GPS Pull-In Search using Reverse Directional Finite Rate of Innovation (FRI)

Abstract

When an incoming Global Positioning System (GPS) signal is acquired, pull-in search performs a finer search of the Doppler frequency of the incoming signal so that phase lock loop can be quickly stabilized and the receiver can produce an accurate pseudo-range measurement. However, increasing the accuracy of the Doppler frequency estimation often involves a higher computational cost for weaker GPS signals, which delays the position fix. In this paper, we show that the Doppler frequency detectable by a long coherent auto-correlation can be accurately estimated using a complex-weighted sum of consecutive short coherent auto-correlation outputs with a different Doppler frequency hypothesis, and by exploiting this we propose a noise resistant, low-cost and highly accurate Doppler frequency and phase estimation technique based on a reverse directional application of the finite rate of innovation (FRI) technique. We provide a performance and computational complexity analysis to show the feasibility of the proposed technique and compare the performance to conventional techniques using numerous Monte Carlo simulations.