Unified Navigation and Communication Hybrid Terminal

Enrique Domínguez, Francisco José Mata, Freddy Albert Pinto, Marcelo Meneses, David García, Javier Fidalgo, GMV; Domenico Giustiniano, Giuseppe Santaromita, Timothy Otim, Francesco Pigato, José A. López-Salcedo, Gonzalo Seco-Granados, Fran Fabra, Antoni Reus, Marc Fernández

Abstract:	Emerging Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) sources such as 5G Terrestrial Networks (TN), Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and LEO-PNT will soon be accessible to everyone. When combined with existing sources like GNSS and LEO signals of opportunity (SOP), they will boost navigation performance, robustness, and reliability, while also offering communication capabilities. This integration will ensure continuous, ubiquitous, and reliable navigation, paving the way for numerous innovative applications and services. To take full advantage of these new capabilities, a hybrid receiver, combining all these PNT sources to provide enhanced and reliable navigation, is under development. The purpose of this paper is to report the activities for the specification, design, development and test plan of a Unified Navigation and Communications Hybrid Terminal. This multi-source and powerful platform aim at implementing and demonstrating advanced navigation solutions that leverage a combination of satellite and terrestrial signal sources. By integrating GNSS (including Galileo E1 Quasi-Pilot), LEO-PNT signals, 5G TN and -NTN - signals, and LEO SOP from various satellite constellations, the Hybrid Terminal shall enable precise, reliable navigation in a variety of challenging and harsh environments and provide increased robustness.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025) September 8 - 12, 2025 Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor Baltimore, Maryland
Pages:	1338 - 1354
Cite this article:	Domínguez, Enrique, Mata, Francisco José, Pinto, Freddy Albert, Meneses, Marcelo, García, David, Fidalgo, Javier, Giustiniano, GMV; Domenico, Santaromita, Giuseppe, Otim, Timothy, Pigato, Francesco, López-Salcedo, José A., Seco-Granados, Gonzalo, Fabra, Fran, Reus, Antoni, Fernández, Marc, "Unified Navigation and Communication Hybrid Terminal," Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025), Baltimore, Maryland, September 2025, pp. 1338-1354. https://doi.org/10.33012/2025.20414
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