Rapid Ambiguity Resolution using Multipath Spatial Processing for High Accuracy Carrier Phase

Abstract : The largest error component on the carrier-phase observations is generally caused by carrier-phase multipath offsets. This generally results in a slow oscillating cyclic offset which must be averaged (either through satellite or vehicle motion) before reliable ambiguity resolution can be performed for kinematic positioning. NAVSYS has developed a digital spatial processing receiver that uses the spatial degrees of freedom within an antenna array to minimize multipath errors on the carrier-phase observations. This in turn makes the ambiguity solution more reliable and reduces the number of processing cycles needed to result in a kinematic position fix. In this paper, test results are presented showing the reduction in the carrier phase errors when using this approach. Kinematic positioning test results are also shown using the HAGR digital beamsteering GPS receiver.