High Speed Loran-C Data Communications Flight Test Results

Ben Peterson, Ken Dykstra, Peter Swaszek, James M. Boyer, Kevin M. Carroll and Mitchell Narins

Abstract:	This paper reports the results of flight tests in an ongoing project to develop methods for transmitting GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) data over LORAN. The Federal Aviation Administration is funding the project to determine what potential benefits LORAN-C might provide to the National Airspace System (NAS). The full 250-bit WAAS message is transmitted in one second. This information bandwidth is achieved via 16-ary Intrapulse Frequency Modulation (IFM) and Reed-Solomon forward error correction. The tests were conducted using the Tok, Alaska LORAN transmitter at a Group Repetition Interval (GRI) of 48,300 usec. The FAA Technical Center’s Convair 580 and a King Air C-90SE aircraft of Ohio University flying at speeds of up to 300 knots were used in the testing. In the two days of testing, the aircraft cover much of Alaska from Prudoe Bay on the North Slope to Juneau and southwest past Homer. The results indicate the WAAS message was received out to approximately 420 NM including the North Slope. Antenna steering and erasure decoding improved performance to varying degrees. Lastly, the FY02 goals are outlined based on the positive results of this test.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2001) September 11 - 14, 2001 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	1919 - 1932
Cite this article:	Peterson, Ben, Dykstra, Ken, Swaszek, Peter, Boyer, James M., Carroll, Kevin M., Narins, Mitchell, "High Speed Loran-C Data Communications Flight Test Results," Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2001), Salt Lake City, UT, September 2001, pp. 1919-1932.
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