DARPA SNIPER: A Demonstration of Tightly-Coupled Low-Power Portable Applications

Patrick Hwang, Ryan Young, James Marek, Juergen Bruckner, James Jantzen

Abstract:	The SNIPER program was funded by DARPA as a dem-onstration of a tightly-coupled GPS/IMU/ Loran system for low-power portable applications in small-unit opera-tions. The chosen architecture partitioned the sensors and the integration processor into independent modules, all connected by serial I/O data and timing discrete lines. The sensor suite consisted of a Low-Power GPS (LPGPS), a Rockwell GIC-100 tactical-grade IMU, a digital Loran sensor and a low-power frequency reference. The syn-chronization of the three sensors was the basis of the tightly-coupled integration. The frequency reference used was a new low-power Microprocessor-Controlled Crystal Oscillator (MCXO) with a stability of 1 part in 10 8 . The MCXO and Loran receiver were developed under DARPA sponsorship as well. The system was demonstrated a van and a backpack in a series of Small Unit Operations scenarios. The demon-stration took place in November 1998 at the McKenna MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) facility located at Fort Benning, GA.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 55th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1999) June 27 - 30, 1999 Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge, MA
Pages:	123 - 132
Cite this article:	Hwang, Patrick, Young, Ryan, Marek, James, Bruckner, Juergen, Jantzen, James, "DARPA SNIPER: A Demonstration of Tightly-Coupled Low-Power Portable Applications," Proceedings of the 55th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1999), Cambridge, MA, June 1999, pp. 123-132.
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