Software receiver has become a research hotspot in the satellite positioning receiver field because of its good universality, flexibility, and positioning performance. The structural features of software receiver and the current research status at home and abroad are formulated, and the structures and performance of PC-based, DSP(digital signal processor)-based, FPGA(field programmable gate array)-based and FPGA+DSP-based software receivers are compared and analyzed. It is pointed out that the FPGA+DSP- and DSP-based implementation can better demonstrate the advantages of software receiver, and realize its real application. Finally, the development directions of software receiver in the future and its application prospect in unmanned driving technology are put forward. The paper can provide theoretical references for software receiver's research and application.