A COVERAGE PREDICTION MODEL FOR RADIO BEACON DIFFERENTIAL SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

David Last and Dorothy Poppe

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	Coastal radio beacon stations are now widely used to transmit corrections for differential satellite navigation systems (DSNS). The paper describes a computer model developed for predicting the stations’ coverage areas: the regions in which all the key parameters of the signal, field strength, signal-to-noise ratio, and signal-to-interference ratio meet the minimum values specified for an internationally acceptable service. Each parameter is examined, and the factors that control it are elucidated. Groundwave and skywave field strengths of signals and atmospheric noise intensity are derived from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data. The fading of the radio beacon signal at night as a result of skywave propagation is taken into account. The model also predicts the levels of interference from cochannel and adjacent-channel beacons received via groundwave and skywave propagation, which commonly limits coverage in Europe. The paper presents coverage prediction diagrams for Europe and the Middle East produced using the model.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 43, Number 4
Pages:	451 - 468
Cite this article:	Export Citation https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-4296.1996.tb01932.x
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