Software-Defined GNSS is Ready for Launch

Hailey Nichols, Matthew Murrian, Todd Humphreys

Abstract:	This paper explores how technological advancements in computer processing computer, both in bit-wise parallel correlation and multicore technology, have shaped the growth of pure software-defined GNSS receivers. Historically, GNSS SDR has been an efficient platform for research and development purposes. But now, modern processor architectures and instruction sets are particularly efficient, paving the way for more capable SDR. GRID, the GNSS SDR developed in the Radionavigation Lab, has recently achieved a remarkable inflection point: under some processing configurations, the correlation operation, by which each channel's signal is mixed to baseband and de-spread via multiplication against a local code replica, is no longer the bottleneck process. This important milestone in pure software-defined GNSS makes SDR a formidable competitor against traditional mass-market application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-based GNSS receivers. Further, this paper offers an exploration of commercial use cases particularly well-suited for GNSS SDR: including space-applications, wall-mounted electronic technologies, and automated vehicles.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 35th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2022) September 19 - 23, 2022 Hyatt Regency Denver Denver, Colorado
Pages:	996 - 1013
Cite this article:	Nichols, Hailey, Murrian, Matthew, Humphreys, Todd, "Software-Defined GNSS is Ready for Launch," Proceedings of the 35th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2022), Denver, Colorado, September 2022, pp. 996-1013. https://doi.org/10.33012/2022.18313
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