A Novel GPS Receiver Algorithm for Continuous Tracking on Spinning Cylindrical Platforms

Andrew S. C. Svendsen, Andrew J. O'Brien and Inder J. Gupta

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	Recently, there has been increased interest in GPS navigation for spinning cylindrical platforms (60-160mm diameter). As expected, a single antenna element does not provide spherical coverage which is needed for continuous satellite tracking. To provide the desired coverage, one can use antenna diversity with multiple antenna elements. Previously, different antenna diversity techniques were compared, and it was shown that the maximum gain method (i.e., choosing the element with the highest gain) provides the spherical coverage. However, it is a challenge to implement this method because of the unknown time-varying platform attitude. In this paper, a novel tracking algorithm is derived that implements the maximum gain method by modifying the receiver itself. Example results are shown for the delay lock loop (DLL) and demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to provide continuous satellite tracking as the platform rotates and eliminate the need for knowledge of the time-varying platform attitude.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 60, Number 1
Pages:	11 - 29
Cite this article:	Export Citation https://doi.org/10.1002/navi.26
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