Design Methodology for a Dual Frequency Configurable GPS Receiver

M.H. Afzal, G. Lachapelle

Abstract:	With ever increasing use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) both by civilians as well as military, the possible applications of this navigation technology are on the rise. Due to this immense demand, the modernization of GPS constellation was deemed inevitable. As a result, new GPS signal architectures were proposed keeping in view the reliability, availability and accuracy of GPS. As a consequence of this modernization process, two new civilian signals on different carriers are now being broadcast by some satellites. This modernization has put a lot of pressure on the research community and research platforms capable of handling these modern signals are being sought for. This paper presents the design methodology adopted for development of a research platform capable of handling L1 C/A and L2C signals. An Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is also integrated on the platform along with a magnetometer and a pressure sensor, increasing the application capabilities of this platform. Researchers are provided with raw Intermediate Frequency (IF) stream of L1 C/A and L2C signals as well as raw sensor data via Hi-Speed USB. Furthermore an onboard FPGA can host a GPS soft Intellectual Property (IP) core increasing the flexibility and applications of this platform and providing researchers with a powerful signal processor onboard.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2010) September 21 - 24, 2010 Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon Portland, OR
Pages:	2892 - 2900
Cite this article:	Afzal, M.H., Lachapelle, G., "Design Methodology for a Dual Frequency Configurable GPS Receiver," Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2010), Portland, OR, September 2010, pp. 2892-2900.
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