Environmental Context Indicator for Evaluating Quality of GNSS Observation Environment Using Android Smartphone

Abstract

With location-based services becoming more common, smartphone global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) have begun to play a significant role in daily life. Providing reliable location information to smartphone users requires considering localization uncertainty, which varies with the surrounding environment. In this study, we developed an environmental context indicator (ECI) to provide interpretable, continuous information on GNSS observation quality using carrier-to-noise density ratio (C/N₀), the number of visible satellites, and positional dilution of precision (PDOP). The ECI was developed using a Samsung Galaxy S21+ and satellite signals from global positioning system (GPS) L1/L5, Galileo E1/E5, and BeiDou B1, consisting of three components: a real-valued indicator ranging from 0 to 6, an integer-valued indicator ranging from 1 to 5, and a probability density ratio representing the reliability of the integer-valued indicator. In experimental results, the ECI reflected the variations in the observation environment and corresponding quality changes. ECI values were lowest in open areas, increasing when approaching an urban area, and reaching their maximum in indoor environments where signal reception is severely limited. Consequently, ECI was influenced by building density, exhibiting large and frequent changes, particularly in urban areas.

Keywords: C/N0; ECI; GNSS; PDOP; environmental context; smartphone.