Performance and Commercial Benefits Delivered by Galileo

R. Peckham

Abstract:	This paper presents the results from a study undertaken to improve the understanding of how users might benefit from Galileo, over and above those benefits already accessible through the use of GPS. The study comprised three main elements, assessing 57 different user applications: • A quantitative analysis of stated user performance requirements against estimated performance delivered from a number of candidate GNSS scenarios (GPS alone (the baseline), Galileo alone, GPS + partial Galileo and GPS + full Galileo); • A qualitative assessment of "service delivery attributes" as possible commercial discriminators between GPS and Galileo; • A User Workshop to gain user input on the potential benefits of Galileo to them, taking account of the results from the above two activities. In carrying out the assessment, a number of time periods were considered to take account of planned improvements to GPS and the phased deployment of Galileo. Existing augmentations to GPS were also considered to ensure the incremental benefits of Galileo were measured against real-life experiences of users. The impact of the technical performance differentiation on 'usability' was assessed by comparing the performance required by each application, on a parameter-by-parameter basis, against the performance delivered by the GNSS scenarios under consideration. The assessment was carried out in three environments: rural, developed and urban, with each application deemed to 'pass' or 'fail' dependent on all performance requirements being met. Performance parameters considered were: accuracy, integrity risk, time-to-alarm and availability. The qualitative assessment of "service delivery attributes" assessed possible commercial discriminators between GPS and Galileo. Parameters considered were: institutional control, safety approval, general liability, service guarantee and market responsiveness. The assessment process was carried out using the same analytic spreadsheet tool as used for the performance analysis, but this time using weighting factors to signify the ability of the GNSS scenario to deliver the attribute and the desire of the user application to receive the attribute. The technical performance analysis demonstrated clearly that the most significant performance improvement delivered by Galileo was when used co-operatively with GPS, where the 'super constellation' of 24 GPS + 30 Galileo provided substantially better availability of signals. This improvement was particularly evident for the mass-market user applications operating in urban and developed environments. It should also be noted that the benefits from GPS + partial Galileo (e.g. 12 satellites) were tangible and should be considered when planning the deployment programme for Galileo. The user workshop confirmed that the civil nature of Galileo, the accessibility of the system operator and the openness of the design and operations regime were felt to improve the 'usability' of Galileo, making it an attractive choice for high-value commercial services and regulated users. Across many commercial and mass-markets, an in-service date of 2008 for Galileo was considered to be too late and would represent a lost opportunity for both industry and users. A gradual deployment of Galileo to ensure a steadily increasing number of Galileo satellites starting as soon as possible would considerably help the GNSS market penetration.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003) September 9 - 12, 2003 Oregon Convention Center Portland, OR
Pages:	1983 - 1995
Cite this article:	Peckham, R., "Performance and Commercial Benefits Delivered by Galileo," Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003), Portland, OR, September 2003, pp. 1983-1995.
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