Positioning Performance Assessment of Geodetic, Automotive, and Smartphone GNSS Receivers in Standardized Road Scenarios

Abstract

Intelligent transport system applications use the global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) to deliver the information on position, velocity, and time. With the expected deployment of critical road services, GNSS-based positioning terminals will have to be sufficiently accurate and their service will have to be available under any environmental condition. As the answer to the absence of standards and certification procedures of positioning terminals in road transport services, the European COST Action SaPPART was launched and the European norm EN 16803-1 was accepted. They provide the methodology and the guidelines for the terminal performance assessment. Section I presents the data collection methodology based on European norm EN 16803-1 with the definition of performance metrics and classification, operational scenarios, standardized GNSS environments, and field test guidelines. It is followed by the description of the measurement setup, including the trajectories, experimental vehicle with a reference trajectory system, and 17 tested GNSS receivers. The performance assessment of geodetic, automotive, and smartphone GNSS receivers was carried out through the extensive data collection campaign in Nantes, France. The campaign covered four types of environments: clear-sky, rural, peri-urban, and urban. The presented results focus on the basic performance features of accuracy, availability, and the classification of positioning terminals according to SaPPART methodology. The final conclusion is that for achieving a sub-meter accuracy at 95% confidence level in mixed road scenarios, a hybrid multi-sensor positioning approach is required for the majority of mass-market receivers.