Design of a Regional Navigation Satellite System Constellation Using Genetic Algorithms

Halil I. Ozdemir, John F. Raquet, Gary B. Lamont

Abstract:	There are currently four Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) either being developed or in existence-GPS, GLONASS, Compass, and Galileo. Additionally, there are several Regional Navigation Satellite Systems (RNSS) planned or in existence, as well as numerous augmentation systems (which require a GNSS for operation). It can be anticipated that there is interest in developing additional independent regional navigation satellite systems to cover areas of interest to particular countries or regions. In order to determine near-optimal RNSS constellations,we employ a specific stochastic evolutionary algorithm, a genetic algorithm. The RNSS cost function involves a weighted combination of dilution of precision (DOP) values and the percentage availability for any number of receiver locations on the ground (which can also be weighted). The genetic algorithm attempts to converge to an acceptable lowest-cost constellation. Due to the extremely large size of the constellation search space of possibilities, there is benefit to constraining the search space, using reasonable knowledge of the problem. One example is to constrain the constellation to include two geostationary satellites. This approach is taken, and slightly better costs are obtained over the unconstrained case. Solutions generated by the genetic algorithm appear to be the best constellations for the specified region. Overall, the genetic algorithm approach is a useful tool for RNSS constellation optimization.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2008) September 16 - 19, 2008 Savannah International Convention Center Savannah, GA
Pages:	2177 - 2188
Cite this article:	Ozdemir, Halil I., Raquet, John F., Lamont, Gary B., "Design of a Regional Navigation Satellite System Constellation Using Genetic Algorithms," Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2008), Savannah, GA, September 2008, pp. 2177-2188.
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