Analysis and Recommendation for Reuse of the L1 and L2 GPS Spectrum

Abstract

This paper documents a year-long (July 1997-1998) scoring process led by the GPS Joint Program Office (JPO) and Space Warfare Center (SWC) to identify the best signal structure for the next 30 years of military and civilian GPS applications. The focus of this analysis was on waveform design for the reuse of the existing L1 and L2 GPS frequency allocations. The requirements for a new signal structure are explained, and the candidate waveform options are introduced. The scoring criteria and decision analysis are developed. The resulting waveform scores are presented by overall ranking and in terms of their scores by major criteria category. Civilian and military user preferences are also addressed. Finally, a waveform recommendation for reuse of both the L1 and L2 GPS frequencies is presented.