3D DOPs for Positioning Applications Using Range Measurements

For terrestrial positioning, some applications require three dimensional coordinates. The Dilution of precisions (DOPs) for position systems using range measurement is reviewed and the average values of DOPs for different deployments of base station geometries are examined. It is shown that to obtain the lowest DOPs, the base stations for different types of positioning systems need to be deployed differently. Changing the N-sided regular polygon to an (N – 1)-sided polygon with one base station in the centre of the polygon can decrease the value of DOP in general for a pseudorange time of arrival (TOA) system but not for an absolute range TOA system. The height of the base station in the centre can also change the DOP significantly. The finding can be used to optimize the deployment of the base stations for range measurement positioning systems.