A Cloud Optical Access Network for Virtualized GNSS Receivers

C. Fernández-Prades, C. Pomar, J. Arribas, J.M. Fàbrega, J. Vilà-Valls, M. Svaluto Moreolo, R. Casellas, R. Martínez, M. Navarro, F.J. Vílchez, R. Muñoz, R. Vilalta, L. Nadal, A. Mayoral

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	This paper presents a novel system architecture and describes a proof-of-concept for a virtualized GNSS receiver. The main idea consists of moving apart the GNSS antenna from the baseband processing, thus allowing for a number of new applications and services based on GNSS signal products. After contextualizing this concept into a major trend followed by the IT industry and the academia in the latter years, the paper provides a snapshot on the latest industry trends and describes a vibrant ecosystem of open source projects and tools, which make possible the actual (and rapid) deployment of virtual services over software-defined optical networks that allow for the continuous transmission of GNSS signals from the antenna to a remote baseband processor. After providing a brief description of the main concepts and building blocks of the presented architecture, and identifying the fundamental technological bottlenecks, we present a proof-of-concept implemented with actual commercial–off–the–shelf hardware components, providing evidences of the system feasibility and releasing different versions of a free and open source software-defined, virtual GNSS receiver.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 30th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2017) September 25 - 29, 2017 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon
Pages:	3796 - 3815
Cite this article:	Fernández-Prades, C., Pomar, C., Arribas, J., Fàbrega, J.M., Vilà-Valls, J., Moreolo, M. Svaluto, Casellas, R., Martínez, R., Navarro, M., Vílchez, F.J., Muñoz, R., Vilalta, R., Nadal, L., Mayoral, A., "A Cloud Optical Access Network for Virtualized GNSS Receivers," Proceedings of the 30th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2017), Portland, Oregon, September 2017, pp. 3796-3815. https://doi.org/10.33012/2017.15234
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In