques able to cope with the subcarrier, generated by the interaction of the side-band components, and handle possibly multi-peaked ambiguous correlation functions. An alternative approach to meta-signal processing is to reconstruct meta-signal observations using side-band measurements. Meta-signal high-accuracy pseudoranges can be reconstructed from the side-band code and carrier observations. The success of the reconstruction depends on several factors, including the frequency separation of the side-band components and the presence of measurement biases. The Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), with its second- and third-generation signals, provides a wide range of components with various frequency separations. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the performance and limitations of the measurement reconstruction approach using Beidou observations. When the B1I and B1C components are considered, their reduced frequency separation leads to unambiguous measurements fully exploiting the potential of meta-signals. For larger frequency separations, jumps and discontinuities are observed in the position domain, which is a major limiting factor of this type of approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GNSS and Integrated Navigation and Positioning)

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27 pages, 24989 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

An Innovative Low-Power, Low-Cost, Multi-Constellation Geodetic-Grade Global Navigation Satellite System Reference Station for the Densification of Permanent Networks: The GREAT Project

by Davide Curone, Giovanni Savarese, Mirko Antonini, Raphaël Baucry, Elie Amani, Antonin Boulandet, Marco Cataldo, Paul Chambon, Massimiliano Chersich, Ahmed B. Hussein, Bruno Menuel and Avag Tsaturyan

Sensors 2023, 23(13), 6032; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23136032 - 29 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1411

Abstract

Geodetic-grade Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers designed to implement permanent stations represent the most complex and costly technology in the field of GNSS instrumentation. On the other hand, a large number of innovative applications, highly demanding in terms of positioning precision and accuracy, is pushing the implementation of networks of permanent stations with a higher and higher spatial density. In this scenario, the development of brand new GNSS reference stations, which combine the most advanced technologies in the field of data availability and integrity together with reduced costs (of instrumentation, installation and management) is becoming of paramount importance. For this reason, in 2019 the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has financed a research project, called “next Generation gnss REference stATion—GREAT”, aimed at developing and demonstrating the potentiality of a brand new GNSS receiver suitable to implement permanent stations. This paper describes the solution developed by the project consortium, composed of four Small or Medium Enterprises (SMEs) based in Italy, France and Belgium, and the preliminary results achieved in the field tests. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GNSS and Integrated Navigation and Positioning)

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24 pages, 11724 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structural Health Monitoring in Long-Span Steel Structures Based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

by Hui Gao, Baoxin Jia, Guochuan Wang, Tong Zhang, Pei Dang and Donglin Wang

Sensors 2023, 23(13), 5959; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23135959 - 27 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1013

Abstract

The BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) provides precise positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services in the Asia-Pacific Region, but the BDS-based structural health monitoring (SHM) approach (SHM) is rarely studied, especially in civil engineering. Moreover, how BDS can be applied to complete the tasks of SHM in a real project is also not fully investigated, especially working in conjunction with other techniques. This study aims to propose a BDS-based approach for SHM in civil engineering. The performance of the proposed approach is investigated through a case study—the Tianhan Grand Theater (TGT). A specific Tianhan system corresponding to BDS is proposed to complete the SHM tasks of TGT. Based on the collected data, the trusses with maximum displacement and stress are found by BDS to evaluate structural health in the construction stage. The results show that the maximum displacement and stress have certain safety reserves and meet the requirements of the specifications and regulations. Thus, BDS can satisfactorily complete the tasks of SHM for Long-span steel structures. This study gives a clear view to engineers and researchers that how to apply BDS in structural construction and provides a valuable real case for evaluating the performance of BDS in SHM. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GNSS and Integrated Navigation and Positioning)

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