A Modular Receiver Design for Enhanced GPS Applications

Alison Brown, Frank van Diggelen, and Randy Silva

Abstract:	The many diverse applications of GPS have led to the development of a wide variety of specialized GPS receiver products. However, any custom receiver design results in significantly higher priced equipment than the conventional OEM receiver boards, due to the loss of economies of scale. In this paper, a modular receiver architecture is described that can be easily and cost-effectively adapted for a variety of enhanced GPS designs for military, commercial, and space applications. The modular receiver architecture developed by NAVSYS has allowed incorporation of customized receiver features together with the use of common core modules. In this manner, enhanced receiver design costs can be shared over a variety of applications while minimizing development and manufacturing costs for “semi-custom” designs. This adaptable receiver design features receiver front-end and correlation processing modules that can be interchanged for different applications. The front-end consists of the downconversion and sampling stage, while the correlation processor performs the correlation, signal processing and navigation functions. The “software receiver” architecture enables different modular architectures to be implemented with minimum software changes. Enhanced signal processing features have also been included to provide improved performance for precision navigation and timing applications.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 50th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1994) June 6 - 8, 1994 Antlers Doubletree Hotel Colorado Springs, CO
Pages:	459 - 468
Cite this article:	Brown, Alison, van Diggelen, Frank, Silva, Randy, "A Modular Receiver Design for Enhanced GPS Applications," Proceedings of the 50th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1994), Colorado Springs, CO, June 1994, pp. 459-468.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In