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On the context-aware GNSS navigation: test of a k-Nearest Neighbors classifier in different environments
* 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 1, 4
1  International PhD Programme, UNESCO Chair “Environment, Resources and Sustainable Development”, Department of Science and Technology, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale Isola C4, 80143 Naples, Italy;
2  Department of Engineering, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy;
3  European Commission, Joint Research Center
4  Department of Science and Technology, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale Isola C4, 80143 Naples, Italy;
Academic Editor: Tomasz Hadas

Published: 27 September 2025 by MDPI in European Navigation Conference 2025 topic Navigation for the Mass Market
Abstract:

GNSS navigation can be challenging in urban environments, especially when low-cost devices are adopted. Among the possible solutions, in more recent years, approaches based on Machine Learning became popular. In this work features based on geometry, satellite visibility and carrier-to-noise ratio are used in combination with k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN) classifier to distinguish between open-sky and obstructed environments. The purpose of this research is to develop a reliable context classifier, to evaluate its recognition capabilities in static and dynamic environments and to assess its applicability in real-time positioning. Several performance metrics have been used, i.e., accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and multiple tests have been carried out to demonstrate the reliability of such algorithm with validation data. More than 98% of classification accuracy for the static tests has been obtained in average, evidencing the detection capabilities of such an algorithm.

Keywords: GNSS; Machine Learning; Adaptive Navigation; Context-Awareness; kNN;
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