A fast and accurate LEO satellite-based direct position determination assisted by TDOA measurements

This paper focuses on the trusted vessel position acquisition using passive localization based on the booming low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites. As the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) reception cannot always be guaranteed at LEO satellites, the recently developed direct position determination (DPD) is adopted. For LEO satellite-based passive localization systems, an efficient DPD is challenging due to the excessive exhaustive search range leading from broad satellite coverage. In order to reduce the computational complexity, we propose a time difference of arrival-assisted DPD (TA-DPD) which minimizes the searching area by the time difference of arrival measurements and their variances. In this way, the size of the searching area is determined by both geometrical constraints and qualities of received signals, and signals with higher SNRs can be positioned more efficiently as their searching areas are generally smaller. Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional passive localization simulations using the proposed TA-DPD are provided to demonstrate its efficiency and validity. The superior accuracy performance of the proposed method, especially at low SNRs conditions, is also verified through the comparison to conventional two-step methods. Providing a larger margin in link budget for satellite-based vessel location acquisition, the TA-DPD can be a competitive candidate for trusted marine location service.