Navigation System and Method of Obtaining Accurate Navigational Information in Signal Challenging Environments

A navigation system comprising:

• a GPS receiver to receive satellite signals, correlate said received signals with generated signals to track said satellite signals and produce signal components based on said correlation;
• a navigation unit to control said receiver to track said location signals and to produce a navigation solution based on said sensor measurements and said signal components, wherein said navigation unit includes a processor including:
• a regulator module to receive navigation solution information and produce control adjustments for said signal components to apply a stochastic control law to control reliance by said navigation unit on navigation estimates and sensor measurements for determining said navigation solution, wherein said control adjustments are applied to said signal components provided to said navigation unit and navigation solution information is provided to said GPS receiver to control generation of said generated signals for tracking of said location signals.

A method of determining a navigation solution within a navigation system including a GPS receiver, a plurality of sensors to provide sensor measurements pertaining to said navigation system and a processor to control said receiver to track said location signals and to produce said navigation solution, said method comprising:

• (a) receiving satellite signals, correlating said received signals with generated signals to track said satellite signals and producing signal components based on said correlation;
• (b) determining a navigation solution and producing control adjustments for said signal components based on navigation solution information to apply a stochastic control law to control reliance by said navigation system on navigation estimates and sensor measurements for determining said navigation solution, wherein said control adjustments are applied to said signal components and navigation solution information is provided to said GPS receiver to control generation of said generated signals for tracking of said location signals.

A method of compensating for sensor errors in a sensor system including a plurality of inertial sensors to provide sensor measurements and a processor to receive inputs and produce outputs based on said measurements, said method comprising:

• (a) receiving information pertaining to said outputs and producing compensation adjustments for said inputs to compensate for errors within said sensor measurements by bounding an inertial error growth rate of said sensors, wherein said compensation adjustments are applied to said inputs.