First Fix

Why
the 1-dB
standard
matters

GPSWORLD.COM

INNOVATORS
ASSEMBLE Trimble’s SiteVision
Receiver and antenna system features a
digital design model

manufacturers share
that allows users
to visually confirm
underground utility
what’s new … and what’s next cables are in the
correct location
prior to backfill.
(Photo: Trimble)

Innovation
Safely Augmenting GNSS
for Autonomous Apps

FEBRUARY 2020 | Vol 31 | No 2

CONSTRUCTION
VERIFICATION
SO PRECISE, SO FAST.

Unparelleled digital workflow

with MAGNET & ClearEdge
3D Verity software. Turns out
science-fiction can help in
the verification process.

LEARN MORE
 VO L . 3 0
1 NNO.
O. 29 G P
GSWO
P SWO
R LD.CO
R LD.CO
MM SEPTEMBER
FEBRUARY 2019
2020
INNOVATORS
COVER STORY

14
ASSEMBLE
Part 2 of Our Receiver Innovator Q&As
In the second part of our receiver feature,
top receiver manufacturers discuss what’s on
the horizon for GNSS receivers: recent and
upcoming innovations, combating spoofing
and jamming, fusing GNSS with other sensors,
and the impact of increasing accuracy both for
professional surveyors and consumers.
BY Matteo Luccio

27 ANTENNAS
ALERT
Manufacturers discuss challenges
Photo: Eos Positioning

and innovations
BY Matteo Luccio

AUTONOMOUS TESTBED

37 Building a Better Infrastructure

A TESTBED IN AN ACTIVE URBAN CENTER can show real-world effects on GNSS as an aid for developing
autonomous systems for green mobility, smart-city applications or transportation, to name a few.
BY Anna B. O. Jensen, Per Lundahl Thomsen and Søren Skaarup Larsen
Photo: City of Aarhus/DTU Space

|
FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM GPS WORLD 3
 FEBRUARY 2020
OPINIONS AND DEPARTMENTS LAUNCHPAD
42 INNOVATION 11 SURVEYING &
INTEGRITY FOR SAFE NAVIGATION MAPPING
A Key Feature of a New High-Accuracy GNSS Correction Service 12 TRANSPORTATION
A look at the design, construction, operation and performance of the first safety- critical, 13 UAV
high-accuracy augmentation service created specifically for autonomous applications.
BY Landon Urquhart, Rodrigo Leandro and Paola Gonzalez

MARKET WATCH
6 FIRST FIX For what uses does it matter most? 31 OEM
Maintaining the 1-dB Standard with John Fischer
and Ellen Hall 33 SURVEYING
guest column
by J. David Grossman 34 TRANSPORTATION
9 SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS 36 MOBILE
8 TAKING POSITION 2 SOPS Sets First GPS III Healthy; CubeSat
Drone Mystery Lights up Colorado Skies Finds Its Way in Space with Galileo Receiver;
BY Tracy Cozzens Fourth GPS Civilian Signal Goes Live

Photo: Aceinna
8 ADVISORY BOARD 49 AD INDEX
Q&A 50 SEEN & HEARD
What are the key technical criteria in Bad Karma; Going Wild at the Casino; Feed
matching GNSS receivers and antennas, the Birds, Not the Mice; Missiles Guided by
from the same or different manufacturers? GLONASS

NEWSLETTER EXCERPT

Thousands Sign for Ride with Lift Aircraft

BY Tony Murfin
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, OEM & UAV
Photo: Lift Aircraft

U
AVs are finding places in the take one for a ride.
lives of more people than The large drone weighs in at 432
ever  — farmers employing pounds and can fly for 10-15 minutes
crop-spraying drones to counter a locust with a single passenger.
infestation in Pakistan, finding the The Hexa is controlled by a single
way toward useful inspection tasks at joystick, and an onboard iPad provides
an operating airport in the U.K., large route guidance and manages take-off
airborne vehicles providing joyrides and landing. Classed as a powered
around the U.S., and unfortunately ultralight air vehicle, it can be flown the vehicle control system. The 13,000
showing up where they are not wanted without a pilot’s license, so Lift people who signed up can expect to pay
so security staff have to use protection announced that it will offer Hexa flights $125–$250 for each joy ride. Lift has yet
systems to deal with them. to anyone wanting to fly (in 25 selected to announce the first location where the
Lift Aircraft unveiled its 18-rotor U.S. cities) provided they physically fit fun rides will take place.
Hexa unmanned/manned aircraft more into it and weigh less than 250 pounds.
Read the full column — including UAVs for crop spraying, at airports and
than a year ago — what’s new now is Lift intends to map each recreational countered with new systems — at gpsworld.com/category/opinions/.
that 13,000 people have signed up to flight area in 3D, and plug this map into

|
4 GPS WORLD WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
FIRST FIX Experts discuss GNSS/PNT news,
trends, obstacles and opportunities

Maintaining the 1-dB Standard

“
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
A 1-dB decrease serves EDITORIAL
Editorial Director Marty Whitford
as an early warning of [email protected] | 216-706-3766
Senior Editor Tracy Cozzens
BY J. David interference potentially [email protected] | 541-255-3334
Staff Editor Diane Sofranec

”
Grossman becoming harmful. [email protected] | 216-706-3793
GUEST COLUMNIST Digital Media Manager Allison Barwacz
[email protected] | 216-706-3796

D
Art Director Charles Park
ebates in Washington over engineering considerations and is [email protected] | 858-337-8847
harmful interference and associated with quantifiable changes CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
the coexistence of divergent in the overall noise to which GNSS General Matteo Luccio | [email protected]
Innovation Richard Langley | [email protected]
services are raging. Nowhere are the receivers are subject, with equally Defense PNT Michael Jones | [email protected]
differences more apparent than when well-understood effects on receiver Professional OEM & UAV Tony Murfin | [email protected]
comparing radio navigation services operation. (The 1-dB standard enables GeoIntelligence William Tewelow | [email protected]
Survey Tim Burch & Dave Zilkoski |
such as GPS to radio communications system designers and spectrum [email protected] & [email protected]
systems used in wireless communications regulators to carefully assess interference BUSINESS
networks. from various sources and analyze their Publisher Marty Whitford
[email protected] | 216-706-3766
How do we ensure that a satellite- net effect on GNSS receivers). Associate Publisher Mike Joyce
based radionavigation service like It a l s o h a s b e e n a d opte d [email protected] | 216-706-3723
Account Manager Ryan Gerard
GPS, which by design operates below internationally and has a long and [email protected] | 216-363-7921
the ambient noise floor, is protected well-established proven history of Director of Audience Engagement Bethany Chambers
[email protected] | 216-706-3771
from harmful interference? The protecting GPS operations from harmful Director of Marketing & Events Michelle Mitchell
International Telecommunications interference in both international and [email protected] | 216-363-7922
Event Manager Allison Blong
Union’s (ITU) definition of harmful domestic regulatory proceedings. [email protected] | 216-363-7936
interference provides a starting point, So-called “alternatives” to 1 dB, which Marketing & Sales Manager, Buyers Guide Emily Adkins
[email protected] | 216-675-6006
by defining harmful interference as a may be appropriate in the context of
PUBLISHING SERVICES
level that “endangers the functioning radio communications systems, fail to Manager, Production Services Chris Anderson
of a radionavigation service.” With recognize that the accuracy, integrity and [email protected] | 216-978-5341
Senior Audience Development Manager Antoinette Sanchez-Perkins
this foundational definition, the reception (availability) of GPS signals [email protected] | 216-706-3750
internationally established criterion of used by a receiver can be degraded by Reprints & Permissions Brett Petillo
[email protected] | 877-652-5295
a 1-decibel (dB) increase in the noise interfering noise in ways not immediately Circulation/Subscriber Services
floor, otherwise known as the 1-dB apparent to an end user. This means [email protected] | USA: 847-513-6030
standard, provides the answer, offering that the effects of degraded service of NORTH COAST MEDIA LLC
a readily identifiable, objective and GPS signals can still be detrimental well 1360 East 9th St, Tenth Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114, USA
predictable metric. before the user loses position accuracy President & CEO Kevin Stoltman
[email protected] | 216-706-3740
The 1-dB standard uses a 1-dB or experiences complete loss of position.
Vice President of Finance & Operations Steve Galperin
increase in the noise floor as the Additionally, C/N0 is computed at the [email protected] | 216-706-3705
distinction between the onset of entry point of a GPS receiver, such that a Editorial Director Marty Whitford
[email protected] | 216-706-3766
interference that can be detected by a 1-dB decrease serves as an early warning Vice President of Graphic Design & Production Pete Seltzer
GPS receiver and harmful interference. of interference potentially becoming [email protected] | 216-706-3737

(This can be reliably measured by a 1 dB harmful. Other metrics, computed

decrease in the carrier-to-noise ratio, C/ further downstream, may be indicative of MANUSCRIPTS: GPS World welcomes unsolicited articles but cannot be held responsible
for their safekeeping or return. Send to: 1360 East 9th St, Tenth Floor, IMG Center, Cleveland, OH
N0, reported by the receiver). Thus, the harmful interference already occurring. 44114, USA. Every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy, but publishers cannot accept responsibility
for the accuracy of information supplied herein or for any opinion expressed. REPRINTS:
1-dB standard provides a definitive way GPS has become a fundamental part Reprints of all articles are available (500 minimum). Contact 877-652-5295, Brett Petillo. Wright’s
Media, 2407 Timberloch Place, The Woodlands, TX 77380. SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: To
to protect GPS receivers from harmful of our lives and is an integral engine of subscribe, change your address, and all other services, e-mail [email protected] or call 847-
513-6030. LIST RENTAL: Contact 800-529-9020, Brahm Schenkman, bschenkman@inforefinery.
interference. Adherence to this standard the U.S. economy, creating new jobs, com, The Information Refinery, Inc. PERMISSIONS: Contact 877-652-5295, Brett Petillo.
Wright’s Media, 2407 Timberloch Place, The Woodlands, TX 77380. INTERNATIONAL
helps ensure that systems operating and unlocking innovation. Maintaining LICENSING: E-mail [email protected]. ACCOUNTING OFFICE AND
OFFICE OF PUBLICATION: 1360 East 9th St, Tenth Floor, IMG Center, Cleveland, OH
in an adjacent spectrum band do not the 1-dB standard ensures that the GPS 44114, USA. GPS WORLD does not verify any claims or other information appearing in any
of the advertisements contained in the publication and cannot take any responsibility for any
interfere with GPS. success story and American innovation losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content.

Why use the 1-dB standard instead will continue for decades to come. Published monthly

of other metrics? The 1-dB standard J. David Grossman is executive director of the GPS
is based upon well-understood GNSS Innovation Alliance.

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6 GPS WORLD WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
TAKING POSITION

Drone Mystery Lights up Colorado Skies

BY Tracy Cozzens

Map: DFPC
Cherry Brown

Sioux Box Butte

SENIOR EDITOR Platte

Goshen Grant Hooker Blaine

N
Scotts Bluff

Morrill

ortheastern Colorado was visited with a mystery in Banner

Garden

Arthur McPherson

late December and January. Residents began seeing

Custer

Laramie

Kimball Keith

drones from 7 to 10 p.m. each night, moving in

Deuel
!
O
Lincoln

JULESBURG

PEETZ
!
O OVID

!
O
SEDGWICK

Sedgwick Dawson

groups as large as 30, and flying in a grid pattern. The drones

GROVER
CROOK
Perkins

ILIFF

NUNN
Logan !
O
!
O
WELLINGTON
FLEMING

Larimer PIERCE !
O!
O! !
O
HAXTUN

!
O
RAYMER
OSTERLING

!
O
PAOLI

!
O

stayed about 200 feet to 300 feet in the air and flew steadily in
AULT Phillips HOLYOKE

FORT COLLINS
TIMNATH
SEVERANCE EATON
Weld !
O !
O Chase Hayes Frontier

WINDSOR !
O
!
O
MERINO

LOVELAND GREELEY!
O
GARDEN CITY
KERSEY Gosper
EVANS
LA SALLE

!
O ! !
O
O

squares of about 25 miles, at speeds estimated at 25–40 mph.

JOHNSTOWN HILLROSE

BERTHOUD MILLIKEN

GILCREST !
O !
O
Morgan
!
O
LOG LANE VILLAGE
FORT MORGAN !
O
BRUSH

!
O
LYONS
MEAD
PLATTEVILLE !
O
WIGGINS

LONGMONT
Dundy Hitchcock Red Willow Furnas
FIRESTONE !
O
AKRON
OTIS
!
O
Boulder
FREDERICK HUDSON KEENESBURG !
O
YUMA
ECKLEY

!
FORT LUPTON

!
O !
O
WRAY

Reports were so numerous that a multi-agency task

O
DACONO

ERIE
LOCHBUIE
BOULDER
LAFAYETTE
Washington Yuma
BRIGHTON
LOUISVILLE
Broomfield
SUPERIOR THORNTON
BROOMFIELD

NORTHGLENN
WESTMINSTER
FEDERAL HEIGHTS COMMERCE CITY
Adams

ARVADA

force was formed to investigate, including 10–15 law

WHEAT RIDGE LAKESIDE
Rawlins Decatur Norton
DENVER
EDGEWATER BENNETT
GOLDEN
LAKEWOOD
Denver
GLENDALE
AURORA

Arapahoe
MORRISON
ENGLEWOOD
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE
Jefferson BOW MAR SHERIDAN
GREENWOOD VILLAGE DEER TRAIL
COLUMBINE VALLEY
LITTLETON CENTENNIAL
FOXFIELD

enforcement agencies as well as the FBI and Federal

LONE TREE
PARKER

CASTLE PINES

CASTLE ROCK

ELIZABETH
Legend
KIOWA
Sherman Thomas Sheridan Graham
Douglas Kit Carson
!
O !
O !
O 20200103 UAS Sightings
Elbert GENOA
ARRIBA !
O
FLAGLER SEIBERT VONA STRATTON BETHUNE BURLINGTON

Aviation Administration (FAA). The drones were reported

Coal Power Plant
LIMON
C

LARKSPUR

G
Natural Gas Power Plant
Petroleum Energy
SIMLA

PALMER LAKE
RAMAH
HUGO
H
£
¥
S
Solar Energy
!
MONUMENT

CALHAN O

to measure six feet across and sound like a small jet engine.
WOODLAND PARK
W
Wind Energy
GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS

Wallace Æ̀ Airports
Gove & Landing Strips Trego
Teller
MANITOU SPRINGS
COLORADO SPRINGS Oil and Natural Gas Pipeline

®
El Paso Cheyenne CHEYENNE WELLS
Transmission Line
CRIPPLE CREEK
KIT CARSON
: Substation

“These are not drones that people in our county can just Missile Site
VICTOR
FOUNTAIN

Controlled Airspace
CLASS_B
CLASS_C
Greeley Wichita Scott Lane Ness
Fremont EADS
CLASS_D

buy,” said Washington County Sheriff Jon Stivers.

SHERIDAN LAKE
CANON CITY Kiowa HASWELL

BROOKSIDE Pueblo Crowley CLASS_E2

WILLIAMSBURG FLORENCE
ROCKVALE
COAL CREEK
0 12.5 25 50 75 100
Miles
USA Counties (below 1:3m)
PUEBLO

Numerous government agencies and companies denied This DFPC map, obtained by FOX31 TV, shows possible locations of drone
the drones were theirs, including the U.S. Air Force, NOAA, sightings along with power plants, pipelines and missile sites.
NORAD, the FAA, and large drone developers Google,
Amazon and Uber. have been issued) lack enough specifics to narrow down
The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control who might be responsible for mystery drones.
(DFPC) flew the state’s Multi-Mission Aircraft in an area A proposed FAA rule — open for public comment
where drones had been reported during two January missions. until March 2 — would require drones over 0.55 pounds
Some suspect the drones were part of a secretive Air Force to electronically transmit their location and ID, giving
counter-drone program to protect nuclear missile silos. agencies access to information on drones in flight.
Another theory was a hunt for a missing nuclear warhead The new remote ID requirement would help with
from one of the many intercontinental ballistic missile sites the creation of the Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic
that dot the prairies of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska. Management System, a project between the FAA, NASA
A group of Wichita, Kansas, drone enthusiasts also came and other agencies to “ultimately identify services, roles
forward, saying they had flown groups of drones in the and responsibilities, information architecture, data
area — but not to the same scale. exchange protocols, software functions, infrastructure, and
In an interview at January’s World Economic Forum in performance requirements for enabling the management
Davos, Switzerland, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao of low-altitude uncontrolled drone operations,” according
told Yahoo Finance “We don’t know who they belong to, we to the FAA.
don’t know who’s operating them, to this day we do not.” As of press time, no one has come forward to claim
Her department oversees the FAA, which issues Part 107 ownership of the drones. The public can submit reports at
waivers to drone operators, allowing them to fly at night or https://ciacco.org. As The X-Files’ Fox Mulder might say,
out of line of sight of the operator. The waivers (thousands “Watch the skies.”
PNT
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
What are the key technical criteria in matching GNSS receivers and antennas
from the same or different manufacturers? For what uses does it matter most?
“ For fixed-pattern antennas, it’s fairly simple: RF + DC to power the
antenna. Most vendors are compatible. The challenge is more for
controlled radiation pattern antennas (CRPA). Power requirements
Antenna selection is exceptionally critical for our military
and high-precision users. The platform and environment
are the primary drivers of these antenna requirements.
“
vary greatly, and performance can be improved with a two-way data In general, SWaP (size, weight and power) is at the
exchange between the CRPA and receiver, but there is no industry Ellen Hall
forefront of all criteria. As operational plans are developed,
John Fischer standard yet for this interface. An example: tilt angles from the
Orolia Spirent Federal requirements for a single or multi-element array,  element
receiver’s IMU can greatly aid beam pointing.” Systems gain, and noise figure must be considered.”

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8 GPS WORLD WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 SYSTEM
Policy and System
Developments
GPS Galileo GLONASS BeiDou

OF SYSTEMS
2 SOPS Sets First GPS III Healthy
O
n Jan. 13, the 2nd Space Operations Squadron

Photo: U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Matthew Coleman-Foster

(2 SOPS) of the U.S. Air Force set the first
GPS III satellite as healthy and active to
users.
Nicknamed “Vespucci” by the Air Force,
GPS III Space Vehicle 01 was launched on December 23,
2018, and completed all on-orbit testing in July 2019. The
official status change by 2 SOPS makes the satellite available
for use by military and civilian GPS users as part of the
constellation maintained by the squadron. Now identified
as Satellite Vehicle Number-74 (SVN-74), the satellite is the
first of the GPS III family to join the active constellation.
Before being declared healthy and active, various training
modules and upgrades were required, including this
On Jan. 13, Second Lt. Kelley McCaa, 2 SOPS satellite vehicle
summer’s installation of Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP) operator, and Airman 1st Class John Garcia, 2 SOPS satellite systems
8.0, the GPS III Contingency Operations (COps) program operator, set the first GPS Block III healthy and active to users.
software upgrade from Lockheed Martin that enables the
current GPS operational control system (OCS) to manage According to Lockheed Martin, GPS III satellites have
GPS III satellites as well as legacy satellites. three times better accuracy and up to eight times improved
When ready, the next-generation Operational Control anti-jamming capabilities than their predecessors, and a
System (OCX) Block 1, being developed by Raytheon and design life extending 25 percent longer than the newest GPS
long delayed, will take over this task. The AEP OCS GPS III IIF satellites on-orbit. GPS III’s new civil signal also makes it
upgrade “allowed our squadron to control the new satellite the first GPS satellite to broadcast a compatible signal with
without a next-generation operational control system,” other international global navigation satellite systems, like
said Capt. Ryan Thompson, 2 SOPS assistant director of Galileo, improving connectivity for civilian users.
sustainment. “The 2 SOPS training and evaluations flight was 2 SOPS is now preparing to incorporate the second GPS
able to expeditiously give our operators top-up training that Block III vehicle into the constellation. Launched August
allowed them to become comfortable with the new satellite.” 22, 2019, GPS III space vehicle 02 is now being controlled
The GPS III family is providing new capabilities to ensure from Lockheed Martin’s Launch & Check Out facility near
the fidelity of the constellation and signals in contested, Denver, with handoff to 2 SOPS expected in a few months.
degraded and operationally limited environments. A third GPS III is scheduled for launch later this year.

CubeSat Finds Its Way in Space with Galileo Receiver

Photo: ESA

A
m i n i a t u re Cu b e S a t h a s The European Space Agency supported
become the first satellite a ETH Zurich technical university project
to perform Galileo-based to fly a navigation payload — four low-
position fixes in orbit using a commercial cost multi-constellation mass-market
s a t n a v r e c e i v e r. C u b e S a t s a r e satnav receiver modules plus two
nanosatellites based on standardized antennas — aboard a test CubeSat. The
10 cm-sized units. The Swiss Astrocast test paves the way for experiments and
company is assembling a constellation demonstrations of Galileo in orbit with
based on three-unit CubeSats to serve CubeSats and low-cost receivers for CubeSat payload: four u-blox modules
the internet of things (IoT). scientific activities. mounted on an acrylic glass.

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM GPS WORLD 9
 SYSTEM
OF
SYSTEMS
Fourth GPS Civilian Signal Goes Live
A

Images: Octavian Andrei

new GPS civilian signal is now available for use.
The new signal is stronger, more accurate, more
resilient to interference events and interoperable
with European Galileo system. Researchers from the Finnish
Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) recorded the new civilian
signal transmitted by the first GPS III operational satellite.
On Jan. 13 at 21:29 Finnish time, the first GPS III satellite
(SVN74) was marked healthy after extensive operational
testing in orbit (see page 9). The satellite broadcasts PRN04
identification codes. It also transmits a new GPS civilian signal,
known as L1C, different than the legacy L1 C/A signal used
nowadays.
10 Times Longer. The two signals are transmitted at the
same frequency, but L1C codes are 10 times longer than L1 The new L1C signal (in blue) is 3–5 dBHz stronger and more
robust than the legacy L1 C/A signal (in orange).
C/A. This makes the signal more robust to interference when
multiple satellites are tracked on the same frequency band. This is the main reason why high-precision is achieved with
“Marking a satellite healthy means receivers can use dual-frequency receivers.
this satellite in their positioning, navigation and timing FinnRef Network Ready. “Two GPS III satellites have been
applications. L1C is the fourth GPS signal for the civilian use,” launched, and two more are expected to be launched during
said Octavian Andrei, senior research scientist at the Finnish 2020. With signals from four satellites, we will also be able to
Geospatial Research Institute (FGI). The FGI is the research estimate L1C-only positions,” Andrei said. The first L1C testing
unit of the National Land Survey of Finland. signals were recorded at the FinnRef station in Metsähovi on
The other three GPS civilian signals are L1 C/A, L2C and L5. April 5, 2019.
Interoperable with Galileo. L1C signal is transmitted on The FinnRef national network includes state-of-the-art
L1-band at 1575.42 MHz. It is meant to replace the legacy multi-constellation tracking stations distributed around
C/A signal in the future. L1C allows for the first time GPS Finland. These stations are capable of tracking multiple
compatibility and full interoperability with signals from other satellite signals on multiple L-band frequencies from almost
satellite systems, such as the E1 signal from the European 120 GNSS satellites, including the European Union’s Galileo,
Galileo. U.S. GPS, Russian GLONASS, and Chinese BeiDou constellation.
The interoperability with Galileo is further enhanced by Using new signals often requires updates to station
transmission of the inter-system timing biases; that is, the equipment, usually meaning firmware updates on the receiver
GPS-Galileo Time Offset. All these improvements will bring software. After the new firmware enabling L1C tracking is
further benefits and developments to the GNSS market and properly tested, the receivers will be updated, and then the
civilian users in general, Andrei said. entire FinnRef will begin tracking GPS L1C.
Ionosphere Not a Problem. Andrei said the new signals mean
“exciting times ahead for the civilian users and applications
that demand precise satellite positioning and navigation. Most
of the effects due to the ionosphere layers of the atmosphere
are removed by combining signals from two frequency bands
sufficiently apart from each other. This is the case with L1 and
L2 or L1 and L5. All these civilian signals are stronger and more
robust than ever before,” he explained.
The satellite signals are affected by errors while travelling
through the atmosphere. The main errors are due to the
ionosphere, which is a dispersive medium and frequency
dependent. The latter proves actually to be a significant
benefit for precision applications. More than 99% of the Signal strength of GPS civilian signals transmitted by SVN74 — L1C/A in
ionosphere effect is removed by forming a special linear orange, L2C in grey, L5 in magenta, L1C in dark blue). Data recorded at Metsähovi
combination of signals observed on two different frequencies. Jan 17–22. Elevation angle varies from 0.45 to 79.37 degrees.

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10 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 SURVEYING & MAPPING | LAUNCHPAD
1

2
4

1. RUGGED TABLET Carlson’s partner on the Scan2K project is channels for CCS. The receiver has four
FOR MANUFACTURING, FIELD SERVICE, Teledyne Optech. serial ports, USB and up to eight Ethernet
FLEET-BASED OPERATIONS Carlson Software, carlsonsw.com; connections. It also has patented interference
Teledyne Optech, teledyneoptech.com rejection and anti-jamming capabilities. The
The HT1 is an 8-inch rugged tablet hardware is capable of future enhancements,
designed for mobile workers. It offers 3. DATA COLLECTING and the software is configurable to user
dual-frequency GNSS using the u-blox M8 HANDHELD COMPUTING IN requirements. SEACOR Marine recently
chip. It can provide accuracy within three A RUGGED WINDOWS 10 TABLET chose the C-Nav5000 for its oil and gas
feet in open skies and 15 feet in denser support vessels.
environments. Built with military-grade The Mesa 3 rugged tablet is a Windows Oceaneering, oceaneering.com
ruggedness, it is designed to operate in 10 device with a quad-core Intel Pentium
demanding environments, and completed processor that offers speed and flexibility for 5. INFRASTRUCTURE TOOL
rigorous testing as part of Google’s Android fieldwork. It has 8-GB RAM, allowing for UNDERGROUND UTILITY-MAPPING
Enterprise Recommended (AER) program. large datasheets and numerous programs OF BURIED ASSETS
AER certification also ensures seamless running concurrently and providing access
deployment, a familiar user experience to data, mapping and office software libraries. Eos Locate for Collector for ArcGIS enables
and secure managed updates to deliver It has an IP68 rating, meets MIL-STD-810G utilities to map buried assets with submeter
immediate improvements in productivity. standards, and is waterproof, dustproof and or centimeter accuracy. It combines Eos
Janam Technologies, janam.com shockproof. Onboard storage allows for Arrow GNSS receivers, Esri Collector and
record-keeping, programs and data. the Vivax-Metrotech vLoc Series of locator
Juniper Systems, junipersys.com
2. LASER SCANNER devices so that a single field worker can
BUILT FOR SURVEYORS IN THE FIELD
collect both GNSS locations and locator
4. OFFSHORE RECEIVER data (such as depth below cover). Mappable
The Scan2K laser scanner is a versatile, fast OIL AND GAS STRUCTURE TRACKING infrastructure includes water, sewer, electric,
solution for the creation of accurate 3D survey
cable, gas and fiber optic, providing utilities
data up to a range of 2,000 meters. It has a The C-Nav5000 GNSS receiver builds on the with accurate digital twins of their systems
weather-proof housing and a sunlight-visible previous C-Nav3050 technology. It provides and enabling improvements to safety, damage
touchscreen interface with simple, menu- 5-centimeter-level position accuracy using prevention, field efficiency and regulatory
driven operations for quickly collecting and the C-Nav Correction Service (CCS). compliance. Office production times are
georeferencing point-cloud data. It also has an Powered by the new Onyx GNSS engine also reduced. Initial release of Eos Locate for
L1 GNSS receiver, integrated high-resolution from NavCom, the C-Nav5000 tracks Collector runs on Apple’s iOS iPhones and
camera, inclinometers and a compass. The GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo. It iPads; future releases will support additional
Scan2K can be deployed in many environments has all-in-view parallel tracking with 252 locator models including the vScan series.
channels for navigation, satellite-based Eos Positioning Systems, eos-gnss.com;
and orientations, including mobile operations.
augmentation systems (SBAS) and three Esri, esri.com

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 11
 LAUNCHPAD | TRANSPORTATION
1

2
3

5
1. LIDAR SYSTEM on tape and reel, the middle edge-of-board 4. FLEET PLATFORM
AUTOMOTIVE-GRADE mounted antenna has an omnidirectional ANDROID APP ENABLES BYOD
radiation pattern that allows customers to
The solid-state RS-Lidar-M1Simple use an omnidirectional antenna in devices The DRIVE app is now available to Android
is equipped with enhanced hardware where the orientation of the product users on the Google Play store. The bring your
performance virtually equal to the serial may be unknown, or subject to frequent own device (BYOD) solution enables fleet
production version provided to OEMs. The movement.The wide bandwidth maintains managers to use their supported Android
main body design of this automotive-grade high efficiency and reception stability on tablets when paired with Teletrac Navman’s
solid-state lidar is finalized and ready all GNSS bands from 1164 MHz to 1602 BT-compatible tracking unit, previously
for shipment. The RS-Lidar-M1Smart MHz. The GGBLA.125 exhibits efficiencies available only with specific proprietary tablets.
main body is embedded with an artificial of between 60% and 80%, depending on App users can access the full functionality
intelligence perception algorithm that takes the band used. of the Director fleet management platform,
advantage of lidar’s potential to transform Taoglas, taoglas.com which includes navigation, messaging,
conventional 3D lidar sensors to a full hours of service, electronic logging device
data analysis and comprehension system, 3. GATEWAY FOR RAIL compliance and driver vehicle inspection
outputting semantic-level structured MULTI-SERVICE RAILWAY PLATFORM reports. The company is also developing the
environment information in real time for DRIVE app for iOS.
autonomous vehicle decision making. Designed as a multi-service telematics Teletrac Navman, teletracnavman.com
RoboSense, robosense.ai and infotainment gateway for rolling stock
applications, the R6S series is built with 5. FLEET MANAGEMENT
2. CERAMIC LOOP ANTENNA onboard GPS/GLONASS for asset tracking. GPS + GLONASS AUTOMOTIVE TRACKER
COVERS GPS L1, L2, L5 AND L6
It has a u-blox NEO-M8N module. Built
to be a rolling stock controller, R6S comes The GO9 telematics device is designed to
The Taoglas GBBLA.125.A is an embedded with a removable 2.5-inch solid-state drive help businesses better manage their fleets.
ceramic miniature loop antenna designed bay for dual storage of recorded footage. Compared to past Geotab trackers, the GO9
for centimeter-level accuracy with real- For wireless connectivity, R6S is internally has better acceleration tracking, more accurate
time kinematic (RTK) systems using built with 3 x full-sized Mini-PCIe with GPS,and better support for vehicle-generated
the GPS L1, L2, L5 and L6 bands. It also SIM card reader (1 for Wi-Fi, 2 for 4G data and new vehicle types, including electric
covers all other GNSS systems including LTE) simultaneous operation. This is vehicles. It also has improved over-the-air
GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS. ideal for internet access, infotainment and software updates and provisioning. The GO9
Dimensions are 10 × 3.2 × 1.5 mm with a passenger information systems. It comes has a gyroscope and enhanced accelerometer
keep-out area of 15 x 9.8 mm on the PCB. with multiple networking ports and display to provide enhanced data of harsh braking,
The GGBLA.125 is designed for high- interfaces. acceleration and accidents. The GNSS module
Lanner Electronics, lannerinc.com
precision automotive navigation or asset supports GPS and GLONASS for accurate
tracking devices where board space is at a location data.
premium. An SMD component, delivered Geotab, geotab.com

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12 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 UAV | LAUNCHPAD
1. FIXED-WING UAV
WITH DETACHABLE VTOL MODULE
1
The Birdie UAV is a complete mapping solution designed to
achieve survey-grade accuracy and deliver high-quality data.
It has GSM connectivity and a detachable vertical takeoff
and landing (VTOL) module. The UAV is equipped with
precise point positioning (PPP), post-processed kinematic
(PPK) GPS L1 and L2 to provide accurate data without the
need for ground control points, providing absolute accuracy
up to 3 centimeters and maximum ground resolution up
to 1 centimeter. Uses include preparing topographic maps,
maps for planning purposes and cadastral maps, as well
as preparing digital elevation models, remote sensing, and
constuction and mining.
FlyTech UAV, flytechuav.com

2. AIR TAXI CONCEPT

FOR BOTH MANNED AND AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORT 2
Uber and Hyundai Motor Company are partnering to
develop Uber Air Taxis for a future aerial ride-share
network. Still in concept mode, the taxi concept was created
in part through Uber’s open design process, a NASA-
inspired approach that jump starts innovation by publicly
releasing vehicle design concepts for further development.
Uber, uber.com;
Hyundai Motor Company, hyundai.com

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 13
 Photo: Tersus GNSS
COVERSTORY

INNOVATORS ASSEMBLE
In the second part of our receiver feature, top receiver
manufacturers discuss what’s on the horizon for GNSS receivers:
recent and upcoming innovations, combating spoofing and jamming,
fusing GNSS with other sensors, and the impact of increasing
accuracy both for professional surveyors and consumers.
BY Matteo Luccio / G PS WO RLD CO N T R I B U TO R

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14 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 RECEIVERS

I
n January, we featured responses from NovAtel, supplement GNSS signals where they are degraded or
Trimble, Unicore, Topcon, Hemisphere GNSS, CNC denied, especially in the automotive market.
Navigation and Septentrio to questions about their Carrier phase positioning and correction services are
recent and upcoming innovations in the design increasingly improving the accuracy of survey stations
and manufacturing of GNSS receivers. We continue in and reducing their price. Meanwhile, submeter accuracy
this issue with responses to the same questions from is spreading beyond surveying to other industries.
Javad GNSS, Swift Navigation, Eos Positioning Systems, Performance in challenging conditions also continues
Tersus GNSS, TeleOrbit, Allystar Technology and NTLab. to improve, thanks largely to the increase in the
All GNSS receiver manufacturers agree that spoofing number of GNSS constellations, available satellites and
and intentional and unintentional jamming are serious frequencies. (For a review of recent developments in
challenges. Their approaches to dealing with these antennas, see our companion article on page 28.)
challenges differ, however, as they rely on different On the consumer side, the introduction of multi-
combinations of technologies on both their receivers frequency GNSS receiver chips, the increased use
(such as monitoring cycle slips and using analog-to- of correction services, and, in a few countries, the
digital converters, correlators and notch filters) and deployment of thousands of additional base stations
their antennas (such as using array antennas), as well will continue to increase the location accuracy of cell
as the new Galileo authentication service. phones and other consumer devices, enabling new
Many receiver manufacturers now routinely use applications. However, in these devices size and cost
optical, inertial and other sensors — which continue limitations make antenna performance particularly
to drop in price and increase in performance — to challenging.

Javad GNSS

Image: Javad GNSS

Jamming and Spoofing. “We protect you against jammers and ▪ Deviation of SNR
spoofers like no one else can,” said Javad Ashjaee, founder from the expected
and CEO. “We use multiple techniques to detect spoofers, value is another
the most important being the use of digital signal processing important indicator of
to detect more than one peak. First, with 864 channels interference.
and about 130,000 Quick Acquisition Channels in our “Usually there are over
Triumph chip, we have resources to assign more than 100 signals available at any
one channel to each satellite to find all signals that are given time, and we need
transmitted with that GNSS PRN code. If we detect more only four good signals to compute position. It is extremely
than one reasonable and consistent correlation peak for unlikely that we can be spoofed without our knowledge.”
any PRN code, we know that we are being spoofed and Ashjaee concluded. “We will immediately recognize and
can then identify the spoofer signals and ignore the wrong take corrective actions.”
peak.” (The figure at right is an example of two peaks.) Jamming and spoofing protection is available on all Javad
Ashjaee described additional techniques: GNSS receivers and OEM boards. Read more about Javad
▪ The J-Shield filter blocks out-of-band interference. GNSS’s jamming and spoofing protection in the December
▪ Sixteen 255th-order FIR antijam digital filters protect 2019 issue.
against static in-band interference, and 16 adaptive 80th-
order digital filters protect against dynamic interference. Sensor Fusion. “To support users in environments where
▪ Javad products measure the level of interference as a GNSS RTK solutions are difficult or impossible to obtain,”
percentage of in-band noise above normal. Ashjaee said, “Javad GNSS has invented the J-Mate, which is
▪ The Triumph chip has a powerful spectrum analyzer. Each a remotely controlled robotic EDM device and digital camera.
spectrum shows the power and the shape of the interfering GNSS RTK and optical can be seamlessly integrated using the
signals and jammers. This is more powerful and more J-Mate as the seventh RTK engine. Just set up a Triumph-3
efficient than using a commercial spectrum analyzer to on top of a J-Mate and a Triumph LS on top of a zebra rod,
evaluate the environment. making the former pair the RTK base station and the latter
▪ The chip also keeps a record of Automatic Gain Control, pair the RTK rover.” Read more about Javad GNSS’s RTK
which is another indicator of external signals. A change in and Optical United solution in the November 2019 issue.
AGC can indicate interference.

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 RECEIVERS

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Swift Navigation
Jamming and Spoofing. “Receivers have become more because they make their accuracy less dependent on the
robust to intentional jamming by mimicking the jam- intrinsic performance of the receiver and the antenna,
mers’ behavior to cancel it,” said Alex Pun, staff product Pun said. “A global service eliminates the need for an
manager. “Nevertheless, advanced jamming and spoofing individual base station.”
mitigation often imply array antennas. A real evolution lies
in considering these threats only in terms of the availability Consumer Devices. “The introduction of dual-frequency
of the GNSS sensor, now part of a complete multi-sensor GNSS receivers from chip manufacturers will help improve
positioning engine such as Starling.” positioning in cell phones and other consumer devices,”
Pun said. “These chips, coupled with a widely available
Sensor Fusion. IMUs, visual sensors and GNSS will aid each correction service such as Skylark, will greatly improve
other in different types of environments and scenarios, their performance accuracy to sub-meter levels.”
explained Pun. “Sensors are becoming more affordable,
and their performance increases with each new genera- Other Challenges. Performance stability of the antenna
tion. Sensor fusion will be the glue that will bind them to and its characterization will become the main challenge
provide a precise positioning solution.” to exploiting the new GNSS ASICs (application-specific
integrated circuits) and correction services at their highest
Surveying. The combined use of carrier-phase positioning level of performance, Pun said. “A positioning engine can
and correction services, such as Swift’s Skylark, will greatly exploit this information to accelerate the convergence to the
improve accuracy and reduce the cost of survey stations, high-accuracy solution, and then improve its availability.”

Eos Positioning Systems

Photo: Eos Positioning

“The past three years have seen positioning by other industries,
considerable innovations and trends outside of conventional surveying,
in the GNSS industry,” said Jean- is growing. Considering the now
Yves Lauture, CTO. “Receivers are four usable GNSS constellations and
becoming increasingly affordable the aggressive launches of Galileo
an d t h e a d opt i on of h i g h e r- and BeiDou satellites, the number
accuracy (submeter, centimeter) of available satellites and the list of
frequencies they use has considerably
increased.
“Although accuracy itself is not The Arrow Gold RTK GNSS receiver.
really improving, performance is — instance, there is a cost and physical
particularly in tougher conditions. size associated with using a high-end
It’s not uncommon for customers GNSS antenna with a minimum of
to use 30 to 35 satellites out of more ground plane to achieve these levels
than 40 in view using an Arrow Series of accuracy.
GNSS receiver. The numbers are even “Also, it is unlikely that the
higher in the Pacific regions, thanks manufacturers of consumer devices
to geostationary BeiDou satellites. will invest in de veloping the
This is, by far, more than double the advanced algorithms needed for a
number of satellites available with just high level of constant accuracy and
GPS and GLONASS.” performance. In order to fit into a
Photo: Eos Positioning

smartphone, consumer-grade GNSS

Consumer Devices. “It w i l l b e chipset manufacturers must drop
challenging for smartphones and the use of many available signals and
consumer devices to achieve survey- frequencies to keep both size and
A SURVEYOR USES the Arrow Gold receiver to grade accuracy in the next few years. power consumption to a minimum.”
map assets in Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada. They face certain limitations. For

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16 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 RECEIVERS

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Allystar Technology

Photo: Allystar
Jamming and Spoofing. The GNSS chip in Allystar’s TAU1301 Consumer Devices. In its Z6
module supports eight adaptive notch filters to reduce the smartphone, Lenovo has taken
effects of GNSS jamming, explained Shi-Xian Yang, senior advantage of the great improvement The TAU1310 module.
principal engineer in the company’s Baseband Algorithm in multipath mitigation provided
Department. “It significantly improves by the L5 signal’s higher chip rate and the output of high
the performance of GNSS tracking quality raw data via the TAU1302’s HD8040 GNSS chipset
measurements, even in the presence of to improve the accuracy experience in the consumer market,
strong and fast-varying jamming signals.” Yang explained. Additionally, he pointed out, cell phones and
other consumer devices now enable developers to access the
Sensor Fusion. The TAU1310 integrates a raw sensor data from such sensors as accelerometers and
Photo: Lenovo

six-axis micro-electromechanical system barometers to input into their fusion algorithms.

(MEMS) gyro, which makes its affordable
for the mass market, Yang said. Other Challenges. In the future, the TAU1310 could also
Lenovo Z6 support the L6 signal for PPP-RTK application.

NTLab

Photo: NTLab
Jamming and Spoofing. The problem of jamming and spoofing the independence of the INS
worries customers, according to Konstantin Yuriev, lead subsystem from the GNSS
GNSS engineer. The combination of anti-jam and anti- solution, or their intelligent NTLab anti-jamming
spoofing is in greater demand because the anti-jam feature mutual cross-control.” GNSS receiver.
alone is becoming insufficient. Yuriev cited the European
Union’s new requirements for the European Railway Traffic Surveying. A major part of the cost of a survey-grade device,
Management System (ERTMS), which makes anti-spoofing Yuriev pointed out, is for additional services, know-how, and
mandatory. The key issue today is “the solution to the problem other added values. There is market demand for a business
of reducing the size and cost of anti-jam receivers, so that model in which device price could go down while maintaining
they become available to consumers on the civilian market. the main values for the customer. “This could be achieved if
The key technology for this will be increasing the degree of end-users tightly cooperate with hardware manufacturers,
integration of the component base, first creating a chipset skipping third-party integrators. Alternatively, multiple third
for solving anti-jamming and anti-spoofing tasks, and then parties could compete, keeping the cost of the software low.
moving on to a single-chip solution. We have created a chipset One of the technical solutions for this is to provide software
and are ready to start work on the further integration into application programming interfaces (APIs) that will allow
a single chip.” multiple third parties to offer application-level software for
the same hardware. We call it the ‘open platform’ approach.
Sensor Fusion. The traditional task of integrating data from One of our products implements this strategy.”
a GPS antenna and a MEMS sensor has been solved, Yuriev
said, with many such solutions on the market. One task is Other Challenges. Despite some skeptics, Yuriev argued, new
to track the antenna’s tilt. “The antenna, GNSS receiver, and GNSS systems have been successful. “A good example is
MEMS sensors should be located very closely to each other — IRNSS (NavIC), with India's population of 1.3 billion forming
if possible, on a single small board,” Yuriev said. “Here, a potential market. Moreover, according to our studies, good
again, the solution is to increase the degree of integration, coverage is provided not only in India’s territory. We are
up to placing the baseband processor on the same chip with working on creating an economically affordable solution with
the digital CMOS circuitry of the MEMS sensor.” Another support for the NavIC S-band. A new chip-scale packaged
application of MEMS is serving as the core of an inertial RFIC (radio-frequency integrated circuit) should minimize
navigation system (INS), providing an auxiliary subsystem the size, consumption, and price of NavIC-oriented modules,
for detecting the presence of spoofing. “This is more of an while maintaining all the advantages of the S-band signal
algorithmic task,” Yuriev said, “because traditional coupling in areas close to the equator. This is our solution to the
using recursive filters is not enough. It is necessary to ensure problem.”

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TeleOrbit

Photo: ©Fraunhofer IIS

GNSS Receiver Development Platform. The company’s GOOSE Surveying. TeleOrbit
platform is a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based provides GNSS-RTK
GNSS receiver, developed by Fraunhofer IIS, making it using RTKLIB. “The
flexible in processing new or proprietary signals, according implemented Open GOOSE platform.
to Katrin Dietmayer, software development engineer at GNSS Receiver Protocol (OGRP) is fully documented with
Fraunhofer IIS. “It comprises 60 hardware channels in real a parsing tool using CONVBIN from RTKLIB as RINEX
time and provides an open software interface for customer converter,” Dietmayer explained.
applications,” she explained.
Consumer Devices. GOOSE is also used as the reference
Jamming and Spoofing. “It grants deep access to the hardware receiver in the ESA project Receiver Technologies for Future
interface, down to, for example, the correlation values. Mass Market (RT4FMM) devices. The project validates state-
Additionally, anti-jamming functions (such as notch-filter of-the-art dual-frequency mass-market receivers based on
or pulse-blanker) can be added and anti-spoofing algorithms Broadcom BCM47755 and u-blox F9 and compares their
are already implemented. Thanks to the open architecture, performance against GOOSE E5AltBOC processing.
our customers can also implement these or other algorithms.”
Other Challenges. GOOSE already processes the new
Sensor Fusion. Vector tracking in real time is already Galileo OS-NMA (Open Service – Navigation Messages
implemented on code base. Deep coupling with INS/IMU Authentication), while implementing the new Galileo
multi-sensor fusion — for example, with an odometer, ultra High Accuracy Service (HAS) is on the roadmap. “The
wideband or 5G — are possible and under development, combination of these new features will result in a robust and
Dietmayer said. reliable high-accuracy position,” Dietmayer said. “For system
testing, the intermediate frequency signals can be recorded,
processed and replayed with the platform.”

Tersus GNSS

Photo: Tersus GNSS

Jamming and Spoofing. Xiaohua Wen, founder and CEO, low cost but still perform
said his company has done much research and testing well compared with Tier
on jamming and spoofing. “We already implemented a 1 players for professional
high dynamic analog-to-digital converter to overcome survey machines using
jamming. To mitigate spoofing, we think that internet our own OEM GNSS
of things (IoT) devices can leverage cloud services. board,” he said. The Oscar.
Alternatively, the new Galileo authentication service may
serve the same function.” Consumer Devices. The fact that a few vendors are providing
dual-frequency chipsets in smartphones opens the door
Sensor Fusion. Tersus GNSS makes an INS product, and for consumer-grade sub-decimeter applications, Wen
its Oscar receiver contains an inertial measurement unit said. “But we think the antenna could be a big challenge
(IMU). “The sensor fusion hub is a very hot topic in the for the small devices.”
automobile industry,” Wen said. “We are quickly adapting
our Oscar and INS product line for the creation of high Other Challenges. “Mobile carriers are building thousands
definition maps and for indoor navigation. We think it’s of base stations,” Wen said. “For example, Softbank in
still the major pain point for a crowded country such as Japan completed 3,300 stations this year. China Mobile
China.” just issued a bid for a phase one project for 4,400 stations.
We think mobile phone innovations for the new high-
Surveying. As has been the case in many other industries, accuracy application may have some impacts in the coming
Wen said, the widespread adoption of GNSS technology years. We have been actively looking at some new GIS
and the increase in the number of players in the field has (geographic information systems) applications based on
led to a drop in prices. “Tersus’ David and Oscar models are our in-house Nuwa platform.”

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18 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
Photo: Trimble
ANTENNAS

ANTENNAS ALERT
Manufacturers discuss challenges and innovations.
BY Matteo Luccio / G PS WO RLD CO N T R I B U TO R

W hile often an underestimated component of

a positioning and navigation system, a GNSS
antenna is critical to a receiver’s success in acquiring
environmental conditions. Antennas for military and
safety-critical applications must be especially impervious
to jamming and spoofing.
all available GNSS signals while rejecting unintentional Most applications, however, require antennas, like
interference, jamming, multipath and spoofing. GNSS receivers, to have the smallest possible size, weight,
antennas come in as many flavors as receivers, to power and cost (SWAP-C). Some applications, such as
address the challenges posed by different market in the automotive market, must also take aesthetics into
sectors, applications, environments and threats to signal account.
integrity. Each solution reflects a different balance among We asked Javad GNSS, NovAtel, Trimble, Topcon and
performance, cost, size and other variables. For example, Harxon about their key markets and the challenges their
antennas for handheld devices must be small and antennas are designed to address. We also asked them
lightweight, while those for excavators and dozers can to look back at the past three years and forward at the
be much larger and heavier but must be able to operate next three to discuss key innovations. Finally, they discuss
for years while subjected to severe vibrations and harsh technical challenges and industry trends.

Photo: Javad GNSS

Javad GNSS
Key Markets. “The unmistakable lime-green Javad GNSS the LightSquared signals —
receivers and antennas are known to surveyors the world making the precious near-
over, and we also support reference station, machine band spectrum available for
control, precise timing and any other market requiring other usages.” The GrAnt-G2T antenna.
high-performance / high-precision GNSS antennas,” said
Javad Ashjaee, founder and CEO. Key Innovations. “To support our users in ever more
challenging environments,” Ashjaee said, “such as denied
Specific Challenges. “A good GNSS receiver should environments where electronic warfare takes place, we
bring in all wideband GNSS signals and reject all other have developed a new GrAnt-G2T antenna variant with
unwanted signals,” Ashjaee said. “J-Shield, a robust filter even stronger J-Shield filtering: improved P1dB (the 1-dB
in our antennas, blocks out-of-band interference — compression point, > –30 dBm) and additional upper
in particular, signals near the GNSS bands, such as and lower out-of-band filtering.”

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 27
 ANTENNAS

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Harxon

Photo: Harxon
Key Markets. Harxon is dedicated to designing and the D-Helix antenna.
manufacturing high-precision GNSS antennas and solutions Third, Harxon upgraded
for industries such as surveying, UAVs and precision the surveying industry
agriculture, said Wang Xiaohui, R&D manager. to 4G communication
by developing a four-in- The HX-CSX100.
Specific Challenges. “Harxon’s GNSS antennas primarily one antenna that supports
address issues related to the reliability of phase center, multi-constellation with full frequencies and integrates
multi-constellation full-frequency coverage,” Xiaohui said, GNSS antennas, Bluetooth and 4G modules with high
“tracing unstable satellite signals at low elevations, multipath compatibility and outstanding performance, Xiaohui said,
signal interference, and how to integrate high-precision such as with the HX-CSX100. “For the next three years,
GNSS antennas and mobile communication antennas into Harxon will continue its research and investment in antenna
a single design.” technology breakthroughs, especially with regard to further
miniaturization and improved performance.”
Key Innovations. Over the past three years, Harxon has
made “great breakthroughs” in GNSS antenna innovation, Technical Challenges. “The first interesting challenge is
Xiaohui said. First, it greatly reduced the size and weight how to guarantee the performance of the antenna while
of choke ring antennas. As an example, Xiaohui cited the miniaturizing it per our customers’ demands,” Xiaohui said.
company’s mini choke ring antenna HX-CGX611A. Second, The second is reducing the size and weight of antennas with
it optimized accuracy to the millimeter level and expanded anti-multipath technology, “so as to boost the applications
to full frequency its quadrifilar helix antenna, such as with of high-precision positioning GNSS technology.”

Trimble

Photo: Trimble
Key Markets. “Trimble’s core technologies in positioning,
modeling, connectivity and data analytics enable customers
to improve productivity, quality, safety and sustainability,”
said Stuart Riley, vice president, GNSS Technology. “From
purpose-built products to enterprise lifecycle solutions,
Trimble software, hardware and services are transforming
industries such as agriculture, construction, geospatial,
transportation and logistics, rail, forestry, utilities and
autonomous applications.”

Specific Challenges. Each application has different

requirements, Riley said. “For applications that require the AN EXTERNAL Trimble antenna helps the GeoXR handheld
highest position accuracy, the stability of the phase center, achieve survey-grade accuracy.
multipath mitigation, and the unit-to-unit production
consistency are critical,” he said. Some customers require
high performance in challenging environments — such Key Innovations. For high-precision applications, Trimble
as the high vibration experienced on construction first released the Zephyr series of antennas in the late
equipment — while others require smaller, lower-cost 1990s. “It provides excellent phase center stability and
antennas and can tolerate a slight reduction in accuracy. unit-to-unit production repeatability, and has exceptional
“The antenna is typically a combination of a passive antenna multipath mitigation performance, which is enhanced in
element with an active low noise amplifier (LNA),” he said. the geodetic version,” Riley said. Since first introducing
“The LNA needs to be carefully designed to remain linear the antenna, Trimble has added support for additional
in the presence of in-band jamming while rejecting out-of- GNSS systems and RF bands (L1/E1, L2, L5/E5 and L6/
band signals. There are size and cost trade-off challenges to E6), transitioned to a RoHS-compliant manufacturing
the filter roll-off at the band edge that need to be managed.” See Trimble, next page. >>

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28 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 ANTENNAS

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Topcon Positioning Group
Key Markets. Topcon Positioning Group multipath and interference mitigation, near-band interference,” Srivastava
is a leading designer, manufacturer and Srivastava explained. “Topcon has an said. Topcon’s antenna farm at the
distributor of precision measurement advanced research and development Concordia test site in Italy contains
and workflow solutions for the global team that focuses solely on antenna an absolute calibration robot, a large
construction, geospatial and agricultural designs. The team dedicates its efforts format antenna (BigAnt) for a high-
markets, according to Alok Srivastava, to providing state-of-the-art antennas quality geodetic ground station, and
director, product management. for all positioning needs.” patented technology for controlled
“By integrating high-precision testing of GNSS technology in
measurement technology, software, Key Innovations. “Topcon was very early artificial obstructions.
services and data, Topcon has a vision in realizing the growing needs for radio “Vibration mitigation is the key
to improve productivity to meet global spectrum and the challenges it may when an antenna is mounted to a piece
demand for sustainable infrastructure bring to GNSS technology,” Srivastava of machinery,” Srivastava said. “Topcon
and agriculture,” Srivastava said. said. “It has innovated and used filters antennas are an integral component
to mitigate interference from Japan of our Quartz Lock Loop (QLL)
LTE signals for a long time.” technology for robust GNSS operation
TheSokkia GCX2
receiver integrates a Topcon’s antenna team is “among in high-vibration environments.”
helical antenna. the most innovative in the industry,”
Srivastava said, and “has brought many Technical Challenges. The importance
unique designs of antennas over the of antennas can be underestimated,
years. The antenna is a key element of Srivastava pointed out, especially
an integrated receiver in dictating the with rapidly growing interest in
design of the whole receiver.” With the GNSS technology in consumer
release of the Sokkia GCX2 receiver, applications. “The antenna is one
he explained, his company introduced of the most critical technologies
to the industry the integration of a when it comes to reliable and robust
helical antenna into a high-performing GNSS positioning. Designers and
Photo: Topcon

integrated receiver. manufacturers of antenna technology

Its infrastructure antennas, the with years of experience understand
CR-G5 and PN-A5, are available the seriousness of this task, and are
Specific Challenges. The physical with options including cavity filter fully equipped to deliver results
challenges when designing an antenna technology. “The cavity filter has without compromising quality and
for geomatics applications have been the superior ability to minimize performance.”

Trimble which require us to balance the cost, performance and

<<continued from page 28. size to develop the appropriately optimized product.
Enhancements will include novel antenna architectures,
process, improved the LNA performance, developed rugged production technique improvements, and careful material
versions for construction vehicle mounting, and produced selection.”
a smaller version used in the Trimble R10, R12 and SPS986
GNSS receivers. Technical Challenges. Trimble users have a wide variety of
“More recently,” Riley said, “we developed a lower- requirements, Riley said. “The challenges come in balancing
cost high-performance antenna for the Trimble Catalyst the seemingly conflicting needs for performance, size,
software-defined GNSS receiver for Android phones and weight and cost. Because Trimble focuses on specific user
tablets, as well as an antenna in the Nav-900 guidance segments, we can provide antenna solutions that are the best
controller for agriculture that implements a metamaterial fit for the various applications. For example, an antenna in
design. Looking forward, we expect to continue to innovate a handheld device must be small and lightweight; however,
by providing antennas that meet the needs of the different on a construction machine, durability takes precedence
markets we serve. Each application has unique requirements, over size and weight.”

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 29
 ANTENNAS

/
NovAtel

Photo: NovAtel
Key Markets. Key antenna markets for Hexagon’s
Autonomy & Positioning division are split into three
areas, according to Dean Foster, director of hardware
engineering. His area includes the company’s anti-
jamming antenna technology (GAJT) and robust
SWAP-C antennas. The other two are precision and The VEXXIS family of
SMART antennas for agriculture, mining, survey and GNSS antennas.
autonomous vehicles (Vexxis, SMART7, and GNSS Key Innovations. Driverless vehicles require sub-meter-
1500), and reference GNSS antennas (GNSS750 and level positioning for lane-level resolution. “Multi-
ANT-C2GA). constellation/multi-frequency GNSS with protection
limits and correction services are necessary to move
Specific Challenges. NovAtel’s antennas address three forward safely,” Foster said. “This technology does not
main challenges. First, jamming and interference, work with the smallest size, single-frequency, narrow-
whether intentional or unintentional, are becoming band antennas that cars currently utilize, so we’re building
increasingly commonplace and seriously impact GNSS on our deep experience and knowledge to develop
reception. “These issues are addressed by our GAJT production-grade automotive antenna technologies.” An
product line of high-precision anti-jamming antennas, emerging requirement is reducing size, weight, power and
which can mitigate multiple jammers simultaneously,” cost (SWAP-C). “In the defense market, we first offered
Foster said. Second, “the stability and precision of the jamming and interference mitigation with the GAJT-710,
antenna’s phase center is critical to deliver robust and which progressed to the GAJT-AE, and most recently we
precise GNSS position even in challenging environments, launched the GAJT-410.”
which is addressed by our Vexxis GNSS-800 antennas.”
Finally, more frequent use of GNSS in environments with Technical Challenges. All markets want the smallest, most
reflection issues is making multipath rejection critical. robust and cost-effective antenna to meet their needs,
“The entire line of NovAtel antennas, including Vexxis, Foster said, adding that NovAtel is helping customers
SMART and GAJT, ensures use of the most direct signals.” work through how to select, place and integrate antennas
into their platforms to address real-world problems.

Cobham Aerospace Connectivity

Photo: Cobham Aerospace

The prevalence of intentional and unintentional GNSS both ETSO-C190 and MSO-C144. “In
interference has sparked quick evolution in antenna conjunction with a certified receiver,
technology, including the emergence of breakthrough the 20-2041 offers a single solution
technology in 2019 and new advancements in development, to comply with GATM regulations
said Imtiaz Bahadur, product line manager. Specifically, the to access controlled airspace and undertake GPS precision
drive to advance antenna technology is due to “an increased approach and landings, in a standard 3.5-inch form factor.”
demand for broader coverage, stringent industry compliance,
and a need for robust capabilities.” Technical Challenges. “It’s clear that moving from one GPS
signal to eight signals from four constellations in support
Key Innovations. Among recent innovations in antenna of performance-based navigation is going to be the next
technology, Bahadur cited GPS antennas with support major disruptor because of the significantly expanded signal
for dual-frequency multi-constellation compliance with power and highly efficient design,” Bahadur said. The quest
Global Aircraft Traffic Management (GATM) mandates to to make antennas smaller also continues. “Today, there are
enable military aircraft to operate in controlled airspace, and physical limitations on how far one can miniaturize the
antennas that offer broader band coverage. antenna while ensuring sufficient gain is received. Research
In 2019, Cobham introduced the 20-2041 Fixed Reception and development efforts are underway to build ‘smart
Pattern Array (FRPA) GPS antenna, which addresses all three antenna’ concepts for the future. Moving into the next few
of these priorities, said Darren Windust, product manager years, robust antenna capabilities will arrive in smaller, more
– air. The L1/L2 dual-frequency GPS antenna is certified to efficient form factors.”

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30 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 MARKET Segment Snapshot:
Applications, Trends & News

OEM WATCH
2

Allystar Launches Multi-GNSS Modules

A
Package Size Model GNSS Reception
llystar Technology has launched the dual-band
multi-GNSS modules TAU1202/TAU1205, 10.1x9.7x2.5mm TAU1202 GPS/QZSS: L1 C/A, L5C
BDS: B1i, B2a
which support both the L1 and L5 bands to GLONASS: L1OF
enhance sub-meter positioning accuracy. Galileo: E1, E5a
Constellations received include GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, TAU1205 GPS/QZSS: L1 C/A, L5C
BeiDou, QZSS and IRNSS. BDS: B1i, B2a
Galileo: E1, E5a
Besides the L1 band, TAU1202 and TAU1205 also support IRNSS*
L5/B2a/E5a, which are expected to have lower noise and * Supports IRNSS/NavIC-
significantly reduced multipath mitigation because of the only mode

higher chipping rate of L5 signals relative to L1 C/A code.

TAU1205 supports IRNSS (NavIC), which makes it Based on 40-nm manufacturing processes of the
suitable for navigation in the urban areas of India and Cynosure III GNSS chipset and state-of-the art internal
the Middle East, as there are seven NavIC PMU, TAU1202/TAU1205 comes with very low power
satellites with a higher elevation than consumption at less than 40 mA.
both GPS and Galileo satellites. Multiple communication interfaces including UART
Powered by Allystar Cynosure and I2C simplify customer designs and provide a better
III GNSS chipset and with time-to-market for customers’ products.
built-in low-noise amplifier “Due to its excellent performance in urban areas, compact
Photo: Allystar

and surface acoustic wave (SAW) design and concurrent multi-GNSS reception, TAU1202/
f ilter, TAU1202 and TAU1205 TAU1205 has become a popular selection for vehicle and
provide higher sensitivity, ensuring asset tracking worldwide,” said Zhang Yanping, Allystar
exceptional acquisition and tracking performance even product line manager. Allystar started TAU1202/TAU1205
in weak signal areas. mass production in the second half of 2019.

Broadcom Dual-Frequency Uses New L5 Signals

B
roadcom introduced in for submeter accuracy.
Photo: Broadcom

2017 the first mass-market Now, Broadcom’s second-

implementation of dual generation dual-frequency GNSS
frequency: BCM4775. The solution — the BCM4776 — is capable
chip — now used in smartphones, of using the BeiDou-3 constellation’s
smartwatches and fitness devices — B2a signals (the Chinese indicator for
makes use not only of the classic L1 L5). It can track 30 new L5 signals (60
frequency broadcast by every satellite, percent more) with a significant impact
but also of the more advanced L5 signal on accuracy. End users will experience know in which highway lane a vehicle
broadcast by a subset of the satellites. much higher reliability of the submeter travels. Expect instructions like “move
The enhanced L5 signal improves the accuracy inherent to dual-frequency one lane to the right so you don’t miss
accuracy of GNSS in an urban scenario L1/L5. your next highway exit” or “move one
by mitigating reflections from nearby Second generation dual-frequency lane to the left to take the pool lane and
buildings (multipath). It also improves GNSS will be used for lane-level driving save 10 minutes.”
GNSS in an open-sky scenario, allowing navigation, allowing applications to The module is now in production.

FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 31

 MARKET WATCH

OEM 2
Septentrio Partners with NXP, Analog Devices

S
eptentrio’s GNSS devices are being used for high- infrastructure as well as other vehicles, making driving safer
accuracy positioning solutions by two companies. and more efficient. It enables cars to “see” what’s around the
NXP, which provides communication technology corner or through the dense urban environment, warning the
for embedded applications, is integrating Septentrio driver about road works, traffic congestion and emergency
technology into its V2X (vehicle-to-everything) reference design vehicles.
and development boards, using Septentrio’s mosaic module. Precise GNSS-assisted localization combined with V2X
Mosaic is a multi-frequency, multi-constellation receiver that communication enables a wide array of ADAS functionality,
provides robust centimeter-level positioning for advanced such as automatic braking if slowing traffic is detected ahead
driver assistance systems (ADAS) provided by NXP. or truck platooning.
V2X technology enables cars to communicate with In December, Septentrio announced a collaboration with
Analog Devices. The two companies are combining Analog
Devices’ high-quality inertial measurement units (IMUs)
with Septentrio’s multi-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS
receivers.
The resulting high-performance GNSS/inertial navigation
systems (GNSS/INS) deliver centimeter-accurate positioning
together with 3D orientation (heading, pitch and roll), suitable
for applications such as automotive ADAS and industrial
automation.
Image: Septentrio

Septentrio will incorporate Analog Devices’ advanced

industrial-grade IMUs into a selection of its GNSS/INS products,
with the first products available in spring of this year.

Microchip Atomic Clock Improved, But Still Tiny

H
igh-performance atomic-clock technology
MAC-SA5X

Image: Microchip
is essential to supporting both military and
commercial applications, such as GNSS-enabled 5G SPECIFICATIONS
communication networks, data centers and other mission- ■ <5 x 10-11 frequency stability
critical infrastructure. over operating temperature
To meet demand for a small-footprint atomic clock, ■ 6.3-watt power consumption
Microchip Technology has announced the MAC-SA5X, a high- ■ 47 cc in volume
performance atomic clock that delivers a wide thermal range,
■ Backward compatibility with MAC-SA.3Xm family
critical performance improvements and other enhancements
■ Comes in ovenized crystal oscillator (OCXO)-sized
over previously available technology, the company said.
package of 50.8 x 50.8 mm
Next-Gen Timing. The MAC-SA5X miniaturized rubidium
atomic clock produces a stable time and frequency reference
that maintains a high degree of synchronization to a reference example, these attributes enable faster power up of critical
clock, such as a GNSS-derived signal. Its low monthly drift rate, communication and navigation systems in extreme climates.
short-term stability and stability during temperature changes The MAC-SA5X allows system developers to avoid extra
allows the device to maintain precise frequency and timing circuitry by integrating a one-pulse-per-second (1 PPS)
during extended periods of holdover during GNSS outages or input pin for fast frequency calibration, saving time and
for applications where large rack-mount clocks are not possible. development costs. It is designed with the same footprint
Operating over a temperature range of –40 to +75 Celsius, as previous generation miniature atomic clock technology,
the MAC-SA5X is designed to quickly achieve atomic stability reducing transition time.
performance with a fast lock. In an aircraft application, for

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32 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 MARKET WATCH

SURVEYING 2
E-Compass Offers GNSS + Inertial Receiver
E
-Compass Science & Technology and make real-time dynamic sampling

Photo: E-Compass
(also known as e-Survey) is without the need for leveling.
offering a new dynamic GNSS Combined GNSS Antenna. For better
receiver, the E300 Pro. radio signal quality, the E300 Pro
The interface adopts a concealed integrates GNSS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4G
design for better protection, and USB main and auxiliary antennas on the top of
type-C charging and transmitting is a the receiver to ensure the best reception
two-in-one function. supports BDS-3 signals. It supports 31 in all directions. An innovative RF
The magnesium-alloy body is rugged frequency points, using all GNSS satellite connector greatly improves connection
and the battery level can be checked systems and frequency bands. reliability, while reducing loss of gain.
with a unique LED power indicator. The Inertial integration. The E300 Pro Founded in 2005, e-Compass
weight of the whole receiver is 940 integrates multiple sensors including provides data acquisition and positioning
grams. GNSS, an inertial measurement equipment including high-precision
The E300 Pro supports satellite unit (IMU) , a magnetometer and GNSS receivers, GIS data collectors and
station differential and satellite chain a thermometer. With the help of a combined inertial navigation products.
life, quick connection, intelligent voice, Kalman filter algorithm, the device can The company is based in Shanghai,
and tilt compensation. The E300 Pro dynamically output position, speed and China, with offices in the United Kingdom
tracks GNSS with 700 channels and fully attitude information. It can measure and Hong Kong.

Ultra small, all-constellation

multi-frequency
GNSS RTK Module
·Small footprint (30x40 mm)
·All-System Multi-Frequency High Precision RTK Module
·Supports GPS, BDS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS
·Supports BDS BD3 signal
·Advanced multi-path mitigation technology
·Innovative low elevation tracking technology
·Accurate, reliable centimeter RTK positioning
·20 Hz update rate
·On board MEMS
·Proven: Products have been widely applied in worldwide
projects, a leading choice for Intelligent Drive, Robots,
UAV, etc.

www.unicorecomm.com/en

Unicore Communications, Inc.

Address: F3, No.7, Fengxian East Road, Haidian, Beijing, 100094 Tel: +86-10-69939828 Email: [email protected]

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 33
 MARKET WATCH

TRANSPORTATION 2
CES 2020 Glimpses the Road Ahead
At CES 2020, the Consumer Electronics Show held

Image: Aceinna
Jan. 7–10 in Las Vegas, companies shared their latest
developments in autonomous navigation.
HEXAGON OFFERS SMART MOBILITY
Hexagon AB’s Smart Autonomous Mobility solutions portfolio
brings together sensors, software and services to make
autonomous driving possible using three solution sets:
Enable, Accelerate and Deploy.
Enable. Hexagon helps customers fast-track research and
development (R&D) with hardware, software and services to is a low-cost, high-performance triple-band RTK/GNSS
enable autonomous driving systems across a variety of vehicle receiver coupled with redundant inertial sensor arrays to
platforms and applications, the company said. provide cm-level accuracy, enhanced reliability, and superior
Accelerate. Customers can create “smart digital realities” — performance during GNSS outages. The module is aimed
seamless workflows between real-world and simulated at automotive, robot, drone, construction and agriculture
environments — with machine learning, simulation and systems.
testing for system performance and integration. The multi-band GNSS receiver can monitor all global
Deploy. With Smart Autonomous Mobility, customers constellations (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS,
can scale from prototype and R&D phases to production for NAVIC, SBAS) and simultaneously track up to 80 channels.
autonomous applications such as: The module has RF and baseband support for the L1, L2 and
■ mass production of passenger vehicles L5 GPS bands and their international constellation signal
■ neighborhood electric vehicles equivalents.
■ tractor trailers (class 8) Demonstration Drive. Aceinna’s test vehicle, which
■ off-road vehicles for mining, agriculture and defense uses GNSS/INS-based autonomous vehicle localization
■ robotics, aviation, marine and space travel. technologies, drove from Silicon Valley to the show in Las
Vegas. The company recorded live drive-test data that
ACEINA VEHICLE DRIVES ITSELF TO VEGAS demonstrate how its precision positioning solutions provide
high accuracy and reliability.
Aceina’s OpenRTK330L GNSS/INS module is designed for
developers creating guidance and navigation systems AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE TECH GOES DEEP
for autonomous vehicles, robots, drones, industrial,
construction and agricultural machinery. OpenRTK330L CES 2020 Innovation Award Honoree DeepRoute debuted
three technologies at CES 2020 and demonstrated others.
DeepRoute-Tite. This computing platform migrates the
algorithm required for L4-level autonomous driving to the
vehicle-level computing platform, Nvidia Xavier, significantly
reducing cost, size and power consumption to 45 watts.
DeepRoute-Vision. This vehicle camera has a high dynamic
range, allowing optimal performance even under bright
sunlight or from within a dark tunnel.
DeepRoute-Syntric. The second-generation ADS
Synchronization Controller can synchronize information from
different types of sensors, enabling the perception algorithm
Photo: DeepRoute

to process sensor data aligned in the same standard.

The company’s DeepRoute Sense driving sensing solution
technology was on display alongside its Level 4 full-stack

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34 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 MARKET WATCH

UAV 2
TRANSPORTATION 2
self-driving technology, using a Tier 1 and 2 auto suppliers, to integrate and high-accuracy GNSS solutions,
demo vehicle with an independently precise positioning into their sensor and has integrated Starling on its
designed roof box equipped with eight suite. STMicroelectronics provides GNSS Telemaco platform for OEM applications.
vehicle cameras, three lidars, GNSS measurement engines and ASIL-rated Aceinna’s OpenRTK330 module (see
and other sensors. processors for autonomous driving page 34) uses Skylark corrections.

HD GNSS IS HERE
HERE Technologies introduced at CES
2020 High Definition (HD) GNSS Test on the Ground Before You Launch
positioning, a cloud-based solution
that enables mass-market devices With an Orolia GSG-8 advanced GPS/GNSS simulator, you’ll simulate
to achieve sub-meter accuracy everything from space trajectories, advanced jamming and spoofing
across the globe. HD GNSS enables scenarios and high dynamics to custom PNT signals, hardware-in-
new user experiences with lane- the-loop integrations, and more. For advanced simulation without
level navigation, augmented and encryption, it’s surprisingly affordable.
virtual reality. It combines precise
point positioning (PPP) and real-time
• Multi-constellation, multi-frequency
kinematic (RTK) positioning methods,
• Test hundreds of signals with a
allowing for fast convergence time,
1000 Hz iteration rate
high availability and global coverage.
• Ideal for complex scenarios
It also supports off-the-shelf
mobile devices and internet of • Fully scalable
things (IoT) trackers equipped with
dual frequency chipsets such as the
Broadcom BCM47765 and BCM47755
(see page 31).

SWIFT NAVIGATION EVOLVES

Swift Navigation is shifting from
providing RTK GNSS receivers
to providing a full ecosystem of
precise positioning GNSS solutions
for autonomous and mass-market
applications. While the company’s
Skylark corrections and Starling Whatever your testing challenge, trust GSG-8
positioning engine work with many to deliver space mission success.
industry components and receivers,
together they make for a precise Learn more at
positioning powerhouse, Swift said. www.orolia.com/GSG-8
At CES 2020, Swift partners
and customers showed how they
are integrating Swift’s precision
positioning solutions into their
platforms. Arm uses Starling to
deliver a high-integrity, high-
accuracy GNSS positioning solution
enabling automotive OEMs, as well as

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 35
 MARKET WATCH

MOBILE 2
Qualcomm Offers Dual-Frequency + NavIC Modules

Q
ualcomm Technologies has robustness of location-based services. experiences across photography, voice
launched three new mo- “ISRO is satisfied with the efforts assistants and virtually always-on sce-
bile platforms — the Qual- of Qualcomm Technologies towards narios for increased contextual aware-
comm Snapdragon 720G, incorporating NavIC and we urge ness, the new platforms also feature the
662 and 460 — to enable enhanced user OEMs to leverage it for future handset Qualcomm AI Engine and Qualcomm
experiences across connectivity, gaming launches in India,” said K. Sivan, chair- Sensing Hub.
and entertainment. man, Indian Space Research Organisa- “While we see a fast adoption of 5G
The new mobile platforms support tion (ISRO). across geographies globally, we do rec-
dual-frequency (L1 and L5) GNSS to “The availability of NavIC across ognize the phenomenal boost that 4G
improve location positioning accu- multiple mobile platforms will help has given towards enabling broadband
racy and robustness. The system-on- enhance the geolocation capabilities connectivity for Indian consumers.
chip solutions also support the Indian of smartphones in the region and bring 4G will continue to remain a focus
NavIC (Navigation with Indian Con- the benefits of this indigenous solution area for Qualcomm Technologies for
stellation). to Indian consumers for their day-to- regions like India, where it will stay a
Seven constellations. For the first time day use,” Sivan said. key technology for connectivity,” said
on mobile, the Qualcomm Location The new modules also enable fast 4G Rajen Vagadia, president, Qualcomm
Suite now supports up to seven satellite connectivity speeds, deliver key Wi-Fi India Pvt. Ltd.
constellations concurrently, including 6 features and integrated Bluetooth 5.1 “Our goal is to enable our partners
the use of all of NavIC’s operating satel- with advanced audio via the Qualcomm to continue creating solutions that offer
lites for more accurate location perfor- FastConnect 6-series subsystems. seamless connectivity access and excep-
mance, faster time-to-first-fix (TTFF) Artificial Intelligence. Designed to tional mobile experiences that consum-
position acquisition, and improved deliver new and improved AI user ers can count on,” Vagadia said.

Correction Receiver Ready for Consumers

U-blox NEO-D9S provides provides centimeter-level accuracy to GNSS receivers

U
-blox said its new NEO-D9S accurate positioning at low cost.
GNSS correction data receiver The NEO-D9S module is a correction-
Photo: u-blox

module provides an affordable only receiver. Based on the latest u-blox

approach to bringing centimeter-level ninth-generation (D9) platform, it will
accuracy to GNSS receivers. integrate easily with the u-blox F9 RTK
The NEO-D9S receives corrections GNSS receivers from u-blox, or can
from correction service providers be used as part of a modular product
broadcast on the L-band (1525-1559 roadmap. The module also integrates
MHz). A host processor can then a TCXO and SAW filter to ensure
decrypt this correction data and good RF sensitivity and resilience to
provide it to a high-precision GNSS interference from adjacent channels.
receiver, combining corrections connectivity and reduce the amount of The module includes the algorithms
directly with readings from the satellite cellular data consumed by positioning necessary to decode satellite data
constellations to enable much more receivers. broadcasts. It is configured to work
accurate position readings than those Customers are expected to include initially with whichever correction
offered by GNSS signals alone. carmakers, both Tier 1 and OEMs, service has been set as default, but
Use of the NEO-D9S will also increase industrial system integrators that can be configured for any L-band data
the availability of high-precision GNSS offer position-correction services, and broadcast. It stores its configuration
positioning data in areas with limited any other applications that rely on very settings in non-volatile memory.

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 AUTONOMOUS TESTBED

All Photos and Images: DTU Space

The GNSS antenna at TAPAS station TA01 (left) and the network of TAPAS stations in and around the city of Aarhus in Denmark.

Building a Better Infrastructure

A TESTBED IN AN ACTIVE URBAN CENTER can show real-world effects on GNSS as an aid for developing
autonomous systems for green mobility, smart-city applications or transportation, to name a few.
BY Anna B. O. Jensen, Per Lundahl Thomsen and Søren Skaarup Larsen

S
N AT I O N A L S PACE I N S T IT U T E , T ECH N I C A L U N I V E R S I T Y O F D E N M A R K (DT U S PACE )

ited in Denmark, the 600-square-kilometer Aarhus. The TAPAS testbed was established partly because
Testbed in Aarhus for Precision Positioning and of Denmark’s National Space Strategy, which points to the
Autonomous Systems (TAPAS) covers both a new technological development within positioning, as well
densely populated city center and suburbs, a large as possibilities for use of Galileo, the European GNSS, to the
industrial harbor and parts of Aarhus Bay. Aarhus benefit of as many citizens as possible.
is the second largest city in Denmark with a population of In this article, we review the TAPAS testbed, including
350,000 people. design and installation of the GNSS reference stations and
Based on RTK methodology, TAPAS is a sound ground- the data-processing center, as well as initial performance
based testbed to support, test and validate technological de- testing carried out by DTU Space.
velopments with a need for fast, efficient, flexible and reliable
precision positioning. It is designed as a geodetic innovation Network of GNSS Reference Stations
platform, with both physical and virtual networks providing The basic component of TAPAS is high-accuracy carrier-
positioning to the centimeter (cm) level. phase-based GNSS positioning using the network RTK meth-
Autonomous systems within transportation, agriculture odology, which can provide real-time position accuracies for
and environmental monitoring constitute a large growth area the end user down to the cm level.Essentially, TAPAS is based
for businesses and governments. Automated vehicles, drones on a network of 11 GNSS reference stations as well as data
and vessels are linked closely to geodetic infrastructure and communication infrastructure, a central processing facility
communications networks such as 5G. TAPAS provides de- with a data server, processing software and data storage.
velopers in these fields with opportunities to observe GNSS TAPAS was designed to provide real-time position uncer-
in urban canyons and under canopies, as well as challenges tainties for objects in motion within 1 cm in three dimensions
for coastal marine applications. The testbed is available for (1 cubic cm), for end users with modern GNSS equipment.
third-party research projects, and testing of ideas, initiatives A dense network of GNSS reference stations was originally
and concrete prototypes. designed with stations 5 km apart in the city center and up
TAPAS is fully funded and owned by the Danish Agency to 10 km apart in the suburbs.
for Data Supply and Efficiency (SDFE), the Danish agency Because suitable locations had to be found, in the final
for geodesy and geographical data. TAPAS is developed network distances range from 4.1 km to 22.3 km, with the
by the National Space Institute at the Technical University longest distances across the water to station TA04 (see the
of Denmark (DTU Space), and is supported by the city of network plot in the GRAPHIC above).

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 AUTONOMOUS TESTBED

For estimation of the RTK corrections, standard software

settings are used. All corrections are estimated by a state
space representation (SSR) technique, where error sources
are modeled individually. This means TAPAS can deliver
both RTK corrections and corrections for precise point
positioning (PPP).
TAPAS corrections are generated in the RTCM format
Figure 1. Design schematics of the TAPAS stations. and output using the NTRIP protocol. Registered users can
access the corrections through the internet via an NTRIP
Stations TA01, TA03, TA05, TA06 and TA08 are in the caster. On the user side, the TAPAS corrections are applied
city center. Stations TA02 and TA04 are across Aarhus Bay, in the positioning process of a GNSS receiver. To make full
ensuring coverage for marine applications and contributing use of the TAPAS data, user equipment should be capable
to more robust positioning near the sea and in the harbor of tracking carrier-phase-based GNSS data and applying
area around station TA01. the TAPAS correction data supplied in the RTCM version
3.x format.
TAPAS Stations
The TAPAS GNSS reference stations are equipped with the Performance Testing
newest generation of GNSS receivers and antennas capable After the stations were installed, DTU Space conducted
of tracking all available signals from the GPS, GLONASS, performance testing, including testing data communication
Galileo and BeiDou systems. The stations also have an an- between the TAPAS stations and the TAPAS server, analyses
tenna splitter, power supply, fuse box, programmable logic of data completeness from the TAPAS stations, and field tests
controller (PLC) for monitoring and control, trustgate, carried out after the network RTK processing had become
modem and uninterruptible power supply with battery pack sufficiently stable.
(FIGURE 1). All units were integrated in the cabinets and tested Performance test in static mode. In February 2019, a static
in the lab before installation The stations are modular and mode test took place in a park-like area within the three in-
flexible for future iterations and updates. nermost stations. Two different high-accuracy survey-grade
The receivers can be accessed remotely via a VPN line to RTK-receivers were used for the field test. RTK positions
a web interface for monitoring, changing settings or firm- were estimated at 1 Hz for 30 minutes. For each minute, an
ware updates. All TAPAS stations transmit data to servers average position was calculated based on the 60 observations,
at DTU Space where the data is used for estimation of RTK and for each of the minute-bins the standard deviation with
corrections. Also, data is transmitted to servers at the SDFE respect to the reference position was computed. Most of the
for storage and backup (Figure 1). 3D results are better than 1 cm.
After installation in the fall of 2018, GNSS data quality was The same test was carried out using a dual-frequency
verified for each station by estimating preliminary positions
and analyzing data quality. Also, signal strength as given by
the carrier to noise ratio (C/N0) of the received signals was
analyzed and plotted with 24 hours of data from each of the
stations (FIGURE 2).

Network Real-Time Kinematic (RTK)

Data from the TAPAS stations streams in real time to the
Central Processing Facility (CPF) operated at a dedicated
server at DTU Space in Lyngby, North of Copenhagen. The
GNSS observations are processed using the GNSMART 2
software from Geo++, where corrections for network RTK
positioning are estimated. The corrections are estimates for
errors affecting the GNSS positioning, such as inaccuracies
in satellite positions and clock drift parameters as well as
ionospheric and tropospheric effects. The dense network of Figure 2. Skyplot of C/N 0 values of the L1/E1 signal of the GPS,
reference stations in TAPAS will assure that corrections for GLONASS and Galileo constellations plotted for one full day of data
the atmospheric effects will be of very high quality. from TAPAS station TA11.

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38 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 AUTONOMOUS TESTBED

Figure 3. Kinematic test results are provided for the vertical (red),
horizontal (blue) and 3D (green) positions.

non-survey-grade receiver developed for machine control

and autonomous vehicle applications. This receiver was
connected to the same antenna mounted on a tripod. For
this test, the 3D results are all better than 3.1 cm, and many
of the 3D results are better than 1 cm.
Performance test in kinematic mode. In the same area used
for the static test, a kinematic test was carried out with the Kinematic Test: Camera dolly with GNSS equipment pulled
same three receivers. along tracks.
The test was performed using a camera dolly and by plac-
ing approximately 10 m of rail on the ground. The camera be mounted, was constructed and installed on the dolly. The
dolly was pulled back and forth along the rail, a setup that three GNSS receivers with antennas were mounted on the
provided a stable trajectory for testing positioning perfor- bench, and the dolly was pulled back and forth along the
mance while the GNSS antennas were moved slowly and tracks 10 times (see PHOTO above).
smoothly. A rigid bench, where the GNSS antennas could For each 1-meter section of track, the standard deviation

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 39
 AUTONOMOUS TESTBED

float values, such as an RTK float solution at the dm level

(purple). Orange shows differential position solutions at the
meter level when corrections for the carrier-phase data have
not been obtained. Finally, a few positions were stand-alone
GNSS solutions when no aiding from TAPAS was applied in
the roving GNSS receiver (blue).
The plot clearly shows, as expected, that the quality of the
positions determined by the survey-grade receiver in the car
is good most of the time. But it suffers in areas with narrow
streets aligned with buildings or trees.
These results do not tell the actual uncertainty of the
position solutions. But GNSS carrier-phase data collected
with one of the receivers in the car during the drive will be
post processed to serve as a reference trajectory. Upcoming
analyses of the data will then reveal the uncertainty of the
positions determined in real time as compared to the post-
processed reference trajectory.
Figure 4. Quality of RTK positions obtained during one drive Test Conclusion. After the field tests, we conclude that the
through the City of Aarhus. (Map data: Google, TerraMetrics) TAPAS testbed is able to provide correction data that makes
of the differences with respect to the reference trajectory it possible to perform GNSS-based positioning in real time
of the 10 repetitions was calculated. Results for the two in both static and dynamic mode with position uncertainties
survey-grade receivers are shown in the plots in FIGURE 3. All at the cm-level. Further, as we analyze the test data thor-
of the 3D standard deviations are better than 1 cm for both oughly, TAPAS will be able to set a tone for new research.
survey-grade receivers. For instance, the plot in Figure 4 provides a foundation for
The non-survey-grade dual-frequency receiver also was testing assistance procedures to gain better coverage in the
mounted on the test bench. With this receiver, the 3D results most densely built areas. In this way, TAPAS will aid research
are below 2.1 cm for all sections of the trajectory, except for into feasible infrastructure for the technologies of tomorrow,
the first meter, a deviation that may have been caused by such as autonomous driving.
issues with initialization of the test.
These tests show that it is possible when using TAPAS to Outlook and Future Work
obtain position solutions at the cm-level in open areas in Because TAPAS is not commercial, it is possible, upon
both static and kinematic mode. agreement with the SDFE, to make changes to the system
Performance test in dynamic mode. In November 2019, DTU to adapt to specific testing or development needs. Examples
Space carried out a performance test of TAPAS in dynamic are removing data from some stations in the estimation of
mode, using a car with roof-mounted GNSS equipment. RTK correction data, installing an extra receiver in one or
The car was driven within the TAPAS coverage area, passing more stations using the antenna splitters, or making changes
through urban canyons, open streets and the harbor area. to the settings in data processing on the TAPAS server for
During the test, the car drove in normal Aarhaus traffic, at shorter time intervals.
speeds varying from zero at traffic lights up to 60 km/h on At DTU Space, plans for the testbed include further devel-
the wider roads leading into the city center. opment of software for ionosphere and integrity monitoring.
Four different receivers were strapped in the car and The station receivers can estimate total electron content
connected to either a small patch antenna or a survey-grade (TEC) along the GNSS signal path in Earth’s atmosphere,
antenna mounted on the roof. A survey-grade receiver was as well as indices for ionospheric scintillation. DTU Space is
mounted on the roof. researching using this output for an ionosphere monitoring
Data from the receiver was converted to KML files, which service and to develop it into an integrity monitoring service
can be used with Google Earth to illustrate the quality of for GNSS users. It is also researching models for PPP-RTK
the positioning obtained during the drives through the city. positioning — expected to be especially useful for mass
The plot in FIGURE 4 shows the quality of the position solu- market applications such as autonomous driving.
tion. The best quality is obtained when the ambiguities are TAPAS provides many opportunities for testing precision
fixed, such as an RTK fixed solution at the cm level (green). or high-accuracy applications, such as autonomous vehicles,
The second-best quality is with ambiguities estimated to vessels, drones and robots; location-based services requiring

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40 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 AUTONOMOUS TESTBED

high accuracy on various digital platforms; and solutions for Daniel Haugård Olesen, Stefan Emil Steffensen, Thor Heine
a more digitized and intelligent city environment through Snedker, Per Knudsen and Niels Andersen.
smart-city and green mobility initiatives.
TAPAS is prepared for the implementation of the coming Manufacturers
5G technologies, and station intercommunication capabilities The GNSS receivers at the TAPAS stations are Septentrio
enable testing of internet of things (IoT) technologies where PolaRx5S, and the antennas are Leica AR20. For field testing,
precision positioning is part of the development. The testbed a Septentrio Altus NR3 receiver, a Septentrio Altus APS3G
also provides an excellent environment for validation of new receiver and a u-blox ZED F9P dual-frequency receiver
services such as the Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS). were used. The TAPAS station cabinets were assembled and
Another area in which TAPAS can play an important role is mounted by Nordtec-Optomatic A/S. The TAPAS testbed
verification and validation of future 5G-based positioning software solution is based on the GNSMART 2 software pack-
services. age from Geo++ GmbH. Data analyses and processing has
For more on TAPAS, visit www.tapasweb.dk/english. For been carried out using the Septentrio SBF Analyser and SBF
more details on test results, including plots, see the online Converter, the RTKlib and the Bernese GNSS software.
version of this article at www.gpsworld.com/tapas.
Anna B. O. Jensen is senior advisor and team lead of the GNSS group at
Acknowledgments DTU Space in Denmark. She is also a part-time professor at KTH Royal
Institute of Technology in Sweden.
The TAPAS testbed was developed with close cooperation Per Lundahl Thomsen is a chief consultant at DTU Space. He has many
between DTU Space and SDFE. SDFE contributors include years of experience with management of space technology projects
Kristian Keller, Casper Jepsen, Henrik Olsen, Martin Skjold and is project manager for the TAPAS testbed.
Grøntved, Brigitte Rosenkranz, Maria Rask Mylius and Søren Søren Skaarup Larsen is a Ph.D. student at DTU Space. Along with his
GNSS studies, he runs the RTK-part of the TAPAS testbed.
Fauerholm Christensen. DTU Space contributers include
Ole Bjerregaard Hansen, Finn Bo Madsen, Lars Stenseng,

INSTITUTE OF NAVIGATION
April 20–23, 2020
Hilton Portland Downtown
Portland, Oregon
2020

IEEE/ION Position Location and

Navigation Symposium (PLANS)

PORTLAND ion.org/plans

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 41
 INNOVATION WITH RICHARD B. LANGLEY

INTEGRITY FOR SAFE NAVIGATION

A Key Feature of a New High-Accuracy GNSS Correction Service
BY Landon Urquhart, Rodrigo Leandro and Paola Gonzalez

All images provided by the authors.

n addition to the need for high
accuracy, the adoption of high- L-band satellite
precision GNSS positioning
L-band antenna
technology for autonomous Encrypted data in
SPARTN format

applications in the automotive, Receiver unit(s)

rail, aviation and marine industries Tracking Sapcorda

control centers Cell antenna
has brought with it the need for network

high integrity and reliability.

GNSS integrity concepts had Cell towers

their beginning in safety-critical FIGURE 1 High-level description of Sapcorda’s GNSS correction service.
applications in the aviation and
marine industries, which have used is one of the few sensor types high integrity demand pose the most
GNSS to provide absolute position available to system integrators difficult challenges.
for precision runway approach, that can provide absolute position With the spread of autonomous
enroute navigation, port approaches, in autonomous applications. This applications in various areas, the
open sea and coastal waterway realization — combined with the likelihood of liability and legal cases
navigation. further miniaturization, lower power being decided based on PVT data
For precision GNSS users consumption and expansion of provided by the systems is high. This
(those using precision or high- inexpensive multi-frequency, multi- eventuality brings with it a need for
end equipment) in the surveying, constellation GNSS chips capable of a non-proprietary open standard for
construction and agriculture real-time-kinematic- (RTK-) style ensuring consistent implementation
industries, the focus has primarily processing — has made the adoption of the integrity information and
been on accuracy. Over the past of GNSS for mass-market applications functional safety along with the
decade, real-time networks have been very appealing. separation of end-user and provider
developed to offer sub-2-centimeter Most mass-market applications responsibility. In this article, we
performance to end users. Although d on’t have t he s ame a c c u r a c y describe the requirements and
some integrity information has been requirements that drive the concepts for a high-precision GNSS
provided, it has often been in the professional high-precision market. correction system with high integrity.
form of disturbance indices that TABLE 1 summarizes applications that
network operators can use to inform can benefit from a high-precision SYSTEM OVERVIEW
users of suspected down time or GNSS correction service. In most Our Sapcorda correction service
periods of poor performance. But cases, decimeter-to-meter-level provides high-precision GNSS
the information lacks a functional accuracy is typically acceptable. correction data on a continental
safety component. Additionally, this Reliability becomes more critical for scale. Its core component is an
information has not typically been these applications. underlying tracking network of
integrated in real time into position The integrity demand, which we reference stations used to generate
engines to aid in the generation of define as the degree of difficulty an the precise corrections. The reference
reliable integrity parameters for the application poses to the integrity stations operate in real time and
end users. monitoring system, is based on the continuously transmit their data to the
Although GNSS does have required accuracy, availability, failure data control center. The data control
limitations, particularly in urban rate and continuity requirements of center processes the data, computing
environments, GNSS equipment the application. Applications with a orbit, clock, instrumental bias and

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42 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
atmosphere corrections and integrity information, and shown in FIGURE 2. The typical accuracy level is close to that
then encrypting the data before broadcasting it to the end of traditional network RTK services.
user (see FIGURE 1). The system provides coverage for both North America
The corrections are broadcast in the Safe Position and Europe as shown in FIGURE 3. Unlike traditional local
Augmentation for Real Time Navigation (SPARTN) format or regional network RTK systems, Sapcorda’s network
(www.spartnformat.org) developed by a consortium of GNSS provides seamless coverage on the continental scale and
manufacturers and service providers, via two communication operates in broadcast-only mode.
channels, L-band and the internet. The data is then received
by the end users who must decrypt it before it is used in INTEGRITY CONCEPTS
processing. The SPARTN correction format consists of a set The integrity of a system can be described as the
of messages that broadcast the GNSS corrections in a state- trustworthiness of the positions generated by the position
space representation. With our network, Sapcorda can offer engine. Trustworthiness is defined by the protection level
a high-accuracy positioning service with fast convergence. associated with a given solution. Many of the concepts
An example of positioning performance for a monitoring related to GNSS integrity originated from the development
station in Sapcorda’s European network coverage area is of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The

INNOVATION INSIGHTS of failure. This helps to ensure

that aircraft do not use misleading
BY RICHARD B. LANGLEY moral principles). But it is also data that could potentially create
used to describe something that is hazards.
INTEGER VITAE SCELERISQUE unimpaired or uncorrupted, especially And now, high-precision GNSS
PURUS. So wrote the Roman poet in regard to electronic data such positioning technology using real-
Horace at the beginning of one of his as that provided by a navigation time augmentation is being adopted
odes — one which, incidentally, was system. for autonomous applications
sung by college choirs at one time. As I wrote in an Innovation in the automotive, rail, aviation
It is usually translated as “upright column back in 1999, “The and marine industries. These
of life and free from wickedness” performance of any navigation applications need high integrity in
and is just about the only common system is characterized by its their position determinations in
Latin quotation in which we find accuracy, availability, continuity, addition to high accuracy. As with
the word “integer.” Besides upright, and integrity. From a safety point the pioneering non-autonomous
the word can be translated as of view, integrity is arguably the aviation use, augmentation services
unimpaired, perfect or whole. It is most important factor. Without for the new market will need to
this latter meaning that the English some assurance of a system’s monitor many aspects of their
mathematician Thomas Digges integrity, we have no way of service to ensure a high level of
appropriated to describe whole knowing whether the information integrity including the high-end
numbers. The modern mathematics we receive is correct: How are we to data processing algorithms, real-
definition of the set of integers know whether a navigation system time data transmission, end-to-
includes the additive inverses of the is actually achieving its advertised end encryption, and functional
whole numbers plus zero. We have accuracy and not misleading us with safety assurance. This will be a
to worry about the integer nature faulty information?” Navigation challenging task that will require
of carrier-phase ambiguities when systems that provide safety-of-life a multi-disciplinary approach,
trying to achieve high-precision services must ensure a very high deep understanding of GNSS error
GNSS positioning but that is a story level of integrity. For example, the modeling and risk assessment.
for another day. Wide Area Augmentation System In this month’s column, we look at
The Latin word integer is the root (WAAS) continuously assesses the the design, construction, operation
of the English word integrity. In integrity of GPS satellite signals as and performance of the first safety-
everyday speech, integrity means well as its own corrections, warning critical, high-accuracy augmentation
the quality of being honest or WAAS users when a failure is service created specifically for
trustworthy (and having strong encountered within about 6 seconds autonomous applications.

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 43
 INNOVATION
0.50

0.45 Application Accuracy Integrity

Data (meters) Demand
0.40 68 percent

Lane detection < 0.5 Medium

95 percent
0.35
Horizontal error (meters)

0.30 Route guidance < 5.0 Low

0.25
Automated driving < 0.2 High
0.20

0.15
Unmanned aerial vehicles < 1.0 High
0.10 Augmented reality < 0.1 Low
0.05
Train control systems < 1.0 High
0
0 5 10
Time (hours of day)
15 20
TABLE 1 Applications that can benefit from a high-precision GNSS service with
FIGURE 2 Horizontal position performance for a monitoring site in Europe using integrity.
Sapcorda’s high-precision service.
is typically unknown, exceeds the protection level supplied
integrity concept was formalized by the Stanford Integrity by the system. When this situation occurs, it is labeled
Diagram, which outlines the key concepts related to hazardously misleading information (HMI) because the
integrity. TABLE 2 defines the terminology surrounding the system may believe that its position is more accurate than it
integrity concept. truthfully is. If the true position error remains less than the
The integrity risk is the probability that a user will alert limit, then this is classified as misleading information.
experience a position error larger than the alert limit As the true position is not beyond the alert limit, the
without an alarm being triggered. When this occurs, the operator/system can continue to rely on this information
user is in a potentially dangerous situation as the system without being in a potentially dangerous scenario.
is providing dangerously misleading information to the To define the true integrity risk of the system, it is
user, who is unaware. necessary to understand its error sources, threat models,
The protection levels are computed based on the frequency of occurrences and potential failure modes.
expected behavior of the error sources encountered in a Many threats could render a correction service unavailable,
GNSS positioning system. If the protection level is less including hardware failures, data outages or software bugs,
than the system’s alert limit, then the system is operating atmospheric anomalies and satellite failures. The following
within its normal bounds. If the error sources are not section describes these threats along with the capabilities
properly monitored or quantified, protection levels become used for monitoring them.
optimistic. This occurs when the true position error, which Error Sources. The primary error sources in high-precision
GNSS positioning are described in TABLE 3. Although not
mentioned in this table, additional error sources include
site displacement effects such as solid earth tides, ocean
tide loading and polar tides; carrier-phase wind-up at both
the receiver and satellite; and satellite and receiver antenna
phase-center variations and relativistic delays. These effects
must be consistently modeled at both the server and the
end-user for centimeter-level positioning.
Based on the error sources described in Table 3, it is
necessary to convert this information into a format that can
be used by the position engine to derive protection levels
for each solution. How the final protection level is derived
by a position engine is not within the scope of this article.
For this, several approaches can be used including carrier-
phase-based receiver autonomous integrity monitoring
(CRAIM), solution separation and others.
FIGURE 3 Initial operation coverage of Sapcorda's high-precision GNSS correction The following equation can be used to describe the
service. overall error contribution for each measurement:

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44 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 Term Definition the horizontal component integrity plots for the three
stations. The protection levels are computed for the five-
The deviation of the estimate position from sigma level. In all three examples, the protection level can
Position error the true position. Not typically known in real-
world applications. properly bound the horizontal position error. In terms of
the measured accuracy, the typical performance observed
The region that is assured to contain the true
Protection level at the three stations is between 3 and 7 centimeters for the
user position.
95th percentile.
The maximum allowable error in the system In addition to the stationary testing, two kinematic trials
Alert limit before an alarm is triggered. Can be thought
of as the required accuracy of the system. were carried out in cooperation with a system integrator.
The integrator setup consisted of a commercial RTK
Normal operation System is operational and can be trusted.
receiver and position engine being fed with SPARTN
Misleading The position error exceeds the protection corrections. The equipment was mounted onto the vehicle
information level, but is still less than the required used for the tests. Both tests were carried out in an urban
accuracy of the system.
environment, which introduced measurement outages
Hazardously The reported position error exceeds the alert due to trees, overpasses and urban canyons. FIGURE 7 shows
misleading limit, even though the system declares the the area in which the kinematic trails were carried out,
information (HMI) position to be acceptable.
as well as some of the urban conditions with which the
The protection level has been exceeded. Even system had to contend.
System unavailable though the position error may be acceptable,
it cannot be trusted. FIGURES 8 and 9 show the position performance and
integrity plots for the two kinematic trial scenarios. The
TABLE 2 Integrity terms. reference trajectory was computed using a short baseline
post-processed kinematic solution computed with a third-
party application. The typical accuracy of the Sapcorda-

where
is the total uncertainty for satellite

is the uncertainty of the ionosphere model

is the uncertainty of the troposphere model DON’T MISS OUT!

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is the uncertainty of the combined orbit, clock and
bias (ephemeris) corrections

is the uncertainty of the measurements in the given

environment

The terms , and are derived from the real-time

reference network operator while the term must be
computed by the end-user receiver. This final term is
perhaps the most difficult to determine, particularly for
kinematic environments, as the value is highly dependent
on antenna quality, multipath and measurement quality.

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receivers. The position results and protection levels were March 12 - Dallas
derived from Sapcorda’s own position engine. FIGURE 6 shows
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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 45
 INNOVATION

were able to properly bound the horizontal position error.

Magnitude In addition to the position performance, re-initialization
Error source Mitigation
(meters)
time plays a critical role for precise positioning systems
Satellite ephemeris (orbit, clock Real-time modeling operating in difficult environments. Due to the regular outage
and biases) 0.5 – 2 via a reference and signal blockages, which occur in urban environments,
station network the re-initialization time is critical to providing high
Modeling based on availability. Traditional precise point positioning (PPP)
calibrated antenna systems, even those that perform ambiguity resolution,
Satellite antenna and attitude 0.05 – 0.1 characteristics and
satellite dynamic can take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes to re-initialize
models and achieve an acceptable accuracy level (typically 10
centimeters) after a complete outage. Researchers in both
Real-time modeling
Ionosphere 10 – 80 via a reference academia and industry have developed several methods to
station network reduce this time by “bridging the gap” after outages.
Real-time modeling However, these approaches rely on assumptions
Troposphere 3 – 20 via a reference about either the vehicle trajectory or the stability of the
station network ionosphere before and after outages. The impact of these
Receiver biases (clock and Real-time modeling assumptions on overall integrity have not been adequately
0.5 – 1
hardware delays) by receiver studied. Systems that rely on inertial measurement units
Modeling or (IMUs) to constrain the position after an outage introduce
Multipath and noise 1–2 averaging of a dependency between what should be two independent
parameters sensors in the overall system.
TABLE 3 GNSS network error sources, their magnitude and mitigation approach. FIGURE 10 shows the re-initialization time of the integrator’s
position engine when using Sapcorda’s correction service.
In this case, the re-initialization time is computed as the
enabled solution was on the order of 2 to 4 centimeters, time it takes to return to RTK-ambiguity-fixed mode as
while the maximum error was 10 centimeters. In both indicated in the position engine output after an outage.
cases, the protection levels were able to properly bound Results based on comparisons against short-baseline RTK
the horizontal position error. Figure 8 shows an area of positioning showed typical accuracies below 10 centimeters
increased position error, which occurs around the 22.6- to upon re-initialization. In this definition, the time of the
22.7-hour mark of the day. This period coincides with the outage is included in the overall re-initialization time. In
image in the bottom right of Figure 7, where the vehicle nearly all of the 42 occurrences, the time to re-initialize is
passes into a difficult environment with overhead trees and less than 10 seconds. This is sufficient to allow an IMU to
walkways, as well as significant shading from a tall building. provide position updates during the GNSS outage.
Even in this type of environment, the protection levels
SYSTEM DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
In addition to understanding GNSS error sources and
System unavailable
System
and misleading
performance, it is also important to consider the integrity
unavailable
of the entire system. This includes software development
Alert limit
Protection level

Normal Hazardously
operation misleading
Alert limit

information

Misleading
information

Position error

FIGURE 4 Stanford Integrity Diagram describing the key concepts for GNSS FIGURE 5 Location of stationary testing carried out within Sapcorda's European
integrity. network.

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46 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
 1.0 1.0 1.0
φ = 52.30° φ = 53.45° φ = 55.60°
0.9 0.9 0.9
λ = 8.30° λ = 14.32° λ = 11.40°
0.8 0.8 0.8
Protection level (meters)

0.7 0.7 0.7

0.6 0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1 0.1
0 0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Accuracy (meters) Accuracy (meters) Accuracy (meters)

FIGURE 6 Integrity plots for the horizontal error and protection levels for three stations within Sapcorda's European network coverage area.

processes, hardware selection, data communication Understanding how design or feature choices impact
standards and security. overall failure modes is also critical for simplifying the
Software Design. Aspects needing to be addressed include: number of cases and overall system complexity.
Software Coding Standards. As software is used more Test Coverage. Unit tests provide the fundamental
and more in safety-critical scenarios, standards have verification that a function can perform its expected task.
been developed to minimize common errors and failures. Coverage analysis tools provide insight into which sections,
Some standards relevant for safety-critical applications paths and combinations are being tested. Various metrics
development include International Organization for are possible, including:
Standardization (ISO) standard 26262 and Motor Industry ▪ statement coverage: measures the number of executable
Software Reliability Association (MISRA) C/C++ coding lines of code that are evaluated
standards. Many of these standards can be automated via
the static analysis tools described below.
Functional Safety. The objective of this analysis is to
understand the possible failure modes of a system, how
likely they are to occur, and how to mitigate their risk.
Several methods can be applied for functional safety
analysis. One such approach is failure mode effect analysis
(FMEA). In general, functional safety analysis is a complex
task requiring a wide range of experience and expertise.

FIGURE 7 Location of kinematic trials using Sapcorda's North American correction

service and examples of the environment encountered during the testing.

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 47
 INNOVATION
0.50 1.0
0.45 0.9 code changes. Critical scenarios such
0.40 0.8 as leap-second changes, week rollovers

Protection level (meters)

Horizontal accuracy (meters)

0.7
0.35
0.6
and ephemeris failures can be logged
0.30

0.25 0.5 and then used as part of the automated

0.20 0.4 test plan. And, as bugs emerge, adding
0.3
0.15 additional test scenarios for these is
0.2
0.10
0.1
also beneficial.
0.05

0
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Data Communication Protocol. One
22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.8 22.9 23.0
Time (Hours of day) Accuracy (meters) must also consider several aspects
FIGURE 8 Horizontal position performance for kinematic trial #1. The red line indicates the 1-sigma error of related to the transmission of the
the position engine. The panel on the right shows the 5-sigma integrity diagram. correction service to users.
Open Source. A standardization of
0.50 1.0
0.45 0.9
an open-source data communication
0.40 0.8 protocol for mass-market applications
Protection level (meters)
Horizontal accuracy (meters)

0.35 0.7 allows for a receiving system to employ

0.6
0.30
multiple corrections from more than
0.25 0.5
0.20 0.4
a single specific provider without
0.15 0.3 requiring independent functional
0.10 0.2 safety requirements. This can provide
0.1
0.05
0
a much higher level of redundancy
0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7
Time (Hours of day)
20.8 20.9 21.0
Accuracy (meters) than is possible when depending on
only a single service provider.
FIGURE 9 Horizontal position performance for kinematic trial #2. The red line indicates the 1-sigma error of
Integrity and Functional Safety.
the position engine. The panel on the right shows the 5-sigma integrity diagram.
To properly quantify the protection
15
level, it is necessar y to provide
C ode Q ualit y Metr ics. C o de quality information ab out the
quality metrics attempt to reduce the corrections being provided by the
complexity of functions and methods service. Employing “do not use” flags
Time to fix (seconds)

10
in the software. Code quality metrics ensures users drop satellites that may
may include: be unhealthy or performing poorly.
5
▪ cyclomatic complexity scores General system status messages
▪ establishing the maximum number identifying the cause of a failure are
of control statements within a also critical for proper separation of
0 function issues between server and recipient.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Occurrence ▪ establishing the maximum number Encryption and Anti-Spoofing. As
FIGURE 10 Re-initialization time of the integrator’s of lines or methods called within a the use of GNSS expands, the threat of
position engine enabled by Sapcorda’s correction single function. spoofing has become more significant.
service. Static Analysis. Static code analysis Data message encryption must be
provides an examination of source robust and resilient to protect the user
▪ branch coverage: measures which code prior to execution. It can detect of the data against external threats.
code paths are being evaluated (for common implementation issues such Self-Contained and Repeatable.
example, if statements, both true as divide-by-zero errors, bounds Replication of events is important for
and false must be covered) overrun, poorly defined loops or safety-critical applications. A message
▪ modified condition/decision control statements, among others. format used for such applications
coverage (MC/DC): in addition Most commercial products provide should be self-contained and not rely
to checking all branches, all support for MISRA C/C++ guidelines on any external sources for factors such
combinations of branches must be and other best practices for safety- as initialization or the expansion of
considered. critical applications. data. This may include the expansion
The degree of effort to meet target Automated Testing. Test automation of time-tagged data, or limiting the
coverage metrics greatly varies based is critical for monitoring performance expansion of ephemeris to a specific
on the type of metric chosen. changes and ensuring high-quality Issue of Data Ephemeris (IODE).

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48 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020
SUMMARY ITM 2019, the 2019 International Technical Meeting of
High-precision GNSS correction services for applications The Institute of Navigation, Reston, Virginia, Jan. 28–31,
requiring both accuracy and integrity will continue to 2019.
grow. To meet these demands, GNSS correction services
that previously focused on accuracy as their primary goal LANDON URQUHART is the R&D engineering manager for Sapcorda
Services Inc., with offices in Berlin and Hanover, Germany, and Scottsdale,
must begin to work toward providing adequate integrity Arizona, USA. He obtained his M.Sc.E. from the Department of Geodesy
information to provide reliable positions and protection and Geomatics Engineering at the University of New Brunswick (UNB),
levels. This requires a multidisciplinary approach to achieve Fredericton, Canada. His research interests are GNSS correction services
an in-depth understanding of GNSS error sources, integrity for mass-market applications.
concepts and functional safety. RODRIGO LEANDRO is the chief technology officer at Sapcorda Services
in Scottsdale. He holds a Ph.D. in spatial geodesy from UNB. Dr. Leandro
End users will benefit from the clear separation of the has been active in GNSS R&D for more than 15 years and has served in
server and recipient responsibilities and through an open engineering leadership roles in various companies in the GNSS industry.
communication standard that facilitates the use of multiple PAOLA GONZALEZ is a product engineer at Sapcorda Services and is based
correction service providers and is developed with safety in Hanover. She completed her B.Sc. in geodesy at Zulia University in
Maracaibo, Venezuela, and her master’s degree in geomatics at Karlsruhe
and integrity at its core.
University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe, Germany. In the past few
The adoption of formal safety practices, including years, she has been working in the GNSS industry, focusing mostly on
software development strategies to reduce risk and mitigate performance analysis, evaluation and verification of different equipment,
errors, is also critical in achieving a reliable and safe high- software and services.
precision correction service.
MORE ONLINE
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Further Reading
This article is based on the paper “Integrity for High For references related to this article, go to gpsworld.com and click on "More" in
the navigation bar, then on "Innovation."
Accuracy GNSS Correction Services” presented at ION

ADVERTISER INDEX: COMPANIES FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

Editor’s Note: This ad/edit index is for reader convenience only.
Publisher accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions.

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FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.GPSWORLD.COM G P S W O R L D 49
SEEN & HEARD
BAD KARMA
The GoPro Karma drone has been grounded since the new year began,
reports The Verge. Multiple owners say their Karma controllers are
flashing errors about not receiving a GPS signal, and that they can’t
calibrate the compass. They’re not able to fly the drones even after
disabling GPS. A GoPro spokesperson told The Verge that it is “actively
troubleshooting” the issue.

GOING WILD AT THE CASINO

A Waze ad in January misdirected drivers headed to Atlantic
City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa into New Jersey’s Pine
Barrens. Jackson Township police helped numerous
motorists stuck on unpaved roads about 45 miles from the
casino, which is just off the Atlantic City Expressway. The
address on the ad was correct, but the location pinned with
the ad is actually in the Colliers Mills wildlife area.

FEED THE BIRDS, NOT THE MICE

Irish structural engineer John Houston used a Trimble
R10 GNSS receiver and Centerpoint RTX to help mitigate MISSILES GUIDED BY GLONASS
a serious threat to Gough Island’s birds. The Royal According to Israeli military intelligence website
Society for the Protection of Birds seeks to eradicate DEBKAfile, Russia gave Iran access to GLONASS
invasive mice left from 19th-century ships. The survey to target the U.S. base in Iraq on Jan. 8. The strike
will help locate temporary infrastructure for workers injured 34 American soldiers. DEBKAfile reports that
to distribute poisoned bait to kill the voracious rodents, Russia-provided GLONASS access allowed Iranian
which feed on two million defenseless eggs and chicks missiles to hit with an accuracy of 10 meters at the
each year. Though 1,000 kilometers from the nearest Ain Assad base in western Iraq. “According to Russian
reference station, Houston achieved centimeter accuracy sources, 19 missiles were fired from the territory of
on all survey points. Iran, 17 of which hit the targets,” DEBKAfile said.

PHOTO CREDITS: Casino/Borgata Hotel & Casino; Karma drone/GoPro; rock penguins/Charles Bergman/Shutterstock.com; U.S. Marines at Al Asad Air Base in 2018. (Cpl. Jered T. Stone/Marine Corps)

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50 G P S W O R L D WWW.GPSWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2020

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