Ultra Tight Coupling for High Anti-Jam GPS/INS

In response to STTR Topic MDA03T-006, KVH Industries proposes to combine the advantages of short-term precision of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and the long-term stability of the Global Positioning System (GPS). The resulting integrated GPS/IMUsystem would offer significant performance (e.g., reduced accuracy degradation) and cost benefits. By tightly coupling the GPS pseudorange and inertial sensor measurements within a single navigation filter, the inertial and GPS components cooperate on amuch higher level, providing a more robust and accurate navigation system. Additional robust satellite tracking can be provided via adaptive techniques in the antenna portion of the GPS receiver. KVH seeks to integrate raw inertial sensor measurements andGPS receiver code phase measurements directly within a single navigation filter. The advantages of this ultra-tightly coupled system include increased accuracy of the navigation solution, decreased complexity and cost of the navigation subsystem,improved robustness in an RF-challenged environment, and reduction in the size of the GPS/IMU navigator. We envision an ultra-tightly coupled system housed within a single cylindrical package that would include three rate sensors, three accelerationsensors, a GPS receiver, power conditioning, and a single navigation filter. Potential commercial application for the ultra-tightly coupled high anti-jam GPS/INS system include: integrated hybrid navigation and flight control systems for precision guidedmunitions and missiles; loitering weapons; stabilization and aiming of airborne pods for laser designation and aerial reconnaissance; airborne drones, targets, decoys; aircraft attitude and heading reference systems; a variety of Unmanned AutonomousVehicles (UAV); navigation and pointing applications for combat vehicles, COMINT, SIGINT, ELINT; combat service support; combat support vehicles; non-military land navigation, tracking and reporting systems; tracking of hazardous materials; fire and rescueservices, police, and even the general public.