Acquisition of weak GPS signals using wavelet-based de-noising methods

Abstract

Various factors cause GPS signals to be weakened in their path from satellites to receiver. This phenomenon leads to some problems in the normal stages of the positioning process, including acquisition stage. The wavelet transform is one of the tools that have been employed in several methods to improve receiver’s sensitivity in confronting weak GPS signals. Choosing an appropriate threshold plays a key role in the performance of this de-noising method. This study presents two methods for selecting an appropriate threshold. In the first method, the threshold is determined based on the statistical information extracted from the signal. On the other hand, the threshold in the second method is determined by type II fuzzy sets. The results show that employment of these two methods increases SNR gain as well as the range of acquirable SNR which makes signals acquisition with minimum post-correlation SNR of in a GPS receiver possible.