Multiplexed Binary Offset Carrier Signal Research Articles

Theoretical assessment and application of modern GNSS signals acquisition performance

The application of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is extensive and has widely infiltrated the national economy and social development in various fields. As critical part of the satellite navigation system design process, GNSS signals performance assessment has received tremendous attention for a long period of time. The mathematical model of GNSS signal detection is built based on single point detection test. An improved acquisition performance assessment method that considers the modulation type, code search step-size, and acquisition algorithms is proposed herein. This study investigates the performance of the overall detection and main/side peak detection for Binary Offset Carrier (BOC), Multiplexed Binary Offset Carrier (MBOC), and Alternative BOC (AltBOC) signals using matched and unambiguous acquisition methods, and obtains quantitative results. With a fixed code search step-size, the multi-peaks of the autocorrelation functions of BOC, MBOC, and AltBOC signals will degrade the acquisition performance. The higher the sub-carrier rate, the more serious is the degradation. Although signal-power loss occurs to some extent, Binary Phase-Shift Keying-like (BPSK-like) and Sub Carrier Phase Cancelation (SCPC) methods significantly improve the acquisition performance.

General analytical models characterizing MBOC modulated signal

The modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo satellite navigation systems have recommended the interoperable Multiplexed-Binary Offset Carrier (MBOC) modulation on L1C/E1 frequency band for their open service signals. MBOC signal multiplexes BOC(6,1) and BOC(1,1) according to a certain proportion, and can be implemented in a number of ways, including Composite BOC (CBOC) and Time-Multiplexed BOC (TMBOC). The complexity and the accuracy of the theoretical signal modeling pose a growing concern to scrutinize and to optimize signal characteristics and receiver performances. In this paper, the analytical expressions of the optimal correlation function (CF) for the new modernized MBOC signal are proposed. Also derived are the analytical models of the discriminator functions (DFs) and the multipath error envelopes (MEEs) in both coherent and non-coherent code tracking configurations. The validation of the proposed models is performed and the simulation results show that the proposed analytical models coincide with the numerical ones.

Ambiguity Mitigating Technique for Multiplexed Binary Carrier Signal Tracking

In this letter, a new unambiguous technique based on the pseudo correlation function (PCF) is proposed for multiplexed binary offset carrier (MBOC) signal, which will be utilized in European Galileo system and Chinese BeiDou II system. The proposed technique firstly designs two local auxiliary signals based on the shape of the received MBOC signal. The synthesized correlation function is obtained by subtracting the squared cross-correlation function between the received MBOC signal and the local auxiliary signal from the squared cross-correlation function between the received MBOC signal and another local auxiliary signal. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed technique can remove the ambiguity completely with slightly degradation in tracking accuracy.

Codes cross-correlation analysis and data/pilot code pairs optimization for Galileo E1 OS and GPS L1C

The Galileo E1 open service (OS) and the global positioning system (GPS) L1C are intending to use the multiplexed binary offset carrier (MBOC) modulation in E1/L1 band, including both pilot and data components. The impact of data and pilot codes cross-correlation on the distortion of the discriminator function (i.e., the S-curve) is investigated, when only the pilot (or data) components of MBOC signals are tracked. It is shown that the modulation schemes and the receiver configuration (e.g., the correlator spacing) strongly affect the S-curve bias. In this paper, two methods are proposed to optimize the data/pilot code pairs of Galileo E1 OS and GPS L1C. The optimization goal is to obtain the minimum average S-curve bias when tracking only the pilot components a the specific correlator spacing. Figures of merit, such as S-curve bias, correlation loss and code tracking variance have been adopted for analyzing and comparing the un-optimized and optimized code pairs. Simulation results show that the optimized data/pilot code pairs could significantly mitigate the intra-channel codes cross-correlation, and then improve the code tracking performance of MBOC signals.

Weighted discriminators for GNSS BOC signal tracking

Modern Global Navigation Satellite System including Galileo and GPS III will employ multiplexed binary offset carrier (MBOC) modulation to achieve spectrum separation and enhanced tracking performance. A challenge of the MBOC or BOC signal tracking is the presence of ambiguities due to multiple sidepeaks of the autocorrelation functions. Several different techniques including multi-correlator and double estimator schemes have been proposed to address the ambiguity issue. We propose a class of ambiguity-free code tracking techniques by exploiting the unique features of the BOC modulation. In the proposed architecture, the incoming BOC-modulated signals are correlated with BOC-modulated replica and the spreading codes, respectively. Through a multiplicative combination strategy of the two correlator outputs, a noncoherent weighted discriminator is formed and shown to possess the ambiguity-free property. The multipath effect is assessed and compared with existing early-minus-late power and autocorrelation sidepeak cancellation technique discriminators. The noise effects of the theory and simulation are also discussed. In order to further verify the proposed scheme, a set of field data of a Galileo in-orbit validation satellite is collected and processed. It is demonstrated that the proposed method is simple to implement, free from ambiguities, and yields acceptable performance in the presence of multipath and noise.

MBOC and BOC(1,1) Performance Comparison

In recent months the US and the EU have agreed to change the modulation scheme for the new civil GPS and Galileo signals in the L1 band from Binary Offset Carrier (1,1) (BOC(1,1)) to a scheme having the so-called Multiplexed Binary Offset Carrier (MBOC) spectrum, although each system will implement this differently. This paper compares the performance of the new system in a number of areas against the original baseline. It is shown that the MBOC signal offers significant advantages in multipath and tracking performance, while retaining compatibility with BOC(1,1) receivers at the cost of a small correlation loss.

Comparison between Galileo CBOC Candidates and BOC(1,1) in Terms of Detection Performance

Many scientific activities within the navigation field have been focused on the analysis of innovative modulations for both GPS L1C and Galileo E1 OS, after the 2004 agreement between United States and European Commission on the development of GPS and Galileo. The joint effort by scientists of both parties has been focused on the multiplexed binary offset carrier (MBOC) which is defined on the basis of its spectrum, and in this sense different time waveforms can be selected as possible modulation candidates. The goal of this paper is to present the detection performance of the composite BOC implementation of an MBOC signal in terms of detection and false alarm probabilities. A comparison among the CBOC and BOC(1,1) modulations is also presented to show how the CBOC solution, designed to have excellent tracking performance and multipath rejection capabilities, does not limit the acquisition process.