Signals of Opportunity Navigation Using LTE Downlink Signals

Abstract

For the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) cannot meet the positioning requirements under occlusion or malicious interference, this paper proposes a receiver self-localization method using long-term evolution (LTE) downlink signals. The method is based on the multi-station time difference location mechanism. The signal acquisition of multi-base stations (BSs) is realized by signal demodulation. The transmission time difference calibration is used to solve the asynchronous problem among BSs. The synchronous signal and cell-specific reference signal are comprehensively detected to extract high-precision time difference parameters. The receiver can calculate and obtain its own position by using these timing parameters. Finally, a software-defined receiver is built to carry out experiments in the outdoor environment. Experimental results show that the positioning distance and moving direction are basically consistent with the actual situation. The root mean square error (RMSE) is less than 5m, which fully verifies the feasibility of LTE as an opportunity signal for navigation.