Evaluation of GPS Receiver Performance Under High-Dynamic Conditions

James P. Cunningham, Paula K. Khoe, Bruce R. Hermann, Alan G. Evans and John H. Merts

Abstract:	Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors have the potential to provide precise position, velocity, and timing information in high-dynamic applications. Missile flight-testing is one such application where accurate relative positions are important. GPS instrumentation can provide the high accuracy while offering both significant cost savings and improved confidence in the test results when compared to existing methods. To date, however, the use of GPS in missile flight testing has been limited due, in part, to the lack of demonstrated GPS receiver tracking capability in high dynamics. Missile flight-test environments encompass a range of high dynamics characterized by supersonic velocities, tens of g’s in acceleration, and jerk on the order of hundreds of g’s per second. This paper evaluates several currently available GPS receivers for both their tracking capability and their measurement accuracy in high-dynamic environments. The evaluation includes actual test results for rocket sled and centrifuge experiments and several trajectory models run on a GPS satellite constellation simulator (SCS). Analysis of the SCS GPS data, collected by the same type receiver as used in the actual sled test, demonstrated accurate reproduction of both the receiver’s tracking loop phase measurement delay and corresponding position errors to the centimeter level. Software simulation of the measurements, using the sled’s trajectory truth data as input, confirmed the tracking loop measurement errors. The SCS was further used to evaluate receiver tracking capabilities for generic missile trajectories. These tests illustrate, among other results, the relationship between tracking capability and various jerk levels and jerk durations. Several receivers, with second and third order tracking loops and specified bandwidth, were evaluated. The actual tests and SCS modeling are described. The tracking capabilities and measurement accuracy are presented for the test cases.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2000) September 19 - 22, 2000 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	2051 - 2060
Cite this article:	Cunningham, James P., Khoe, Paula K., Hermann, Bruce R., Evans, Alan G., Merts, John H., "Evaluation of GPS Receiver Performance Under High-Dynamic Conditions," Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2000), Salt Lake City, UT, September 2000, pp. 2051-2060.
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