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Timing group delay and differential code bias corrections for BeiDou positioning

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Abstract

This article first clearly figures out the relationship between parameters of timing group delay (TGD) and differential code bias (DCB) for BDS, and demonstrates the equivalence of TGD and DCB correction models combining theory with practice. The TGD/DCB correction models have been extended to various occasions for BDS positioning, and such models have been evaluated by real triple-frequency datasets. To test the effectiveness of broadcast TGDs in the navigation message and DCBs provided by the Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX), both standard point positioning (SPP) and precise point positioning (PPP) tests are carried out for BDS signals with different schemes. Furthermore, the influence of differential code biases on BDS positioning estimates such as coordinates, receiver clock biases, tropospheric delays and carrier phase ambiguities is investigated comprehensively. Comparative analysis show that the unmodeled differential code biases degrade the performance of BDS SPP by a factor of two or more, whereas the estimates of PPP are subject to varying degrees of influences. For SPP, the accuracy of dual-frequency combinations is slightly worse than that of single-frequency, and they are much more sensitive to the differential code biases, particularly for the B2B3 combination. For PPP, the uncorrected differential code biases are mostly absorbed into the receiver clock bias and carrier phase ambiguities and thus resulting in a much longer convergence time. Even though the influence of the differential code biases could be mitigated over time and comparable positioning accuracy could be achieved after convergence, it is suggested to properly handle with the differential code biases since it is vital for PPP convergence and integer ambiguity resolution.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge IGS Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) for providing GNSS data and products. We also appreciate the editor-in-chief, Roland Klees, the handling editor, Pascal Willis, and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and improvements to this manuscript. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 41474025, No: 41404006) and International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program 2013 by the Office of China Postdoctoral Council (No. 2013042).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geodesy and Geomatics, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Fei Guo & Xiaohong Zhang

  2. School of Civil and Environment Engineering, University of New Southwales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Fei Guo & Jinling Wang

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  1. Fei Guo
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  2. Xiaohong Zhang
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  3. Jinling Wang
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Correspondence to Xiaohong Zhang.

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Guo, F., Zhang, X. & Wang, J. Timing group delay and differential code bias corrections for BeiDou positioning. J Geod 89, 427–445 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-015-0788-2

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