SDR Technologies Supporting RF Signal Power Calibration in GNSS Receivers Testing

M. Pini, B. Motella, E. Falletti, D. Margaria

Abstract:	The growth of new location-based applications, the improvements in receiver technologies, as well as the availability of new Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, increase the expectations for positioning and timing performance. Recent applications foresee the use of commercial Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers in challenging environments, characterized by poor Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), or presence of interference and multipath. In these cases, the need of high positioning performance becomes even more stringent and the lab-tests of GNSS receivers is fundamental in order to have a reliable measure of the true positioning capabilities. It is important to note that verification procedures require a controlled environment that facilitates precise repeatability. Furthermore, flexible test environments are essential, since dedicated test equipment does not scale well with increased integration and quickly becomes cost prohibitive. This paper describes a set of lab tests, explaining the benefits provided by two software radio tools: a GNSS signal simulator and a real time software GNSS receiver. The use of such tools is important when the experiment aims at modeling a specific scenario, which is not always available by collecting real data. The paper mainly focuses on the Radio Frequency (RF) power level calibration, which is the first step for many tests and indicates the Software Defined Radio (SDR) as a promising technology for accurate lab measurements.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2009) September 22 - 25, 2009 Savannah International Convention Center Savannah, GA
Pages:	1989 - 1998
Cite this article:	Pini, M., Motella, B., Falletti, E., Margaria, D., "SDR Technologies Supporting RF Signal Power Calibration in GNSS Receivers Testing," Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2009), Savannah, GA, September 2009, pp. 1989-1998.
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