The Application of a PC-Based GNSS Receiver Performance Simulatorto the Assessment of Various Safety-Critical Aspects of Aviation Navigation

C. Dixon

Abstract:	Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) offer an unrivalled combination of high precision, rapid update rate, and good availability world-wide and in all weather conditions. Eventually, such systems will replace the majority of today’s navigation aids. It is essential that the performance of these systems is comprehensively evaluated before the terrestrial systems are phased out. Such evaluation must include comprehensive analysis, simulation and flight tests for aeronautical applications. Satellite systems are, however, significantly more complex than their terrestrial counterparts since the transmitters move with time. There are of course other differences which reflect in performance, but these are not of principal concern in this paper. Performing flight tests for all combinations of location and time is not cost effective. This paper describes a simulation tool which is being utilised in the UK as a first filter in the evaluation process. Its primary purpose is to quantify key operational performance parameters enabling them to be traded against one another, and then to identify where investigative flight tests must focus, The Simulator is a software tool running on an IBM-compatible personal computer. It is written in PASCAL, has around 20,000 lines of source code, and has been in development for 5 years, the last two of which the author has been the project manager. The project is currently funded by the UK CAA. The author wishes to suggest that this kind of tool is an essential element in the ongoing evaluation of satellite based navigation systems.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1995 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 18 - 20, 1995 Disneyland Hotel Anaheim, CA
Pages:	737 - 746
Cite this article:	Dixon, C., "The Application of a PC-Based GNSS Receiver Performance Simulatorto the Assessment of Various Safety-Critical Aspects of Aviation Navigation," Proceedings of the 1995 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Anaheim, CA, January 1995, pp. 737-746.
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