Leveraging wireless communication systems for aiding inertial-based navigation systems

Abstract

The advent of low-cost MEMS inertial measurement units (IMU) has increased the proliferation of inertial navigation systems (INS). For applications wherein GNSS-only navigation may prove challenging the inclusion of an INS offers reliable position, velocity, and attitude (PVA) determination. Unfortunately, all INS suffer from drift due to inherent sensor errors. Consequently, aiding sensors must be employed to bound this drift. In this paper we present a proof-of-concept of leveraging a collection of communication systems to provide an INS aiding source. In particular, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals will be explored as they are a ubiquitous communication standard. Specifically, the paper investigates the use of Doppler shift measurements via software defined radios followed by a simulation, in order to examine the efficacy of the proposed system.