A new GLONASS FDMA model

Abstract

We introduce a new formulation of the double-differenced GLONASS FDMA model. It closely resembles that of CDMA-based systems and it guarantees the estimability of the newly defined GLONASS ambiguities. The formulation is made possible because of our defining new concept of integer-estimability and the analytical construction of a special integer matrix canonical decomposition. As a result, an easy-to-compute new design matrix is created that automatically establishes the integer-estimability of the ambiguities. The presented model is generally applicable, and its close resemblance to its CDMA-counterparts implies that available CDMA-based GNSS software is easily modified and that existing methods of integer ambiguity resolution can be directly applied. Also, because of their similar structure, many of the available CDMA results with corresponding insights can now be directly translated to the GLONASS case. We make use of this property to provide insight into the ambiguity resolution capabilities of the model and to analyze the characteristics of the GLONASS ambiguity dilution of precision.