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On Timing Performance of NavIC Receiver Through PPP Time Transfer Technique

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Abstract

The timing performance of a Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) receiver can be assessed by comparing it with a reference time standard. But it is difficult to do so if the time pulse of a standard clock is not accessible by any NavIC user. This paper proposes a novel method for this purpose that utilizes Precise Point Positioning (PPP) time transfer technique. The PPP time transfer technique utilizes products of the International GNSS Service (IGS) that are presently available only for GPS and GLONASS constellations. Therefore, though the PPP time transfer is an established technique, this cannot be directly used for NavIC timing as the IGS service has not yet been available for the NavIC constellation. So, in the proposed method, PPP time transfer technique has been utilized in an indirect way along with the access of BIPM time transfer data bank. This paper elaborates the basic principle and the experimental arrangement of the proposed technique. The uncertainty (1σ) of this measurement of NavIC receiver bias has been found to be 11 ns.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi (Project Code: File No 8-10/RIFD/RPS/ Policy-1/2016-17) and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), New Delhi, India (Project Code: ERIP/ER/DG-MSS/990516601/M/01/1658) for financial support. They also acknowledge Space Application Center (SAC), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Ahmedabad, India, Integrated Test Range (ITR), DRDO, Chandipur, India and Keysight Technologies, India for hardware support.

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Correspondence to Anindya Bose.

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Santra, A., Dan, S., Banerjee, P. et al. On Timing Performance of NavIC Receiver Through PPP Time Transfer Technique. MAPAN 37, 207–214 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12647-021-00528-z

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Keywords

Navigation