Galileo: the added value for integrity in harsh environments

A global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based navigation is a challenging task in a signal-degraded environments where GNSS signals are distorted by multipath and attenuated by fading effects: the navigation solution may be inaccurate or unavailable. A possible approach to improve accuracy and availability is the joint use of measurements from different GNSSs and quality check algorithms; this approach is investigated here using live GPS and Galileo signals. A modified receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithm, including geometry and separability checks, is proposed to detect and exclude erroneous measurements: the multi-constellation approach provides redundant measurements, and RAIM exploits them to exclude distorted observations. The synergy between combined GPS/Galileo navigation and RAIM is analyzed using live data; the performance is compared to the accuracy and availability of a GPS-only solution. The tests performed demonstrate that the methods developed are effective techniques for GNSS-based navigation in signal-degraded environments. The joint use of the multi-constellation approach and of modified RAIM algorithms improves the performance of the navigation system in terms of both accuracy and availability.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

Stand-alone and Hybrid Positioning using Asynchronous Pseudolites

Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers are usually unable to achieve satisfactory performance in difficult environments, such as open-pit mines, urban canyons and indoors. Pseudolites have the potential to extend GNSS usage and significantly improve receiver performance in such environments by providing additional navigation signals. This also applies to asynchronous pseudolite systems, where different pseudolites operate in an independent way. Asynchronous pseudolite systems require, however, dedicated strategies in order to properly integrate GNSS and pseudolite measurements. In this paper, several asynchronous pseudolite/GNSS integration strategies are considered: loosely- and tightly-coupled approaches are developed and combined with pseudolite proximity and receiver signal strength (RSS)-based positioning. The performance of the approaches proposed has been tested in different scenarios, including static and kinematic conditions. The tests performed demonstrate that the methods developed are effective techniques for integrating heterogeneous measurements from different sources, such as asynchronous pseudolites and GNSS.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

A Galileo IOV Assessment: Measurement and Position Domain

The European GNSS, Galileo, is currently in its In-Orbit Validation (IOV) phase where four satellites are finally available for computing the user position. In this phase, the analysis of the measurements and Position Velocity and Time (PVT) obtained from the IOV satellites can provide insight on the potentialities of the Galileo system. A methodology is suggested for the analysis of the Galileo IOV pseudorange and pseudorange rates collected from the E1 and E5 frequencies. Several days of data were collected and processed to determine figures of merits such as RMS and maximum errors of the Galileo observables. From the analysis, it emerges that Galileo is able to achieve better accuracy with respect to GPS. A thorough analysis of the PVT performance is also achieved using broadcast ephemerides. Galileo and GPS PVTs are compared under similar geometry conditions showing the potential of the Galileo system.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

An Experimental Evaluation of the GNSS Jamming Threat

Jamming is the act of intentionally directing a disturbing electromagnetic wave towards a communication system in order to disrupt or prevent signal reception. Jamming is becoming a serious threat for several services including Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) where it is used to prevent the computation of the user position. This paper describes the joint efforts of the European Commission (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) and of the Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport of the University of Ljubljana to experimentally evaluate the GNSS jamming threat. In particular several experiments have been conducted in order to build a library of scenarios for the evaluation of jamming detection and mitigation techniques. Data containing jamming signals have been collected in the JRC anechoic chamber and different approaches have been compared for the detection of jamming signals. The analysis shows a good coherence among the different detection metrics considered.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

Europe's Space capabilities for the benefit of the Arctic

In recent years, the Arctic region has acquired an increasing environmental, social, economic and strategic importance. The Arctic’s fragile environment is both a direct and key indicator of the climate change and requires specific mitigation and adaptation actions. The EU has a clear strategic interest in playing a key role and is actively responding to the impacts of climate change safeguarding the Arctic’s fragile ecosystem, ensuring a sustainable development, particularly in the European part of the Arctic. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has recently completed a study aimed at identifying the capabilities and relevant synergies across the four domains of the EU Space Programme: earth observation, satellite navigation, satellite communications, and space situational awareness (SSA). These synergies are expected to be key enablers of new services that will have a high societal impact in the region, which could be developed in a more cost-efficient and rapid manner. Similarly, synergies will also help exploit to its full extent operational services that are already deployed in the Arctic (e.g., the Copernicus emergency service or the Galileo Search and rescue service could greatly benefit from improved satellite communications connectivity in the region).JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

T-RAIM Approaches: Testing with Galileo Measurements

Several applications rely on time retrieved from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and this pushes for integrity tailored to timing. Integrity information could be broadcast by GNSS itself, but currently, there are no GNSSs providing such integrity information for a timing application. The integrity provided by GNSS itself could not be timely enough for real time users and does not include local effects due to multipath or other local interferences. In order to fill the gap, integrity can be locally/autonomously computed by the receiver using Timing Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (T-RAIM) algorithms. Three T-RAIM algorithms have been designed, implemented, and tested; specifically, the algorithms are Forward-Backward (FB), Danish, and Subset. The algorithms are applied to the classical Position Velocity and Timing (PVT) solution and to the time-only case assuming the receiver coordinates are known. Tests using two identical receivers located in different scenarios, open-sky and obstructed, have been carried out to validate the algorithms proposed. The increased redundancy obtained from the knowledge of the receiver coordinates play a fundamental role for the integrity algorithms performance. The benefits of the T-RAIM algorithms activation, in signal degraded conditions, clearly emerged in terms of frequency error and Allan Deviation (ADEV). A small increase of the execution time has been observed when the T-RAIM algorithms are used

NeQuick-G and Android Devices: A Compromise between Computational Burden and Accuracy

Ionospheric delay is one of the largest errors affecting Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning in open-sky conditions, and different methods are currently available for mitigating ionospheric effects including dual-frequency measurements and corrections from augmentation systems. For single-frequency standalone receivers, the most widely used approach to correct ionospheric delays is to rely on a model. In this respect, Klobuchar and NeQuick-G Ionospheric Correction Algorithms (ICAs) are the approaches adopted by GPS and Galileo, respectively. While the latter outperforms the Klobuchar model, it requires a significantly higher computational load, which can limit its exploitation in some market segments such as smartphones. In order to foster adoption of the NeQuick-G model in this type of device, a smart application of NeQuick-G is proposed. The solution relies on the assumption that ionospheric delays are practically constant over short time intervals. Thus, the update rate of the ionospheric correction computation can be significantly reduced. This solution was implemented, tested, and evaluated using real data collected with a static smartphone in an ad hoc set-up. The impact of reducing the ionospheric correction update rate has been evaluated in terms of processing time, of ionospheric correction deviations and in the Ranging Error (RE) and position domains. The analysis shows that a significant reduction of the processing time can be obtained with negligible degradation of the navigation solution

A Dual-antenna Spoofing Detection System Using GNSS Commercial Receivers

A new class of spoofing detectors, based on the availability of carrier phase measurements from two separate antennas, has been derived and implemented on a real-time platform using two Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) GPS receivers. The approach developed is general and does not make any assumption on the geometry of the system. Moreover, no dedicated hardware is required in addition to the two mentioned receivers: the two devices operate independently without sharing a common oscillator. The binary messages from the two receivers are processed in real-time by a software platform which computes the detector decision statistic. Several tests have been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the system: from the analysis it emerges that the platform developed is an effective low-cost solution for the detection of spoofing attacks.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

Multi-Constellation T-RAIM: an Experimental Evaluation

Time-Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (T-RAIM) algorithms assess the reliability of the timing solution provided by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) timing receiver. Timing receivers process GNSS observables under the assumption that their antenna is static or that their position is known. In this way, additional redundancy is obtained with respect to the standard Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) framework. This paper describes a potential T-RAIM approach developed in a multi-constellation context. Measurements from several GNSS constellations provide increased redundancy at the cost of an increased system complexity. In this respect, timing receivers have to take into account Inter-System (IS) biases and drifts between different GNSS time scales. Several configurations are considered and compared. The benefits brought by multi-constellation T-RAIM are demonstrated using real GPS and Galileo measurements collected in a harsh propagation environment.JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

Galileo: The Added Value for Integrity in Harsh Environments

A global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based navigation is a challenging task in a signal-degraded environments where GNSS signals are distorted by multipath and attenuated by fading effects: the navigation solution may be inaccurate or unavailable. A possible approach to improve accuracy and availability is the joint use of measurements from different GNSSs and quality check algorithms; this approach is investigated here using live GPS and Galileo signals. A modified receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithm, including geometry and separability checks, is proposed to detect and exclude erroneous measurements: the multi-constellation approach provides redundant measurements, and RAIM exploits them to exclude distorted observations. The synergy between combined GPS/Galileo navigation and RAIM is analyzed using live data; the performance is compared to the accuracy and availability of a GPS-only solution. The tests performed demonstrate that the methods developed are effective techniques for GNSS-based navigation in signal-degraded environments. The joint use of the multi-constellation approach and of modified RAIM algorithms improves the performance of the navigation system in terms of both accuracy and availability