Study on Cloud-based GNSS Positioning Architecture with Satellite Selection Algorithm and Report of Field Experiments

Abstract

Cloud-based Global Navigation Satellite Systems (CB-GNSS) positioning architecture that offloads part of GNSS positioning computation to cloud/edge infrastructure has been studied as an architecture that adds valued functions via the network. The merits of CB-GNSS positioning are that it can take advantage of the abundant computing resources on the cloud/edge to add unique functions to the positioning calculation and reduce the cost of GNSS receiver terminals. An issue in GNSS positioning is the degradation in positioning accuracy in unideal reception environments where open space is limited and some satellite signals are blocked. To resolve this issue, we propose a satellite selection algorithm that effectively removes the multipath components of blocked satellite signals, which are the main cause of drop in positioning accuracy. We build a Proof of Concept (PoC) test environment of CB-GNSS positioning architecture implementing the proposed satellite selection algorithm and conduct experiments to verify its positioning performance in unideal static and dynamic conditions. For static long-term positioning in a multipath signal reception environment, we found that CB-GNSS positioning with the proposed algorithm enables a low-end GNSS receiver terminal to match the positioning performance comparable to high-end GNSS receiver terminals in terms of the FIX rate. In an autonomous tractor driving experiment on a farm road crossing a windbreak, we succeeded in controlling the tractor's autonomous movement by maintaining highly precise positioning even in the windbreak. These results indicates that the proposed satellite selection algorithm achieves high positioning performance even in poor satellite signal reception environments.