Configuration

PPPx reads all of its settings from a human-readable pppx.ini file. Generate a fully-populated default for any solution mode and edit from there:

pppx -x ppp > pppx.ini

A complete default pppx.ini looks like this:

; configuration file for pppx

[session]
interval =                      ; interval (sec)    [ RINEX ]
date     =                      ; year DOY          [ RINEX ]
start    =                      ; hour min sec      [ none ]
end      =                      ; hour min sec      [ none ]

[constellation]
system  = GE                    ; opt: GRECJ        [ GRECJ ]
exclude =                       ; excluded PRNs     [ none ]

[observation]
noise = 0.3 0.002               ; observation noise of code/phase (m) [ 0.3 0.002 ]
; G/R/E/C/J = f1 f2 obs_priority: high -> low
G = 1 2 WPCLSXYMN               ; default: [ 1 2 WPCLSXYMN ]
R = 1 2 PCIQX                   ; default: [ 1 2 PCIQX ]
E = 1 5 XCIQB                   ; default: [ 1 5 XCIQB ]
C = 2 6 IQX                     ; default: [ 2 6 IQX ]
J = 1 2 SLXCZ                   ; default: [ 1 2 SLXCZ ]

[model]
trop = GMF                      ; opt: GMF/VMF1/GPT2w/none      [ GMF ]
iono = IF                       ; opt: IF/brdc/IONEX/none       [ IF ]

[estimation]
sol_mode   = ppp                ; opt: spp/ppp/rtk/tdp          [ ppp ]
pos_mode   = kinematic          ; opt: kinematic/static/fixed   [ kinematic ]
solver     = ekf                ; opt: ekf/fgo/lsq              [ ekf ]
fgo_var    = no                 ; output FGO variance info      [ no ]
weight_opt = elev               ; opt: elev/snr                 [ elev ]
elev_mask  = 7                  ; elevation mask (°)            [ 10 ]
snr_mask   = 35                 ; SNR mask (dB-Hz)              [ 25 ]
site_pos   =                    ; initial position in xyz (m)   [ spp ]
; ppp only
ppp_ar     = no                 ; PPP ambiguity resolution      [ no ]
sf_ppp     = no                 ; single-frequency PPP          [ no ]
slip_det   = ALL                ; opt: off GF MW LLI TDCP ALL   [ ALL ]
pos_pri    = 100 1              ; uncertainty  process_noise    [ 1E+02 1 ]
clk_pri    = 100 100            ;      m         m/sqrt(s)      [ 1E+02 1E+02 ]
isb_pri    = 50  3.2E-04        ;                               [ 5E+01 3.2E-04 ]
ztd_pri    = 0.5 3E-05          ;                               [ 0.5 3E-05 ]
; rtk only
rtk_ar     = yes                ; RTK ambiguity resolution      [ yes ]
glonass_ar = no                 ; AR for GLONASS                [ no ]
base_pos   =                    ; base position in xyz (m)      [ spp ]

[product]
src = precise                                               ; opt: brdc/precise [ precise ]
nav = ./products/BRDC00IGS_R_-YEAR--DOY-0000_01D_MN.rnx     ; broadcast ephemeris       (brdc)
sp3 = ./products/COD0MGXFIN_20221000000_01D_05M_ORB.SP3     ; precise orbit             (precise)
clk = ./products/COD0MGXFIN_20221000000_01D_30S_CLK.CLK     ; precise clock             (precise)
erp = ./products/COD0MGXFIN_20221000000_03D_12H_ERP.ERP     ; earth rotation parameters (precise)
obx = ./products/COD0MGXFIN_20221000000_01D_15M_ATT.OBX     ; satellite attitude        (precise)
bia = ./products/COD0MGXFIN_20221000000_01D_01D_OSB.BIA     ; satellite bias            (precise)
ion = ./products/codg-DOY-0.-YR-i                           ; global ionospheric map    (common)
vmf = ./products/VMFG_-YEAR--DOY-                           ; VMF1 grid                 (common)

[table]
igsatx    = ../../table/igs14.atx
oceanload = ../../table/oceanload
channel   = ../../table/glonass_chn
gpt2w     = ../../table/gpt2_1wA.grd
orography = ../../table/orography_ell

[output]
path  =                 ; the folder where solutions will be stored     [ ./ ]
level = info            ; opt: off/critical/error/warn/info/debug/trace [ info ]

Sections at a glance

Section	Purpose
`[session]`	Processing interval and time window.
`[constellation]`	Which GNSS systems to use and which satellites to exclude.
`[observation]`	Signal/frequency selection, observable priority, and noise.
`[model]`	Tropospheric and ionospheric models.
`[estimation]`	Solution mode, positioning mode, solver, and estimation strategy.
`[product]`	Satellite product source and paths — see Products & Tables.
`[table]`	Paths to table files — see Products & Tables.
`[output]`	Output folder and log level.

The keys most users change are [constellation] system; [estimation] sol_mode, pos_mode, solver; and [product] src (plus the relevant product paths).

`[session]`

[session]
interval =      ; processing interval (sec); ≥ and an integer multiple of the RINEX rate
date     =      ; year DOY; replaces placeholders in [product]; read from RINEX if blank
start    =      ; hour min sec — first epoch (inclusive)
end      =      ; hour min sec — last epoch (inclusive)

The session section of pppx.ini

Leave any field blank to process the whole file epoch-by-epoch. date is used to fill the date placeholders in [product] paths (see below); if blank, it is read from the first RINEX epoch.

`[constellation]`

[constellation]
system  = GE    ; any subset of GRECJ, order/spacing don't matter
exclude =       ; whitespace-separated PRNs to exclude, e.g. G05 E14

The constellation section of pppx.ini

GPS is not mandatory — a Galileo-only solution is perfectly valid.

`[observation]`

[observation]
noise = 0.3 0.002    ; uncombined code / phase noise (m)
G = 1 2 WPCLSXYMN    ; system = f1 f2 observable-priority (high → low)

The observation section of pppx.ini

For each system you specify the two frequencies and the observable-code priority list. The noise values are for uncombined observations; the noise of the ionosphere-free combination is derived from them automatically. The inline comments in the generated file document the available codes.

`[model]`

[model]
trop = GMF    ; opt: GMF / VMF1 / GPT2w / none
iono = IF     ; opt: IF / brdc / IONEX / none

The model section of pppx.ini

Model names are case-sensitive. Notes:

For RTK, both trop and iono are ignored (short baselines cancel the atmospheric delays) — set them to none.
For PPP, iono must be IF (unless you enable single-frequency PPP; see sf_ppp below).
Tide models are not configured here: solid Earth tide, ocean tidal loading, and pole tide are applied for PPP when the needed inputs are available, and are not applied for SPP / RTK / TDP.

`[estimation]`

The most important section. It selects the solution, the estimator, and the estimation strategy.

[estimation]
sol_mode   = ppp         ; spp / ppp / rtk / tdp
pos_mode   = kinematic   ; kinematic / static / fixed
solver     = ekf         ; ekf / fgo / lsq
fgo_var    = no          ; output FGO variance info (slow; off by default)
weight_opt = elev        ; elev / snr
elev_mask  = 7           ; elevation mask (°)
snr_mask   = 35          ; SNR mask (dB-Hz)
site_pos   =             ; initial XYZ (m); computed by SPP if blank
ppp_ar     = no          ; PPP ambiguity resolution (ppp only)
sf_ppp     = no          ; single-frequency PPP with GIM (ppp only)
slip_det   = ALL         ; off / GF / MW / LLI / TDCP / ALL
pos_pri    = 100 1       ; a priori uncertainty  process-noise (position)
clk_pri    = 100 100     ; receiver clock
isb_pri    = 50 3.2E-04  ; inter-system bias
ztd_pri    = 0.5 3E-05   ; zenith tropospheric delay
rtk_ar     = yes         ; RTK ambiguity resolution (rtk only)
glonass_ar = no          ; GLONASS AR (rtk only)
base_pos   =             ; base XYZ (m) for RTK; computed by SPP if blank

The estimation section of pppx.ini

Key fields:

sol_mode / solver compatibility: SPP and TDP support lsq and fgo; PPP and RTK support ekf and fgo.
pos_mode: SPP and TDP are kinematic only.
ppp_ar: enable PPP ambiguity resolution. Requires a valid phase-bias (bia) product; uses LAMBDA (EKF) or rounding (FGO). GLONASS is excluded from AR, and GPS L5 is not supported for PPP-AR.
sf_ppp: single-frequency PPP fixing the ionosphere to a GIM. Dual-frequency observations are still needed for cycle-slip detection; keep ppp_ar = no.
slip_det: cycle-slip detection method. ALL suits most geodetic stations; MW is poor with noisy pseudorange; LLI is the recommendation for smartphone data.
*_pri: a priori uncertainty and process noise for the EKF (position, clock, ISB, ZTD). The EKF estimates a receiver clock for one reference system and ISBs for the others. With solver = fgo only pos_pri and ztd_pri take effect — FGO estimates an individual receiver clock (not an ISB) as white noise for each constellation, so clk_pri and isb_pri are unused.
rtk_ar / glonass_ar: RTK ambiguity resolution, on by default; DD ambiguities are resolved with LAMBDA (ekf) or rounding (fgo). Enable GLONASS AR only when rover and base share the same receiver type.

`[product]` and `[table]`

These two sections point at the satellite products and table files. Their syntax, the broadcast-vs-precise rules, date placeholders, and the list of table files are covered on the Products & Tables page.

`[output]`

[output]
path  =          ; output folder (default: ./)
level = info     ; off / critical / error / warn / info / debug / trace

The output section of pppx.ini

level controls the verbosity of the .log file — see Products & Tables.

Tips

Start from pppx -x <mode> rather than writing pppx.ini from scratch.
Keep a separate pppx.ini per scenario so runs are reproducible.
Relative [product] / [table] paths are resolved against the directory you run pppx from, not the location of pppx.ini.

See Examples for complete, working configurations.

Configuration

Sections at a glance

[session]

[constellation]

[observation]

[model]

[estimation]

[product] and [table]

[output]