Universality and Realistic Extensions to the Semi-Analytic Simulation Principle in GNSS Signal Processing

Semi-analytic simulation principle in GNSS signal processing bypasses the bit-true operations at high sampling frequency. Instead, signals at the output branches of the integrate&dump blocks are successfully modeled, thus making extensive Monte Carlo simulations feasible. Methods for simulations of code and carrier tracking loops with BPSK, BOC signals have been introduced in the literature. Matlab toolboxes were designed and published. In this paper, we further extend the applicability of the approach. Firstly, we describe any GNSS signal as a special instance of linear multi-dimensional modulation. Thereby, we state universal framework for classification of differently modulated signals. Using such description, we derive the semi-analytic models generally. Secondly, we extend the model for realistic scenarios including delay in the feed back, slowly fading multipath effects, finite bandwidth, phase noise, and a combination of these. Finally, a discussion on connection of this semi-analytic model and position-velocity-time estimator is delivered, as well as comparison of theoretical and simulated characteristics, produced by a prototype simulator developed at CTU in Prague

Software Simulator and Signal Analysis for Galileo E5 band Signals

Galileo is the European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) that aims at providing high availability, increased accuracy, and various location services under the civilian control. Four in-orbit validation satellites have already been launched till date and the system is estimated to be fully deployed by the year 2020. The Galileo navigation signals are transmitted at four frequency bands, which are named E5a, E5b, E6, and E1 bands. The signal of interest in this thesis is Galileo E5a band and Galileo E5b band signals. Signal acquisition and signal tracking are the main functions in a GNSS receiver. Acquisition identifies all the visible satellites and estimates the coarse values of carrier frequency and code phase estimates of the satellite signal. Tracking refines the coarse carrier frequency and code phase estimates, and keeps track of the satellite. The objective of this thesis has been to design and implement Galileo E5a and E5b signals receiver which can acquire all the visible E5a and E5b signals and which gives coarse estimate of carrier frequency and code phase. Such a receiver has been successfully designed in Matlab starting from the Matlab initial files provided by the Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI) provided tool. In this thesis, two different software implementations are analyzed: 1) The acquisition and tracking of simulated Galileo E5a signals generated in the Matlab Simulink E1-E5 model; and 2) The acquisition of real-time Galileo E5b signals received from the satellite provided by Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI), Masala, Finland. In the Simulink implementation, the whole E5 signal is generated and propagated through different channel profiles. The received signals are tested with acquisition and tracking and the results are compared for different channel profile and Carrier-to-Noise density ratio. Similarly, the real-time Galileo signals from four satellites now available on sky from the Galileo constellation were received and performed acquisition. In both implementations, a sharp triangular peak was observed at the rough frequency and code phase estimates, proving that the Galileo E5a/b signals can be indeed acquired correctly with the implemented simulator

Delay Trackers for Galileo CBOC Modulated Signals and Their Simulink-based Implementations

Galileo will be the future European Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs), which is going to provide high availability, increased accuracy and various location services. This new satellite system proposes the use of a new modulation, namely the Composite Binary Offset Carrier (CBOC) modulation, which motivates the research on GNSS receiver with this new modulation. Code tracking is one of the main functions in a GNSS receiver and its task is to give an accurate estimation of the code delay. The accuracy of this code delay estimation is strictly connected with the accuracy of user position computation. One typical code tracking structure is the code tracking loop. The code tracking algorithms or delay trackers used in code tracking loop are the main aspect, which affects the performance of code tracking loop. Various typical delay trackers are studied in this thesis. Simulation is one important issue in the design and analysis of any communication system or navigation system. One method for testing delay trackers and effects from different tracking algorithms can be realized in the simulation tool, such as a software receiver. The simulation tool makes it convenient to test various algorithms used in the receiver and to investigate the receiver performance before the algorithms are built in the real devices. On the other hand, the implementation of delay trackers in a software receiver can be also helpful for further developing the simulation tool. The goal of this thesis has been to develop and analyze the implementations of various code delay trackers for Galileo systems via Simulink tool. The analysis has also helped to further develop the model in order to include realistic receiver constraints for mass-market application. The performance of the delay trackers is measured in terms of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), tracking error variance and Multipath Error Envelopes (MEEs). /Kir1

IF-level signal-processing of GPS and Galileo Radionavigation signals using MATLAB/Simulink®: Including Effects of Interference and Multipath

Open-source GNSS simulator models are rare and somewhat difficult to find. Therefore, Laboratory of Electronics and Communications Engineering in the former Tampere University of Technology (and now Tampere University, Hervanta Campus) has took it upon itself to develop, from time to time, a free and open-source simulator model based on MATLAB/Simulink® for signal processing of a carefully selected set of GNSS radionavigation signals, namely, Galileo E1, Galileo E5, GPS L1, and GPS L5. This M.Sc. thesis is the culmination of those years which have been spent intermittently on research and development of that simulator model. The first half of this M.Sc. thesis is a literature review of some topics which are believed to be of relevance to the thesis’s second half which is in turn more closely associated with documenting the simulator model in question. In particular, the literature review part presents the reader with a plethora of GNSS topics ranging from history of GNSS technology to characteristics of existing radionavigation signals and, last but not least, compatibility and interoperability issues among existing GNSS constellations. While referring to the GNSS theory whenever necessary, the second half is, however, mainly focused on describing the inner-workings of the simulator model from the standpoint of software implementations. Finally, the second half, and thereby the thesis, is concluded with a presentation of various statistical results concerning signal acquisition’s probabilities of detection and false-alarm, in addition to signal tracking’s RMSE

NLOS mitigation techniques in GNSS receivers based on Level Crossing Rates (LCR) of correlation outputs

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide navigation services with a highly precise estimation of the position. First military influenced, the use of satellite-based positioning has gained a lot of interest also in civilian tasks nowadays. Because the GNSS performance has been improved over the years, the state-of-the-art GNSS navigation does include indoor positioning and moving autonomously with help of GNSS. The accuracy, which essentially has to be high, can be disturbed by multipath (e.g. diffraction, reflection, refraction or scattering). A possibility to detect multipath, and possibly to avoid those signals in the position solution, is totally necessary. A non-direct signal, namely Non-Light-of-Sight (NLOS), can lead to low accuracy of the positioning. Therefore, this thesis is dealing with the NLOS detection by using the Level Crossing Rate (LCR), which has been used in electronic communication such as Wifi. The thesis is divided in two parts, including a literature review part, following by a simulation of the developed detection technique. All basic knowledge about this work can be extracted from the literature part. In the simulation section, several tests will be provided, done by Matlab simulations. To perform a realistic GNSS signal, a dynamic Galileo Composite Binary Offset Carrier (CBOC) signal was produced

Design and development of a technological demonstrator for the study of high dynamics GNSS receivers

[ES] En el marco de esta tesis se van a estudiar, principalmente, los efectos del movimiento de alta dinámica en receptores de Sistemas Globales de Navegación por Satélite (GNSS). El término alta dinámica es un término utilizado para referirse al movimiento de los vehículos en los que van embarcados receptores GNSS, los cuales se mueven lo suficientemente rápido como para causar un gran desplazamiento en frecuencia de la portadora debido al efecto Doppler. Se identificarán los problemas inherentes a este tipo de entornos y se estudiarán y propondrán soluciones. Para poder efectuar el estudio de estos fenómenos, se diseñará un demostrador tecnológico (conjunto de hardware y software para prueba y prototipado de tecnologías) en el que desarrollar el estudio de los casos de interés. Con el fin de trabajar en un entorno repetible, se utilizará un generador de señal GNSS. La señal generada se traslada a un receptor de radiofrecuencia definido por software, Software Defined Radio (SDR). Este tipo de receptor únicamente se encarga de digitalizar la señal de entrada y de llevar las muestras digitales a un ordenador, de modo que todo el procesado de señal se implementa en dicho ordenador. Este esquema de trabajo es ideal habida cuenta de su simplicidad y flexibilidad. Dicha flexibilidad conlleva la posibilidad de sintonizar el demostrador para poder estudiar una amplia gama de arquitecturas de receptor GNSS. Una vez se haya ensamblado el demostrador, se comprobará su correcto funcionamiento en escenarios conocidos usando los algoritmos más utilizados a día de hoy en receptores GNSS. Asegurado el correcto funcionamiento, se comparará el rendimiento de algoritmos de referencia con los algoritmos a estudiar y se extraerán conclusiones.[CA] En aquest treball s'estudiaran, principalment, els efectes del moviment d'alta dinámica en receptors de Navegació per Satèl.lit GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). La denominació alta dinámica, s'utilitza per a descriure el moviment dels vehicles dins dels quals hi han receptors GNSS. El moviment d'aquests vehicles és suficientment ràpid com per a causar un gran desplaçament en freqüència de la freqüència portadora. Aquest desplaçament és consqüència de l'efecte Doppler. S'identificaran els problemes inherents d'aquest tipus de entorns GNSS i es propsararàn solucions. Per a estudiar l'efecte de l'alta dinàmica, es dissenyarà un demostrador tecnològic (conjunt de maquinari i software per a proves i prototipat de tecnologies) en que es pot desenvolupar l'estudi dels casos d'interès. Amb l'objectiu d'aconseguir treballar en un entorn repetible s'utilitzarà un generador de senyal GNSS. El senyal es processarà mitjançant un receptor SDR (Software Defined Radio). Aquest tipus de receptor s'encarrega del processat que fa un receptor GNSS en un PC. Aquesta filosofia de treball és idónia per la seua flexibilitat i simplicitat. Quan s'haja ensamblat el demostrador, és comprovarà el seu correct funcionament en escenaris de prova utilitzant els algoritmes implementats en receptors GNSS comercials. En aquest moment, el demostrador estarà preparat per a estudiar el casos d'alta dinàmica, que és l'objectiu fonamental d'aquest treball.[EN] The study of the effects of the high dynamics on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers constitute the main matter of study in this work. The term high dynamics refers to the movement of vehicles that carry GNSS embedded receivers, which move fast enough to generate a large carrier frequency drift caused by the Doppler effect. The problems linked to these environments will be characterized and solutions to counteract possible signal impairments will be discussed. In order to correctly characterize these problems, a technological demonstrator (set of hardware components interacting with software tools enabling fast prototyping) will be designed and constructed. Using this technological demonstrator, different case studies will be developed. With the aim of achieving experimental repeatability, a GNSS signal generator will be used. The generated GNSS signal is fed to a Software Defined Radio (SDR) GNSS receiver. This receiver type is in charge of digitizing the analog RF signal and carrying the resulting samples to a computer in which signal processing tasks implementing the functions of GNSS receivers, take place. The main advantage linked to the usage of this work scheme is that by changing the software part, different receiver architectures can be implemented in a simple manner. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the flexible architecture it is possible to tune the detector in such a manner that it is possible to implement many different architecture types. Once the technological demonstrator is assembled, tests to assure its correct operation will be conducted by performing comparisons with the behaviour of well-known GNSS receivers in known scenarios. Later on, comparative tests using signals from high dynamics scenarios will take place. Insight and analysis of comparative performance will be given.Alcaide Guillén, C. (2019). Design and development of a technological demonstrator for the study of high dynamics GNSS receivers [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/131697TESI

Position, velocity and time measurement with multiple constellation data from GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS and BEIDOU

Il presente lavoro si propone di illustrare la teoria, il metodo e le modalità del calcolo della PVT, ovvero della posizione, della velocità e del sincronismo temporale, di un utente sulla Terra o di un satellite in orbita bassa (dotato di ricevitore multiGNSS), utilizzando un software integrato che sfrutti tutti i segnali provenienti da tutte le costellazioni a copertura globale in quel momento visibili. Nel caso presente si sono utilizzati i segnali da GPS, Galileo, GLONASS e BeiDou, rilevati grazie ad un ricevitore fornito dall'Università di Padova (STONEX S580), sia per la determinazione della posizione, sia per implementare il calcolo della velocità attraverso l'effetto Doppler. Questo lavoro, in futuro, potrebbe portare a contributi nello sviluppo di tecnologie innovative in molti settori, quali: navigazione autonoma e trasporti, difesa e aerospazio, agricoltura e molti altri.This work intends to outline the theory and the methods for the computation of position, velocity and time (PVT) of a user on the surface of the Earth or of a LEO satellite (Low Earth Orbit). An integrated software written in MATLAB and PERL has been used; it processes all the signals transmitted by all the constellations visible in that precise moment and in that precise place. The software's core uses the Weighted Least Squares algorithm, which permits the efficient computation of position, speed, timing and tropospheric delay in a few iterations. In this thesis, signals from GPS, Galileo, BeiDou and GLONASS have been used, specifically for the computation of the speed, which is calculated from the Doppler Effect. These signals were detected through a receiver STONEX Cube-a S580 provided by the University of Padua. A good precision in determination of both positioning and speed has been achieved and also the PNT of a LEO satellite (Sentinel 3A) has been determined successfully, using data also to study J2 perturbations on the orbit. The principal aim of this thesis is to provide an efficient and precise software able to process pseudorange and Doppler shift multi-constellation data, to enhance, in its future evolutions, the precise positioning of a receiver on Earth's surface and in orbit, with interesting applications in many different fields such as defence, transportations and automotive, attitude determination in space and many others

Simulink-Based Acquisition Unit for Galileo E1 CBOC Modulated Signals

At the moment, Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only positioning system with global coverage. Currently, there are efforts to modernize GPS with the aim of improving its performance. Meanwhile, Europe is developing its own satellite positioning system, GALILEO. In order to provide interoperability with GPS and globally available navigational systems, new modulation techniques have been introduced. Multiplexed Binary-Offset-Carrier (MBOC) modulated signals are the main candidates for the future Galileo Open Services (OS) and modernized GPS L1C signals. Spreading waveforms corresponding to pilot and data components can be formed in a number of ways, including Composite Binary Offset Carrier (CBOC) and Time-Multiplexed Binary Offset Carrier (TMBOC). CBOC is considered here because CBOC has been selected for Galileo E1 OS signals in the most recent Galileo SIS-ICD of 2008. This new composition of E1 signal allows different techniques for acquiring the signal, i.e. data-only channel, pilot-only channel and joint data and pilot channel. The MBOC(6,1,1/11) power spectral density (PSD) has better performance than SinBOC(1,1) power spectral density because it is a mixture of BOC(1,1) spectrum and BOC(6,1) spectrum. MBOC modulation schemes also bring new challenges due to additional side lobes in the envelope of the Autocorrelation Function (ACF) compared with the traditional BPSK modulation used in the basic GPS signals, which make the signal acquisition process challenging. In order to deal with the side lobes, the steps ‘Δtbin’ for searching the time-bin search space should be chosen carefully. The goal of this thesis has been to develop an acquisition unit based on CBOC reference code and analyze the performance of new acquisition unit in terms of acquisition performance because MBOC signal has better power spectral density compared to SinBOC(1,1) signal. A brief study about the choice of the time-bin step ‘Δtbin’ for searching the time-frequency window has been studied. Three different strategies have been used to acquire the signal and results are presented for each approach. The switching architecture model has introduced in the transmitter part which operates at dual frequency are also addressed under the scope of this thesis. The simulations are carried out with an own developed Simulink model for Galileo OS E1 signals, based on the most recent Galileo Signal-in-Space Interface Control Documentation. Conclusions are drawn with respect to the performance deterioration of a reference SinBOC(1,1) receiver compared to a reference CBOC receiver, and also with respect to different techniques used for acquiring the signal. Comparisons between the infinite bandwidth (theoretical case, typically used in literature) and a limited front-end filter bandwidth of 3 MHz (double-sided bandwidth) are also made. The choice of significant detection threshold in order to detect the signal properly and the performance degradation of the CBOC reference receiver when using switching architecture model in terms of detection probability are also presented. /Kir1

GNSS Signals Acquisition and Tracking in Unfavorable Environment

In this paper, we propose a method based on applying specific transformations to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals received in unfavorable environment. As a result, one simple classical receiver including these adjustments becomes sensitive to several Multi-Constellation and Multi-Frequency (MC/MF) GNSS signals and achieves efficiently their collective acquisition. The proposed method consists of three variants each dedicated to a particular type of Binary Offset Carrier (BOC) family signals; the primary is based on undersampling process, the second is founded on time expansion and the last one permits the acquisition of more than five different GNSS signals by a single local Composite Binary Coded Symbols (CBCS) waveform replica. Hence, the proposed scheme, by avoiding the use of multiple demodulators in the baseband, allows less receiver complexity and accordingly better realization cost. The simulation results showed that the proposed method presents an effective solution for the reception of MC/MF signals in unfavorable environments