阅读说明：本技术 具有多面完好性解决方案的三维姿态确定系统 (Three-dimensional pose determination system with multi-faceted integrity solution ) 是由 B·施佩尔 维博尔·L·巴格什瓦尔 B·莫顿 于 2021-04-20 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明题为“具有多面完好性解决方案的三维姿态确定系统”。本发明提供了一种确定三维姿态的方法。该方法包括测量在多个间隔开的天线处接收的每个卫星信号的载波相位。确定在每个天线处接收的来自每个卫星的每个卫星信号的所测量的载波相位之间的载波相位差。通过以下方式确保与该载波相位差相关的所述整周模糊度解算的完好性：使用差分载波相位测量值应用最小二乘误差解,其中在多个天线的至少两个天线之间应用整周模糊度；以及在计算所述最小二乘误差解并应用瞬时测试、间隔测试和解分离函数之后观察测量值残差。在完成整周模糊度解算和保证整周模糊度解算的完好性后,根据载波相位差确定三维姿态。(The invention provides a three-dimensional pose determination system with multi-faceted integrity solution. The invention provides a method for determining a three-dimensional posture. The method includes measuring a carrier phase of each satellite signal received at a plurality of spaced apart antennas. A carrier phase difference between the measured carrier phases of each satellite signal from each satellite received at each antenna is determined. Ensuring integrity of the integer ambiguity resolution associated with the carrier phase difference by: applying a least squares error solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between at least two of the plurality of antennas; and observing the measurement residuals after computing the least squares error solution and applying the transient test, interval test and solution separation functions. And after the integer ambiguity resolution is finished and the integrity of the integer ambiguity resolution is ensured, determining the three-dimensional attitude according to the carrier phase difference.)

1. A vehicle (102) with a three-dimensional pose determination system, comprising:

at least two Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antennas (120) for receiving GNSS signals; and

At least one receiver (106), the at least one receiver (106) in communication with the at least two GNSS antennas (120), the at least one receiver (106) configured to resolve an integer ambiguity associated with GNSS carrier phase measurements from the received GNSS signals, the at least one receiver (106) further configured to ensure integrity of an integer ambiguity solution associated with the GNSS carrier phase measurements, the at least one receiver (106) configured to utilize the integer ambiguity to determine a pose of the vehicle while taking into account the determined integrity of the integer ambiguity solution, wherein determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution comprises at least one of:

applying a least squares error solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein a whole-cycle ambiguity is applied between the at least two antennas,

observing the measurement residuals after computing the least squares error solution and applying a transient test that compares at least one measurement residual to a user-selected transient threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates having residuals greater than a residual that may occur due to the measurement error and an interval test applied over a time period to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the time period to account for carrier phase measurement errors, an

A solution separation function using a combination of carrier phase measurements is applied that selectively compares different carrier phase measurement subset solutions to each other.

2. A vehicle (102) with a three-dimensional pose determination system, comprising:

a plurality of spaced apart antennas (104) configured to receive satellite signals; and

at least one processor (110) configured to resolve an integer ambiguity associated with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) carrier-phase measurements from the received satellite signals, the at least one processor (110) further configured to ensure integrity of an integer ambiguity solution associated with the GNSS carrier-phase measurements, the at least one processor (110) configured to utilize the integer ambiguity to determine a three-dimensional attitude of the vehicle while taking into account the integrity of the determined integer ambiguity solution, wherein determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution comprises:

applying a least squares error solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between the at least two antennas (104),

observing the measurement residuals after computing the least squares error solution and applying a transient test that compares at least one measurement residual to a user-selected transient threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates having residuals greater than a residual that may occur due to the measurement error and an interval test applied over a time period to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the time period to account for carrier phase measurement errors, an

A solution separation function using a combination of carrier phase measurements is applied that selectively compares different carrier phase measurement subset solutions to each other.

3. A method of determining a three-dimensional pose, the method comprising:

receiving satellite signals from a plurality of satellites (120);

measuring a carrier phase of each satellite signal received at a plurality of spaced apart antennas (104);

determining a carrier phase difference between the measured carrier phases of each satellite signal from each satellite received at each antenna (104);

solving for integer ambiguities with integrity by:

applying a least squares error solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between at least two of the plurality of antennas, an

Observing measurement residuals after computing the least squares error solution and applying an instantaneous test that compares at least one measurement residual to a user-selected instantaneous threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates having residuals greater than a residual occurring due to the measurement error and an interval test applied over a time period to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the time period to account for carrier phase measurement errors; and

And when the integrity check of the integer ambiguity resolution is finished, determining the three-dimensional attitude according to the determined carrier phase difference.

Background

A navigation system mounted on a vehicle uses inertial sensors (rate gyroscopes and accelerometers) in combination with sensors such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, magnetometers, altimeters (and possibly other sensors such as radar, cameras, lidar, start-up trackers, etc.) and at least one fast processor to estimate three-dimensional (3D) position, 3D velocity, and 3D angular orientation or attitude or state of motion of the vehicle. Navigation systems use filters to fuse sensor measurements to estimate vehicle motion state. The sensor contributions may be fused together by navigation filters to estimate various vehicle motion states. Angular velocity measured by the rate gyroscope, acceleration measured by the accelerometer, and vehicle attitude (pitch and roll) from vehicle trajectories measured by the GNSS sensors may be used by the filter and processor. The angular velocity measured by the rate gyroscope, the local magnetic field measured by the magnetometer, and the vehicle heading angle may be estimated by a filter and processor from the vehicle's trajectory and the vehicle track angle calculated from the GNSS pseudoranges or velocity measurements.

The heading computed by the magnetometer has two limitations. First, the magnetometer must be calibrated and magnetic interference from earth's crust, solar flare and airborne sources cause heading errors that exceed heading requirements. The heading computed using a magnetometer mounted on a vehicle with a rapidly changing local magnetic field is often inaccurate because the calibration cannot keep up with the changing magnetic field. Second, the earth's magnetic field requires sufficient horizontal analysis to determine heading, and the direction of the earth's magnetic field near the poles is nearly vertical; thus, the magnetic heading is not available for any flight near the poles. GNSS headings computed from pseudorange or velocity measurements require vehicle maneuvering, but vehicle maneuvering does not typically occur during flight. In summary, a long duration flight above the pole leads to a situation where the above system cannot meet the heading requirements.

Another method of determining heading is to use GNSS carrier phase measurements from two or more on-board GNSS antennas. The GNSS carrier phase heading is computed by observing the relative distance from the antenna to the GNSS satellites. The carrier-phase measurements provided by the GNSS receiver consist of a partial wavelength component and a random full-cycle wavelength component of the distance between the antenna and the satellite. To observe the actual relative distance between the antennas, the carrier phase measurements from the receivers connected to the two antennas are subtracted. The carrier phase difference (referred to as a single difference) is then composed of a fractional wavelength portion of the relative distance and an unknown whole-cycle wavelength portion of the relative distance. In order to calculate the actual relative distance, the unknown whole-cycle wavelength portion must be determined. Therefore, to compute a GNSS heading solution, the unknown whole-cycle wavelength portion of the single difference must be determined. This is called integer ambiguity resolution.

An advantage of GNSS carrier phase headings is that headings can be used globally, including near magnetic poles, during straight track flight without flight maneuvers, and environments with rapidly changing local magnetic fields.

The challenge of using GNSS carrier phases to determine the 3D angular orientation for navigating a product line is that the integrity of the integer ambiguity resolution algorithm must be ensured. The limitation of the GNSS carrier-phase header is that when the vehicle is on the ground (stationary or moving) or in the air (stationary or moving), the whole-cycle ambiguity must be resolved well in the presence of carrier-phase noise and multipath noise.

Using integer ambiguity resolution of carrier-phase measurements to determine the 3D angular orientation of the GNSS may be an effective solution for determining the 3D vehicle attitude (in particular heading). While the ambiguity resolution problem has been extensively studied, methods to ensure the integrity of the solutions necessary for commercial airborne applications on the ground and in the air in the presence of carrier phase noise and multipath noise are at least immature. Indeed, the integrity of the integer ambiguity resolution algorithm constitutes the greatest challenge when using GNSS carrier-phase heading in high integrity navigation applications.

Disclosure of Invention

The following summary is made by way of example and not by way of limitation. This summary is provided merely to facilitate the reader's understanding of some aspects of the subject matter. Embodiments provide a variety of methods that are used together to provide the necessary integrity for application of GNNS 3D pose determination. Further, embodiments provide an attitude and heading system with an integer ambiguity resolution architecture that operates in the presence of carrier-phase noise and GNSS multipath noise and ensures the integrity of the heading computed from the carrier-phase measurements.

In one embodiment, a vehicle having a 3D pose determination system is provided. In an airborne scenario, the 3D attitude determination includes heading as well as pitch and roll angles. The system comprises at least two GNSS antennas for receiving GNSS signals and at least one receiver. At least one receiver is in communication with at least two GNSS antennas. The at least one receiver is configured to resolve an integer ambiguity associated with GNSS carrier-phase measurements from the received GNSS signals. The at least one receiver is further configured to ensure integrity of an integer ambiguity solution associated with the GNSS carrier-phase measurements. The at least one receiver is configured to determine a 3D pose of the vehicle using the integer ambiguity while taking into account the integrity of the determined integer ambiguity solution. Determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution includes at least one of: applying a least squares error solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between the at least two antennas; observing the measurement residuals after computing a Least Squares Error (LSE) solution and applying an instantaneous test and an interval test, the instantaneous test comparing at least one of the measurement residuals to a user-selected instantaneous threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates having residuals greater than a residual that may occur due to the measurement error, and the interval test applied over a time period to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the time period to account for carrier phase measurement errors; and applying a de-splitting function to the combination of carrier phase measurements, the application of the de-splitting function selectively comparing different subsets of carrier phase measurements solutions to each other.

In another exemplary embodiment, a vehicle is provided having a 3D pose determination system, the 3D pose determination system including a plurality of spaced apart antennas and at least one processor. A plurality of spaced apart antennas are configured to receive satellite signals. The at least one processor is configured to resolve an integer ambiguity associated with GNSS carrier-phase measurements from the received satellite signals. The at least one processor is further configured to determine integrity of an integer ambiguity solution associated with the GNSS carrier-phase measurements. The at least one processor is further configured to determine a 3D pose of the vehicle using the integer ambiguity while considering the integrity of the determined integer ambiguity solution. Determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution comprises: applying an LSE solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between the at least two antennas; observing the measurement residuals after computing the LSE solution and applying an instantaneous test and an interval test, the instantaneous test comparing at least one of the measurement residuals with a user-selected instantaneous threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates whose residuals are greater than a residual that may occur due to the measurement error, and the interval test applied over a period of time to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the period of time to account for carrier phase measurement errors; and applying a de-splitting function to the carrier phase measurements, the application of the de-splitting function selectively comparing different subsets of the carrier phase measurements to each other.

In yet another embodiment, a method of determining a 3D pose is provided. The method comprises the following steps: receiving GNSS signals from a plurality of satellites; measuring a carrier phase of each satellite signal received at a plurality of spaced apart antennas; determining a carrier phase difference between the measured carrier phases of each satellite signal from each satellite received at each antenna; solving for integer ambiguities with integrity by: applying an LSE solution using the differential carrier-phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between at least two of the plurality of antennas, and observing measurement residuals after computing the LSE solution and applying an instantaneous test and an interval test, the instantaneous test comparing at least one measurement residual with a user-selected instantaneous threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates having residuals greater than a residual that may occur due to the measurement error, and the interval test applied over a period of time to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than the interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals over the period of time to account for carrier-phase measurement errors; and determining the 3D attitude according to the determined carrier phase difference when the integrity check of the integer ambiguity resolution is completed.

Drawings

Embodiments may be more readily understood and further advantages and uses of embodiments will become apparent when considered in light of the detailed description and the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a 3D pose determination system according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of another 3D pose determination system, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a 3D pose determination flow diagram according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates an integer ambiguity resolution flow diagram in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates an integer ambiguity resolution flow diagram in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates an integer ambiguity resolution flow diagram in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an integer ambiguity flow diagram in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates an integer ambiguity resolution flow diagram in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates another integer ambiguity resolution flow diagram in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; and is

Fig. 9 shows a residual flow diagram in accordance with an example embodiment.

In accordance with common practice, the various described features are not drawn to scale, but are drawn to emphasize specific features relevant to the described subject matter. Reference characters denote like elements throughout the figures and text.

Detailed Description

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Embodiments provide a multi-faceted solution to ensure the integrity of 3D pose determination for GNSS. In particular, embodiments use multiple integer ambiguity resolution techniques to improve and compute the integrity of the resolved integer ambiguities, and thus improve and compute GNSS carrier-phase heading. The high integrity integer ambiguity resolution architecture of embodiments provides a navigation system with a heading estimate that meets heading requirements that are not met by magnetic headings or GNSS based headings computed from GNSS pseudorange/speed measurements.

In general, the strategy for ambiguity resolution (which provides the basis for embodiments of the various methods described herein) is determined by: a ambiguity candidate list is first defined and then the candidate list is processed over multiple periods to eliminate candidates that fail various test criteria. The process is completed until only one candidate remains. This process may also be performed on multiple subsets of available satellites, which is referred to as de-splitting.

Referring to fig. 1A, a diagram of a 3D pose determination system 100 in an exemplary embodiment is shown. The exemplary embodiment includes a vehicle 102 having multiple antennas 104-1 through 104-n designed to detect satellite signals from multiple satellites 120-1 through 120-n. The antennas 104-1 through 104-n are spaced apart from each other by a selected distance 116. Within the vehicle are at least one receiver 106-1 to 106-n designed to receive satellite signals detected by spaced apart antennas 104-1 to 104-n. The receivers 106-1 through 106-n are in communication with a processor 110 (or controller). Also included in the vehicle 102 are sensors 108-1 to 108-n in communication with the processor 110. Examples of sensors include, but are not limited to, inertial sensors (which include rate gyroscopes and accelerometers), magnetometers, altimeters, and the like. The sensors provide sensor data to the processor 110. Also shown in fig. 1 is a memory 112 that is also in communication with the processor 110. In one embodiment, the memory 112 stores operating instructions implemented by the processor. The memory may also store sensor data and receiver data. Also shown in the carrier is input/output 114. Input/output 114 provides a communication path to and from processor 110. For example, the input may provide a communication path for instructions stored in memory, and the output may be sent to a display to display the determined 3D vehicle pose or to a vehicle control system that controls the vehicle based at least in part on the 3D pose determination. Fig. 1B also illustrates an embodiment in which the processor 110 and memory 112 are part of at least one receiver 106.

In general, the processor 110 may include any one or more of a processor, microprocessor, Digital Signal Processor (DSP), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or equivalent discrete or integrated logic circuitry. In some example embodiments, processor 110 may include components such as any combination of one or more microprocessors, one or more controllers, one or more DSPs, one or more ASICs, one or more FPGAs, and other discrete or integrated logic circuitry. The functionality attributed to the processors herein may be embodied as software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. The processor 110 may be part of a system controller or a component controller. As described above, memory 112 may include computer-readable operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, provide the functionality of a 3D pose determination system with multi-faceted integrity solution. The computer readable instructions may be encoded within the memory 112. Memory 112 is a suitable non-transitory storage medium including any volatile, non-volatile, magnetic, optical, or electrical media, such as, but not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), non-volatile RAM (nvram), electrically erasable programmable ROM (eeprom), flash memory, or any other storage medium.

Referring to FIG. 2, a 3D pose determination flow diagram 200 of an exemplary embodiment is shown. This flowchart and the subsequent flowcharts described below are provided as a sequence of blocks. In different embodiments, the blocks may be used in different orders. Thus, embodiments are not limited to the order of the blocks as described in flowchart 200 and subsequent described flowcharts described below.

At block (202) of the 3D pose determination flowchart 200, satellite signals from a plurality of satellites are received at a plurality of spaced apart antennas. At block (204), the carrier phase of each received satellite signal is measured. At block (206), a carrier phase difference between measured carrier phases of respective satellite signals received at spaced antennas from corresponding satellites is determined.

The phase difference between the signals received at the separate antennas can only be determined over a range of at most one wavelength of the signal unless the whole number of cycles of the wavelength is known. However, because the number of whole cycles of wavelength of the carrier phase difference is unknown, there is ambiguity in the possible 3D attitude solution. The whole-cycle ambiguity must be resolved, which is typically done using a mathematical algorithm that relies on the availability of accurate phase difference measurements from different satellites in view for all receivers over the same time period.

Examples of embodiments of resolving the integer ambiguity solution as shown in block (208) will be discussed in detail below. Once the integer ambiguity solution is resolved at block (208), a 3D pose is determined at block (210). The 3D gesture is output at block (212). As described above, the output may be used for vehicle control, navigation, display, etc. using 3D pose determination, or it may be transmitted to a remote location. The process then continues at block (202).

The first exemplary embodiment for resolving the integer ambiguity at block (208) of FIG. 2 uses a position solution. The result of the integer ambiguity resolution is a relative antenna position solution, representing the position of one antenna relative to another. The position solution is the result of an LSE solution computed using differential carrier-phase measurements between the antenna and the line-of-sight vectors of GNSS satellites. A position solution flow diagram 300 using the LSE solution is shown in fig. 3.

In this exemplary embodiment, multiple forms of residuals are associated with the LSE solution for 3D pose determination. The method can be used to resolve integer ambiguities. As shown, these methods include a baseline residual indicated by block (304), an individual LSE residual indicated by block (306), a composite LSE residual (or square sum root) indicated by block (308), and an auxiliary residual indicated by block (310). In one embodiment, assistance is included for all three euler angles, such that both heading and attitude are estimated from GNSS carrier-phase measurements.

In the case of utilizing the baseline residual at block (304), the residual is calculated using the known distances between the antennas and the difference between the calculated distances. The known distance is referred to as the baseline. With the individual LSE residuals indicated by block (306), the LSE residuals between each individual differential carrier-phase measurement are computed using a single measurement, and the LSE solutions are computed using all in-view GPS satellites. The residual may also be described as the measured differential phase minus the predicted differential phase, where the predicted differential phase is based on the most recent set of measurements. In other words, the measured differential phase is only a single differential carrier phase measured using the candidate ambiguity set. The predicted differential phase is the phase that will be predicted based on the relative antenna position calculated from the differential phase measurements of the current set.

With a composite LSE residual indicated by block (308), the square root of the sum of squares (RSS) of the single LSE residuals is used. In the case of utilizing the 3D pose auxiliary residual indicated by block (310), these are the differences between the pose resulting from the LSE solution and any estimated pose solution calculated using a different sensor set 108. Examples of this would be pitch information and/or roll information, which may be calculated from inertial navigation system 108, which may be located on the same vehicle 102. Starting from one or more of blocks (304, 306, 308, and 310), the whole-cycle ambiguity solution is resolved at block (312), and the process continues at block (210) of flowchart 200 of fig. 2.

In another exemplary embodiment, monitoring of instantaneous and time-lapse integer ambiguity resolution is used to ensure integrity of the integer ambiguity resolution of block (208). This is illustrated in the instantaneous and time-lapse integer ambiguity resolution flow diagram 400 of FIG. 4. Due to the nature of GNSS radio frequency signal tracking measurement methods, GNSS carrier phase measurements are always subject to short-term random noise. This is the dominant noise mechanism of GNSS. Furthermore, GNSS measurements are also subject to long-term (slowly varying) noise caused by signal multipath when the antenna is stationary near any reflective surface, such as the ground or even an aircraft structure surface. These multipath errors can be modeled as a small damped 2 nd order gaussian-markov process with a characteristic time constant of 100 seconds. Another important feature of GNSS errors is that they have zero bias. Thus, if the carrier phase measurements are processed over a period of time, the effects of measurement error can be statistically mitigated by filtering.

Due to the two types of measurement errors described above, a single epoch of data cannot be used to ensure integrity of the carrier-phase integer ambiguity resolution. This is because using only a single epoch may include measurement errors that produce an incorrect integer ambiguity solution. The effect of carrier phase measurement noise is mitigated by taking into account the residual within the time window as described above.

As shown in fig. 4, this embodiment includes a single session test 402 and multiple sessions tests 404. As noted above, in the other flow charts provided herein, the single session test 402 and the multiple session test 404 in the flow chart 400 are provided as a series of blocks. The order of the blocks may be different in different embodiments. Thus, embodiments are not limited to the order set forth in the flow diagrams.

The single epoch test 402 is a transient test that uses a large test threshold to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates whose residuals are larger than what might occur due to measurement errors (even multipath errors that can be up to several centimeters). The process in this example begins with the determination of the integer ambiguity candidate at block (401). At block (403), the integer ambiguity candidates are monitored for a single epoch. Then at block (405), it is determined whether the integer ambiguity candidate residual (from fig. 3) is above, equal to, or below the selected threshold. If the residual is greater than or equal to the threshold, then in an exemplary embodiment, the integer ambiguity candidate is eliminated at block (407) and the process continues to check for another integer ambiguity candidate at block (401). If it is determined at block (405) that the integer ambiguity candidate residual is below the threshold, the integer ambiguity candidate is passed to a multiple epoch test 404.

Multiple period test 404 uses a user selected smaller test threshold to monitor for residuals over a longer time window. The multiple epoch test 404 eliminates incorrect integer ambiguity candidates that pass the single epoch test 402 but are still corrupted by carrier phase measurement errors. The cancellation logic of the residual may be flexible. An example of a logical method implemented by the processor 110 is also shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4.

In this example, at block (406), the integer ambiguity candidates provided by the single interval test portion of the flowchart are monitored over an interval. Then at block (408), it is determined whether the integer ambiguity candidate residual (shown in fig. 3) passes the residual test. If the integer ambiguity candidate fails the particular residual test for N consecutive epochs, the test eliminates the integer ambiguity candidate. As shown, in this example, if the whole-cycle ambiguity candidate fails the test at block (408), a determination is made at block (410) whether the number of consecutive failures N for the user selection of the integrity ambiguity candidate has been reached. If the user selected number of consecutive failures N has not yet been reached, the process continues to monitor the integer ambiguity candidate for another period of time at block (406). If the user selected number of consecutive failures N is reached at block (410), the integer ambiguity candidate is eliminated at block (412). The process then continues at block (401) in the single session test portion of the flowchart.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, if the integer ambiguity candidate determined at block (408) passes the test, then a determination is made at step (414) as to whether the selected number of consecutive passes, M, has been reached. If the number of consecutive selections M that passed has not been reached, the process continues at block (406) with monitoring the integer ambiguity candidate over another period. If the selected number of consecutive passes M is reached at block (114), the 3D pose is determined at block (210) of flowchart 200 of FIG. 2. In one embodiment, the 3D pose is determined only when only one candidate remains or is not eliminated.

One major advantage of using multiple period testing is that when the antenna is stationary in a location where slowly varying multipath errors are a dominant factor, it tests the residual over a longer time window, which provides a full-cycle ambiguity resolution with a higher likelihood of being correct. In these cases, only the change in geometry of the GNSS constellation can help to expose correct and incorrect integer ambiguity candidates. The longer time window allows the GNSS geometry to change relative to the vehicle as the satellites travel around the earth.

Another exemplary embodiment uses a technique to add integrity to the integer ambiguity resolution process. This technique is constellation subset ambiguity resolution (or solution separation). The technique involves resolving the integer ambiguity using a subset of the available differential carrier-phase measurements. The principle behind this strategy is that most carrier-phase measurements often have small errors that produce a correct integer ambiguity resolution even after the carrier-phase measurements are subtracted along each line-of-sight vector of the satellite. For one particular example, if carrier-phase measurements along 1 of the 9 line-of-sight vectors suffer from large multipath errors, then using the integer ambiguity corresponding to the carrier-phase measurement solution for the satellite may result in an incorrect ambiguity solution that produces a greater than expected residual.

When calculating the integer ambiguity using 9 measurement subsets (each subset eliminating a single carrier-phase measurement), a subset solution that excludes carrier-phase measurements with large errors will yield much smaller residuals compared to the integer measurement set and the other measurement subsets. Thus, the integer ambiguity set computed using the uncorrupted subset of measurements will be the best and correct set. The specific example may be extended to detecting, identifying, and excluding 2 or more corrupted carrier-phase measurements by calculating the integer ambiguity using a subset that excludes 2 or more differential carrier-phase measurements. The number of carrier-phase measurements that can be eliminated for fault detection and rejection is limited by the number of satellites in view or, equivalently, by the number of available measurements for the calculation period.

An example of a constellation subset integrity (de-fragmentation) flow diagram 500 for adding integrity to an integer ambiguity resolution process is shown in fig. 5. As shown, the process begins by selecting a combination of differential carrier phase measurements and forming them into subsets, and determining the integer ambiguities and their residuals at block (502). An explanation of how the residuals are calculated in an exemplary embodiment is shown in fig. 9 and discussed in detail below. In one exemplary embodiment, the average of the residuals between the subsets are compared at block (504). The number of different residuals calculated from the combination of the differential carrier phase measurements making up the subset depends on the number of bad measurements that need to be identified. At block (505), it is determined whether all of the different possible combinations of residuals have been compared. If they have not been compared, the process continues at step (502), where the residuals associated with the carrier phase measurements are again classified as subsets.

If it is determined that all of the different possible combinations of subsets have been compared, the process continues at block (506), where residuals with large errors are identified. In one embodiment, a large error is identified with a threshold test to determine if the residual error is too large. In one embodiment, the threshold is a predetermined user-defined threshold for identifying large errors. If a residual with a large error is identified at block (508), the associated subset is removed at block (510) and the remaining subset is used to determine the 3D pose at step (210) of the flow diagram 200 of FIG. 2.

Yet another exemplary embodiment for solving the integer ambiguity solution 208 is through the use of a cumulative integrity metric set over time method. As described above, the whole-cycle ambiguity resolution cannot be performed well in a single epoch. Integrity of the integer ambiguity resolution, and thus the integrity of the 3D pose, can only be ensured by monitoring the integer ambiguity over time. This then presents the following computational trade-offs: the integer ambiguity resolution time is extended to ensure integrity of the integer ambiguity set, while also being minimized to meet the resolution time requirements during operation of different modes of the navigation system, such as an alignment mode.

The resolved set of integer ambiguities must be checked for integrity by a user selected time period before the resolved set is available for determining the 3D pose of the vehicle. If the resolved integer ambiguity set passes the single epoch integrity check, it must still be monitored over time to ensure that the integer ambiguity set is the correct set. For example, if 300 seconds have elapsed and all residuals have continued to pass all tests, then it may be declared with a very high confidence level that the calculated integer ambiguity has been resolved correctly.

A flow diagram 600 of an exemplary method of increasing integrity over time is shown in fig. 6. At block (602), the process begins with integrity monitoring over time. At block (604), it is determined whether the residual has passed integrity monitoring within a user-selected amount of time. If the user selected amount of time has not elapsed, the process continues with integrity monitoring over time at block (602). If the user selected amount of time has elapsed at block (604), a determination is made at block (606) as to whether all residuals have passed all threshold tests within the time period. If the residual has not passed all threshold tests within the time period, the process continues to monitor integrity at block (602). If the residual passes the test during this time period, the process continues at block (210) of flowchart 200 of FIG. 2, determining the 3D pose.

Yet another exemplary embodiment for resolving the integer ambiguity solution 208 includes a multi-solution method that uses different combinations of carrier phase measurements, compares the solutions, and then votes between the solutions to identify and exclude erroneous carrier phase measurements. The technique involves performing a plurality of integer ambiguity resolution methods on all available carrier-phase measurements, a subset of the carrier-phase measurements, and comparing the output ambiguity sets. The same set of available measurements is provided for each method, but a different subset of measurements best suited for each method may be used. There are a number of methods available for integer ambiguity resolution, each with different characteristics and error behavior. Some examples include LAMBDA (applicable to a fixed baseline), ambiguity search, and motion-based techniques.

Once each method is used for the combination of carrier-phase measurements to resolve the integer ambiguities, the set of resolved ambiguities from each method may be compared in different ways. First, each full-cycle element of a resolved set of ambiguities calculated according to one ambiguity resolution method may be compared to a corresponding element of a set of ambiguities calculated according to a second ambiguity resolution method, and unmatched elements may be discarded. When comparing the resolved integer ambiguities, a conventional method of removing clock skew is applied. That is, there may be a common (full-circle) bias between ambiguity sets from different methods that needs to be removed before comparison. Second, the entire set of ambiguities calculated using one ambiguity resolution method may be compared to the entire set of ambiguities calculated using the second integer ambiguity resolution method, and the entire solution declared invalid if there is any mismatch. Third, baselines calculated using one ambiguity resolution method can be compared to baselines calculated using a second integer ambiguity resolution method, and baselines calculated from subsets that do not match other baselines can be declared as the correct integer ambiguity set.

Since the ambiguities are all full cycles, it is only necessary to declare an ambiguity match when the (clock corrected) ambiguities are exactly equal. Any of these ambiguity comparison options will provide integrity as a product of the integrity values of each individual method. In other words, if method 1 provides a probability of incorrect positioning of 1e-5 and method 2 provides a probability of incorrect positioning of 1e-6, then comparing solutions and accepting their results only if they match will provide a probability of incorrect positioning of 1 e-11.

An example of a multi-solution flow diagram 700 for resolving the integer ambiguity solution 208 is shown in FIG. 7. As shown in the flow chart, the process begins by collecting different integer ambiguity resolution from blocks (702-1 to 702-n) at block (704). Block (704) compares the resolved integer ambiguity solutions from blocks (702-1 to 702-n). If the solutions are determined to be equal (or within a set equal range) at block (706), then the 3D pose is determined using integer ambiguity resolution at block (210) of the flowchart 200 of FIG. 2. In this example, if the solutions are determined at block (706) to be unequal, the process continues at blocks (702-1 to 702-n) to obtain a new integer ambiguity resolution.

Yet another embodiment for determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution in block (208) is provided in the integer ambiguity solution flow diagram 800 of fig. 8. The example flow diagram begins at block (802), where an LSE solution is applied using differential carrier phase measurements, where an integer ambiguity is applied between at least two antennas. After the LSE solution is computed, the measurement residuals are observed at block (804). A transient test is then applied at block (806) that compares at least one of the residuals and the RSS of one set of residuals to a transient threshold selected to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates whose residuals are larger than what may occur due to measurement error. An interval test is then applied over a period of time to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals over the period of time to account for carrier-phase measurement errors at block (808). A solution separation function is then applied to the carrier phase measurements at block (810), which selectively compares different subsets of carrier phase measurements solutions to each other. The results are then provided to block (210) of the flow diagram 200 of fig. 2.

As described above, in one embodiment, the LSE residuals are used in a solution separation function. An example of how the LSE residuals may be determined is shown in residual flow diagram 900 of fig. 9. In this example, satellite signals from multiple satellites are received at antennas 902-1 and 902-2. The signal is transmitted to its respective receivers 904-1 and 904-2. The carrier phase of each signal transmitted by each satellite and received at each antenna 902-1 and 902-2 is determined at blocks (906-1 through 906-n) and blocks (908-1 through 908 n). A Single Difference (SD) of carrier phase measurements for each signal from the satellite is determined at block (910). At block (912), all of the individual differences are used to determine the LSE antenna relative position. At block (914), an SD based on the relative position of the antennas is predicted. Each predicted value of the antenna relative position at block (914) is blended with each associated SD from block (910) to determine a separate LSE residual.

Exemplary embodiments

Embodiment 1 is a vehicle having a three-dimensional attitude determination system. The system includes at least two Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antennas for receiving GNSS signals, and at least one receiver. The at least one receiver is in communication with the at least two GNSS antennas. The at least one receiver is configured to resolve an integer ambiguity associated with GNSS carrier-phase measurements from the received GNSS signals. The at least one receiver is further configured to ensure integrity of an integer ambiguity solution associated with the GNSS carrier-phase measurements. The at least one receiver is configured to determine a three-dimensional pose of the vehicle using the integer ambiguity while considering the integrity of the determined integer ambiguity solution. Determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution comprises at least one of: applying a least squares error solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between the at least two antennas; observing measurement residuals after computing the Least Squares Error (LSE) solution and applying an instantaneous test and an interval test, the instantaneous test comparing at least one measurement residual to a user-selected instantaneous threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates whose residuals are greater than a residual that may occur due to measurement errors, and the interval test applied over a time period to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates that are greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the time period to account for carrier-phase measurement errors; and applying a solution separation function using a combination of carrier phase measurements, the solution separation function selectively comparing different carrier phase measurement subset solutions to each other.

Embodiment 2 includes the vehicle having the three-dimensional pose determination system of embodiment 1, wherein determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution further comprises comparing solutions of at least two of the integrity of the applied integer ambiguity solutions.

Embodiment 3 includes the vehicle having the three-dimensional pose determination system of any of embodiments 1-2, wherein determining integrity of the integer ambiguity solution further comprises declaring a resolved integer ambiguity solution when the interval test does not detect an integer ambiguity candidate greater than the interval threshold within a user-selected time period.

Embodiment 4 includes the vehicle with the three-dimensional pose determination system of any of embodiments 1-3, wherein the at least one measurement residual is at least one of: a baseline residual that is a difference between a known distance and a calculated distance between the antennas; an individual residual that is an LSE residual between individual differential carrier-phase measurements and an LSE solution using all in-view satellites; a composite residual that is the square root of the sum of the squares of the individual LSE residuals, and an auxiliary residual that is the difference between the pose produced by the LSE solution and the estimated pose solution provided by the different sensor groups.

Embodiment 5 includes the vehicle with the three-dimensional pose determination system of any of embodiments 1-4, wherein the interval test conducted over a period of time to eliminate interval ambiguity candidates over an interval threshold greater than a user-selected number of intervals over the period of time to account for carrier-phase measurement error further includes at least one of tracking a number of consecutive failures and tracking a number of consecutive passes.

Embodiment 6 includes the vehicle having the three-dimensional attitude determination system of any of embodiments 1-5, wherein the at least one receiver further includes at least one processor configured to resolve the integer ambiguity associated with the GNSS carrier-phase measurements from the received GNSS signals, and at least one memory unit for storing, at least in part, operating instructions that the at least one processor uses to resolve the integer ambiguity associated with the GNSS carrier-phase measurements from the received GNSS signals.

Embodiment 7 includes a vehicle having a three-dimensional pose determination system including a plurality of spaced-apart antennas and at least one processor. The plurality of spaced apart antennas are configured to receive satellite signals. The at least one processor is configured to resolve an integer ambiguity associated with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) carrier-phase measurements from the received satellite signals. The at least one processor is further configured to determine integrity of an integer ambiguity solution associated with the GNSS carrier-phase measurements. The at least one processor is further configured to determine a three-dimensional pose of the vehicle using the integer ambiguity while considering the integrity of the determined integer ambiguity solution. Determining the integrity of the integer ambiguity solution comprises: applying a least squares error solution using the differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between the at least two antennas; observing measurement residuals after computing the least squares error solution and applying an instantaneous test that compares at least one measurement residual to a user-selected instantaneous threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates whose residuals are greater than a residual that may occur due to measurement errors and an interval test applied over a time period to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the time period to account for carrier phase measurement errors; and applying a solution separation function using a combination of carrier phase measurements, the solution separation function selectively comparing different carrier phase measurement subset solutions to each other.

Embodiment 8 includes the vehicle of embodiment 7 having the three-dimensional pose determination system, the system further comprising at least one memory unit to store, at least in part, operating instructions, the at least one processor to use the operating instructions to determine integrity of the integer ambiguity solution, and at least one sensor to generate a signal having three-dimensional pose related information. The at least one sensor is in communication with the at least one processor.

Embodiment 9 includes the vehicle with the three-dimensional pose determination system of any of embodiments 7-8, wherein at least one processor is configured to compare solutions of at least two of the applied integrity tests of the whole-cycle ambiguity solutions.

Embodiment 10 includes the vehicle having the three-dimensional pose determination system of any of embodiments 7-9, wherein the at least one processor is configured to declare a resolved integer ambiguity solution when the interval test does not detect an integer ambiguity candidate greater than the interval threshold for a time period selected by a user.

Embodiment 11 includes the vehicle with the three-dimensional pose determination system of any of embodiments 7-10, wherein the at least one measurement residual is at least one of: a baseline residual that is a difference between a known distance and a calculated distance between the antennas; an individual residual that is an LSE residual between individual differential carrier-phase measurements and an LSE solution using all in-view satellites; a composite residual that is the square root of the sum of the squares of the individual LSE residuals, and an auxiliary residual that is the difference between the pose produced by the LSE solution and the estimated pose solution provided by the different sensor groups.

Embodiment 12 includes the vehicle having the three-dimensional pose determination system of any of embodiments 7-11, wherein the interval test conducted over a period of time to eliminate interval threshold integer ambiguity candidates over an interval greater than a user-selected number of intervals over the period of time to account for carrier-phase measurement error further comprises at least one of tracking a number of consecutive failures and tracking a number of consecutive passes.

Embodiment 13 includes a method of determining a three-dimensional pose. The method includes receiving satellite signals from a plurality of satellites; measuring a carrier phase of each satellite signal received at a plurality of spaced apart antennas; determining a carrier phase difference between the measured carrier phases of each satellite signal from each satellite received at each antenna; solving for integer ambiguities with integrity by: applying a least squares error solution using differential carrier phase measurements, wherein an integer ambiguity is applied between at least two of the plurality of antennas, and observing measurement residuals after calculating the least squares error solution and applying an instantaneous test that compares at least one measurement residual to a user-selected instantaneous threshold to immediately eliminate integer ambiguity candidates having residuals greater than a residual that may occur due to measurement errors and an interval test applied over a time period to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the time period to account for carrier phase measurement errors; and when the integrity check of the integer ambiguity resolution is completed, determining the three-dimensional attitude according to the determined carrier phase difference.

Embodiment 14 includes the method of embodiment 13, wherein solving the full-cycle integrity ambiguity solution further comprises applying a solution separation function to the carrier phase measurements, the solution separation function selectively comparing different carrier phase measurement subset solutions to one another.

Embodiment 15 includes the method of embodiment 14, further comprising identifying phase carrier measurements with large errors using a de-separation function; and removing phase carrier measurements having the identified large error.

Embodiment 16 includes the method of embodiment 14, further comprising comparing results of applying at least two of a least squares error solution, a transient test, a gap test, and a de-separating function in determining the full-week integrity ambiguity solution.

Embodiment 17 includes the method of any of embodiments 13-16, further comprising declaring a resolved integer ambiguity solution when the interval test does not detect an integer ambiguity candidate greater than the interval threshold within a user-selected time period.

Embodiment 18 includes the method of any of embodiments 13-17, wherein the at least one measurement residual is at least one of: a baseline residual that is a difference between a known distance and a calculated distance between the antennas; an individual residual that is an LSE residual between individual differential carrier-phase measurements and an LSE solution using all in-view satellites; a composite residual that is the square root of the sum of the squares of the individual LSE residuals, and an auxiliary residual that is the difference between the pose produced by the LSE solution and the estimated pose solution provided by the different sensor groups.

Embodiment 19 includes the method of any of embodiments 13-18, wherein the interval test conducted over a period of time to eliminate integer ambiguity candidates greater than an interval threshold over a user-selected number of intervals within the period of time to account for carrier-phase measurement error further comprises tracking a number of consecutive periods in which an integer ambiguity candidate is above the interval threshold when the integer ambiguity candidate is eliminated.

Embodiment 20 includes the method of any of embodiments 13-19, further comprising tracking a number of consecutive time segments for which the integer ambiguity candidate is below the interval threshold in resolving the integer ambiguity solution.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.