A Truly Portable, Low-cost, and Accurate, Mobil Navigator for Urban and Indoor Usage

C. Goodall, Z. Syed, N. El-Sheimy

Abstract:	TPI has developed a software platform called the Trusted Positioning Platform (TPP). The TPP has been designed for portable devices and is a new, reliable, accurate and economical fusion platform that obtains unsurpassed navigation accuracy using very low grade inertial sensors for positioning and localization. The platform is a set of highly modularized software libraries that can be easily configured to fit a variety of portable navigation applications. The patent pending technologies to estimate the sensor errors, appropriate mode of conveyance and mounting misalignments make TPP the only commercial navigation software that can utilize the lowest cost Micro-Electro Mechanical Sensors (MEMS) inertial sensors and for reliable position and attitude navigation systems. Portable navigation is a growing field that is tightly coupled to the advances in smart phone technology. Today, nearly all smart phones come equipped with GPS chipsets. These chipsets not only provide the navigation to the user for their daily commute, but also provide the most accurate position of the user in case of an emergency as part of the E-911 mandate. Unfortunately for users and application developers, GPS requires direct lines of sight to at least four different GPS satellites to obtain a position fix. This makes GPS, and GNSS-based systems in general, unreliable in urban and indoor environments where satellite signals are often reflected or blocked completely. TPI presents a solution that can enhance the GPS only positioning capabilities of smart phones or similar portable devices into more reliable navigators. This paper presents the algorithm and results of the TPP for portable devices.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2010) September 21 - 24, 2010 Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon Portland, OR
Pages:	2969 - 2976
Cite this article:	Goodall, C., Syed, Z., El-Sheimy, N., "A Truly Portable, Low-cost, and Accurate, Mobil Navigator for Urban and Indoor Usage," Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2010), Portland, OR, September 2010, pp. 2969-2976.
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