Patent ID: 7119741

Claim:
A method for determining a floating ambiguity value corresponding to a carrier-phase measurement obtained by a user of a satellite positioning system based on signals received from one of a plurality of satellites, the method comprising: determining a position of the user; computing a theoretical range from the user to the satellite based on the position of the user; computing an initial ambiguity value based on the theoretical range and the carrier-phase measurement; and determining the floating ambiguity value using the initial ambiguity value, wherein determining the floating ambiguity value includes adjusting a carrier-phase measurement at each of a series of measurement epochs using the initial ambiguity value, the floating ambiguity value is computed using the adjusted carrier-phase measurements, and wherein the floating ambiguity value is computed by taking an expanding average including a plurality of offsets between the adjusted carrier-phase measurement and a corresponding code measurement at each of the series of measurement epochs.