Online GNSS Service with scalable Positioning Accuracy

„Online GNSS service
with scalable
positioning accuracy“
Stuttgart, 27.03. 2012
Jürgen Alberding, Alberding GmbH
Dr. Jens Wickert, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ
Overview
ZIM-Project
Background of the project partners
Project preparation and motivation
Project goals
Status of the project
Outlook
ZIM program
• ZIM - program of the German Ministry of Economic
Affairs and Technology
• Goals of the ZIM-program:
–
–
–
–
–
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Stimulation of companies to force market oriented R&D
Transfer of R&D-results into innovative products
To strengthen the cooperation between companies and research institutes
To increase the technology transfer from institutes to companies
To encourage companies to start R&D cooperations
Improvement of the potential in companies for innovation, cooperation and
networking
– Creating and maintaining innovative jobs in the region
– Getting money back from the investment in research institutes (ROI)
ZIM cooperation project
„Online GNSS service with scalable positioning accuracy“
•
Project part 1: GFZ-Potsdam (Dr. Wickert)
– „sPPP – system algorithm“ (2 employees)
– 100 % financed by ZIM
•
Project part 2: Alberding GmbH (J. Alberding)
– „sPPP – development of a user box and
service delivery“ (3 employees)
− 50% financed by ZIM
•
Project time frame: 01.11. 2010 – 31.03.2012
•
Cooperation contract between Alberding GmbH and GFZ Potsdam
ZIM-Project
Background of the project partners
Project preparation and motivation
Project goals
Status of the project
Outlook
Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum
GFZ Potsdam
 The German Research Centre for Geosciences
„Helmholtz Centre Potsdam combines all solid
earth science fields including geodesy, geology,
geophysics, mineralogy and geochemistry, in a
multi-disciplinary research centre“ (from: Homepage
Helmholtz Association)
 Nearly 1000 employees including 350 scientists and
100 doctoral candidates
 Annual budget of 76 million Euro (90% from BMFT,
10% from Land Brandenburg)
Helmholtz-Zentren in Deutschland
Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum – GFZ
ZIM-Project
cooperation partner
Structure GFZ-Potsdam
from Homepage
www.gfz-potsdam.de
GFZ Potsdam Section 1.1
Background: Use of GNSS satellites for Geoscience
-
GNSS satellites - a powerful tool for earth observations
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Monitoring of continental plates movements
Monitoring of the ice surface
Water tomography
….
Strength of GFZ:
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Modelling (instead of eliminating) of the single GNSS error sources
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Sattelite clock and orbits
Ionospheric and tropospheric models
GFZ Potsdam Section 1.1
GFZ moves to real-time GNSS data processing:
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GITEWS – German Indonesian
Tsunami Early Warning System
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International GNSS Service (IGS) Analysis Center
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GFZ is maintaining a network of 23 globally distributed
GNSS stations, an operational Data Centre and
an Analysis Centre
From 2003-2007 GFZ has been the
analysis coordinator within IGS
Generation and maintenance of the ITRF
Provision of precise satellite orbits, clocks and
Earth rotation parameters
Alberding GmbH
 1994 Founded in Leipzig (Saxony) by Jürgen Alberding
 Distributor for Trimble Surveying and MGIS products
in Eastern Germany (former DDR/GDR area)
 2003 GNSS software developments
 Move from Leipzig to Schönefeld (near Berlin)
 Separation from the Trimble sales
 Start with own GNSS software developments
 2007 New company name: Alberding GmbH
 Trademark problems with the names „EuroNav Service“ and „EuroNik“
 2011 Currently 6 employees (engineers)
Alberding GmbH
 Products for GNSS service providers
 GNSS reference station software „EuroRef“
 Generating RTCM and CMR from raw data (New: RTCM MSM)
 Supporting data transfer via Ntrip (Ntrip Server, Caster, Client)
 Web-Interface for GNSS receiver control
 Real-time GNSS data handling
 Real-time GNSS data streaming
 Networking of GNSS reference stations
 Real-time GNSS data format conversion
(i.e. raw data to RTCM or RTCA to RTCM)
 GNSS data management (Ntrip caster)
 GNSS service monitoring tools
 PPP-Monitoring of GNSS reference stations
coordinates
 Inspect RTCM for GNSS data check
 Ntrip caster monitoring (availability)
 User access management via Ntrip caster
RTCM for Galileo (Alberding GmbH)
GNSS raw data
Standard RTCM 3
1001-1013,
1019-1020,
1029, 1032, 1033
MSM
1071-1077,
1081-1087,
1091-1097
MSM GLONASS
Frequency Index
4011
Galileo
Ephemeris
1045, 1046
GPS
L1
GLONASS
L5
SBAS
E1
L2
E6
QZSS
E5b
Galileo
E5a
GIOVE
E5ab
C/A
M
M+L
Q
A
C
B+C
P(Y)
L
I
I+Q
B
A+B
A+B+C
Source: Dr.-Ing. Georg Weber (BKG): Real-Time PPP based on CONGO and RTCM’s Multiple Signal Messages
Alberding GmbH
 Products for GNSS users
 GNSS monitoring software
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Support of multiple GNSS receiver hardware
Near-online processing and RTK
Web-Interface and statistics
Alarming via SMS and/or E-Mail
 Machine positioning using RTK receivers
and tilt sensors
 DGNSS processing algorithm
 DGNSS processing for GPS and GLONASS
raw data
 On the mobile site and at a server (reverse)
 Support of low cost GNSS with raw data output
 Java Ntrip Client for mobile phones
 Receives Ntrip via mobile internet , converts
the data to RTCM and sends it to the mobile
GNSS receiver
Alberding GNSS solutions
ZIM-Project
Background of the project partners
Project preparation and motivation
Project goals
Status of the project
Outlook
Project preparation
2008: GNSS_PPP validation (GEOkomm networks)
 Partner:
Alberding GmbH, GFZ, ZALF
 Technical study of the basics to realize an
online GNSS positioning service using the PPP
approach
 Practical tests on the test area of ZALF in
Müncheberg (June 2008)
GNSS test data processing (real-time simulation)
 GFZ: PPP-Approach
 Alberding: DGNSS-Approach
 Commercial review for a global online GNSS
service using the PPP approach
Project preparation
Comparison of different GNSS receivers (scalable)
Use of GNSS-receivers in different
price and performance segments
with a Trimble Zephyr antenna
Trimble R7 GNSS (15 T€)
Septentrio AsteRx1 (1500 €)
U-Blox LEA 4T (150 €)
Test area with free horizon and with
obstructions (trees)
RTK - positions used as true
coordinates (local base station)
DGPS - processing -> Alberding
PPP - processing -> GFZ-Potsdam
Results of the tests encouraged
us to continue with a following
project (ZIM)
Motivation for Alberding GmbH
Why does Alberding GmbH invest money into a GNSS
infrastructure project?
 The new PPP (precise point positioning) approach changes the way of
GNSS positioning in many applications
 World wide available
 Scalable (GNSS receiver, regional augmentation)
 PPP was mainly developed and used by research organizations (i.e. GFZ)
who tried to separate the GNSS errors for earth determination purposes
 There is a market for world wide GNSS services and for precise positioning
algorithms
 There is a chance to enter this market today because the „global players“ of
differential positioning (DGPS, RTK) have to start with the PPP approach
Motivation for GFZ
Why does GFZ cooperate with Alberding GmbH (SME) in
the ZIM-project?
 To improve the GFZ algorithms for their own scientific applications with
additional stuff dedicated to the project
 To develop a field proven solution i.e. for global monitoring projects
 To take advantage of Alberding´s real-time communication and data
handling solutions (i.e. Alberding Ntrip caster)
 To follow the political strategy of technoloy transfer to commercial
companies
ZIM-Project
Background of the project partners
Project preparation and motivation
Project goals
Status of the project
Outlook
Precise Point Positioning (PPP)
Scalable Positioning Service
Geostationary
Satellite
GNSS-satellites
Correction data stream
INTERNET
Caster
User terminal with
GNSS receiver and
communication unit
and PPP software
GNSS reference
stations
EPOS-RT
Generation of correction
information
Orbit, clock, iono. UPD
Internet connection
GNSS observations
Corrections to the satellite clock and orbits derived from a
world wide network of GNSS reference stations (M. Ge, GFZ)
PPP vs. DGNSS
Advantages of PPP vs. differential methods
 World wide positioning approach
 No need for local GNSS reference stations
 ITRF based coordinate determination
Disadvantages of PPP vs. differential methods
 RTK accuracy is higher (1-2 cm)
 RTK has faster initialization times (< 1 min.)
 PPP algorithms are still under development
Performance of PPP
1.) Satellite clock & orbit corrections (standard PPP)
~ 15cm positioning accuracy (2D) with 20 minutes initialization
time (dual frequency GNSS receivers)
2.) Satellite clock & orbit + ionospheric corrections for
single frequency receivers and faster initialization times
3.) Satellite clock & orbit + ionospheric corrections + UPD
basic for PPP carrier phase ambiguity fixing (~ 15 min.)
4.) Sat. clock & orbit + iono + UPD + regional augmentation
additional data from regional reference stations (res.)
- ambiguity fixing < 1 min. (GFZ) -> scalable service
Technical project goals
Complete PPP solution (Server & Client):
Global positioning accuracy of the PPP-service
 < 50cm with single frequency GNSS receivers (ionospheric
model)
 < 10cm with dual frequency receivers
(initialization time < 5 minutes)
 < 5cm by solving the ambiguities
 Data gap handling – no reinitialization due to data gaps up to
3 minutes (prediction)
Project milestones: Server
 Server:
Availability of reliable and precise satellite clock & orbit corrections
+ ionospheric models + UPD in real-time (GFZ)
 Improvent of the stabiliy and functionality of EPOS-RT
 Integration of regional ionospheric models in real-time
 Service Provider Software (Alberding)
Data distribution in real-time (Ntrip)
Data encryption using SSL-technology
User management
Conditional access to the service
Customer information, Monitoring (Alberding)
Project milestones: PPP-Client
Client
Separation of the PPP client software from the total EPOS-RT
software package
Improvement of the functionality (convergence time, reliability)
Implementation of UPD´s, data gap handling
Implementation of the PPP client software in Alberding´s
mobile processing solution
Mobile access to the server data (Ntrip client)
Decryption of the PPP-server data streams
Improvement and integration of the DGNSS processing
and the Kalman Filter algorithm
Project milestones: Integration
 PPP-Integration:
Development of a PPP user box:
GNSS receiver
GPRS modem
Processing capability (i.e. Linux board)
-> machine applications
Development of a PPP-DLL
-> To run on tablet PC and PDA - integration in
third party software (GIS)
-> later: PPP-App for smartphones
Products
Positioning service:
Subscriptions to the online positioning service
PPP-Client licences (DLL)
User box with GNSS receiver and PPP client
GNSS service providers
PPP service software in modules or
a complete package
Target markets
Manufacturers of machines with world
wide positioning focus
Agriculture
Construction
Logistic
Mobile personal positioning solutions
GIS
Pedestrian navigation
Geocatching
Military
Maritime applications
Precise off-shore positioning
Governmental organizations or private companies
-> service infrastructure
ZIM-Project
Background of the project partners
Project preparation and motivation
Project goals
Status of the project
Outlook
Project status
Project period: 01.11. 2010 to 31.03. 2012
Kick-off meeting: 11.01. 2011
Project team:
GFZ Potsdam
J. Wickert ([email protected])
J. Chen ([email protected])
M. Ge ([email protected])
X. Li ([email protected])
G. Gendt ([email protected])
J. Dousa ([email protected])
Alberding GmbH:
J. Alberding ([email protected])
D. Stöcker ([email protected])
S. Klose ([email protected])
C. Clemen ([email protected])
Project team 11.01. 2011
Project status
Server:
 Satellite clock & orbit corrections 
 Integration of a regional ionospheric model and UPD – in testing
 Data distribution and encryption of the correction data 
 User management 
PPP-Client:
 Separation of the PPP-client from EPOS-RT package 
 Improvement in functionality – ongoing
 Integration of the PPP client software in the mobile processing
solution of Alberding GmbH – in testing
 Improvement of the DGNSS processing algorithm 
 Integration of a Kalman filter algorithm – in work
 Decryption of the PPP-server data streams 
 Mobile access to the server data (Ntrip client) 
Project status
PPP-Integration:
 GNSS-PPP user box – Alberding A17 
 Scalable GNSS receiver
(GPS L1 to GPS, GLONASS, Galileo Heading)
 GPRS Modem
 800 MHz Processor
A17
 Integration of the algorithm in the user box 
-> has to be optimised
 800 MHz processor to run application software 
 Development of a PPP-DLL - in work
 PPP-App for smartphones – not started
Project status
Still to do:
 Successfully finishing the software developments
 Server (ionospheric modelling)
 PPP-Client (integration in Alberding software)
 Kalman filter algorithm
 PPP-DLL
 Optimization of the software components as
standalone programs and in combination
 Intensive testing of the system performance
in the field (with Beuth Hochschule für Technik Berlin)
 Start to promote the project and the developments
on conferences, trade shows, etc.
 Find cooperation partners and customers for the
innovative GNSS solution
ZIM-Project
Background of the project partners
Project preparation and motivation
Project goals
Status of the project
Outlook
Outlook
 Precise
Point Positioning (PPP) will be the dominating
professional GNSS processing technique in the near future
 The performance of PPP will increase by using ionospheric
models, UPD and regional augmentation (RA)
 Dense reference station networks like SAPOS will be used in
niche markets like surveying
 Future satellite systems (i.e. Galileo) and satellite signals
(i.e. GPS L5) will allow faster initialization times with cheaper
professional GNSS receivers
 World wide operating machine manufacturers can rely on one
unique service with a proven service quality
 There will be a market for PPP-service, PPP-client software and
system solutions
-> Alberding GmbH wants to address this market !
Thank you for your attention!
Contact address:
Jürgen Alberding
Alberding GmbH
Lilienthalstr. 25
D-12529 Schönefeld
Tel.: +49 30 6782 6060
Fax: +49 30 6782 6066
Web: www.alberding.eu
E-Mail: [email protected]