Wi-Fi for Assured PNT and Integrity Verification

It is quite common for a group of GPS users to operate in close proximity and in a denied or degraded GPS environment as typical in urban canyon and heavily forested environments. Using the traditional GPS receiver approach, individual or all users may be denied the ability to navigate in such an environment, even though each user may be intermittently receiving useful satellite signal information. Collectively, the network of GPS users may be able to receive sufficient satellite signals, augmented by intra-networked ranging measurements consisting of GPS and Wi-Fi signals integrated in a vector tracking loop scheme in order to form an integrated position determination. This Phase I research offers an opportunity to explore the potential benefits, driving issues, pitfalls, and integration challenges of Wi-Fi augmentation of GPS considering accuracy, security, and integrity in a meshed network of GPS receivers and Wi-Fi APs. BENEFIT: Potential benefits of the proposed research will be the integration of alternate sources such as Wi-Fi augmentation of GPS allowing continued operation in stressed and denied environments and in added integrity monitoring capabilities offered by additional meaasurement sources.