Carrier phase prediction method for GNSS precise positioning in challenging environment

Abstract

Since the signals of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) are blocked frequently in challenging environments, the discontinuous carrier phases seriously affect the application of GNSS precise positioning. To improve the carrier phase continuity, this paper proposes a carrier phase prediction method based on carrier open-loop tracking. In the open-loop tracking mode, the carrier numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) is controlled by the predicted Doppler, but not by the loop filter output. To improve the phase prediction effective time, accurate receiver clock drift estimation is studied in the prediction method. The phase prediction performance is tested on GNSS software receiver. In the phase prediction effective time tests, open-loop processes were set for the tested channel. The test results show that, when some satellite signals are blocked in 15 s, the probability of carrier phase error less than quarter cycles is more than 94%. In the real time kinematic (RTK) positioning tests, some satellite signals are blocked in 10–15 s repeatedly. The test results show that, the carrier phase continuity is basically not affected by the signal interruption, and the RTK can almost keep continuous centimeter-level positioning accuracy without re-fixing the integer ambiguity.