Impact of GPS acquisition strategy on decision probabilities

The first stage of processing within a GPS receiver consists of the signal acquisition process, the output of which provides a rough estimation of code delay and Doppler frequency. The strong dependence of the acquisition performance on the decision strategy is shown, establishing the role of decision probabilities. Three acquisition strategies are analyzed and a new model describing the performance of a hybrid acquisition system is developed. The theoretical models are validated by simulations, and secondary phenomena, generally neglected in the literature, are also discussed.