New Strategy of Collaborative Acquisition for Connected GNSS Receivers in Deep Urban Environments

Abstract

Collaborative Positioning (CP) is a better localization technique used to locate a user in challenged environments, which is driven by the increasing presence of cellular phones and mobile devices in urban areas. The basic idea is that the mobile devices can cooperate with each other to improve their ability to determine their position. In this concept, a network of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers can collectively receive available satellite signals, and each receiver can receive signal measurements from other receivers via a communication link. This work shows how to use the Collective Detection (CD) approach to deal with the concept of collaborative or cooperative positioning. Specifically, this paper develops a new strategy allowing a receiver in deep urban environment to locate using the CD approach, while overcoming the implementation complexity problem. The idea consists in applying the CD approach in the case of multiple GNSS receivers to assist a receiver in a difficult situation. A typical case of two connected receivers assisting a receiver in difficulty in a deep urban area shows the effectiveness of this strategy. This strategy is tested with real GNSS signals to analyze its feasibility. The overall gain in complexity can reach up to 46% of what has been achieved in previous works.