Rapid initialization of real-time PPP by resolving undifferenced GPS and GLONASS ambiguities simultaneously

Abstract

Rapid initialization of real-time precise point positioning (PPP) has constantly been a difficult problem. Recent efforts through multi-GNSS and multi-frequency data, though beneficial indeed, have not proved sufficiently effective in reducing the initialization periods to far less than 10 min. Though this goal can be easily reached by introducing ionosphere corrections as accurate as a few centimeters, a dense reference network is required which is impractical for wi de-area applications. Leveraging the latest development of GLONASS PPP ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR) technique, we propose a composite strategy, where simultaneous GPS and GLONASS dual-frequency PPP-AR is carried out, and herein, the reliability of partial AR improves dramatically. We used 14 days of data from a German network and divided them into hourly data to test this strategy. We found that the initialization periods were shortened drastically from over 25 min when only GPS data were processed to about 6 min when GPS and GLONASS PPP-AR were accomplished simultaneously. More encouragingly, over 50% of real-time PPP solutions could be initialized successfully within 5 min through our strategy, in contrast to only 4% when only GPS data were used. We expect that our strategy can provide a promising route to overcoming the difficulty of achieving PPP initializations within a few minutes.