A dual-frequency GNSS sensor for space applications

Abstract

High-performance laboratory breadboards of a dual-frequency global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver have been developed at the Institute of Satellite Navigation at the University of Leeds (ISN) for a number of years under a European Space Agency (ESA) programme. The main objective of these breadboards is to serve as development tools for receiver signal-processing research in view of scientific applications of GNSSs. Some of these applications will be realized by means of receivers embarked on satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) as part of on-going and future ESA programmes and will include precise orbit determination, radio occultation measurements and measurements of the parameters characterizing GNSS signals reflected at the sea surface. The principal application for which the signal-processing developments described in this paper have been targeted is radio occultation. During an occultation event the GNSS signal encounters a challenging environment. Substantial Doppler dynamics occur during a measurement, due to the effect of sharp gradients of the refraction index. Signal attenuation and deep fading caused by multipath propagation are also encountered. The areas of concern are the acquisition and tracking of signals in high dynamics and at low carrier-to-noise ratios (C/N0), and also the performance of tracking the GPS P code without full knowledge of the spreading code, as dual-frequency atmospheric measurements are crucial to this application. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.