Detection of RINEX-2 Files With Mixed GPS L2P(Y)/L2C Carrier Phase Observations

Presently, the global positioning system (GPS) satellite constellation consists of 40% older Block IIA and IIR space vehicles and 60% newer IIR-M and IIF satellites. Only newer GPS satellites are capable of transmitting the L2C signal which is in quadrature to the legacy L2P(Y) signal being broadcast by all satellites. The data format RINEX-2 is not prepared to contain carrier phase observations of both L2 signals, but should contain either one or the other. If a mix of unaligned L2P(Y) and L2C carrier phase observations are stored in a RINEX-2 file, the quarter cycle bias causes the file to be defective and not usable for precise positioning purposes. Algorithms that detect such files are presented in this study. They are mainly based on the analysis of widelane fractional ambiguities and were applied to RINEX-2 files of 2624 reference stations. Seventy-two station files (2.7%) were found to be defective since they contained mixed and unaligned L2P(Y) and L2C carrier phase observations. If such files are used for precise positioning with ambiguities being fixed to integer values, resulting coordinate errors in long baselines can reach centimeter levels. Unaligned L2 observations often prevent ambiguity fixing, especially in short baselines.