Agreed that the explanation is a bit lacking. This uses the phase difference between the signals of multiple pulsars, as indeed the individual pulses are not ma

Agreed that the explanation is a bit lacking. This uses the phase difference between the signals of multiple pulsars, as indeed the individual pulses are not marked with a timestamp like in GPS. Imagine you have two pulsars each with a 1ms signal, that don't move relative to you and emit signals that are in sync at their source. If the tops of both signals overlap at your location, you are in one one of many possible circles that are centered around the line between the pulsars, where the difference in distance to the pulsars is N times 300 km (distance light travels in 1 ms). By adding additional pulsars, you reduce your possible position to a set of points, and finally a single point. To generalize this to a set of pulsars with different timings and for whom you don't know the exact location, you need to know the phase difference for all signals at a given reference point in space and time. The same procedure will then give you your current position and time relative to the reference point.