We analyze the advantages and drawbacks of a vector
delay/frequency-locked loop (VDFLL) architecture regarding
the conventional scalar and the vector delay-locked loop (VDLL)
architectures for GNSS receivers in harsh scenarios that include
ionospheric scintillation, multipath, and high dynamics motion.
The VDFLL is constituted by a bank of code and frequency
discriminators feeding a central extended Kalman filter (EKF)
that estimates the receiver’s position, velocity, and clock bias.
Both code and frequency loops are closed vectorially through the
EKF. The VDLL closes the code loop vectorially and the phase
loops through individual PLLs while the scalar receiver closes
both loops by means of individual independent PLLs and DLLs.