The performance of several GPS carrier tracking loops
is evaluated using wideband GPS data recorded during
strong ionospheric scintillations. The aim of this study is
to determine the loop structures and parameters that enable
good phase tracking during the power fades and phase
dynamics induced by scintillations. Constant-bandwidth
and variable-bandwidth loops are studied using theoretical
models, simulation, and tests with actual GPS signals.
Constant-bandwidth loops with loop bandwidths near 15
Hz are shown to lose phase lock during scintillations. Use
of the decision-directed discriminator reduces the carrier
lock threshold by ∼1 dB relative to the arctangent and conventional Costas discriminators. A proposed variablebandwidth
loop based on a Kalman filter reduces the carrier
lock threshold by more than 7 dB compared to a 15-Hz
constant-bandwidth loop. The Kalman filter-based strategy
employs a soft-decision discriminator, explicitly models
the effects of receiver clock noise, and optimally adapts
the loop bandwidth to the carrier-to-noise ratio. In extensive
simulation and in tests using actual wideband GPS
data, the Kalman filter PLL demonstrates improved cycle
slip immunity relative to constant bandwidth PLLs.Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanic
