ANALYSIS OF LORAN-C SYSTEM RELIABILITY FOR CIVIL AVIATION

Gene A. Wong

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	The LORAN-C system is one of the candidate radionavigation systems currently under evaluation by the FAA with regard to its suitability as the primary or supplemental domestic navigation system for civil aviation during the post 1995 time period. Reliability of a candidate system to provide continuous navigation signals for airborne applications has been adopted as one of the evaluation criteria. The key consideration in the system reliability assessment is the impact of station outages and the resultant loss of navigation signals to the aviation users. This paper presents an analytical technique for evaluating the reliability of the LORAN-C system over the conterminous United States (CONUS). Emphasis is placed on the technique itself and not the specific reliability statistics. The technique is applicable to the analysis of the existing USCG ground station configuration, as well as any proposed full-CONUS coverage station configuration. The technique is based on the use of a Markov Chain model to provide a probabilistic measure of system unreliability and incorporates signal strength, relative geometry, and receiver configuration which define system coverage. A simplified analytic procedure is employed to bound the system unreliability and a numerical example is presented based on preliminary LORAN-C station reliability statistics for solid-state ground stations and a simple receiver model,
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 28, Number 4
Pages:	294 - 310
Cite this article:	Wong, Gene A., "ANALYSIS OF LORAN-C SYSTEM RELIABILITY FOR CIVIL AVIATION", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 28, No. 4, Winter 1981-1982, pp. 294-310.
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