GPS carrier phase processing

A new method for the sequential processing of sequential Doppler carrier phase count measurements has been developed and validated. The new method processes sequential measurements sequentially, without overlap. The new method represents the GPS Doppler carrier phase count measurement as a Doppler carrier phase count measurement, not as a range measurement with unknown initial range (unknown bias). The new method uses an optimal sequential filter-smoother to process sequential measurements. State estimate and realistic error covariance matrix functions are calculated by sequential real-time filtering and post-filter smoothing to minimize each component of the meansquared state estimate error, autonomously edit measurement outliers, and assess state estimate accuracy performance. Each sequential cycle slip is dispatched with the sequential measurement outlier that is autonomously edited. The sequential measurement outlier contains no useful measurement information, so none is lost. The processing of overlapping GPS Doppler carrier phase count measurements incurs significant serial correlations, but sequential GPS measurements have no observable serial correlations to account for. Measurement system calibrations are performed, and calibration results are input to the filter to guarantee minimization of each component of the mean-squared state estimate error. Rigorous necessary conditions are defined for the validation of real data processing. We demonstrate our new method by processing JASON-1 GPS Blackjack sequential Doppler carrier phase count measurements with our sequential filter-smoother.