SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS COLLABORATIVE VERIFICATION OF GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM MEASUREMENTS

• US 20140232595A1
• Filed: 06/29/2012
• Published: 08/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tufts University
• Original Assignee: Tufts University
• Inventors: Rife, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 9,720,095 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.58
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/03 Cooperating elements; Interaction or communication between different cooperating elements or between cooperating elements and receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/08 providing integrity information, e.g. health of satellites or quality of ephemeris data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/20 Integrity monitoring, fault detection or fault isolation of space segment

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for verifying the quality of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements. The system includes a GNSS receiver, a wireless communications device, and a fault detection processor. The GNSS receiver includes a GNSS antenna for receiving signals from a plurality of global navigation satellites and a processor for calculating a ranging measurement for each of the global navigation satellites from the GNSS receiver to the global navigation satellite. The wireless communications device receives ranging measurements from at least one other GNSS receiver. The fault detection processor performs a fault detection algorithm to determine if there is an anomaly affecting the ranging measurements of the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver.

Claims

1. A system for verifying the quality of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements, the system comprising:

a GNSS receiver comprising;

a GNSS antenna for receiving signals from a plurality of global navigation satellites; and

a processor for calculating, for each of the plurality of global navigation satellites, a ranging measurement from the GNSS receiver to the global navigation satellite;

a wireless communications device for receiving ranging measurements from at least one other GNSS receiver; and

a fault detection processor for performing a fault detection algorithm to determine if there is an anomaly affecting the ranging measurements of the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications device is further configured for transmitting ranging measurements to the at least one other GNSS receiver.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the fault detection algorithm comprises calculating, for the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver, residuals between the ranging measurements and a ranging model based on a position estimate computed for each receiver.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the fault detection algorithm comprises calculating a statistic based on a weighted sum of the residuals for each receiver and comparing the statistic to a threshold.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein:

calculating a statistic based on a weighted sum of the residuals comprises calculating a statistic m from the residuals from L receivers using the following equation;

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the fault detection processor is further configured to decompose each of the residuals into a component common to the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver and a component specific to the GNSS receiver.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the fault detection processor is further configured to, in response to the fault detection processor detecting an anomaly, determine which of the satellites whose signal was received by at least one of the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver caused the anomaly.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the fault detection processor determines which satellite has a fault by performing, for each of the plurality of satellites whose signal was received, the fault detection algorithm with the measurements of the satellite removed.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver are associated with vehicles, and the wireless communications device is configured for vehicle-to-vehicle networking.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver are associated with cell phones, and the wireless communications device is configured for communication over at least one of a cell phone network and a Wi-Fi network.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the fault detection processor is further configured to output an alert message if an anomaly is detected.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the fault detection processor is configured to send, via the wireless communications device, the alert to the at least one other GNSS receiver.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert message causes an automated process that uses the ranging measurements to be suspended.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert message causes an automated process that uses the ranging measurements to be modified to exclude ranging data associated with at least one satellite.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the fault detection processor is further configured to distinguish between a fault specific to the GNSS receiver and a fault common to the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the fault detection processor is further configured to:

detect that there is an anomaly in the ranging measurements of one of the least one other GNSS receivers; and

in response to the detecting, excluding the data from the one of the at least one other GNSS receivers when performing the fault detection algorithm.

17. A method for verifying the quality of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements, the method comprising:

receiving, by an antenna of a GNSS receiver, signals from a plurality of global navigation satellites;

calculating, by a processor of the GNSS receiver, a ranging measurement from the GNSS receiver to the global navigation satellite for each of the plurality of global navigation satellites;

receiving, by a wireless communications device, ranging measurements from at least one other GNSS receiver; and

performing, by a fault detection processor, a fault detection algorithm to determine if there is an anomaly affecting the ranging measurements of the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting, by the wireless communications device, ranging measurements to the at least one other GNSS receiver.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the fault detection algorithm comprises comparing, for the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver, the ranging measurements for each of the plurality of satellites to a position estimate of the receiver.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining, by the fault detection processor, after the fault detection processor detects an anomaly, which of the satellites whose signal was received by at least one of the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver caused the anomaly by performing, for each of the plurality of satellites whose signal was received, the fault detection algorithm with the measurements of the satellite removed.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver are associated with vehicles, and the method further comprises wirelessly communicating using vehicle-to-vehicle networking between the wireless communications devices of the receivers.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver are associated with cell phones, and the method further comprises wirelessly communicating over at least one of a cell phone network and a Wi-Fi network.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein if an anomaly is detected, the method further comprises at least one of outputting, by the fault detection processor, an alert message;

sending, via the wireless communications device, an alert send to the at least one other GNSS receiver;

suspending an automated process that uses the ranging measurements; and

modifying an automated process that uses the ranging measurements to exclude ranging data associated with at least one satellite.

24. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for, upon execution, causing a computer to implement a method for verifying the quality of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements, the method comprising:

receiving, by an antenna of a GNSS receiver, signals from a plurality global navigation satellites;

calculating, by a processor of the GNSS receiver, a ranging measurement from the GNSS receiver to the global navigation satellite for each of the plurality of global navigation satellites;

receiving, by a wireless communications device, ranging measurements from at least one other GNSS receiver; and

performing, by a fault detection processor, a fault detection algorithm to determine if there is an anomaly affecting the ranging measurements of the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the method further comprises transmitting, by the wireless communications device, ranging measurements to the at least one other GNSS receiver.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the fault detection algorithm comprises comparing, for the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver, the ranging measurements for each of the plurality of satellites to a position estimate of the receiver.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the method further comprises determining, by the fault detection processor, after the fault detection processor detects an anomaly, which of the satellites whose signal was received by at least one of the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver caused the anomaly by performing, for each of the plurality of satellites whose signal was received, the fault detection algorithm with the measurements of the satellite removed.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver are associated with vehicles, and the method further comprises wirelessly communicating using vehicle-to-vehicle networking between the wireless communications devices of the receivers.

29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the GNSS receiver and the at least one other GNSS receiver are associated with cell phones, and the method further comprises wirelessly communicating over at least one of a cell phone network and a Wi-Fi network.

30. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein if an anomaly is detected, the method further comprises at least one of outputting, by the fault detection processor, an alert message;

sending, via the wireless communications device, an alert send to the at least one other GNSS receiver;

suspending an automated process that uses the ranging measurements; and

modifying an automated process that uses the ranging measurements to exclude ranging data associated with at least one satellite.