Multipath mitigation in GNSS-based localization using robust optimization

Abstract

Our paper adapts recent advances in the SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) literature to the problem of multipath mitigation and proposes a novel approach to successfully localize a vehicle despite a significant number of multipath observations. We show that GNSS-based localization problems can be modelled as factor graphs and solved using efficient nonlinear least squares methods that exploit the sparsity inherent in the problem formulation. Using a recently developed novel approach for robust optimization, satellite observations that are subject to multipath errors can be successfully identified and rejected during the optimization process. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach on a real-world urban dataset and compare it to an existing method of multipath detection.