Distribution of the Adapted-NRTK Correction Data via VDES for the Shipping Navigation Safety

Abstract

In this study the maritime communication system VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) is proposed to distribute Network-RTK (NRTK) correction data to shipborne GNSS receivers in fairways, port areas, or inland water ways. The transport layer used for transmission of VDES messages (related to the standard IEC61162-450) is the UDP multicast protocol. This makes it possible to transmit the RTCM packages from the VDES transponder to the shipborne GNSS receivers as a UDP payload without any additional formatting. In order to minimize the impact on the overall VDES data capacity in a local service area, NRTK correction data shall at most occupy a single VDES slot with a net capacity of 650 bytes denoted Link ID 19. This is the fastest link in VDES. Update rates may vary but are preferably at 1Hz. However, depending on the number of visible satellites NRTK correction data size changes instantly and the data rate can therefore sometimes be in excess of 1000 byte/s per reference station to be distributed. In order to comply with the VDES requirements, the Lantmäteriet Adjustment Solution (LAS) for GNSS correction data adjustment was developed and is presented in this paper. The responsibility of this solution is to produce a correction data stream that complies with the bandwidth limitation of 650 bytes/s. To provide corrections for a potentially large number of users, dissemination is done by broadcasting corrections for a grid of VRSs. The proposed solution has therefore also the capability to combine several correction data streams from several Virtual Reference Stations (VRSs) into one single correction data stream. To reduce the required data rate, the LAS has the ability to filter streamed GNSS correction data in the RTCM3 MSM format constellation-wise, satellite-wise, and signal-wise. The objective is to achieve optimal performance in terms of accuracy for the ship’s differential positioning solution, while at the same time adhering to constraints that might locally apply for individual transmitters. For this paper LAS was configured to interface with the SWEPOS to provide reference data to static and kinematic testing scenarios. The results presented here were obtained using RTK post-processing with RTKLib for a combination of GPS and Galileo multi-frequency observations. Results indicated that LAS solution can achieve robust positioning performance with decimeter-level accuracy which meet the requirements expected for the navigation safety at Sea. Adapted-NRTK correction data (LAS data) via VDES has the potential to be part of a world-wide standard VDES application for all vessels sailing under SOLAS and for ships that voluntarily uses VDES in the near future (inland, yachts, navies, leisure).