Dual-Sideband Constant-Envelope Frequency-Hopping Binary Offset Carrier Multiplexing Modulation for Satellite Navigation

Abstract

Frequency-hopping binary offset carrier modulation improves the anti-interference performance and mitigates the autocorrelation function (ACF) ambiguity problem of binary offset carrier modulation. To save payload resources and make high-power amplifiers on satellites operate at the nonlinear saturation region, there is further demand for finding an efficient constant-envelope frequency-hopping binary offset carrier multiplexing technique to combine several signal components. Thus, we propose a dual-sideband constant-envelope multiplexing modulation, named asymmetric constant-envelope frequency-hopping binary offset carrier multiplexing (ACE-FHBOC), which is also a multicarrier constant-envelope multiplexing modulation. ACE-FHBOC provides higher design flexibility in the number of subcarrier frequencies than ACE-BOC while maintaining the same flexibility of signal design as ACE-BOC in the number of signal components and power ratio among components. We first establish the theory and give implementation methods of ACE-FHBOC. Then, we develop a software-defined receiver to simulate and analyze the performance for several specific ACE-FHBOC and ACE-BOC signals. The results show that the recommended ACE-FHBOC signals have lower ACF ambiguity, better anti-narrowband interference, and multipath performance than ACE-BOC under the same conditions. With these advantages, ACE-FHBOC is a promising solution for the signal design of new generation global navigation satellite systems.