Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spacecraft Navigation Using the Modernized Global Positioning System Signal

  • Published:
The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Navigation is examined using information that is presently known about the modernized GPS signal. Although the full signal has not yet been fielded, its technical description can be used to predict its performance. The ranging accuracy of the new signal is compared to the classic signal. First, the signals are described. The correlation processes and consequent tracking accuracies are then determined. Finally the effect of multipath on the M-code is examined as a method to assess the future performance of the broadcast ephemeris. In most cases the performance of the modernized GPS signal is improved over the classic GPS signal, implying that it would be advantageous for receivers to employ it.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. “Vice President Gore Announces New Global Positioning System Modernization Initiative,” Press release, January 1999.

  2. “Interface Specification IS-GPS-200, IRN-200D-001,” Technical Report Revision D, GPS Joint Program Office, El Segundo, California, March 2006.

  3. Misra, P. and Enge, P. Global Positioning System: Signals, Measurements and Performance, 2nd edition, Ganga-Jamuna Press, Lincoln, Massachusetts, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  4. NAVSTAR Global Positioning System Interface Specification (IS-GPS-200), Revision D.

  5. Fontana, R. D., Cheung, W., Novak, P., and Stansell, T. “The New L2 Civil Signal,” Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, Salt Lake City, Utah, September 2001.

  6. Dierendonck, A. V., Hegarty, C., Scales, W., and Ericson, S. “Signal Specification for the Future GPS Civil Signal at L5,” Proceedings of the IAIN World Congress in Association with the U.S. ION Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, June 2000, pp. 232–241.

  7. “Interface Specification IS-GPS-705,” tech. rep., GPS Joint Program Office, El Segundo, California, November 2003.

  8. “Draft Interface Specification IS-GPS-800,” Technical Report, GPS Joint Program Office, El Segundo, California, April 2006.

  9. Betz, J.W., Blanco, M., Cahn, C., Dafesh, P., Hagerty, C., Hadnut, K.W., Kasemsri, V., Keegan, R., Kovach, K., Lenahan, C. L. S., Ma, H. H., Rushanan, J.J., Sklar, D., Stansell, T.A., Wang, C.C., and Yi, S.K. “Description of the L1C Signal,” Proceedings of the 19th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, Fort Worth, Texas, September 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  10. URL: http://pnt.gov/public/docs/2004-US-EC-agreement, International treaty, 2004.

  11. Hein, G.W., Avila-Rodrígues, J.-A., Wallner, S., Betz, J.W., Hegarty, C.J., Rushanan, J. J., Kraay, A.L., Pratt, A.R., Lenahan, S., Owen, J., Issler, J.-L., and Stansell, T. A. “MBOC: The New Optimized Spreading Modulation Recommended for Galileo L1 OS and GPS L1C,” Inside GNSS, Vol. 1, May/June 2006, pp. 57–66.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Betz, J.W. “Binary Offset Carrier Modulations for Radionavigation,” Navigation, Vol. 48, No. 4, Winter 2001–2002, pp. 227–246.

  13. Harris, R.B. Incorporation of the Global Positioning System Modernization Signals into Existing Smoother-based Ephemeris Generation Processes, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas Austin, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Dierendonck, A.J.V. Global Positioning System: Theory and Applications, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 1996, Vol. I, Chapter 8, pp. 329–407.

  15. Wiley, B., Craig, D., Manning, D., Novak, K., Taylor, R., and Weingarth, L. “NGA’s Role in GPS,” Proceedings of the 19th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, Fort Worth, Texas, September 2006.

  16. Dow, J.M., Neilan, R.E., and Gandt, G. “The International GPS Service (IGS): Celebrating the 10th Anniversary and Looking to the Next Decade,” Advances in Space Research, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2005, pp. 320–326. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2005.05.125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. National Research Council, The Global Positioning System, A Shared National Asset: Recommendations for Technical Improvements and Enhancements, Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Harris, R. B. and Lightsey, E.G. “Precise Observation of BOC Modulated Signals in the Presence of Specular Multipath and Noise,” Proceedings of Position Location and Navigation Symposium, Monterey, California, IEEE and ION, May 2008.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712

    E. G. Lightsey (Professor)

  2. Space and Geophysics Laboratory, Applied Research Laboratories, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78713

    R. B. Harris (Engineering Scientist)

Authors
  1. E. G. Lightsey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. B. Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Presented at the F. Landis Markley Astronautics Symposium, Cambridge, Maryland, June 29–July 2, 2008

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lightsey, E.G., Harris, R.B. Spacecraft Navigation Using the Modernized Global Positioning System Signal. J of Astronaut Sci 57, 485–503 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03321513

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03321513

Keywords

Search

Navigation