Synchronization of Pulsed Pseudolite Signals: Analysis and Comparison

Pseudolites are an emerging technology with the potential to extend the range of application of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). However, interference with existing GNSS and near-far problems can significantly reduce the effectiveness of this technology. For this reason, several signal design techniques have been used to mitigate the aforementioned aforementioned issues. The use of a pulsing scheme is a promising approach for reducing pseudolite interference and consists of transmitting pseudolite signals only during dedicated time slots. Despite its clear advantage in terms of interference and near-far problem reduction, the use of pulsing schemes requires dedicated synchronization algorithms. A pseudolite receiver needs to determine the position of the received pulse within the pulsing sequence, in addition to the code delay and Doppler frequency of the received signal. In this paper, two algorithms for pseudolite pulse detection and synchronization are analyzed and compared. The considered techniques are characterized analytically and through Monte Carlo simulations. Moreover, they are integrated within a software pseudolite receiver and tested using live pseudolite signals. A pseudolite adopting a modified version of the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) 104 pulsing scheme has been implemented on a Universal Software Radio Platform (USRP) II and used for conducting several experiments for different operating conditions. Experimental results support the theoretical findings and the effectiveness of the pulse synchronization algorithms considered.

BORIO Daniele;  CANO PONS Eduardo;  BALDINI Gianmarco; 

2013-08-12

Institute of Navigation (ION)

JRC74472

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC74472,