Beyond GNSS: Leveraging LEO Satellite Signals of Opportunity for Doppler Positioning
Abstract
Large constellations of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites provide ubiquitous global connectivity; yet, their rapid motion introduces significant Doppler shift effects. While challenging for communication, these effects can be leveraged for precise user terminal (UT) positioning, particularly in GNSS-denied environments where traditional satellite-based navigation struggles. Unlike GNSS, most LEO satellites lack dedicated navigation signals, motivating signals-of-opportunity (SOPs) approaches that repurpose existing LEO signals and use publicly available two-line element (TLE) files for orbital information, although ephemeris errors can limit accuracy. This article explores the fundamental principles, challenges, and enabling technologies for LEO-based Doppler shift positioning, highlighting its advantages over conventional non-Doppler methods, and discussing future research directions. Furthermore, to facilitate realistic and reproducible performance evaluation beyond stochastic modeling, we propose SionnaNTN-RT, a ray tracing framework for non-terrestrial network (NTN) built upon Sionna, enabling end-to-end simulation of Doppler-based positioning. Simulation results demonstrate that Doppler-based positioning can achieve high positioning accuracy in both urban and open-sky environments, highlighting its promise for next-generation positioning systems.
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BibTeX
@misc{hasan2026beyond,
title = {{Beyond GNSS: Leveraging LEO Satellite Signals of Opportunity for Doppler Positioning}},
author = {Md. Ali Hasan and M. Humayun Kabir and Sangmin Han and Wonjae Shin and H. Vincent Poor},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.03440},
eprint = {2611.03440},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.03440},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Beyond GNSS: Leveraging LEO Satellite Signals of Opportunity for Doppler Positioning
AU - Md. Ali Hasan
AU - M. Humayun Kabir
AU - Sangmin Han
AU - Wonjae Shin
AU - H. Vincent Poor
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.03440
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.03440
AB - Large constellations of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites provide ubiquitous global connectivity; yet, their rapid motion introduces significant Doppler shift effects. While challenging for communication, these effects can be leveraged for precise user terminal (UT) positioning, particularly in GNSS-denied environments where traditional satellite-based navigation struggles. Unlike GNSS, most LEO satellites lack dedicated navigation signals, motivating signals-of-opportunity (SOPs) approaches that repurpose existing LEO signals and use publicly available two-line element (TLE) files for orbital information, although ephemeris errors can limit accuracy. This article explores the fundamental principles, challenges, and enabling technologies for LEO-based Doppler shift positioning, highlighting its advantages over conventional non-Doppler methods, and discussing future research directions. Furthermore, to facilitate realistic and reproducible performance evaluation beyond stochastic modeling, we propose SionnaNTN-RT, a ray tracing framework for non-terrestrial network (NTN) built upon Sionna, enabling end-to-end simulation of Doppler-based positioning. Simulation results demonstrate that Doppler-based positioning can achieve high positioning accuracy in both urban and open-sky environments, highlighting its promise for next-generation positioning systems.
ER -