Low-SWaP GNSS-denied Navigation using LTE Signals of Opportunity

Tyler Sweat, Willie K. Harrison, Michael Rice, and Randal W. Beard

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) navigation is crucial in the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). GNSS signals are susceptible to jamming due to their low received power, and vulnerable to spoofing because the civilian signals are typically unencrypted. In addition, multipath and urban canyons can degrade positioning accuracy. An alternative to GNSS in the event that it is unavailable is desirable. Terrestrial cellular signals are a promising option to use for navigation because they are continuously transmitted at higher power levels. Optimizing hardware size, weight, and power (SWaP) is critical for UAVs to maximize endurance, payload capacity, and operational efficiency. This paper develops a technique to measure a differential pseudorange between an LTE cell tower and a mobile receiver using a low-SWaP, low-cost software defined radio. This paper also implements an extended Kalman filter to fuse differential pseudorange and inertial measurement unit (IMU) measurements to estimate the trajectory of the mobile receiver. This approach was validated through a flight test with 8.03 m root mean square error (RMSE) on the estimated trajectory. Index Terms—Navigation, positioning, signals of opportunity, GNSS-denied, LTE
Published in:	2025 IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) April 28 - 1, 2025 Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	960 - 967
Cite this article:	Sweat, Tyler, Harrison, Willie K., Rice, Michael, Beard, Randal W., "Low-SWaP GNSS-denied Navigation using LTE Signals of Opportunity," 2025 IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS), Salt Lake City, UT, April 2025, pp. 960-967.
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