The accurate optimal-success/error-rate calculations applied to the realizations of the reliable and short-period integer ambiguity resolution in carrier-phase GPS/GNSS positioning

Abstract

The maximum-marginal-a-posteriori success rate of statistical decision under multivariate Gaussian error distribution on an integer lattice is almost rigorously calculated by using union-bound approximation and Monte Carlo integration. These calculations are applied to the revelation of the various possible realizations of the reliable and short-period integer ambiguity resolution in precise carrier-phase relative positioning by GPS/GNSS. The theoretical foundation and efficient methodology are systematically developed, and two types of the enhancement of union-bound approximation are proposed and examined. The results revealed include an extremely high reliability under the condition of accurate carrier-phase measurements and a large number of visible satellites, its heavy degradation caused by the slight amount of differentiated ionospheric delays due to the nonvanishing baseline length between rover and reference receivers, and the advantages of the use of the multiple carrier frequencies. The succeeding initialization of the integer ambiguities is shown to overcome the disadvantageous condition of the nonvanishing baseline length effectively due to the reasonably assumed temporal and spatial constancy of differentiated ionospheric delays.