Breaking the Cyclic Prefix Barrier: Zero-Padding Correlation Enables Centimeter-Accurate LEO Navigation via 5G NR Signals

• Published in: Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 17; no. 13; p. 2116
• Main Authors: Deng, Lingyu, Yang, Yikang, Ma, Jiangang, Wu, Tao, Qian, Xingyou, Li, Hengnian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2025
• Subjects: 5G mobile communication; Accuracy; Artificial satellites; Communication; Earth orbits; Electronics in navigation; Extended Kalman filter; Global navigation satellite system; integrated communication and navigation; Localization; low Earth orbit (LEO); Low earth orbit satellites; Low earth orbits; Machine learning; navigation; navigation receiver; Navigation systems; new radio (NR); OFDM; Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing; Power spectral density; Real time; Receivers & amplifiers; Satellite tracking; Satellites; Simulation; Simulation methods; Spectrum allocation; China; New Jersey
• ISSN: 2072-4292; 2072-4292
• DOI: 10.3390/rs17132116

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites offer a revolutionary potential for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services due to their stronger signal power and rapid geometric changes compared to traditional global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). However, dedicated LEO navigation systems face high costs, so opportunity navigation based on LEO satellites is a potential solution. This paper presents an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based LEO navigation system and analyzes its navigation performance. We use 5G new radio (NR) as the satellite transmitting signal and introduce the NR signal components that can be used for navigation services. The LEO NR system and a novel zero-padding correlation (ZPC) are introduced. This ZPC receiver can eliminate cyclic prefix (CP) and inter-carrier interference, thereby improving tracking accuracy. The power spectral density (PSD) for the NR navigation signal is derived, followed by a comprehensive analysis of tracking accuracy under different NR configurations (bandwidth, spectral allocation, and signal components). An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed to fuse pseudorange and pseudorange rate measurements for real-time positioning. The simulations demonstrate an 80% improvement in ranging precision (3.0–4.5 cm) and 88.3% enhancement in positioning accuracy (5.61 cm) compared to conventional receivers. The proposed ZPC receiver can achieve centimeter-level navigation accuracy. This work comprehensively analyzes the navigation performance of the LEO NR system and provides a reference for LEO PNT design.