I-GNSS

I-GNSS positioning for assisted and automated driving

Inspired by measurement techniques in astronomy, specifically interferometric techniques, and fuelled by a proliferation of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) infrastructure, tremendous progress has been made over the last 25 years, in the domain of high-precision positioning using navigation satellites. But, precision is only one side of the coin, it describes, that, under usual operational conditions, a resulting position solution will be (for example) within ± 2 cm around the true position, in 95% of the cases. Precision is a general measure of closeness. It does not account for incidental anomalies and faults in the measurement system. Anomalies and faults – though being rare – do happen every now and then in practice. The user shall be safeguarded against their impacts, being the other side of the coin, referred to as integrity. Practically, the goal is to be able to offer a guaranteed position! Even under non-nominal conditions. This is deemed a crucial component in safety-critical applications of precise GNSS positioning. This project seeks to develop the integrity component for high-precision GNSS positioning. High-precision GNSS positioning relies on the use of carrier wave phase measurements, and therefore the integer cycle ambiguities have to be taken into account, or even better, exploited, when dealing with position parameter estimation, statistical testing of the measurement data, and integrity monitoring.

The project - for four years - started in 2021, and is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (TTW), under project-number 18305. Partner in this research project is Swiss company u-blox AG.