Carrier phase interger ambiguity resolution with multiple reference receivers

• US 7,411,545 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Issued: 08/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Dutton, Kevin E.
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAN, DAO LINDA
• Application Number:
  US11/537,247
• Publication Number:
  US 20080088504A1
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.04, 342/357.06, 342/357.08, 342/357.12, 701/213, 701/215
• US Class Current: 342/357.27
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/44 Carrier phase ambiguity resolution; Floating ambiguity; LAMBDA [Least-squares AMBiguity Decorrelation Adjustment] method
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0284 Relative positioning

Abstract

A method to determine a relative position between antennae comprising generating phase carrier measurements for a carrier frequency and at least three antennae including a master antenna and other antennae, generating phase integer sets based on the phase carrier measurements, and calculating a relative position between the master antenna and at least one other antenna based on the generated phase integer sets and a fixed baseline between two of the other antennae.

Claims

1. A method to determine a position of a master antenna relative to a position of at least one other antenna, the method comprising:

generating phase carrier measurements for a carrier frequency and at least three antennae including the master antenna and the other antennae;

generating phase integer sets based on the phase carrier measurements;

verifying the phase integers of the generated phase integer sets based on a summation of estimated baselines and a fixed baseline between two of the other antennae; and

calculating the position of the master antenna relative to the position of at least one other antenna based on the verified phase integer set and the fixed baseline.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating phase carrier measurements comprises:

receiving a global positioning system signal at the at least three antennae;

generating pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements at the master receiver responsive to receiving the global positioning system signal at the master antenna; and

generating pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements at receivers associated with each of the other antennae responsive to the respective receiving the global positioning system signal at each of the other antennae.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements from the master receiver and from the other receivers responsive to the generating of the pseudo-range data and the carrier phase measurements, wherein generating phase integer sets based on the phase carrier measurements comprises;

processing the pseudo-range data and the carrier phase measurements generated at the at least three antennae to generate the phase integer sets.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating phase carrier measurements for a carrier frequency and at least three antennae comprises:

generating phase carrier measurements for the carrier frequency and the master antenna, a first antenna and a second antenna.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein generating phase integer sets based on the phase carrier measurements comprises:

generating a first phase integer set for a first baseline formed between the master antenna and the first antenna; and

generating a second phase integer set for a second baseline formed between the master antenna and the second antenna.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein calculating the position of the master antenna relative to the position of at least one other antenna comprises:

generating an estimated first baseline vector for the first baseline, based on the first phase integer set;

generating an estimated second baseline vector for the second baseline, based on the second phase integer set;

generating a fixed baseline vector by retrieving a length of the fixed baseline between the first antenna and the second antenna;

verifying the phase integers of the first phase integer set and the second phase integer set, based on a summation of the estimated first baseline vector, the estimated second baseline vector, and the fixed baseline vector; and

calculating the position of the master antenna relative to the position of at least one of the first antenna and the second antenna based on the verification of the phase integers.

7. A system comprising:

a master antenna adapted to receive global positioning system signals from a plurality of navigational satellites;

a master receiver communicatively coupled to the master antenna, the master receiver adapted to track and demodulate the signals received at the master antenna, the master receiver further adapted to create pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements;

at least two other antennae adapted to receive the global positioning system signals from the plurality of navigational satellites, each of the other antennae forming a baseline with the master antenna, and at least two of the other antennae form a fixed baseline with each other;

at least two other receivers communicatively coupled to a respective one of the other antennae, wherein each of the other receivers is adapted to track and demodulate the signals received at the respective antenna, each of the other receivers further adapted to create pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements for the respective antenna; and

a programmable processor communicatively coupled to the master receiver and the other receivers, the programmable processor adapted to receive the generated pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements from the master receiver and the other receivers, the programmable processor further adapted to generate phase integer sets based on the phase carrier measurements, adapted to verify the generated phase integer sets, and adapted to calculate a position of the master antenna relative to the position of at least one other antenna based on the fixed baseline between two of the other antennae.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

the plurality of navigational satellites communicatively coupled to the master antenna and the other antennae, the navigational satellites adapted to emit signals at the carrier frequency.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the master antenna is positioned in an aircraft.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the other antennae are positioned on a moving vehicle.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the other antennae are positioned on a moving vehicle.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the master antenna is positioned in an aircraft, wherein the other antennae comprise a first antenna and a second antenna positioned on an aircraft carrier, and wherein the programmable processor is further adapted to generate a first phase integer set for a first baseline formed between the master antenna and the first antenna, to generate a second phase integer set for the second baseline formed between the master antenna and the second antenna, and to verify the first phase integer set and the second phase integer set.

13. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a Kalman filter adapted for execution by the programmable processor.

14. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a memory communicatively coupled to the programmable processor.

15. A program product comprising program instructions, embodied on a storage medium, that are operable to cause a programmable processor to:

generate phase carrier measurements for a carrier frequency and at least three antennae including a master antenna and other antennae;

generate phase integer sets based on the phase carrier measurements;

verify the phase integers of the generated phase integer sets based on a summation of estimated baselines and a fixed baseline; and

calculate a position of the master antenna relative to the position of at least one other antenna based on the verified phase integer set and the fixed baseline between two of the other antennae.

16. The program-product of claim 15, wherein the program instructions to generate phase carrier measurements comprise program instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

receive global positioning system signal at the at least three antennae;

generate pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements at the master receiver responsive to receiving the global positioning system signal at the master antenna; and

generate pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements at receivers associated with each of the other antennae responsive to the respective receiving the global positioning system signal at each of the other antennae.

17. The program-product of claim 16, further comprising program instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to:

receive pseudo-range data and carrier phase measurements from the master receiver and from the other receivers responsive to the generating of the pseudo-range data and the carrier phase measurements; and

wherein the program instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to generate phase integer sets based on the phase carrier measurements comprises program instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to;

process the pseudo-range data and the carrier phase measurements generated at the at least three antennae to generate the phase integer sets.

18. The program-product of claim 15, wherein the program instructions to generate phase carrier measurements comprise program instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

generate phase carrier measurements for the carrier frequency and the master antenna, a first antenna and a second antenna.

19. The program-product of claim 18, wherein the program instructions to generate phase integer sets comprise program instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

generate a first phase integer set for a first baseline formed between the master antenna and the first antenna; and

generate a second phase integer set for a second baseline formed between the master antenna and the second antenna.

20. The program-product of claim 19, wherein the program instructions to calculate the position of the master antenna relative to the position of at least one other antenna comprise program instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

generate an estimated first baseline vector for the first baseline, based on the first phase integer set;

generate an estimated second baseline vector for the second baseline, based on the second phase integer set; and

generate a fixed baseline vector by retrieving a length of the fixed baseline between the first antenna and the second antenna wherein the program instructions to verify the phase integers of the generated phase integer sets based on a summation of estimated baselines and a fixed baseline further comprise program instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to;

verify the phase integers of the first phase integer set and the second phase integer set, based on a summation of the estimated first baseline vector, the estimated second baseline vector, and the fixed baseline vector; and

calculate the position of the master antenna relative to the position of at least one of the first antenna and the second antenna based on the verification of the phase integers.