Timing Accuracy Test of Non-GPS-Based Positioning System at White Sands Missile Range

Christopher Black

Abstract:	Many critical modern systems such as alternative Position Navigation and Timing (PNT), mobile phone networks, and electricity grids demand high-accuracy time and frequency stability across specified areas, as set out in IEEE specification standard 1588. To date, the preferred method to achieve this performance is via synchronization from the Global Positioning System (GPS) or other spacebased positioning systems. However, the susceptibility of GPS signals remains a growing concern among industry experts and military users, driving interest in alternate sources for precise time-transfer and synchronization. This paper details the latest effort to characterize the time transfer and synchronization capabilities of the 746th Test Squadron’s (746 TS) Non-GPS-Based Positioning System (NGBPS) at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). This NGBPS leverages Locata’s radio-based PNT technology to achieve high accuracy independent of GPS[1]. Details include specific test parameters and equipment configurations used to determine Locata’s absolute and relative time synchronization and frequency stability performance. The paper further discusses how Locata’s area of transmission can easily be increased to cover substantially larger areas if required for test and evaluation of safety-of-life, military, or governmentmandated systems. This is the first time the time accuracy and frequency stability of the 746 TS NGBPS network has been independently measured and characterized. These test results confirm earlier published results [2] and provide additional independent insight into the frequency synchronization capability of Locata’s “TimeLoc” process that enables network synchronization below the nanosecond level. Now that the squadron’s NGBPS network has been independently proven to provide exceptional time transfer and frequency stability across significantly large areas, this capability can be leveraged by Department of Defense test programs requiring a high precision non-GPS-based time and frequency distribution solution.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 51st Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting January 21 - 24, 2020 Hyatt Regency Mission Bay San Diego, California
Pages:	199 - 206
Cite this article:	Black, Christopher, "Timing Accuracy Test of Non-GPS-Based Positioning System at White Sands Missile Range," Proceedings of the 51st Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, San Diego, California, January 2020, pp. 199-206. https://doi.org/10.33012/2020.17316
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