Low-Cost IMU and Odometer Tightly Augmented PPP-B2b-Based Inter-Satellite Differenced PPP in Urban Environments

Since 23 June 2020, BDS-3 has been entirely operated and obtained the ability of global PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) services. Afterward, real-time Precise Point Positioning (PPP) service is available in China’s surrounding areas via BDS-3 PPP-B2b signal. However, such a real-time PPP service cannot maintain the high accuracy and continuity of positioning solutions in challenging environments, such as urban environments. For that, we carried out a model by integrating between-satellite single-differenced (BSSD) PPP, a low-cost Inertial Navigation System (INS), and an odometer via an extended Kalman filter. The performance of this integration model was assessed with vehicle-borne data. Results demonstrated that (1) the position RMS (Root Mean Square) of BSSD PPP are 64.33 cm, 53.47 cm, and 154.11 cm. Compared with BSSD PPP, about 31.2%, 23.3%, and 27.3% position improvements can be achieved by using INS. Further enhancements of position RMS benefiting from the odometer are 1.34%, 1.41%, and 1.73% in the three directions. (2) Anyway, the accuracy of BSSD PPP/INS/Odometer tightly coupled integration is slightly higher than that of undifferenced PPP/INS/Odometer integration, with average improvement percentages of 7.71%, 3.09%, and 0.27%. Meanwhile, the performance of BSSD PPP/INS/Odometer integration during the periods with satellite outages is better than the undifferenced PPP-based solutions. (3) The improvements in attitudes from an odometer are more significant on heading angle than the other two attitudes, with percentages of 25.00%. (4) During frequent GNSS outage periods, the reduction in average maximum position drifts provided by INS are 18.01%, 8.95%, and 20.74%. After integrating with an odometer, the drifts can be furtherly decreased by 25.11%, 15.96%, and 20.69%. For attitude, about 41.67% reduction in average maximum drifts of heading angles is obtained.