On-board Clock Research Articles

Data Timing, Time Transfer and On-board Clock Monitoring for Space Astrometry with Gaia

The paper discusses the problematic of data timing in the framework of the space astrometry mission Gaia. For various reasons related both to astrometry and to the measuring principles of the Gaia instrument it is mandatory to assign a highly stable and accurate time tag for each observational point. For this purpose Gaia has a Rb clock on board. That on-board clock is a free-running oscillator and must be regularly synchronized with TCB which is used as the underlying relativistic coordinate time scale in the whole Gaia data processing. To monitor the reading of the on-board clock with respect to TCB (or any other timescale) a one-way clock synchronization scheme is implemented. This scheme takes into account all known theoretical effects (e.g., relativity, tropospheric delay, etc.) and allows one both to monitor the health of the on-board clock and to create a clock model at the accuracy of better than 1 microsecond.

NuSTAR Hard X-Ray Observations of the Energetic Millisecond Pulsars PSR B1821-24, PSR B1937+21, and PSR J0218+4232

Abstract We present Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) hard X-ray timing and spectroscopy of the three exceptionally energetic rotation-powered millisecond pulsars PSRs B1821-24, B1937+21, and J0218+4232. By correcting for the frequency and phase drifts of the NuSTAR onboard clock, we are able to recover the intrinsic hard X-ray pulse profiles of all three pulsars with a resolution down to . The substantial reduction of background emission relative to previous broadband X-ray observations allows us to detect for the first time pulsed emission up to ∼50 keV, ∼20 keV, and ∼25 keV for the three pulsars, respectively. We conduct phase-resolved spectroscopy in the 0.5–79 keV range for all three objects, obtaining the best measurements yet of the broadband spectral shape and high-energy pulsed emission to date. We find extensions of the same power-law continua seen at lower energies, with no conclusive evidence for a spectral turnover or break. Extrapolation of the X-ray power-law spectrum to higher energies reveals that a turnover in the 100 keV to 100 MeV range is required to accommodate the high-energy γ-ray emission observed with Fermi-LAT, similar to the spectral energy distribution observed for the Crab pulsar.

Relativistic time transfer for a Mars lander: from Areocentric Coordinate Time to Barycentric Coordinate Time

As the second step of relativistic time transfer for a Mars lander, we investigate the transformation between Areocentric Coordinate Time (TCA) and Barycentric Coordinate Time (TCB) in the framework of IAU Resolutions. TCA is a local time scale for Mars, which is analogous to the Geocentric Coordinate Time (TCG) for Earth. This transformation has two parts: contributions associated with gravitational bodies and those depending on the position of the lander. After setting the instability of an onboard clock to 10−13 and considering that the uncertainty in time is about 3.2 microseconds after one Earth year, we find that the contributions of the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in the leading term associated with these bodies can reach a level exceeding the threshold and must be taken into account. Other terms can be safely ignored in this transformation for a Mars lander.

Improved Short-Term Clock Prediction Method for Real-Time Positioning.

The application of real-time precise point positioning (PPP) requires real-time precise orbit and clock products that should be predicted within a short time to compensate for the communication delay or data gap. Unlike orbit correction, clock correction is difficult to model and predict. The widely used linear model hardly fits long periodic trends with a small data set and exhibits significant accuracy degradation in real-time prediction when a large data set is used. This study proposes a new prediction model for maintaining short-term satellite clocks to meet the high-precision requirements of real-time clocks and provide clock extrapolation without interrupting the real-time data stream. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) is used to analyze the linear prediction residuals of real-time clocks. The periodic terms obtained through FFT are adopted in the sliding window prediction to achieve a significant improvement in short-term prediction accuracy. This study also analyzes and compares the accuracy of short-term forecasts (less than 3 h) by using different length observations. Experimental results obtained from International GNSS Service (IGS) final products and our own real-time clocks show that the 3-h prediction accuracy is better than 0.85 ns. The new model can replace IGS ultra-rapid products in the application of real-time PPP. It is also found that there is a positive correlation between the prediction accuracy and the short-term stability of on-board clocks. Compared with the accuracy of the traditional linear model, the accuracy of the static PPP using the new model of the 2-h prediction clock in N, E, and U directions is improved by about 50%. Furthermore, the static PPP accuracy of 2-h clock products is better than 0.1 m. When an interruption occurs in the real-time model, the accuracy of the kinematic PPP solution using 1-h clock prediction product is better than 0.2 m, without significant accuracy degradation. This model is of practical significance because it solves the problems of interruption and delay in data broadcast in real-time clock estimation and can meet the requirements of real-time PPP.

Performance of BDS-3: Measurement Quality Analysis, Precise Orbit and Clock Determination.

Since 2015, China has successfully launched five experimental BeiDou global navigation system (BDS-3) satellites for expanding the regional system to global coverage. An initial performance assessment and characterization analysis of the BDS-3 is presented. Twenty days of tracking data have been collected from eleven monitoring stations. The tracking characteristics and measurement quality are analyzed and compared with the regional BDS (BDS-2) in terms of observed carrier-to-noise density ratio, pseudo-range multipath, and noise. The preliminary results suggest that the measurement quality of BDS-3 outperforms the BDS-2 for the same type of satellites. In addition, the analysis of multipath combinations reveals that the problem of satellite-induced code biases found in BDS-2 seems to have been solved for BDS-3. Precise orbit and clock determination are carried out and evaluated. The orbit overlap comparison show a precision of 2–6 dm in 3D root mean square (RMS) and 6–14 cm in the radial component for experimental BDS-3 satellites. External validations with satellite laser ranging (SLR) show residual RMS on the level of 1–3 dm. Finally, the performance of the new-generation onboard atomic clocks is evaluated and results confirm an increased stability compared to BDS-2 satellite clocks.

Field-programmable gate array-controlled sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator

A field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-controlled sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator (SV-LLPG) design based on an all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) is proposed. A distributed feedback laser with modulated injection current was used as a swept-frequency laser source. An open-loop predistortion modulation waveform was calibrated using a feedback iteration method to initially improve frequency sweep linearity. An ADPLL control system was then implemented using an FPGA to lock the output of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer that was directly proportional to laser sweep velocity to an on-board system clock. Using this system, linearly chirped laser pulses with a sweep bandwidth of 111.16 GHz were demonstrated. Further testing evaluating the sensing utility of the system was conducted. In this test, the SV-LLPG served as the swept laser source of an optical frequency-domain reflectometry system used to interrogate a subterahertz range fiber structure (sub-THz-FS) array. A static strain test was then conducted and linear sensor results were observed.

Estimation of clock drift in underwater acoustic instruments using propagation channel analysis

All underwater acoustic sensors require accurate on-board clocks for subsequent data analysis and interpretation. Unfortunately, most clocks suffer from a phenomenon called “clock drift” (loss of accuracy), which occurs due to environmental changes, aging, and other factors. Typically, the clock drift is accounted for by calibrating the clock in the instrument before and after the deployment, and applying a correction during data post-processing. This method, however, does not allow accurate estimation of clock errors during a particular experimental event. In this presentation a small subset of data collected on the last day of the Bottom Seismometer Augmentation in the North Pacific (OBSANP) Experiment in June-July 2013 is analyzed. It is shown that advanced signal processing techniques can be used to accurately reconstruct the motion of the ship-suspended acoustic source, which, in turn, can improve the accuracy of the acoustic receivers deployed on the seafloor in the deep ocean. [Work supported by the MITRE Innovation Program and ONR.]

Multi-band microwave photonic satellite repeater scheme employing intensity Mach-Zehnder modulators

To solve the satellite repeater's flexible and wideband frequency conversion problem, we propose a novel microwave photonic repeater system, which can convert the upload signal's carrier to six different frequencies. The scheme employs one 20 GHz bandwidth dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) and two 10 GHz bandwidth MZMs. The basic principle of this scheme is filtering out two optical sidebands after the optical carrier suppression (OCS) modulation and combining two sidebands modulated by the input radio frequency (RF) signal. This structure can realize simultaneous multi-band frequency conversion with only one frequency-fixed microwave source and prevent generating harmful interference sidebands by using two corresponding optical filters after optical modulation. In the simulation, one C-band signal of 6 GHz carrier can be successfully converted to 12 GHz (Ku-band), 28 GHz, 34 GHz, 40 GHz, 46 GHz (Ka-band) and 52 GHz (V-band), which can be an attractive method to realize multi-band microwave photonic satellite repeater. Alternatively, the scheme can be configured to generate multi-band local oscillators (LOs) for widely satellite onboard clock distribution when the input RF signal is replaced by the internal clock source.

General relativity tests with space clocks in highly elliptic orbits

The test of the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) is of crucial importance as a deviation from it could hint to quantum effects in gravity or to unification with the other fundamental forces. One aspect of EEP is the local position invariance (LPI), which can be tested by measuring the gravitational red-shift. As an example of a possible space mission which could test the EEP, we will discuss a recently proposed satellite experiment, Einstein Gravitational RedShift Probe (E-GRIP), with the aim to test LPI using an hydrogen maser atomic clock on a highly elliptic orbit around Earth and compare the on-board clock to clocks located on Earth via a microwave link.

Phase Compensation Sensor for Ranging Consistency in Inter-Satellite Links of Navigation Constellation.

The performance of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can be enhanced significantly by introducing the inter-satellite links (ISL) of a navigation constellation. In particular, the improvement of the position, velocity, and time accuracy, and the realization of autonomous functions require the ISL distance measurement data as the original input. For building a high-performance ISL, the ranging consistency between navigation satellites becomes a crucial problem to be addressed. Considering the frequency aging drift and the relativistic effect of the navigation satellite, the frequency and phase adjustment (FPA) instructions for the 10.23 MHz must be injected from the ground station to ensure the time synchronization of the navigation constellation. Moreover, the uncertainty of the initial phase each time the onboard clock equipment boots also results in a pseudo-range offset. In this Ref., we focus on the influence of the frequency and phase characteristics of the onboard clock equipment on the ranging consistency of the ISL and propose a phase compensation sensor design method for the phase offset. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method not only realized a phase compensation for the pseudo-range jitter, but, when the 1 PPS (1 pulse per second) falls in the 10.23 MHz skip area, also overcomes the problem of compensating the ambiguous phase by directly tracking the 10.23 MHz to ensure consistency in the ranging.

Performance Evaluation of GNSS On-board Atomic Clock

On-board atomic clock as the key to maintain the time scale, its performance will affect the navigation, positioning and timing of the user's accuracy. The definition and calculation method of atomic clock frequency accuracy, drift and stability were introduced, using satellite clock error data provided by iGMAS, IGS and MGEX in the GNSS on-board atomic clocks performance assessment. And, on this basis we analyzed the characteristics of GNSS on-board atomic clocks. The results show that the rubidium clocks on GPS BLOCK IIF and the space borne hydrogen clocks in Galileo system have the best comprehensive performance; the day stability of BDS MEO and IGSO on-board atomic clocks have reached the level of 2~4×10-14, almost the same precision as the GPS BLOCK IIR satellites; and the frequency accuracy reached the level of 1~4×10-11, and the frequency drift reached the level of 10-14.

Relativistic time transfer for a Mars lander: from proper time to Areocentric Coordinate Time

As the first step in relativistic time transfer for a Mars lander from its proper time to the time scale at the ground station, we investigate the transformation between proper time and Areocentric Coordinate Time (TCA) in the framework of IAU Resolutions. TCA is a local time scale for Mars, which is analogous to the Geocentric Coordinate Time (TCG) for Earth. This transformation contains two contributions: internal and external. The internal contribution comes from the gravitational potential and the rotation of Mars. The external contribution is due to the gravitational fields of other bodies (except Mars) in the Solar System. When the (in)stability of an onboard clock is assumed to be at the level of 10−13, we find that the internal contribution is dominated by the gravitational potential of spherical Mars with necessary corrections associated with the height of the lander on the areoid, the dynamic form factor of Mars, the flattening of the areoid and the spin rate of Mars. For the external contribution, we find the gravitational effects from other bodies in the Solar System can be safely neglected in this case after calculating their maximum values.

Improvement of stratospheric balloon GPS positioning and the impact on gravity wave parameter estimation for the Concordiasi campaign in Antarctica

Gravity waves (GWs) play an important role in transferring energy and momentum from the troposphere to the middle atmosphere. However, shorter scale GWs are generally not explicitly resolved in general circulation models but need to be parameterized instead. Super pressure balloons provide direct access to measure GW characteristics as a function of wave intrinsic frequency that are needed for these parameterizations. The 30 s sampling rate of the GPS receivers carried on the balloons deployed in the 2010 Concordiasi campaign in the Antarctic is much higher compared to the previous campaigns and can cover the full range of the GW spectrum. Two among 19 balloons are also equipped with the dual-frequency GPS receivers initially developed for GPS radio occultation research in addition to the single-frequency receivers, which are expected to provide better positions for GW parameter estimations. Improvements of the positions are significant, from ~3-10 m horizontal and ~5 m vertical to ~0.1 and 0.2 m, respectively, which makes it possible to resolve the Eulerian pressure independently of altitude for the intrinsic phase speed estimation. The lower position accuracy in the previous analysis of campaign results from the single-frequency GPS receiver was primarily due to a problem with the on-board clock that is not present in the new results. The impacts of the position improvements on the final GW parameters are highlighted, with larger difference in momentum flux for the shorter scale GWs than for the longer scale GWs, and significant difference in the distribution of the intrinsic phase speed.

Orbit determination and time synchronization for new-generation Beidou satellites: Preliminary results

Five new-generation Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) satellites, including two satellites in the Inclined Geostationary Orbit (IGSO) and three satellites in the Medium Orbit (MEO), have completed deployment on 1st February 2016. The mission of the five new-generation satellites is to validate the new system designs and the new technologies that will successfully expand BDS’s Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services from regional to global. Responsible to keep time and frequency standards that are used to generate navigation signals, atomic clocks are important payloads onboard BDS satellites. Using data from BDS’ two-way satellite time and frequency transfer system, this paper evaluates performance of those new generation atomic clocks (Hydrogen Maser and Rubidium). Compared to the regional operational satellites onboard atomic clocks, the prediction accuracy of the new-generation onboard atomic clocks is improved. The short-term prediction error of IGSO satellites drops from 0.65 to 0.30 ns, the short-term prediction error of MEO satellites drops from 0.78 to 0.32 ns, and the media-term prediction error of IGSO and MEO satellites drops from 2.50 to 1.50 ns. Inter-Satellite Links (ISL) with measurement and data communication capabilities is one of the most important ingredient for global BDS system design. With ISL data collected for the five new-generation satellites, this paper compares differences in space signal accuracy, or orbits and clocks in broadcast navigation messages, with or without ISL contribution. Our finding confirms ISL contributes a great deal to the space signal accuracy, in particular when the satellites are not tracked by a regional network. With ISL measurements, the prediction error of MEO broadcast satellite clock parameters drops from 3 ns to within 1 ns when the MEO satellites go into the visual field once more. When ISL measurements join orbit determination as additional observation to L Band code and phase measurements, the orbit determination and prediction accuracy is greatly improved: the radial orbit overlap difference is better than 0.1 m, three-dimensional overlap difference better than 0.5 m and 24 h prediction radial orbit overlap difference is better than 0.2 m, three-dimensional overlap difference better than 1.0 m. Furthermore, with clock measurements obtained with ISL, clock estimates may be decoupled from orbital estimates during orbit determination process for better solutions. A new strategy is proposed in this paper, in which the variation of the satellite clock offsets is constrained and kept as known in orbit determination. With the new strategy, the 4 h prediction UERE drops from 1.04 to 0.82 m.

Prospective memory while driving: comparison of time- and event-based intentions

Prospective memories can divert attentional resources from ongoing activities. However, it is unclear whether these effects and the theoretical accounts that seek to explain them will generalise to a complex real-world task such as driving. Twenty-four participants drove two simulated routes while maintaining a fixed headway with a lead vehicle. Drivers were given either event-based (e.g. arriving at a filling station) or time-based errands (e.g. on-board clock shows 3:30). In contrast to the predominant view in the literature which suggests time-based tasks are more demanding, drivers given event-based errands showed greater difficulty in mirroring lead vehicle speed changes compared to the time-based group. Results suggest that common everyday secondary tasks, such as scouting the roadside for a bank, may have a detrimental impact on driving performance. The additional finding that this cost was only evident with the event-based task highlights a potential area of both theoretical and practical interest.Practitioner Summary: Drivers were given either time- or event-based errands whilst engaged in a simulated drive. We examined the effect of errands on an ongoing vehicle follow task. In contrast to previous non-driving studies, event-based errands are more disruptive. Common everyday errands may have a detrimental impact on driving performance.

Extending Required Navigation Performance to Include Time Based Operations and the Vertical Dimension

Extending Required Navigation Performance to Include Time Based Operations and the Vertical Dimension

FPGA-Based High-Frequency Digital Pulse Width Modulator Architecture for DC-DC Converters

Digital pulse width modulator is an integral part in digitally controlled Direct Current to Direct Current (DC-DC) converter utilized in modern portable devices. This paper presents a new Digital Pulse Width Modulator (DPWM) architecture for DC-DC converter using mealy finite state machine with gray code encoding scheme and one hot encoding method to derive the variable duty cycle Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal without varying the clock frequency. To verify the proposed DPWM technique, the architecture with control input of six, five and four bits are implemented and the maximum operating frequency along with power consumption results is obtained for different Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices. The post layout timing results are presented showing that architecture can work with maximum frequency of 326 MHz and derive PWM signal of 3.59 MHz. Experimental results show the implementation of the proposed architecture in low-cost FPGA (Spartan 3A) with on-board oscillator clock frequency of 12 MHz which is multiplied internally by two with Digital Clock Manager (DCM) and derive the PWM signal of 1.5 MHz with a time resolution of 1 ps.

Uncertainty Derivation and Performance Analyses of Clock Prediction Based on Mathematical Model Method

The prediction of the clock offset plays an important role in the generation of a time scale, clock steering, and time offset prediction of the onboard clocks. The mathematical model method based on the stochastic differential equations has been dealt with the clock prediction problem. In this paper, we examine the method from a theoretical point of view. We derive the analytic expressions of the theoretical prediction uncertainties when the clocks are modeled by the sum of a white frequency modulation noise, a random walk frequency modulation noise in both the linear model case and the quadratic polynomial model case. Simulations and an experiment for predicting the time deviations of International Atomic Time-TA(National Time Service Center) are used to validate the theoretical analyses. The simulations and the experiment show that the prediction performances agree with the theoretical evaluations; therefore, we consider that the research is useful in applications. Furthermore, we illustrate that the prediction uncertainty can be minimized only by choosing an optimal observation interval. From simulations, for a typical cesium clock, the method is effective for short-term prediction, whereas for a typical hydrogen maser, for all prediction times the uncertainties of the deterministic part are predominant, and we thus consider that the method in the quadratic polynomial model case deserves further investigation.

Time-delay interferometry with optical frequency comb

Heterodyne laser phase measurements in a space-based gravitational wave interferometer are degraded by the phase fluctuations of the onboard clocks, resulting in unacceptable sensitivity performance levels of the interferometric data. In order to calibrate out the clock phase noises it has been previously suggested that additional inter-spacecraft phase measurements must be performed by modulating the laser beams. This technique, however, considerably increases system complexity and probability of subsystem failure. With the advent of self-referenced optical frequency combs, it is possible to generate the heterodyne microwave signal that is coherently referenced to the onboard laser. We show in this case that the microwave noise can be cancelled directly by applying modified second-generation Time-Delay Interferometric combinations to the heterodyne phase measurements. This approach avoids use of modulated laser beams as well as the need of additional ultra-stable oscillator clocks.

Precision analysis for Compass satellite clock prediction based on a universal clock offset model

Prediction accuracy for satellite clock parameters directly affects the performance of satellite navigation systems and services. There are many factors which can affect the satellite clock prediction accuracy. The quality of modeling clock sequence is a very important influence factor. Only those which can best reflects onboard clock running and physical characteristics can obtain a higher accuracy of satellite clock prediction. This paper analyzed the characteristics of the Compass system clock offset sequence, and proposed a universal clock offset model. The model contains a linear term, periodic term and random term, while using the AR model for stochastic modeling. We also gave a method for determining the periodic terms and AR model parameters. The model we proposed is also capable of degradation and expansion according to the actual onboard clock feature. The paper also gave the satellite clock prediction method based on the model. Finally, we conducted an experimental analysis with real Compass data. The results show that the proposed universal model can greatly improve the prediction accuracy of the satellite clock, especially for some of the less stable satellite clock. We achieve 6 h prediction accuracy better than 2 ns, and 12 h prediction accuracy better than 5.5 ns.