Scintillation Simulation on Equatorial GPS Signals for Dynamic Platforms

Abstract

This paper presents a physics-based, data-consistent, multi-frequency GPS scintillation signal simulator for dynamic platforms in the equatorial region. This simulator is based on a two-dimensional two-component power-law phase screen model which is described by a compact set of parameters. The parameters are extracted from a set of real scintillation data which we call the initializer. To obtain the scintillation signal’s signatures perceived from receivers on dynamic platforms, we focus our investigation on the time scale factor, which determines the decorrelation time of the simulation signal. The time scale factor is affected by various factors including propagation geometry, irregularity drift velocity and dynamics of the receiver platform. The paper presents analysis of simulated scintillation signals for both stationary and dynamic platforms. For stationary receivers, comparison between the initializer and the simulation data are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the simulator. For dynamic receivers, the influence of the platform dynamics on the simulation signal with respect to the geomagnetic field direction and the irregularity drift velocity is explored. The model presented in this paper will provide a viable tool for simulating GPS scintillation signals intercepted by receivers on dynamic platforms. This tool will aid the design for robust receiver processing algorithms during scintillation for dynamic platforms.