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Hybrid Approaches for Enhanced GNSS 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 December 2023) | Viewed by 5337

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Dr. Mattia Brambilla

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Guest Editor

Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: localization; communications; 5G positioning; cooperative localization; target tracking

Dr. Ludovico Biagi

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Guest Editor

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Ambientale, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: precise positioning and navigation; GNSS; INS; sensors integration; geodetic networks; mapping

Dr. Stefano Savazzi

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Guest Editor

Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering (IEIIT), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), P.zza L. da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: signal processing aspects of wireless communications systems; antenna array processing; channel estimation and tracking; MIMO-OFDM systems; cooperative communication; ad-hoc networking and wireless sensor networks
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Relying on stand-alone GNSS systems is no longer sufficient to match the positioning requirements of emerging applications in the fields of intelligent transportation systems (e.g., connected and automated vehicles, personal mobile devices), aerial mobility (e.g., drones) and industrial automation (e.g., collaborative robots, automated ground vehicles).

This Special Issue focuses on the hybridization of GNSS and other technologies such as cellular networks (5G and beyond), ultrawide band (UWB), WiFi, inertial units, radar, lidar, cameras, and more. Focus is given, but not limited, to proposing and evaluating architectures, processing algorithms and platforms that are complementary to GNSS and improve positioning accuracies in mobility (rural, highway, urban) and indoor scenarios. Fusion algorithms that couple different observations enhance the integrity, accuracy, and availability of a positioning systems.

As an example, cellular technology can provide high coverage thanks to the density of base stations, especially in urban areas that are historically critical for GNSS, and the recently introduced positioning reference signals of 3GPP Rel. 16 demonstrate the high interest in cellular-based positioning (embracing both conventional sub-6 GHz spectrum and mmWave).

Another example includes vehicular applications, where the large availability of on-board sensors is used to assist GNSS positioning by exploiting, for instance, SLAM, map-matching, or cooperative techniques.

Potential contributors should address GNSS augmentation strategies by the fusion of one or more assistance technologies for high-precision positioning.
Demonstration and field tests are highly appreciated.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Hybrid GNSS and 5G positioning;
GNSS augmentation systems in urban environment;
Hybrid tracking filters for mobility;
Indoor/outdoor precise positioning by combining multiple technologies;
Vehicle tracking with GNSS and other complementary technologies;
Hybrid localization and tracking in industrial environments;
Radio-assisted GNSS for drone localization and navigation;
IoT precise positioning.

Dr. Mattia Brambilla
Dr. Ludovico Biagi
Dr. Stefano Savazzi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

hybrid positioning
precise positioning
GNSS augmentation
GNSS and 5G integration
multi-technology integration
high precision positioning
vehicle navigation
urban positioning
industrial positioning
drone navigation

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19 pages, 2036 KiB

Open AccessArticle

5G Positioning: An Analysis of Early Datasets

by Chiara Pileggi, Florin Catalin Grec and Ludovico Biagi

Sensors 2023, 23(22), 9222; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23229222 - 16 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1147

Abstract

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) are nowadays the prevailing technology for positioning and navigation. However, with the roll-out of 5G technology, there is a shift towards ‘hybrid positioning’: indeed, 5G time-of-arrival (ToA) measurements can provide additional ranging for positioning, especially in environments where few GNSS satellites are visible. This work reports a preliminary analysis, the processing, and the results of field measurements collected as part of the GINTO5G project funded by ESA’s EGEP programme. The data used in this project were shared by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the DICA of Politecnico di Milano as part of a collaboration within the ESALab@PoliMi research framework established in 2022 between the two organizations. The ToA data were collected during a real-world measurement campaign and they cover a wide range of user environments, such as indoor areas, outdoor open sky, and outdoor obstructed scenarios. Within the test area, eleven self-made replica 5G base stations were set up. A trolley, carrying a self-made 5G receiver and a data storage unit, was moved along predefined trajectories; the trolley’s accurate trajectories were determined by a total station, which provided benchmark positions. In the present work, the 5G data are processed using the least squares method, testing and comparing different strategies. Therefore, the primary goal is to evaluate algorithms for position determination of a user based on 5G observations, and to empirically assess their accuracy. The results obtained are promising, with positional accuracy ranging from decimeters to a few meters in the worst cases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hybrid Approaches for Enhanced GNSS Positioning)

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18 pages, 2039 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Positioning with GNSS and 5G: Analysis of Geometric Accuracy in Urban Scenarios

by Marianna Alghisi and Ludovico Biagi

Sensors 2023, 23(4), 2181; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23042181 - 15 Feb 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3172

Abstract

GNSS positioning in urban scenarios suffers for the scarce visibility of satellites. Integration with 5G services for positioning could improve this situation. In this paper, the digital surface models (DSMs) relevant to different urban scenarios, namely residential streets and urban canyons, are simulated around one observer in northern Italy (Milano) for one day of the year chosen as an example. The time series of the number of in-view GNSS satellites, their geometry and the derived quality indexes (position dilution of precision (PDOP)) are computed and analyzed. As expected, in urban canyons, a significant number of epochs does not provide four satellites within view, and many more epochs present really mediocre PDOPs. In residential streets, the situation is always quite fair. Different geometric configurations of 5G base stations are simulated around the observer. The availability of 5G times of arrival (ToAs) and their differences (TDoAs) is hypothesized, and the integration of these observations with GNSS pseudoranges is analyzed, again in terms of the PDOPs. In residential streets, 5G availability improves the positioning. In urban canyons, the optimal configuration of 5G base stations (five base stations around the observer) completely solves the positioning problem for all the epochs of the day. Less favorable configurations (four and three base stations) improve epochs with poor PDOPs in a GNSS-only configuration. They allow the positioning of epochs with few satellites but cannot completely replace the GNSS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hybrid Approaches for Enhanced GNSS Positioning)

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