Development and Validation of a Multipath Mitigation Technique Using Multi-Correlator Structures

Abstract

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) are critical for a variety of applications, including surveying, time synchronization of mobile telecommunication networks, and power grids. The use of GNSSs in aeronautics, maritime, and automobile navigation has been expanding. This technology is also critical for the navigation of autonomous vehicles. Current GNSSs already provide reliable and precise positioning under routine conditions. However, conventional GNSS receivers are vulnerable to multipath propagation that can degrade their performance or even lead to failure. As a result, the use of GNSS technology in safety-critical applications (e.g., autonomous cars or unmanned aerial vehicles) remains challenging and requires additional countermeasures.Multipath propagation is the term used to describe a radio channel in which a signal reaches the user via more than one path. This can lead to the superposition of a direct line-of-sight (LOS) satellite signal and multiple delayed replicas of itself at the receiver. Under these circumstances, the correlation of the received signal with the local replica recorded by the GNSS receiver will lead to distorted results. A conventional delay locked loop (DLL) cannot handle these types of signals and