Sole means navigation and integrity through hybrid Loran-C and NAVSTAR GPS

A sole means navigation system does not only call for integrity, but also for coverage, reliability, availability and accuracy. Even though ground monitored GPS will provide integrity, availability is still not sufficient. One satellite outage can affect a large service area for several hours per day. The same holds for differential GPS; a total satellite outage cannot be corrected for. To obtain sufficient coverage, extra measurements are needed, either in the form of extra GPS satellites (expensive) or through redundant measurements from other systems. LORAN-C is available and will, hybridized with GPS, result in a system that has the potential to satisfy the requirements for a sole means navigation system for use in the continental United States. Assumptions are made about the qualification sole means, mainly based on current sole means systems such as VOR/DME. In order to allow for system design that will satisfy sole means requirements, it is recommended that a definition of a sole means navigation system be established. This definition must include requirements for availability, reliability, and integrity currently not specified. In addition to the definition of a sole means navigation system, certification requirements must be established for hybrid navigation systems. This will allow for design and production of a new generation of airborne navigation systems that will reduce overall system costs and simplify training procedures

Integrated multisensor navigation systems

The multisensor navigation systems research evolved from the availability of several stand alone navigation systems and the growing concern for aircraft navigation reliability and safety. The intent is to develop a multisensor navigation system during the next decade that will be capable of providing reliable aircraft position data. These data will then be transmitted directly, or by satellite, to surveillance centers to aid the process of air traffic flow control. In order to satisfy the requirements for such a system, the following issues need to be examined: performance, coverage, reliability, availability, and integrity. The presence of a multisensor navigation system in all aircraft will improve safety for the aviation community and allow for more economical operation

Integrated Inertial/gps

The presence of failures in navigation sensors can cause the determination of an erroneous aircraft state estimate, which includes position, attitude, and their derivatives. Aircraft flight control systems rely on sensor inputs to determine the aircraft state. In the case of integrated Inertial/NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS), sensor failures could occur in the on-board inertial sensors or in the GPS measurements. The synergistic use of both GPS and the Inertial Navigation System (INS) allows for highly reliable fault detection and isolation of sensor failures. Integrated Inertial/GPS is a promising technology for the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) and the return and landing of a manned space vehicle

GPS interferometric attitude and heading determination: Initial flight test results

Attitude and heading determination using GPS interferometry is a well-understood concept. However, efforts have been concentrated mainly in the development of robust algorithms and applications for low dynamic, rigid platforms (e.g., shipboard). This paper presents results of what is believed by the authors to be the first realtime flight test of a GPS attitude and heading determination system. The system is installed in Ohio University's Douglas DC-3 research aircraft. Signals from four antennas are processed by an Ashtech 3DF 24-channel GPS receiver. Data from the receiver are sent to a microcomputer for storage and further computations. Attitude and heading data are sent to a second computer for display on a software generated artificial horizon. Demonstration of this technique proves its candidacy for augmentation of aircraft state estimation for flight control and navigation as well as for numerous other applications

Fault detection and isolation for multisensor navigation systems

Increasing attention is being given to the problem of erroneous measurement data for multisensor navigation systems. A recursive estimator can be used in conjunction with a 'snapshot' batch estimator to provide fault detection and isolation (FDI) for these systems. A recursive estimator uses past system states to form a new state estimate and compares it to the calculated state based on a new set of measurements. A 'snapshot' batch estimator uses a set of measurements collected simultaneously and compares solutions based on subsets of measurements. The 'snapshot' approach requires redundant measurements in order to detect and isolate faults. FDI is also referred to as Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM)

Discrete filtering techniques applied to sequential GPS range measurements

The basic navigation solution is described for position and velocity based on range and delta range (Doppler) measurements from NAVSTAR Global Positioning System satellites. The application of discrete filtering techniques is examined to reduce the white noise distortions on the sequential range measurements. A second order (position and velocity states) Kalman filter is implemented to obtain smoothed estimates of range by filtering the dynamics of the signal from each satellite separately. Test results using a simulated GPS receiver show a steady-state noise reduction, the input noise variance divided by the output noise variance, of a factor of four. Recommendations for further noise reduction based on higher order Kalman filters or additional delta range measurements are included