Innovative GNSS-based Core Technologies in a Multi-GNSS Hybridized Receiver

Damien Serant, Alexandra Ubeda-Farre, Michel Monnerat, Giuseppe Avellone

Abstract:	GNSS Market Forecast: Growth in a Complex Technological Landscape The GNSS Market forecast in the coming years is very promising but requires innovative technological developments in the GNSS industry side to be able to fulfill the market expectations. As mentioned in the last “GNSS Market Report” from GSA (Issue 3, 2013): “The forecast for revenues generated by location based applications over the coming decade will increase almost four-fold. This projected long-term growth revenues indicates significant business opportunities. However, the changing technological environment requires constant innovation on the supply side: e.g use of communications and other technologies alongside GNSS, and the emergence of new constellations”. Indeed, several technical responses are expected by the market: - Location every where at any time: many location based applications require ubiquitous location information, including urban canyons and indoor. - High quality of service: the market is now educated, and cannot be satisfied with the location information itself, without a high liability on the position reported. This quality of service refers to the integrity of the location information and to the authentication of the location information to certify that any location is not the result of a spoofing process. - Improved performances: besides the above-mentioned concepts, the continuous performance improvements are naturally at the heart of the market differentiator for any location solution. (e-)HIMALAYA Projects Motivation This technology demanding context is the main justification of (e-)HIMALAYA projects. European Commission FP7 projects under the coordination of Thales Alenia Space France, and with STMicroelectronics as key partner, both projects have a technology-pull approach definitely oriented towards the market technological appeals. The projects aim at prototyping innovative GNSS-based core technologies in a multi-GNSS hybridized receiver. The key driver of both projects is the development of features enrichments that dramatically pulls new rupture technologies. After an intensive initial R&D phase that permitted to explore different directions of improvement of a GNSS receiver performance (High accuracy, Indoor positioning, Anti-spoofing, Anti-jamming, Multipath rejection, High Sensitivity, low TTFF...) two main axes have been chosen to be implanted on a ready-to-market prototype : 1. Development of a multi-constellation A-GNSS feature allowing to decrease the TTFF and to improve the sensitivity: this solution is one of the first (if not the first) Assisted-Galileo solutions based on the 3GPP assistance standards 2. Implementation of GNSS/MEMS sensors (accelerometers and gyros) hybridization algorithms, allowing a robust positioning, a better availability and providing an authentication feature. These two axes of development are targeting future mass-market GNSS applications requiring high confidence in the positioning solution especially targeting liability critical applications. This work is performed in synergy with the standardization efforts currently being carried out by ETSI Satellite Communication and Navigation group, aiming, amongst others, at defining a technical framework for the harmonization of spoofing detection capabilities. Article content description The first results that will be presented in the article will concern the Assisted-Galileo performance. For that purpose, Thales Alenia Space France A-GNSS server has been upgraded to support Galileo and in compliance with the SUPLV2 standard it provides assistance data to STMicroelectronics TeseoIII chipset. The performance of the assisted receiver will be assessed following the 3GPP GNSS receiver test procedures (3GPP TS 34-172), permitting to assess the receiver performance in terms of TTFF, sensitivity (acquisition and tracking) and multipath resilience. The results will be presented in both mono and multi-constellation configuration (at least for GPS and Galileo) and compared. It is expected that the test results are shared with 3GPP to allow the standards evolutions at the light of the results obtained with one of the first Assisted-Galileo receivers. The second part of the article will present the test results related to the hybridization and authentication feature. The ready-to-market prototype includes high-performance MEMS accelerometer (3-axys) and gyros (3-axys) from ST Microelectronics, allowing the porting and testing of Thales Alenia Space France tightly-coupled INS/GNSS hybridization and spoofing detection algorithms. The performance of the hybridization and of the spoofing detector will be assessed using real signals, and using a dynamic test bench available in Thales Alenia Space France facilities, called BEADY. BEADY is a small train on rails, that allows performing dynamic trajectories, with repeatability and a very good knowledge of the reference trajectory. The performance will also be assessed in harsh environments such as urban canyons. The INS-only positioning capability, allowing to maintain and correct the position when GNSS is unavailable (due for instance to a strong jamming, or a signal blockage…) , will also be assessed. To conclude with, the proposed paper will be organized as follow: - The first section will introduce the context of the GNSS market - The second section will present the motivations of (e-)HIMALAYA projects, their context, objectives and main achievements - The third section will introduce the architecture of the (e-)Himalaya ready-to-market prototype, including a presentation of the STMicroelectronics TeseoIII chipset and of MEMS sensors used - The forth section will present the performance results of the A-GNSS solution, based on 3GPP GNSS receiver test procedures. In this section the architecture and the functionalities of the SUPLV2 Assistance server and client will be presented - The fifth section will present the hybridization and anti-spoofing algorithm and the performance obtained through a field tests campaign
Published in:	Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014) September 8 - 12, 2014 Tampa Convention Center Tampa, Florida
Pages:	255 - 273
Cite this article:	Serant, Damien, Ubeda-Farre, Alexandra, Monnerat, Michel, Avellone, Giuseppe, "Innovative GNSS-based Core Technologies in a Multi-GNSS Hybridized Receiver," Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014), Tampa, Florida, September 2014, pp. 255-273.
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