Directional Signal Strength Sensor for Differential GPS Beacons

Keith Gross, Michael McKaughan, Richard Hartnett, Lee Hartshorn, Daniel Everette, and Christopher Armstrong

Abstract:	Efforts are underway to develop a directional signal strength sensor for Differential GPS beacon transmissions. Our sensor provides the ability to perform DGPS beacon field strength measurements using an electronically steerable antenna array. This tool will be very useful for validation of DGPS coverage prediction software, and for site certification and troubleshooting. The steerable nature of this sensor provides the ability to perform spatial filtering while analyzing the DGPS beacon spectrum. This should prove to be an invaluable tool for troubleshooting interference issues. The receiver consists of an antenna array (an H-field crossed loop antenna and a whip antenna), analog amplifiers and filters, an analog to digital converter and a MATLAB® based, GUI driven, digital back end. The status of this development effort and preliminary results are presented.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2002 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 28 - 30, 2002 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	370 - 375
Cite this article:	Gross, Keith, McKaughan, Michael, Hartnett, Richard, Hartshorn, Lee, Everette, Daniel, Armstrong, Christopher, "Directional Signal Strength Sensor for Differential GPS Beacons," Proceedings of the 2002 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2002, pp. 370-375.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In