EDITOR’S SPECIAL

A U T O M AT I O N

USER TECHNOLOGY REPORT

ISSUE 2

2018
More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu).
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018

ISBN: 978-92-9206-035-0
ISSN: 2467-3854
doi: 10.2878/743965

Copyright © European GNSS Agency, 2018

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GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY REPORT
ISSUE 2

2018
4 FOREWORD

FOREWORD
Dear Reader,

We are truly living in the Golden Age of GNSS. With everyone now carrying a space receiver in their pocket and using satellites to move, play
and work, GNSS has become a ubiquitous technology. However, I believe the real development – and the most important one, as it allows
all of these devices to work better – is the shift towards a higher accuracy for all stemming from dual- and multi-frequency. Galileo is at the
forehead of this evolution, being the advanced GNSS enabling for instance autonomous transport applications.

Supporting evidence, coming from the LBS market, is the introduction of the first dual frequency smartphone in May 2018. This is only the
beginning. As we approach the threshold of living on a planet where every person has a GNSS device, satellite navigation will serve as the
backbone of a digitally connected world. With information on positioning, velocity and timing driving growth in a wide array of context-aware
applications, GNSS will be an important enabler for everything from the Internet of Things to Augmented Reality and autonomous vehicles.

The GSA’s GNSS User Technology Report Issue 2 takes an in-depth look at the latest state-of-the-art GNSS receiver technology, along with
providing expert analysis of the evolutionary trends that are set to define the global GNSS landscapes – and our daily lives – in the coming
years. In the following pages, you will find an in-depth look at applications and solutions within the safety- and, liability-critical transport, high
precision, timing and mass market macrosegments. This edition also features an ‘editor’s special’ devoted to automation and to the increasingly
important role GNSS plays in a number of partially- or fully-automated tasks and functions.

This publication was written with the contribution of leading GNSS receiver and chipset manufacturers and is meant to serve as a valuable
tool to support your planning and decision-making with regard to developing, purchasing and using GNSS user technology. We look forward
to receiving your feedback and working with you in continuing this exciting E-GNSS evolution. back and working with you in continuing this
exciting E-GNSS evolution.

Carlo des Dorides

Executive Director

The European GNSS Agency (GSA)

Prague, October 2018

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The coming years will see two new GNSS (Galileo and BeiDou), and two RNSS (QZSS and NavIC), performance is more important. The former receivers tend to be single (or dual) constellation,
reach full operational capability. In parallel, the modernisation of existing GNSS (GPS and GLONASS) single frequency, narrow band; all factors that contribute to satisfying the requirements for very
is also well underway. Thus, in just a few years there will be four global and three regional satel- low power consumption. The latter have widely adopted multiple constellations (four GNSS),
lite navigation systems, and more than 100 satellites providing open access to more accurate wider band processing, with up to 80 channels, and the most advanced versions now offer dual
and reliable PNT services, including through the use of multiple frequencies. Public augmentation frequency capability, which leads to greater accuracy.
systems, such as EGNOS, are also evolving to become multi-constellation and multi-frequency.
The transport and safety critical domain is traditionally constrained by regulations and stan-
A very clear trend identified in the previous issue of this report was widespread support for dards, and therefore slower in adopting new technologies. The emergence of the driverless
multiple constellations, which is confirmed here as the baseline for today’s new receivers. The car, professional or ‘prosumer’ drones, and autonomous vessel developments have shaken this
most important new trend identified in this issue is the rapid adoption of multiple frequen- segment of the industry, and it is now evolving at a very fast pace for these, as yet unregulated,
cies (almost 10 percentage points more in the last two years) – including for consumer devices, applications. Multiple constellation, multiple frequency, INS hybridisation, and sensor fusion
as evidenced by the market introduction of the first dual-frequency smartphone in May 2018. are all being used to contribute to the required ‘assured’ and safe positioning solutions. Whilst
The second frequency of choice for these new devices is E5a/L5, which has either already been current solutions demonstrate that the high accuracy essential to autonomous applications is
adopted or is planned to be supported by all global constellations, with efforts led by Galileo. achievable, work is still required to reach the high levels of integrity, continuity, and security that
must be guaranteed for safety-of-life applications.
Beyond the maturity and evolution of the core upstream infrastructure (GNSS, RNSS, SBAS), and
owing to the possibilities it offers, we also observe the growth of new value-added services In the professional domain, high accuracy is achieved with triple or quadruple frequency
proposed by the system providers themselves, or by private industry. This is particularly true of receivers, using all constellations and signals as well as RTK, NRTK and increasingly real time PPP
high-accuracy services, which until recently were offered primarily to professional users in the augmentation services. Receivers have several hundreds of channels, and have started to allocate
surveying, mapping, engineering or precision agriculture domains, but are now propagating some of these to detecting unwanted (jamming, spoofing, or multipath) signals.
out to the mass market – not just for driverless cars, but also for all kinds of augmented reality
The combined availability of powerful mobile computers, tablets, or even smartphones, and
applications. New service providers emerge, new alliances appear, and new distribution methods
of affordable dual frequency chipsets developed for the mass market, make it possible to run
are proposed, including via mobile telephone networks, to serve the emerging “high accuracy for
high-accuracy PVT solutions on such devices. By adding application-specific software, these
all” markets. The free Galileo High-Accuracy Service (HAS) and QZSS Centimetre-Level Accuracy
developments combine to enable mapping, GIS data collection, and potentially surveying appli-
Service (CLAS) are just two examples of this tendency.
cations on consumer electronics devices. This is further supported by the availability of GNSS raw
In addition to the trend for high accuracy, there is a growing awareness of the need to ensure both measurements on Android devices.
safety and security of the PNT solutions. This trend is especially important where PNT will be at
Many of the technical advances observed in this report are driven by the will to use GNSS-derived
the core of systems where humans are out of the control loop, such as in autonomous vessels,
position or time not only for information purposes, but also for monitoring, and increasingly today
cars or drones. Galileo authentication services, namely the Navigation Message Authentication
for controlling tasks, such as those encountered in robotics or navigation of all kinds of unmanned
(NMA) and the Signal Authentication Services (SAS), are important contributions to this security.
carriers. The ‘Editor’s special’ section of this issue is devoted to automation, and to the increasingly
At least one leading private GNSS augmentation service provider has begun marketing “trusted
important role GNSS plays in a number of partially- or fully-automated tasks and functions. The
positioning” through “real-time ephemeris data and navigation message authentication”, confir-
most publicised examples are found in the transport domain, with driverless cars, autonomous
ming that high accuracy is not the endgame, but rather ‘trusted and resilient’ high accuracy
vessels and drones, but as the interested reader will see, GNSS-based automation applications
remains the ultimate goal.
go well beyond transport.
This flourishing offer of core and augmentation services means that the choices available to receiver
The analysis of GNSS user technology trends is supported by testimonials from key suppliers of
manufacturers, system integrators and application developers are more diverse than ever before.
receiver technology: Broadcom, Javad, Kongsberg, Leica, Maxim Integrated, Meinberg, Novatel,
In the mass market domain, we are seeing a divide between chipsets optimised for ‘entry Orolia-Spectracom, Qualcomm, Septentrio, STMicroelectronics, Thales, Trimble and u-blox pre-
level’ IoT products, where energy per fix is the primary driver, and ‘high end’, where positioning senting their latest innovations in the field.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

INTRODUCTION 7

GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 9

MASS MARKET SOLUTIONS 28

TRANSPORT SAFETY- AND LIABILITY-CRITICAL SOLUTIONS 41

HIGH PRECISION AND TIMING SOLUTIONS 57

EDITOR’ S SPECIAL: AUTOMATION 74

ANNEXES 85
GNSS CONSTELLATIONS AND FREQUENCIES 86
AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS 87
GNSS KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS 88
LIST OF ACRONYMS 89
METHODOLOGY 90
ABOUT THE AUTHORS 91

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 INTRODUCTION 7

DAWNING OF NEW ERA: TOWARDS AUTOMATED SYSTEMS PNT TECHNOLOGY DRIVERS PYRAMID

There are four main dimensions of PNT systems technology development that enable the future of automated,
intelligent positioning systems. As presented in the PNT technology drivers on the right, the location systems must AUTOMATION AND
be ubiquitous, secure, accurate and connected to provide basis for modern automation and ambient intelligence. AMBIENT INTELLIGENCE

The advent of automated systems has progressed very rapidly in the last months thanks to the development
alongside all four dimensions of the pyramid base. The Editors’ special of this issue of the GSA Technology Report
is therefore devoted to automation.

Main areas of innovation

GNSS is and will remain for the foreseeable future an integral part of PNT solutions. It cannot, however, provide
alone the ubiquitous, accurate, safe, assured PNT information that is required.
Maintaining performance in all contexts requires the fusion of multiple positioning technologies and sensors. UBIQUITY
Seamless indoor and CONNECTIVITY
Accuracy is obtained thanks to multi constellation, multi-frequency GNSS, augmented by PPP-RTK services outdoor positioning
and hybridised with INS and other sensors. Exchange of data
with the infrastructure
Connectivity relies on the integration with both satellite and terrestrial networks, such as 5G, LEOs, or LPWANs. ACCURACY and other users
PNT data at decimetre
Ubiquity is provided by complementary positioning technologies and sensors. level, available “everywhere, SECURITY
Security is provided by the combination of independent redundant technologies, cybersecurity, and for everyone” Robust and secure
positioning, including
authentication. data privacy
This complex ecosystem is depicted in the following diagram:

THE PNT ECOSYSTEM: STATE OF MATURITY

Cooperative PNT Signals of MEMS

Peer to peer opportunity
Cameras

PNT technology SLAM Multi-frequency GNSS-INS

CSAC GNSS Ultrasound Lidar hybridisation
components
Ultra precise PPP-RTK INS
MEMS Visual navigation Sensor fusion Radar Multi-constellation GNSS & A-GNSS
GNSS

Mega LEO 5G Blockchain 3D Mapping

constellations
Non PNT
Space/ground Machine learning LPWAN
supporting
networks integration
technologies
Cybersecurity

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

8 INTRODUCTION

HOW TO READ THIS REPORT

This report has been divided into three sections which cover the main areas related to GNSS technology.

In the opening section, GNSS User Technology overview, we present a summary of recent developments and future trends in GNSS. We focused Mass market
on multi-constellations and multi-frequency applications that drive the new trends, and also achieve greater accuracy whilst maintaining high consumer solutions
integrity. Updates on Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, GPS and Regional Navigation Satellite Systems are described in detail. You can also find infor-
mation regarding the evolution in signal processing and how antenna capabilities drive receiver performance. Another topical area featured is
anti-spoofing and anti-jamming trends, and how vulnerabilities can be mitigated. The section concludes with a description of elements that drive
innovation, and highlights innovation centres in Europe.

The second section consists of three sub-sections where specific applications and solutions are presented, grouped into macrosegments.
1. Mass market – presenting high-volume receivers for consumer devices. Automotive (not safety critical), consumer drones, smartphones,
and specialised IoT devices from mHealth to robotics are all covered.
2. Transport safety- and liability-critical solutions – presenting receivers built in accordance with standards to deliver such solutions.
Automotive, aviation, professional drones, maritime, search and rescue and, new to this issue of the TR, space-borne GNSS applications
are all covered. Transport safety- and
liability-critical solutions
3. High precision and timing solutions – presenting receivers designed to deliver the highest accuracy (position or time) possible. Agricul-
ture, GIS, Surveying and Timing and Synchronisation applications are all covered.

The third Editor´s special section focuses on the important trend of Automation. Here we provide both a current overview and a future vision of
automation, explain the interconnection between GNSS and automation, show the benefits of fusion of many different data, explain why artificial
intelligence is not the same as automation and focus on automation trends mainly in road transportation, but also in the drone and maritime
domains.
Finally, in the annexes you will find a general overview of GNSS positioning technologies, augmentation services, key performance parameters,
and definitions, as well as the methodology used to write this technology report.

High precision and timing solutions

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 9

GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

GNSS today 10
GNSS evolution 11
GNSS signals 12
GNSS augmentations 13
System of systems 14
Receiver design 15
Position processing 16
Multiple frequency 17
Signal processing 18
GNSS antennas 19
Receivers’ capabilities 20-21
GNSS vulnerabilities 22
Protecting GNSS 23
PNT beyond GNSS 24
European R&D 25-27

© ESA
10 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW GNSS TODAY

INTEROPERABLE MULTI-GNSS IS THE REALITY TODAY

Multiple constellations provide navigation services OPERATIONAL* GNSS SATELLITES
The four GNSS – GPS (USA), GLONASS (RF), BeiDou (PRC) and Galileo (EU) – are currently in either
full operational capability (FOC) or nearing FOC status, with the two most recent constellations
120
due to complete deployment by 2020. As a result there were already over 100 GNSS satellites in
orbit as of December 2017.
100
Three Regional Navigation Satellite Systems (RNSS), namely the Indian NavIC, the Chinese
BeiDou (phase 2) and Japanese QZSS complete the picture and further increase the number of
navigation satellites in their respective coverage areas. 80
Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) broadcast GNSS-like signals primarily dedicated
to the provision of integrity information and wide area corrections, but which can also be used as 60
extra navigation signals.
40
Signals and services: interoperability of open services for a true multi-GNSS world
GNSS, RNSS and SBAS providers are coordinating their efforts, notably through the United Nations 20
Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and its International Committee on Global Navigation
Satellite Systems (ICG). The ICG “strives to encourage and facilitate compatibility, interoperability
and transparency between all the satellite navigation systems, to promote and protect the use of 0
their open service applications and thereby benefit the global community”1.

02
03
04
05
06
07
08
0
01

09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
0

20

20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20

20
20

20
20

20
20
20
20
Notably this coordination leads to the adoption of current or modernised open signals of compat-
ible frequency plans, common multiple access schemes (with GLONASS adding CDMA to its legacy GPS GLONASS Galileo BeiDou
FDMA scheme), and modulation schemes (e.g. Galileo E1 and GPS L1C). This facilitates the design
* Excluding satellites under test or commissioning
of multi-GNSS chipsets and receivers, to the benefit of the end users.
Although interoperability is the commonly agreed goal, each GNSS/RNSS can provide specific
services through dedicated signals. This is indeed the case of (restricted access) governmental
services2 such as Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) or GPS Precise Positioning Service (PPS),
but also of value added services (e.g. Galileo High-Accuracy Service (HAS), QZSS L6 or BeiDou short Frequencies: a scarce resource to be protected
messaging service) which may be provided for free or for a fee.
All these systems transmit or plan to transmit navigation signals in two common frequency
ranges; L5/E5/B2/L3 signals in the lower L Band (1164-1215 MHz) and L1/E1/B1 signals in the
upper L Band (1559-1610 MHz). The frequency ranges are often referred to by the signal names
they contain, such as the 'L1 or E5 band'. These frequency bands are allocated worldwide to GNSS
on a primary basis and are shared with aeronautical radio navigation service (ARNS) systems.
Some of these systems also broadcast additional signals in other frequency bands located in the
range 1215-1300 MHz, so-called L2 & E6 bands. These are also global GNSS bands but are allocated
on a non-interference basis.

1 www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/icg/icg.html
2 Not discussed in this report

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 GNSS EVOLUTION GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 11

GNSS INFRASTRUCTURE IS CONTINUOUSLY EVOLVING

Galileo and BeiDou plan to reach full operating capacity with their latest technology by 2020. In Galileo
parallel GPS and GLONASS are engaged in modernisation efforts leading to better performance
After the declaration of Initial Services on 15 December 2016, Galileo continues its
and higher interoperability.
deployment and will reach its full operational capability (FOC) in 2020. As of end
of August 2018, the constellation includes 26 satellites in orbit, of which 17 are
GPS fully operational. In addition to providing a high quality open service based on
The US is currently engaged in an ambitious GPS modernisation programme, innovative signals1 in the E1 and E5 bands, Galileo was also the first GNSS constellation to feature
which has deployed new satellites (GPS III) from the beginning of 2018. These a SAR capability, including the provision of a return link to users in distress. Galileo also features
satellites are the first to feature the new L1C signal, almost identical to its Galileo other unique capabilities, such as the provision of Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA),
OS counterpart on E1. They will also broadcast the legacy L1 and the more recent and an encrypted navigation signal on E6, the Signal Authentication Service (SAS). OS-NMA and
L2C and L5 signals, resulting in the future availability of four civil GPS signals. The discontinuation SAS represent the first protection against spoofing available to civilian GNSS users. Finally, Galileo
of codeless and semi-codeless GPS access is expected to be completed by 2020 when civil users will provide free access to a High-Accuracy Service (HAS) through the use of an open data channel
are encouraged to transition to the L2C signal. via the E6 frequency, used to broadcast high-accuracy augmentation messages.
More at: www.gps.gov More at: www.gsc-europa.eu

GLONASS QZSS
The first current generation GLONASS satellite, GLONASS-K, entered service in The current four satellite system (three IGSO + one GEO) provides three satellite
February 2016. GLONASS-K satellites transmit CDMA signals (currently at L3 = visibility at all times from locations in the Asia-Oceania regions. QZSS services will
1202.025 MHz in the E5 band, but also in future at the L1 and L2 frequencies) officially begin on 1 November 2018, while the current plan is to have a seven-sat-
in addition to the legacy FDMA ones, and also host a SAR transponder. The next ellite constellation by 2023. The primary purpose of QZSS is to increase the availability of GPS in
generation constellation will be based upon GLONASS K2 and KM platforms, which are planned Japan's numerous urban canyons. A secondary function is performance enhancement, increasing
to be launched after 2020. These satellites feature improved clock stability, and new control, both accuracy and reliability of GPS. QZSS will provide a variety of services, from the basic Satellite
command, and ODTS technologies. PNT Service based on the transmission of GPS-like signals, but also an SBAS Transmission Service,
a future Public Regulated Service, a Sub-metre Level Augmentation Service (SLAS), a Centimetre
More at: www.glonass-iac.ru/en
Level Augmentation Service (CLAS), and a variety of other services exploiting the data links of QZSS
(e.g. a Satellite Report for Disaster and Crisis Management).
BeiDou
More at: qzss.go.jp/en
The third generation BeiDou system (BDS-3) is currently being deployed with the
goal of completing the constellation of 35 satellites by 2020 to provide global
NavIC
service. The final global system will transmit signals at the B1 (E1/L1), B2 (E5/L5)
and B3 (~E6) frequencies. Sharing frequency bands and closely similar signal wave- NavIC-1L was successfully launched on 12 April 2018, to increase the NavIC
forms with GPS and Galileo, BDS-3 significantly contributes to the interoperable, multiple-GNSS constellation to seven operational satellites. NavIC covers India and a region
world. BeiDou will operate the largest constellation of 35 satellites, including the regional system. extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it, with plans for further coverage extension
This regional system will offer two services; a Wide-Area Differential Service and a Short Message by increasing the number of satellites in the constellation from seven to eleven. NavIC signals
Service. The former offers improved accuracy over the global offering, whilst the latter allows short, consist of a Standard Positioning Service and a Precision Service. Both are carried on L5 (1176.45
two-way communication for commercial purposes. MHz) and S band (2492.028 MHz).
More at: en.chinabeidou.gov.cn More at: www.isro.gov.in/irnss-programme

1 The initial Galileo E1 BOC (1, 1) was used as the common baseline signal structure for EU/US cooperation discus-
sions leading to the design and adoption of the current L1C (GPS) and E1b/c(Galileo).

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

12 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW GNSS SIGNALS

THE MAJORITY OF SYSTEMS WILL REACH FOC WITH NEW SIGNALS IN FIVE YEARS
Ground segment updates
New signals and capabilities require
not only to be implemented on sat-
ellites, but also to be monitored and SYSTEM PROVIDER SIGNAL 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
controlled by the GNSS ground seg- L1 FOC (30)
ment. Whilst Galileo and BeiDou are GPS
L1 C
L2
(0-30)
FOC (30)
in their first generation, both GPS and L2 C IOC (19-30) FOC (30)
L5 (12-30)
GLONASS are modernising their con-
trol segments. E1 IS (12-26) ES (26-30) FOC (30)
GALILEO E5 IS (12-26) ES (26-30) FOC (30)

GLOBAL COVERAGE
SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEMS
E6 IS (12-26) ES (26-30) FOC (30)
The GPS ground segment will be
upgraded to the “Next Generation L1 FDMA FOC (24)
L1 CDMA (0-24)
Control Segment” or OCX, which has GLONASS
L2 FDMA FOC (24)
L2 CDMA (0-24)
undergone initial deployment in 2018. L3 CDMA (0-24)
L5 CDMA (0-24)
Similarly, new GLONASS capabilities
B1 (12-35) FOC (35)
are supported by a modernised ground BEIDOU B2 (12-35) FOC (35)
segment with the objective to improve B3 (12-35) FOC (35)

the system accuracy down to 0.6m Sig-

nal In Space Ranging Error (SISRE), and QZSS IOC (4-7)
COVERAGE
REGIONAL

synchronization of GLONASS Timescale IRNSS

L5 FOC(7)
S-Band FOC(7)
with UTC (SU) to less than 2ns.
L1 FOC(2+1)
WAAS
L5 Under development

Development Plans EGNOS

L1
L5
FOC(2+1)
Under development
The figure on the right shows the
SATELLITE AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS

L1 FOC (3)
current development plans for SDCM L3 FOC (3)
L5 FOC (3)
REGIONAL COVERAGE

each satellite navigation system

B1
over the next five years. The SNAS B1C FOC (3)
signal sets, status and number of B2A FOC (3)

satellites* are reported as follows: L1 FOC (3)

GAGAN
L5 Under development
Signal status
MSAS L1 FOC (2)
No service
Initial services QZSS
L1
L5
FOC (4)
Under development
Full services
L1 IOC FOC
KAZZ
L5 Under development
* The number in bracket indicates the
number of satellites.
Disclaimer: Systems deployment plans based upon publicly available information as of July 2018.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 GNSS AUGMENTATIONS GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 13

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AND SUBSCRIPTION BASED AUGMENTATION SOLUTIONS ENHANCE GNSS PERFORMANCE
SBAS INDICATIVE SERVICE AREAS
WAAS EGNOS
2019: Ground infrastructure for L5 L2 P(Y) V3 in 2025: MC (GPS + Galileo) SDCM
to GPS L5 FOC over 2 years MF (L1/E1+L5/E5) 2020: L1, L3C, L5C

SBAS move to dual frequency and new sectors

Across the world SBAS systems are testing and imple-
MSAS
SDCM* 2017: MCMF experiment menting changes to support dual-frequency and, in many
V2 in 2020 for non-aviation cases, multiple constellations.
EGNOS KAAS
In most cases L5/E5a is used as the second frequency
WAAS Open Service in 2020
KAAS signal, resulting in a dual frequency system. Some, such
BDSBAS MSAS as MSAS and SCDM, intend to provide corrections for
three frequencies.
GAGAN BDSBAS
At the same time as implementing systems meeting avia-
4 GEO satellites by 2020
tion LPV-200 (CAT-I) requirements, EGNOS, WAAS, QZSS,
ASECNA SCDM, and BDSBAS all have specific plans to support user
SBAS Australian SBAS
Testing until 2019 for sectors beyond aviation.
SACCSA GAGAN multiple user sectors
First testing in 2011 SACCSA Researching expansion of
coverage to GULF region
Sectors such as agriculture and maritime already enjoy
benefits from SBAS in some applications, but future
Australian services will look to exploit the increased accuracy offered
SBAS by dual frequency for more demanding applications.

Under development/definition
*System not yet certified for civil aviation

Commercial augmentation services now use PPP and are

Whilst providing very high accuracy, existing services do not fully meet the needs of these
moving towards ‘V2.0’, targeting the mass market
emerging applications. For example the typical convergence or re-convergence time associated
Commercial augmentation services have been mature for some time, but they are currently with PPP correction services will need to be improved to address automotive applications in urban
evolving to ‘version 2.0’. Almost all global providers now offer PPP services to provide world- environments, or to satisfy consumer expectations. Beyond this, such applications require integrity
wide coverage. Regional Network Real Time Kinematic (N-RTK) augmentation service providers and robustness alongside high accuracy. Future services will have to work with receivers built on
also increasingly incorporate a PPP service to provide a complete solution portfolio. Whilst newly developed mass market premium chipsets, which support dual frequency and multi-con-
established service providers embrace PPP to complete their offerings, newcomers benefit stellation but are subject to power and hardware size constraints compared to traditional precision
from its reduced infrastructure cost to propose novel services and facilitate emerging ‘high- GNSS equipment. The move to address the mass market is resulting in increased availability and
accuracy mass market’ applications such as autonomous vehicles or augmented reality. affordability of these services.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

14 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS

FOR USERS GNSS IS PART OF A ‘SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS’ Galileo and Copernicus for sustainable development
The UNOOSA (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs) and the GSA published a joint
Synergies between systems report in 2018 focusing on how E-GNSS and Copernicus support the UN’s Sustainable Devel-
opment Goals (SDGs).
The future of space technologies relies on two words: ’integration’ and ’fusion ’.
From providing the maps needed to find the best locations for renewable energy infrastruc-
Ubiquitous localization and timing, ubiquitous sensing, ubiquitous Connectivity, 3D digital model-
ture, to outlining the most fuel-efficient flight paths, optimising road transportation routes and
ling: these major technological trends are fuelling the fourth industrial revolution, characterized
infrastructure monitoring, applications using both GNSS and EO
by the integration and fusion of different space and ground technologies and infrastructures; and UNITED NATIONS

provide the answer to many societal challenges. Indeed the report

OFFICE FOR OUTER SPACE AFFAIRS

a new, enhanced representation of our physical world.

highlighted that all of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Devel-
These technologies will cause radical transformations of our society, such as those related to auton- opment Goals were positively impacted by the combined use of
European Global Navigation

omous driving and to an extensive use of drones in commercial applications. With their funda- E-GNSS and Copernicus, and of those 13 significantly benefit. Satellite System and Copernicus:

Supporting the Sustainable

mental role in localization and timing, remote sensing and communications, space technologies Development Goals
The report can be downloaded at: www.unoosa.org B UI LDI NG B LOCK S T OWAR DS T HE 2 0 3 0 AGENDA

play an essential role in enabling such a future.

As a matter of example, in autonomous driving and autonomous drones operations (more gener-
ally, for whatever concerns ’Autonomous Things’), satellites not only provide ubiquitous commu-
nications, but also ubiquitous positioning and timing. Furthermore, Earth observation (remote
sensing) merged with the IoT’s ubiquitous sensing delivers an accurate, detailed and enhanced
3D representation of the world. UNITED NATIONS

Thus, from mapping to farm management to environmental monitoring to autonomous mobile

robotics, a wealth of innovative applications already benefit from the combined use of Europe’s
Copernicus is the European system for monitoring the Earth and is coordinated and managed
two flagship space programs: Galileo and Copernicus.
by the European Commission. The development of the observation infrastructure is performed
Many of these applications also depend on device connectivity; be it to receive assistance or under the aegis of the European Space Agency for the space component and by the European
augmentation data, to exchange with peers or to optimise the data flow between field and office, Environment Agency and EU countries for the in situ component.
one always assumes that the device is connected. This is where, in areas without sufficient terres-
It consists of a complex set of systems which collect data from multiple sources: earth obser-
trial networks coverage, the ’invisible’ third pillar of the space applications, ‘Communications’
vation satellites and in situ sensors such as ground stations, airborne sensors, and sea-borne
comes into play and provides the necessary connection that enables the seamless integration
sensors. It processes this data and provides users with reliable and up-to-date information
of our devices and information systems. Communication has always been a close cousin to posi-
through a set of services related to environmental and security issues.
tioning, as well as a complement. The current trend in this field is to propose very large or mega
constellations of LEO satellites to provide affordable wideband connectivity worldwide. There are The services address six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency
indeed several such plans, backed by major multinational companies: management, and security. They support a wide range of applications, including environment
protection, management of urban areas, regional
Name Proposed network size Key backing organisations and local planning, agriculture, forestry, fisheries,
ONEWEB 720 Initial, >2,000 target Airbus, Virgin, Qualcomm, Intelsat, Bharti health, transport, climate change, sustainable devel-
opment, civil protection, and tourism.
STARLINK 4,425 initial, 12,000 target SpaceX
For more information see: www.copernicus.eu
BOEING 1,400-3,000 Boeing

Such networks of LEO satellites have the potential to play a similar role as 4G/5G telephony with
respect to GNSS, i.e. a kind of symbiosis whereby GNSS can position the satellites, which in return

© ESA
can provide assistance and augmentation data and even complementary positioning signals.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 RECEIVER DESIGN GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 15

ALL COMPONENTS OF GNSS RECEIVER ARE SUBJECT TO INTENSIVE DEVELOPMENT

The evolution of receiver design has been enabled by techno- Simultaneously, market pressures have exerted a pull towards This architecture is typical of a self-contained GNSS receiver.
logical developments in the semiconductor industry, including increased accuracy, improved performance in difficult envi- The trend towards multi-frequency receivers does not signifi-
increased processing power to support more GNSS channels, ronments, and reduced time to first fix (TTFF). This simplified cantly affect this functional diagram, but it does impact several
and the development of low-cost MEMS sensors that allow diagram presents the building blocks of a typical GNSS receiver components, notably the antenna 1 , the RF front-end , and
tighter coupling with different sensors and bring positioning alongside the main characteristics (the most important or the Baseband processing which are (in a gross approxima-
to GNSS-deprived locations. rapidly evolving of which are highlighted in red). tion) replicated for each frequency.

GNSS RECEIVER FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM

1 Analogue Digital Raw Data &

1. Antenna (+ preamplifier) 6. Input/ Output interfaces
Antenna IF IF Navigation message
Receives, amplifies and band- 2 3 4 5 Converts data produced in
pass filters GNSS signals. RF Analogue internal formats into such
RF Baseband PVT recognised formats as NMEA.
Dimensions: to Digital
Front-End Processing Processing After reformatting, the data
• Selectivity converter
is output over a suitable data
• Noise factor
interface such as RS-232 Serial
• Gain
data, Ethernet, Bluetooth or
• Radiation pattern
Inputs / Outputs a combination of several. The
• Phase Centre
selection of the interface is
• Bandwidth
often application domain
• Multi-frequency
Local Power User Interface specific.
• Multipath rejection
• Single or multiple Oscillator Supply
6
antenna inputs
• Jamming mitigation

2. RF down convertor 3. Analogue to Digital converter 4. Baseband processing 5. PVT (& Application) processing
Down-converts and filters RF signals Converts the analogue IF signal Acquires and tracks incoming signals, Computes the estimated position and
to an intermediate frequency (IF) into a digital representation. demodulates navigation data. receiver time offset relative to the
compatible with analogue-to-digital constellation’s reference time.
Dimensions: Dimensions:
converter (ADC) acceptable input.
• Linearity • Number of channels Dimensions:
Dimensions: • Number of bits/Dynamic range • Measurement rate • Solution type (GNSS, Differential GNSS)
• Input frequency/ies • Jitter • Measurement noise (C/N0) • Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise
• Phase noise • Bandwidth • Multipath immunity Point Positioning (PPP), …)
• Linearity • Interface to baseband • S ignals/modulations processed • Single or Multi constellation
• Automatic Gain Control (AGC) • Dynamics • Update rate
• Isolation • Interference cancellation • Latency
• Jamming mitigation

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

16 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW POSITION PROCESSING

THE PVT COMPUTATION STRATEGY DICTATES THE ACCURACY BUT ALSO THE ROBUSTNESS OF THE SOLUTION
GNSS observations Augmented GNSS
GNSS receivers perform measurements on the incoming navigation signals to obtain direct Whenever the performance achieved with SPP is insufficient, augmentation methods are used.
observables which can be of two types, the code phase and the carrier phase. These are meas- They allow cancellation or precise modelling/estimation of the residual measurement errors.
ures of the same physical quantity, the pseudorange, albeit with rather different characteristics.
• Differential GNSS: This method assumes a high spatial & temporal correlation of GNSS error
CHARACTERISTICS OF GNSS OBSERVABLES components. It makes use of a reference receiver with known coordinates to determine the
lump-sum of GNSS errors for visible satellites, and broadcasts this information. Users' GNSS
Observable Typical precision Ambiguity Remarks positioning is improved by applying GNSS range correction as measured by the reference
station.
Code phase 1m 1 code length (300 km The primary GNSS
for a C/A code duration observable. Robust • RTK: Real time Kinematic is the version of DGNSS that uses carrier phase observables instead
of 1 ms) though limited in of (carrier phase smoothed) code phase observables. It implies a successful resolution of the
precision carrier phase ambiguities, which is all the more likely as multiple frequencies are used and the
reference to receiver distance (baseline) remains small.
Carrier phase 1 cm 1 carrier wavelength Used for high-accuracy
(19 cm at E1/L1) PVT estimation. • Network DGNSS/RTK: These are versions of the above where a network of reference sites is
Requires ambiguity used rather than just one, to extend the operational area and/or improve the redundancy of
resolution the solution.
Common to all three methods is the determination and use of a lump correction, and collectively
These observables are contaminated by a number of errors which must be modelled, estimated
they are known as ‘observation space representation (OSR)’ techniques. They provide a position
or eliminated in order to compute an accurate PVT solution. When performed simultaneously on
solution relative to the reference station (network). The next two methods attempt to differen-
several frequencies, several satellites, or by several receivers, these observations can be linearly
tiate the different components of GNSS observations error – satellite clocks, orbits & signal biases,
combined to form derived observables with particular interest for processing; for instance, this is
atmospheric delay/advance etc. Since the state of the GNSS error components is determined, this
the case of the “iono-free”, the “widelane”, or with several other combinations.
approach is called a ‘state space representation’ (SSR) technique.
PVT processing strategies come in two groups - Code phase-based solutions that are robust but
• SBAS: This method uses a national or even continent-wide network of (dual frequency) refer-
exhibit limited accuracy, and Carrier phase-based solutions that can potentially offer very high
ence stations to estimate corrections split into several components – including satellites orbits
accuracy, but with greatly reduced robustness and at the cost of the resolution of the ambiguities.
and clocks, and a real-time ionosphere model. These are broadcast (using a GNSS like signal)
to receivers that reconstruct the correction in the observation domain and use a standard
Single Point Positioning PVT filter.
Single Point Positioning (SPP) is the default method. It is based on the use of code phase observ-
• PPP and PPP-AR: This is the ultimate evolution of the SSR concept. All individual error compo-
ables, either single frequency or dual frequency, possibly smoothed with carrier observations,
nents are estimated either at the network (worldwide) or at the receiver level. When these
and adjusted in a navigation filter, which is generally a least squares (LSQ), weighted least squares
estimates are accurate enough to resolve the carrier phase ambiguities, precise unambiguous
(WLSQ), Kalman or extended Kalman (EKF) filter. When only single frequency observables are avail-
carrier phase estimates of the pseudoranges can be used and yield sub decimetre accuracy.
able, a model (Klobuchar, NeQuick) is applied to account for ionospheric delays. Otherwise these
This mode is referred to as PPP with ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR).
are estimated or eliminated by an iono-free linear combination. The PVT accuracy depends on that
of the received clock and ephemeris data (CED), and of the models used (all residual errors will Whatever the augmentation strategy used, it implies relying on a (network of) reference
propagate in the position solution). Since residual errors in SPP are larger than the signal wave- station(s) and obtaining a solution relative to it. Furthermore, a real-time communication link
length, carrier phase observations can only be used for smoothing the solution. is required. Finally, all carrier phase-based solutions require an estimation of the ambiguities,
and continuous, cycle slip free measurements (thus excluding receiver duty cycling).

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 MULTIPLE FREQUENCY GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 17

AFTER E1 AND E5 WHICH THIRD FREQUENCY WILL BE ADOPTED?

MAJOR GNSS POSITION COMPUTATION STRATEGIES Triple frequency
Method SPP DGNSS RTK SBAS PPP While there are very compelling reasons to adopt dual frequency technology, the case for triple
frequency is less clear and currently only high accuracy, professional grade receivers have adopted
Observable Code Code Carrier Code Code/Carrier it. The main rationale behind triple frequency adoption is to improve the performance of the carrier
Positioning Absolute (in Relative Relative Relative Absolute (in the tracking phase ambiguity resolution algorithms, necessary for high-accuracy processing (RTK, Network
the GNSS network reference frame) RTK and PPP AR). These improvements are along three characteristics; the maximum separation
reference from a reference station (for RTK and N-RTK), the reliability of the solution, and the time required
frame) to obtain and validate this solution.

Comm Link No Yes Yes Yes Yes When the selection of the two primary frequencies is dictated by their separation, their ARNS status
(GNSS like) and the sheer number of satellites that will use them, the choice of a third (or middle) frequency
is far less obvious – Galileo and BeiDou make use of the E6 band, while GPS and GLONASS will
Single Frequency (SF) SF or DF SF Mostly DF SF (SF) DF or TF continue to utilise the L2 band. Additionally, QZSS supports both E6 and L2C. Research papers
Dual Frequency (DF) typically show some advantages for E6 in terms of PVT processing, while some RF engineers favour
Triple Frequency (TF)
L2 because the reduced frequency offset from E5 simplifies implementation.
Time to First Rx TTFF As SPP + time As DGNSS As DGNSS As RTK, but time to An important and possibly decisive factor in favour of the E6 choice is the fact that Galileo and
Accurate Fix to receive + time to estimate ambiguities
QZSS intend to use this frequency not only as a GNSS signal, but also as a data channel to broadcast
corrections resolve significantly higher
(free) PPP augmentation messages, thus enabling the receivers to perform a PPP solution without
ambiguities (more unknowns)
requiring any other (external) communication channel.
Horizontal Accuracy 5-10 m DF < 1 m to 1 cm + 1 ppm < 1 m < 10 cm to
15-30 m SF <5m baseline <1m

Coverage Worldwide Up to Up to Up to Worldwide

100’s km 10’s km 1000’s km
GNSS FREQUENCIES IN THE L BAND

Dual frequency
Dual frequency receivers offer significant advantages over single frequency receivers in terms of L5 B2I E1
achievable accuracy, but also in terms of improved resistance to jamming.
L5/E5a signals are located in frequency bands shared with ARNS, which are subject to increased B2a L3 E6 L1 C/A
regulatory protection (similar to L1/E1) and will hence be used for safety-critical transport appli- L2C
cations, and will also be supported by SBAS (standards in development). L5/E5a will therefore be E5a E5b L2 B3 B1I L1
broadcast on more satellites than any other frequency. Additionally, signals on L5/E5a offer the
Hz

Hz

M z
Hz

12 .5 z
5M z
Hz

Hz

Hz

Hz

Hz
advantages of a high chipping rate and of a higher received power than E1/L1 or L2.

37 H

.7 H
M

12 0 M

12 4 M

78 2 M

2M

M
45

98

93

10
.4
5
.6
.14

This makes L5/E5a a natural choice for future dual frequency receivers, although currently there is

16
15
.

12

.0
27

75
76

68
07

61
11

12

15
12

15
a larger selection of GPS L2 capable receivers for legacy reasons.
BeiDou GPS Galileo GLONASS
After many years of use limited to professional or governmental users (mainly because of high
cost), the first dual frequency chipset for the mass market was launched in 2017 (incorporating
L1/E1 and L5/E5a). Several more are either available or announced in 2018.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

18 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW SIGNAL PROCESSING

EVOLUTION IN SIGNAL PROCESSING OPENS NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR USERS

The inexorable march to high accuracy solutions from the surveying market in the 1990’s, to all Cutting edge developments improve carrier phase tracking
market segments today, has been enabled through the availability of more signals, increased
With the trend towards high-precision GNSS requiring carrier-phase solutions and ambiguity reso-
processing power, and silicon miniaturisation.
lution, the signal processing must maintain phase lock in compromised situations. Techniques
utilised include vector tracking (where the signal processing loops of all satellites are driven
Mass market dual frequency chips blur the lines with professional products collectively using the error signals from the satellite channels that do have signal), and ultra-tight
In less than ten years, the mass market chips have evolved from products capable of processing coupling (where the input signals from other sensors such as inertial or vehicle speed are also used
a single (L1 GPS) narrow band, low sample rate signal to dual wide band (Upper L Band - Full E1/ to drive the signal tracking loops).
L1 - quad constellation + Partial Lower L Band), high sampling rates for the recently introduced
multi-constellation dual frequency products. Such products feature two complete wideband RF L5 VS. L1 MULTIPATH DISCRIMINATION CAPABILITY
front-ends, one for the upper L-band, one for the lower L-band (L5-E6), with separate RF inputs
and separate external SAW filters to maximise performance.
For economies of scale a popular design is to use two identical front ends, albeit tuned to different Shortest path
frequencies. As the upper L-band covers 60MHz, but the full lower L-band almost 150 MHz, this
strategy results in tuning choices for the lower frequencies (e.g. tuning on L5/E5a or on L2). As
each individual signal does not require wide bandwidth or high sample rate, the functions of IF L1
filters, frequency mapping to baseband, and down-sampling are performed in configurable digital
hardware (pre-processors), before being fed to the GNSS baseband processor.
Shortest path
The discriminator stage, which yields the output of the correlation, is also evolving to perform
additional accuracy and integrity functions. Owing to silicon density and new signals with a
faster chipping rate (L5/E5), the direct and reflected components of the signal (multipath) can be L5
identified and thus the direct signal tracked. For NLOS (non-line of sight) signals where only the
Source: S.K. Moore, IEEE Spectrum
reflection is received, the Doppler frequency can be established, and if not compatible with the
user motion and the angle from the satellite, rejected. This approach also helps detect and reject
spoofed signals. Professional designs implement trustworthiness features
Such implementation (both front end and baseband) resembles that of dual frequency profes- Safety critical or high-precision receivers have prioritised performance over cost or power consump-
sional grade receivers of yesterday, with a trade-off between power consumption and processing. tion for a long time. Highly intensive signal processing allows the implementation of direction of
The very large quantities in which such chips are produced however allow access to state-of-the-art arrival processing, which provides orientation and anti-jamming/anti-spoofing. Receivers use full
components technology (7 - 14 nanometre process), thus limiting the impact of the higher specifi- bandwidth processing to produce low noise, low multipath measurements. Furthermore, high
cations on cost and power consumption for consumer devices, such as smartphones. precision receivers featuring hundreds of channels can dedicate a portion of the channels to
tracking unwanted (multipath or spoofing) signals and eliminating them from the solution.
With regards to chips optimised for the IoT, such performance-driven design is not suitable and low
energy designs are used instead. These are single frequency, narrow band, single or dual constel- The demand for processing power is a multifaceted problem: the more satellites used in the solu-
lation products which can deliver a suitable performance level at minimal cost and energy per tion, the more effective the processing becomes; however, the signals must still be subject to the
position fix. full suite of processing (such as notch filters) to maintain the phase relationships of the signals if
centimetre level accuracies are to be achieved.
While safety-critical receivers are slower in adopting new signals due to standardisation issues,
they share a ‘no compromise’ approach on signal quality with high-precision products, and often
adopt similar technical solutions, first proven in the high-precision world.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 GNSS ANTENNAS GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 19

ANTENNA CAPABILITIES DRIVE RECEIVER PERFORMANCE

There is an increasing demand for high-performance, low-cost antennas. In the Mass Market Choosing which frequencies and mitigation techniques to support
Solutions section of this report we discuss the introduction of dual frequency into smartphones,
When determining receiver specifications, the designer must choose which frequency bands will
together with access to raw measurements. These two changes could result in decimetre or
be supported and how. This is a multidimensional issue, as the antenna must match the range of
centimetre accuracy, but this can only be achieved when the antenna delivers multi-frequency
frequencies selected, and suitably reject local interfering signals.
signal reception, and phase centre stability.
In applications that can support higher costs, the use of phased arrays can allow the mitigation of
Meeting the demand for low-cost, high-performance antennas jamming signals and multipath by adjusting the response to steer beams and nulls to satellites and
GNSS antennas vary from tiny linear ceramic bars in phones, through active patch antennas in jammers respectively. These are not however appropriate for centimetre accuracy, as the antenna
vehicles, to large sophisticated helix antennas for survey and reference station use, with choke phase centre is variable.
rings and other large expensive precautions to minimise multipath. In all but the lowest-cost imple-
mentations, they include an LNA and a SAW filter. Integration of positioning and communication antennas as an option
for the future
For multiple frequency the complexity more than doubles, as the element itself must support
the two frequencies, then the signal must be amplified, divided through a separate SAW filter for Positioning and communications already show a high degree of overlap with tracking, assistance
each band before amplification, and recombined to send down the coax to the GNSS receiver. data, and the smartphone. Further integration is possible using ranging on LTE signals to add
This is illustrated in the diagram on the right. Here the red filter passes only the wanted lower L information to the position calculation, and this may have better indoor penetration than GNSS.
band and the blue filter passes only the wanted upper L band, while other unwanted signals such
as radar or communication do not pass to the receiver. The challenge is to deliver this capability A shared receiving antenna may also be possible, but the issues associated with sharing with a
within the low-cost and space constraints typical to consumer devices. In the automotive world, transmitter would need to be assessed. The challenge is to avoid GNSS signals being blocked
dual-frequency patch antennas are the most likely solution. (jammed) by adjacent band LTE signals, or harmonics of lower LTE bands.

Trading antenna cost against signal processing

SINGLE VS. DUAL FREQUENCY GNSS RECEIVER RF FRONT END BLOCK DIAGRAM
Presently antennas in consumer equipment are optimised for cost rather than performance. As
better sensitivity is achieved through signal processing, there is a tendency to use less effective SINGLE FREQUENCY
antennas in combination with fewer analogue filters in the front end, and less attention to self-in-
Antenna
terference (e.g. phone clocks and peripherals).
With dual frequency, the low-cost linear ceramic antennas of the smartphone are unlikely to suffice,
particularly if the centimetre level accuracy of PPP and RTK is to be achieved.
Coax
RFIN
One approach would be the use of helical ceramic antennas, which are intrinsically wider band than Cable
patch antennas. Their profile is not as easy to integrate into devices, however, and would require
careful design to avoid the antenna being subject to interference from the board. DUAL FREQUENCY
Antenna
Upper L Brand
RFIN E1

Combiner
Splitter

Splitter
Coax
Lower L Brand
Cable
RFIN E5

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

20 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW RECEIVERS’ CAPABILITIES

MULTI-CONSTELLATION IS STANDARD IN TODAY’S RECEIVERS

Most of the current generation of receivers will still be within their product lifecycle as all constella- Multi-constellation has seen increasing adoption owing to the benefits it brings to receiver perfor-
tions reach FOC status in 2020. As a result, manufacturers are now earnestly addressing all constel- mance, particularly in environments with constrained sky view such as urban canyons. The range
lations, which has led to a dramatic increase in support for multi-constellation capabilities across of benefits include:
the overall market.
• Increased availability* - particularly in the aforementioned constrained environments, where
The vast majority of current receivers are multi-constellation, and the most popular way to provide shadowing would prevent a single constellation providing an adequate, or in some cases any,
multi-constellation support is to cover all constellations, which represents over 30% of receivers. solution.
The legacy use of single or dual GNSS (GPS/GPS+GLONASS) is reserved for applications with low
• Increased accuracy* - better geometry, and more signals which allow the receiver to reject
performance requirements, or where regulations have not yet been updated to multi-constellation.
compromised inputs (e.g. from multipath).
SBAS remains strongly supported, with almost 70% of receivers including the capability. Integra-
• Improved robustness* - several independent systems are harder to spoof than a single one.
tion of QZSS has remained relatively stable, NavIC has begun to see adoption.

Constellation capability of GNSS receivers1 Supported constellations by GNSS receivers2

100% 40%
35%
80%
30%
60% 25%
20%
40% 15%
10%
20%
5%
0% 0%
1 2 3 4
S

ou

AS

C
GP

AS

S
e

vI
QZ
lil

iD

SB

Na

GPS only GPS + Galileo

ON
Ga

Be
GL

GPS + GLONASS GPS + BeiDou

GPS + Galileo + GLONASS GPS + Galileo + BeiDou
GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou All
1
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 2
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3
each constellation or all the 4 GNSS constellations

Analysis of GNSS receivers’ capabilities

The GSA’s independent analysis assesses the capabilities of over 500 receivers, chipsets and modules currently available on the market. For the analysis, each device is weighted equally, regardless of
whether it is a chipset or receiver and no matter what its sales volume is. The results should therefore be interpreted as the split of constellation support in manufacturers’ offerings, rather than what
is in use by end users.
Disclaimer: The above charts reflect manufacturer’s publicly available claims regarding their product’s capabilities and judgement on the domains to which they are applicable.
Use in actual applications may vary due to issues such as certification, implementation in the end user product, and software/firmware configuration.
* The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 RECEIVERS’ CAPABILITIES GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 21

MULTI-FREQUENCY IS COMMON IN HIGH PRECISION, BUT IS ENTERING OTHER DOMAINS

As new signals are becoming available from an ever larger number of satellites, receivers beyond E6 is increasingly supported, having grown from 1% in 2016 to 5% today, but unlike E5/L5 remains
traditional high-precision applications (for example commercial drones) are also demanding limited to high-accuracy receivers.
performance that can best be supported by multi-frequency. Simultaneously, multi-frequency
Multi-frequency capabilities provide the following benefits:
receivers have been launched for the mass market, although have not yet seen wide-scale adoption.
• Improved accuracy*:
This has resulted in a drop of nearly 10% in the production of receivers that are single-frequency
Multi-frequency receivers allow to estimate ionospheric delays. They are enabling differential
only, over the last two years. The legacy configuration of L1/E1+L2 is still the most common
techniques in practice, extending to triple-frequency allows integer ambiguity resolution in
multi-frequency combination, with over 20% of models (often linked with the use of only GPS
less time, which may be required in some applications.
or GPS + GLONASS). In the current transition period (E5a/L5 signals rapidly growing in numbers),
several designs offer a configurable second frequency (either L2 or E5) that is selected by the • Improved robustness*:
customer when placing the order. Frequency diversity provides some protection against simple jamming, especially if the receiver
does not require L1 signals to initiate positioning.
This results in a claimed “triple frequency” capability for such products, even though the actual use
is dual frequency. As the data for this report’s statistics are captured based on claimed capability
(not on actual implemented configuration) they are represented as L1+L2+L5 in the chart below.

Frequency capability of GNSS receivers1 Supported frequencies by GNSS receivers2

100% 80%
70%
80% 60%
50%
60%
40%
40% 30%
20%
20%
10%
0% 0%
L1/E1 L2 L5/E5 E6 1 2 3 4
L1/E1 Only L1/E1 + L2
L1/E1 + L5/E5 L1/E1 + L2 + E6
L1/E1 + L2 + L5/E5 All Freq
1
shows the percentage of receivers supporting each frequency band 2
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3
or all the 4 frequencies

Analysis of GNSS receivers’ capabilities

The GSA’s independent analysis assesses the capabilities of over 500 receivers, chipsets and modules currently available on the market. For the analysis, each device is weighted equally, regardless
of whether it is a chipset or receiver and no matter what its sales volume is. The results should therefore be interpreted as the split of frequency bands supported in manufacturers’ offerings, rather
than what is in use by end users.
Disclaimer: The above charts reflect manufacturer’s publicly available claims regarding their product’s capabilities and judgement on the domains to which they are applicable.
Use in actual applications may vary due to issues such as certification, implementation in the end user product, and software/firmware configuration.
* The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

22 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW GNSS VULNERABILITIES

ANTI-JAMMING AND ANTI-SPOOFING DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

During the 1st Galileo User Assembly held in Madrid in November 2017, GNSS SPOOFING CAPABLE DEVICES EVOLUTION COST
the importance of protecting against vulnerabilities was strongly high-
lighted as a common theme of user demands across applications sectors.

Jamming remains a challenge

At source, transmitted GNSS satellite signal power is equivalent to a 40-watt
lightbulb. 20,000 km later, the signal arriving on Earth is very weak and
extremely sensitive to interference and jamming. Even mW level interfer-
ence in GNSS bands can disrupt GNSS reception up to several hundred
metres, and cheap jammer devices available for a few euros on eBay aim to
do this. Therefore defeating jamming impacts remains a key challenge. More
sophisticated jammers do not only affect all GNSS frequencies but also jam
mobile phone and Wi-Fi frequencies, thus denying almost all radio commu-
nications within range and making contingency measures more difficult.
1989 2009 2013 2014 2016 2018
Interference monitoring
First commercial First low cost BladeRF HackRF LimeSDR-mini A USB3 to
To handle the growth in use of such illegal jamming devices, many govern- GPS simulator: record, replay SDR board able one SDR VGA adapter
ments, together with research and academic institutes, are developing inter- STR2740 and GPS to simulate board able to replay
ference monitoring systems that could be deployed in critical or sensitive simulator simulation GNSS signal GNSS signal
areas. Their purpose is to locate and identify jammer types as well as several 150,000 € 6,000 € 650 € 300 € 99 € 5€
other parameters (jamming duration, power, etc.). These systems help map
and log jamming events, useful to the authorities, as well as being a poten-
tial value-added service for operators.
Moreover, in order to enhance GNSS receiver robustness, the EU's GNSS
Spoofer Detection feature available in Javad products
Radio Equipment Directive (RED -2014/53/EU) mandates that all receivers The most recent innovations from JAVAD GNSS is isolating signals from spoofers, which cause receivers to provide
sold in the EU have a certain level of resistance to out-of-band interference. incorrect position solutions if not protected against. The anti-spoofing option, which is available in all OEM boards
too, defends against spoofers and provides the following information -
Spoofing, the emerging threat
• Tracked: Signals that are successfully tracked.
Spoofing uses GNSS-like signals to trick GNSS receivers into computing false • Used: Signals that are used in position calculation.
positions, velocities and/or times. Even though GNSS signal specifications • Spoofed: With 864 channels and about 130,000 quick acquisition correlators in our TRIUMPH chip, we have
are open, spoofing has long been considered as difficult to implement resources to assign more than one channel to each satellite to find ALL signals that are transmitted with that
and only possible for governmental organisations because considerable GNSS satellite PRN code. If we detect more than one reasonable and consistent correlation peak for any PRN code,
resources are needed to generate credible false signals. The relatively recent we know that we are being spoofed and can identify the spoofed signals.
availability of low cost USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral) allows • Jammed: Signals that are blocked by jammers.
GNSS-like signals to be generated in software and then transmitted in GNSS • Replaced: The real signal is jammed and a fake signal is put on top of it.
bands. A simple €5 USB to VGA adapter can spoof L1 GPS signals using open • Faked: Signals that do not exist or real satellite is not visible.
source software available on the Internet.
Follow the news on www.javad.com
Testimonial provided by the company

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 PROTECTING GNSS GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 23

DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO MITIGATE SIGNAL VULNERABILITIES

Jamming mitigation Increased PNT resilience
Significant efforts were spent to overcome the jamming challenge, leading to the development of Increasing PNT resilience is on the agenda of many countries and industry players. The main areas
several technologies over the past few years. currently investigated are:
The first approach is to implement filtering banks (in the time or frequency domains) at receiver • INS - An Inertial Navigation System is composed of motion sensors (accelerometer, gyrometer
RF Front End to excise the spurious signal. The efficiency of these techniques depends of the and magnetometer) allowing determination of the absolute movement of a platform. Using
nature of the interferers and of the computation resources (and cost) dedicated to the filtering. this information and knowledge of the last position, it is possible using dead reckoning to
CW (continuous wave) interferers can easily be removed by low-cost filtering such as Notch filters. provide an estimation of position, velocity and time of the platform after spoofing or jamming
Chirp signal jammers (technology widely found in in-car GNSS jammers), on the other hand, are detection.
more difficult to combat as these kinds of devices sweep a large frequency band.
• SOP - Signal of Opportunity positioning consists of using non-GNSS signals (AM/FM radio,
Another approach is to avoid receiving the jammed signal at antenna level. Considering that the cellular, digital television, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.) to complement GNSS and INS. It has been
main threats are jamming devices emitting from the ground, the idea is to use antennas with demonstrated that the fusion of SOP pseudoranges in a tightly coupled GNSS/SOP/INS system
patterns designed to receive only signals coming from the sky or able to control patterns to null produces a better navigation solution than a traditional tightly coupled GNSS/INS framework.
signals coming from the direction where the jamming signal is detected. These technologies are
• Complementary systems - Using other complementary PNT systems developed with distinct
costly however and used only in applications where GNSS is critical. Finally, although cancelling
technologies such as eLoran or STL could improve resilience for some applications.
jamming is challenging, detecting it remains easier (using Automatic Gain Control monitoring,
for instance).
The last solution is to design a system implementing contingency measures (see ‘Increased PNT
resilience’ section on right) to be able to switch to a complementary solution in case GNSS-jam-
ming is detected.
STRIKE3
Spoofing mitigation
The use of GNSS is increasing in every aspect of our daily lives, requiring more and more
In response to this threat, the GNSS community developed several technologies to defeat GNSS constancy and predictability. STRIKE 3 aims to develop international standards for threat
spoofing both at receiver and system levels. These techniques encompass spoofing detection by reporting and GNSS receiver testing. The process involves the development and deployment
monitoring signal metrics in order to detect flaws in the forged signal (signal power, time incon- of an international GNSS interference monitoring network to capture the scale and dynamics
sistency, etc.), or the implementation of a built-in GNSS system defence solution such as the OS of the problem, and requires international GNSS partners to develop, negotiate, promote and
Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) mechanism currently deployed by Galileo. implement the standards as stated above. Ultimately the goal is suppression of international
threats, by building a threat database based on central logging and analysis, which can be
These latter techniques, however, mostly allow detection of spoofing only, not avoidance. The
utilised in receiver testing. The project is already outputting statistics on the number of GNSS
ultimate solution to fight against spoofing is to provide a way to avoid forging of a false signal.
interference events detected at its various sites. Thousands of interference events have been
This is achievable by ciphering the whole GNSS signal such as in the Galileo Signal Authentication
detected per month highlighting the scale of the problem to be resolved.
Service (SAS).
More information can be found at: www.gnss-strike3.eu

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

24 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW PNT BEYOND GNSS

COMPLEMENTARY TECHNOLOGIES TO GNSS SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT INDEPENDENT PNT

There are certain contexts where the usage of GNSS services is difficult or even impossible. Urban canyons are an example of the
Useful Resources
former, due to multipath effects and a reduction of the number of satellites in view. Tunnels, indoors or the underground are an
example of the latter. The European Radionavigation Plan (ERNP) and its US
counterpart, the Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP) both
This gap in coverage or performance is not acceptable for many applications, and is addressed by using complementary technologies
discuss publicly provided alternative PNT systems, albeit as
in the user PNT solution.
their name implies, focussing on radio-electrical means.

INDOORS 2017
FEDERAL
RADIONAVIGATION
PLAN

MEMS / INS WLAN / WPAN / LPWAN

Camera Camera
Magnetometer 4G / 5G Published by

Acoustic / Ultrasound Visible Light Communication Department of Defense,

Department of Homeland Security, and
Department of Transportation

This document is available to the public

Odometer / Pedometer Pressure / Barometer through the National Technical Information

Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161
DOT-VNTSC-OST-R-15-01

CSAC CSAC
(Radar / Lidar) SOOP

The GSA GNSS User Technology Reports (issue 1, 2016)

RELATIVE ABSOLUTE includes a review of PNT technologies and sensors.

MEMS / INS
Radio Nav. & SOOP
Camera USER TECHNOLOGY REPORT
Camera
Magnetometer ISSUE 1
4G / 5G
Acoustic / Ultrasound
LPWAN / (WLAN / WPAN)
Odometer / Pedometer
Pressure / Barometer
CSAC
CSAC
Radar / Lidar

2016 Issue 1

OUTDOORS

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 EUROPEAN R&D GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 25

EUROPEAN GNSS DOWNSTREAM INDUSTRY LEADING THE WAY IN INNOVATION

“Europe has a fantastic

opportunity to benefit from
GNSS technology innovation
in terms of quality of life,
growth and jobs creation”
Gard Ueland, Chairman Galileo Services

Galileo Services
The leading industry organisation focusing on down-
stream in the European GNSS programmes:
• Non-profit association founded in 2002
• Promotes the interest of EU, users and the Euro-
pean GNSS downstream industry
• Network* representing more than 180 companies
• Member companies active across the whole value
chain and in all domains of applications
•  ollaborates with national and European decision
C
makers to foster development of the European
downstream industry
• Enabling Europe to take a substantially larger share
of the valuable global downstream market
Thanks to substantial investments in R&D, the European GNSS
downstream industry is at the cutting edge of innovation in GNSS * In 2009 Galileo Services and OREGIN (Organization of European
GNSS equipment and service Industries) joined forces
applications and services.
It holds a strong position in several domains: transport; high precision, timing and
asset management; security and resilience.
Leveraging on Galileo differentiators, European actors keep developing user technology answering Page provided by Galileo Services.
the needs of ubiquitous positioning, automation and secure positioning. For more information: www.galileo-services.org

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

26 GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW EUROPEAN R&D

H2020 AND FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS DRIVE INNOVATION OF THE GNSS APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY

GNSS downstream R&D programmes in Europe Horizon 2020

To foster the adoption of Galileo and EGNOS-powered services across all market segments, the Horizon 2020 is the current EU Research and Innovation programme, offering nearly €80
GSA supports two complementary R&D funding mechanisms: billion in funding for the 2014 – 2020 period. European GNSS applications are part of the
Space Theme, having synergies with topics on societal challenges. Three E-GNSS calls were
• Fundamental Elements focuses on supporting the development of innovative chipsets,
successfully concluded with a total budget of €100.9 million (for statistics see next page).
receivers and other associated technologies that integrate Galileo and EGNOS into competi-
tive devices for dedicated user communities/target markets. More information about the projects can be found here: www.gsa.europa.eu/gnss-h2020-projects
• Horizon 2020 (H2020) encourages the adoption of Galileo and EGNOS via content and appli-
cation development. It also supports the integration of their services into devices, along with A fourth call opens in October 2018 and runs until March 2019. Actions under the call are
their eventual commercialisation. focused on two main types of activities; development of innovative Galileo and EGNOS-enabled
applications in different market segments, and European GNSS awareness raising and capacity
building.
The aim of the first type of activity is to support the market uptake of European GNSS in Europe
and beyond. The innovative applications should leverage the differentiators of the EGNOS and
Galileo systems, for example: multi-frequencies, high accuracy, authentication services, better
The Fundamental Elements of European GNSS accuracy for single-frequency users. Areas of innovation will include Galileo and EGNOS-enabled
With a budget of €111 million for the 2015 – 2020 timeframe, “Fundamental Elements” aims to applications with commercial impact, that will foster green, safe and smart mobility, digitisation,
develop market-ready GNSS chipsets, receivers and antennas. The markets targeted by these and will also support societal resilience and contribute to the protection of the environment.
end-products include all segments, to varying degrees: Aviation, Location Based Services
The second type of activity is dedicated to the development of E-GNSS competences. The actions
(LBS), Agriculture, Surveying, Rail, Road, Maritime, Timing and Synchronisation and PRS.
will focus on raising awareness and providing opportunities for the creation of networks of indus-
The financial instruments for funding Fundamental Elements- supported activities include grants trial relationships. International cooperation is welcome as part of the action, when adding value
and tenders/procurements. Grants are the preferred financial instrument, with funding generally and increasing the impact.
provided to beneficiaries for up to 70% of the total budget of the grant agreements (up to 100%
Overall, these activities will help to maximise the uptake of Galileo and EGNOS and to exploit the
for the tenders/procurements).
potential of the European GNSS industry, and also contribute to growth, competitiveness and jobs
More information can be found here: in this sector, while capturing public benefits.
www.gsa.europa.eu/r-d/gnss-r-d-programmes/fundamental-elements
More information about the upcoming call can be found here:
www.gsa.europa.eu/r-d/h2020/introduction

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 EUROPEAN R&D GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 27

THREE H2020 E-GNSS CALLS RESULTED IN OUTSTANDING NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING ENTITIES

E-GNSS H2020 CALLS: NUMBER OF PARTNERS
AND COORDINATORS PER COUNTRY
Three E-GNSS H2020 calls in a nutshell
Member States of the European Union:
• Entities from 24 Member States involved
Member States of the European Union
• 53 coordinators and 333 partners
1 Number of coordinators involved in total
1 Number of partners Non-EU countries:
• Entities from 20 countries involved
• Two coordinators and 39 partners
involved in total

Non-EU
countries European Space Week 2018:
Number of
(outside of Make space in your calendar
Partners
depicted
area) Mark your calendar for European Space Week 2018,
Australia 1 and don’t miss out on the leading European space
Brazil 5 programmes conference, connecting business,
Canada 1 policy-makers, international experts and space
China 2 application user communities, which will take place
Egypt 1 in Marseille, France, on 3-6 December 2018.
1 and 2
Israel For more information visit the event website at:
coordinators
India 3 www.euspaceweek.eu
Japan 2
South Korea 2
Morocco 1
Malaysia 1
Palestine 1
Senegal 3
Togo 1
Thailand 2
Tunisia 1
Taiwan 2
United States 1
of America
Vietnam 2

Member States of the European Union (EU): AT Austria, BE Belgium, BG Bulgaria, CY Cyprus, CZ Czech Republic, DK Denmark, DE Germany, EE Estonia, EL Greece, ES Spain, FI Finland, FR France, HR Croatia,
HU Hungary, IE Ireland, IT Italy, LT Lithuania, LU Luxembourg, LV Latvia, MT Malta, NL Netherlands, PL Poland, PT Portugal, RO Romania, SE Sweden, SI Slovenia, SK Slovakia, UK United Kingdom.
Non-EU countries: CH Switzerland, MK Macedonia, MD Moldova, NO Norway, RS Serbia, TR Turkey, UA Ukraine, XK Kosovo.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

28

MASS MARKET SOLUTIONS

Macrosegment characteristics 29
Industry landscape 31
Receiver capabilities 32
Receiver form factor 33
Drivers and trends 34-39
E-GNSS added value 40

© Gettyimages
 MACROSEGMENT CHARACTERISTICS 29

AVAILABILITY AND POWER CONSUMPTION STILL RULE, BUT HIGH ACCURACY CAPABILITIES ARE APPEARING
IN PREMIUM DEVICES
Key performance parameters for mass market
While in the report for previous years the key performance parameters were defined as:
• Availability;
• Power consumption;
• TTFF;
• Indoor penetration.
Characterisation of mass market solutions
Solutions presented in this chapter have mainly been developed for the following mass market Recent developments, especially in consumer drones, mapping and GIS and mHealth, have
applications: increased the importance of:
• Location Based Services (LBS), covering smartphones/tablets, wearables and portable devices; • Accuracy;
• Internet of Things (IoT) consisting of physical devices connected to the internet; • Continuity;
• Automotive solutions, covering tracking and navigation (as self-driving vehicles are safety-crit- • Robustness and Integrity.
ical, they have been included in the next macrosegment);
• Drones, including implementations with basic navigation to those featuring high-fidelity A number of applications shift from ‘on demand’ to continuous location information, imposing
cameras supporting First Person View (FPV). more stringent requirements on a wider variety of KPPs.

Location Based Services still play the main role in the mass market. Customers require their smart- MASS MARKET KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
phones, tablets, tracking devices, digital cameras, portable computers, fitness gear and other
devices to use GNSS positioning. Taking into account the rate of introduction of new technologies, Key Performance Parameter (KPP)* Mass Market Solutions
we might expect further development in: Availability
• Artificial intelligence;
Accuracy
• Real-time tailor-made ecosystems;
• Hyper mobility (e.g. medical-grade mobile devices linked to digital healthcare platforms); Continuity
• Shared responsibility (e.g. accountability for decisions taken).
Integrity
To achieve the required performance in existing LBS devices, other technologies are frequently
Robustness
adopted to complement GNSS. These include assistance data derived from:
• Cellular network positioning; Indoor penetration
• WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or Wi-Fi positioning; Time To First Fix (TTFF)
• Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN);
• Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN); Latency
• RFID;
Power consumption
• Ultra-Wide Band (UWB);
• MEMS gyros and accelerometers. Low priority Medium priority High priority
* The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

30 MACROSEGMENT CHARACTERISTICS

CONSUMERS PLACE DIVERSE DEMANDS ON GNSS

Manufacturers strive to achieve economies of scale in production of their hardware, but The figure charts the relative accuracy (x-axis), update rate (y-axis), and power consumption (bubble
users expect different levels of performance across applications, and a ‘one-size-fits-all’ size) of GNSS chipsets used in mass market applications today.
approach means that the smartphone chipset is not quite the solution to every situation.
• For accuracy, the performance ranges from 5-10 m to sub-metre, with augmented reality and
Instead manufacturers combine their chips in different ways, and utilise different techniques
mapping/GIS demanding decimetre accuracy.
at the firmware/software level to optimise performance. The chart below shows how the
key performance parameters (addressable by GNSS) are tuned in devices targeting different • For update rate, the performance ranges from periodic autonomous update (allowing the
consumer applications. receiver to hibernate fully between updates), to continuous tracking with no possibility to
reduce duty-cycle.
• Power consumption ranges from <10 mW, as seen in some IoT receivers, to >30 mW, which is
effectively supported through an external power supply.

RELATIVE PERFORMANCE OF MASS MARKET RECEIVERS

Continuous

Automotive Augmented
navigation Geocatching
Reality
Power consumption
Sport Mapping
tracking and GIS
UPDATE RATE

Leisure >30mW
Maritime and Consumer LBS
GA Navigation drone navigation

mHealth
10 - 30mW
Periodic

PLBs
<10mW

5-10m ACCURACY <1m

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE 31

THE MASS MARKET SUPPLY CHAIN REMAINS STABLE

Mass market is no longer confined to LBS using smartphones

Whilst this market is still growing, new areas are now established (automotive, wearables and the
Internet of Things, etc.) and emerging ones (enterprise applications, social networking, sports &
games, and quickly developing consumer drones) are also influencing technology development.
There is now great potential for applications connecting diverse technologies – OBD (On Board
Diagnostics), inertial navigation, Bluetooth, low-energy beacons, etc.
The main players in the LBS GNSS market are components manufacturers, device integrators and
vendors, service & content providers, and application developers/retailers and stores.
From a geographical point of view, non-EU players are dominant in the mass market. North Amer-

© Gettyimages
ican companies are leading the chipset market, and Asian companies are ahead in terms of handset
revenues.
Significant mass market characteristics are a focus of manufacturers in different segments –
undoubted dominance of Qualcomm, Broadcom and MediaTek in the smartphone market, and a
focus of u-blox and STMicroelectronics in the automotive and IoT segments. Sony Semiconductor
Solutions Corporation is a new player in wearables alongside Qualcomm, Broadcom, Mediatek and Leading manufacturers, shown in the table below have not changed since issue 1 of this report.
u-blox entering the market with super low-power solutions. Intel continues to lead in laptops and Despite this stability in global chipset supply leadership, emerging technologies are increasingly
is entering into smartphones and IoT. allowing start-ups to find their niche in the market.
In drone technology evolution, the ubiquity of smartphone chipsets has supported the exponen-
tial growth of consumer drones. The PNT performance demanded by drones, however, is acceler- LEADING COMPONENTS MANUFACTURERS
ating the drive for accuracy and integrity (to support geofencing) in high volume chipsets.
BROADCOM North America www.broadcom.com
Companies focus on success in innovation and implementation, which are beyond metrics like
market share. They are also covering slightly different parts of the solution, with Qualcomm or INFINEON Europe www.infineon.com
Mediatek dominating in integrating mobile connectivity and GNSS, and Broadcom focusing on INTEL North America www.intel.com
GNSS sensor hubs.
MEDIATEK Asia-Pacific www.mediatek.com
GNSS IoT modules have been manufactured both by ‘established receiver makers’ such as Qual-
comm, Intel, and u-blox, and companies focusing on module manufacturing like Quectel and QUALCOMM North America www.qualcomm.com
SIMcom.
SAMSUNG Asia-Pacific www.samsung.com

SPREADTRUM Asia-Pacific www.spreadtrum.com

STMICROELECTRONICS Europe www.st.com

U-BLOX Europe www.u-blox.com

Note: This list does not include system and terminal integrators, and therefore some key industry players may not appear in the list.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

32 RECEIVER CAPABILITIES

MULTI-CONSTELLATION IS NOW STANDARD FOR MASS MARKET RECEIVERS, IS MULTI-FREQUENCY NEXT?

By 2018 multi-constellation has become standard, and multi-frequency Frequency capability of GNSS receivers1 Constellation capability of GNSS receivers2
chipsets are available in volume production for the mass market. This is
beginning to create a divide between premium chipsets, where perfor- 100% 100%
mance can differentiate products, and low-cost chipsets, where cost and
80% 80%
power consumption dominate.
60% 60%
Multi-constellation adoption
40% 40%
As FOC for all GNSS constellations is within the lifecycle of current prod- L5/E5, 1%
ucts, multi-constellation (MC) capabilities (and the ability to utilise them 20% 20%
selectively in energy saving modes) has become the norm for high-volume 0% 0%
devices. L1/E1 L2 L5/E5 E6

eo

ou

AS

SS

IC
GP

AS

v
QZ
lil

iD

SB

Na
ON
Ga

Be
In the mass market world, most applications must operate in environments

GL
with constrained sky view, like urban canyons and indoors. Whilst the 1
shows the percentage of receivers supporting each frequency band 2
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking
communications technology inherent in such devices are complementary, each constellation
GNSS still provides the core solution, and simultaneous MC processing
offers improved availability and achieved accuracy (compromised signals Supported frequencies by GNSS receivers3 Supported constellations by GNSS receivers4
can be rejected from the solution). As new ASICs are increasingly expensive
to design and build, products differentiate their capabilities through firm- 100% 40%
ware configuration at the module and device level, rather than hardware. 80%
35%
30%
Adoption of Galileo, BeiDou, GLONASS, and QZSS have all increased since 25%
60%
the previous issue of the Technology Report. Support for all constellations 20%
is now the most common approach. 40%
15%
Processing load and resultant energy consumption remain issues which 20% L1/E1 + L5/E5, 1% 10%
developers must balance against performance, and in practice low-cost 5%
0% 0%
devices may utilise architectures that operate constellation-specific func-
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
tionality. This leads to a divide between premium, high-performance, and
L1/E1 Only L1/E1 + L2 GPS only GPS + Galileo
low-cost, low-power receivers within the mass market. GPS + GLONASS GPS + BeiDou
L1/E1 + L5/E5 L1/E1 + L2 + E6
L1/E1 + L2 + L5/E5 All Freq GPS + Galileo + GLONASS GPS + Galileo + BeiDou
Multi-frequency GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou All

Whilst nearly all current devices utilise L1/E1 signals only, 2017 saw the 3
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3 4
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3
or all the 4 frequencies or all the 4 GNSS constellations
introduction of premium mass market chipsets which incorporate L5/E5a
signals. Smartphones incorporating these chipsets were first launched in
June 2018, with many others expected to follow.
Dual frequency receivers offer improved accuracy and robustness, and
access to high precision techniques (PPP and RTK) currently only common
in more specialised receivers, blurring the line with professional products.
Disclaimer: The above charts reflect manufacturer’s publicly available claims regarding their product’s capabilities and judgement on the domains to which they are applicable. Use in actual
applications may vary due to issues such as certification, implementation in the end user product, and software/firmware configuration.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 RECEIVER FORM FACTOR 33

MASS MARKET CHIPSETS VARY BETWEEN LBS, IOT, DRONES AND AUTOMOTIVE
TYPICAL STATE-OF-THE-ART RECEIVER SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE MASS MARKET SEGMENT Mass market receivers have evolved rapidly in recent years. LBS devices remain
primarily E1/L1 and support multiple constellations, but dual-frequency receivers
Features LBS IoT Drones* Automotive* have now been launched. For IoT, manufacturers have developed receivers with
Dimensions 15 x 15 x 3 mm 3 x 3.2 x 0.36 mm 10 x 10 x 1.5 mm 10 x 10 x 2 mm less than 3 mA continuous tracking power consumption. Consumer Drone offer-
1.6 g 0.5 g 1g 1g ings utilise low-cost GNSS receivers designed for LBS devices. Some of the current
Weight
generation of consumer automotive modules incorporate dual frequency. As self-
Operating temperature range -40 to +85°C -40 to +85°C -40 to +85°C -40 to +105°C driving cars reach the market and the GNSS function becomes mission critical, new
Power supply 2.5 - 3.6 V 1.4 - 3.6 V 2.7 - 3.6 V 3.0 - 3.6 V chipset generations will evolve to meet the safety requirements of ISO 26262, ASIL
and will be reported in the Transport safety- and liability-critical solutions section.
Current Hibernate 10 mA 10 µA 30 µA 30 µA
consumption 100 mA 28 mA 28 mA 10 mA In the past, constellation support differentiated low-cost and premium LBS
Acquisition
receivers; today the differentiator is frequencies. The majority will continue to
Tracking 28 mA 3-8 mA 21 mA 28 mA utilise only L1/E1 and may claim multi-constellation support, but favour single-con-
Number of channels 80 72 72 16 stellation operation to keep power consumption low. The latest generation of
receivers however includes those with L1/E1 and L5/E5a, and target premium
Number of frequencies 1** 1 1 1**
smartphones that seek to deliver applications such as augmented reality.
Time-To-First-Fix Cold start 26 s 26 s <40 s <40 s
IoT receivers now frequently incorporate multi-constellation, but may process
Hot start 1s 1s 1s 1s them selectively to save power. Continued development of power saving modes of
Aided starts 2s 2s 3s 2.5 s operation now offers reduced sensitivity, update rate, and disabling SBAS tracking
in return for significantly reduced power consumption. Duty-cycling remains the
Sensitivity Tracking –167 dBm –160 dBm –167 dBm -159 dBm
favoured approach to reduce power consumption, and A-GNSS remains integral
Acquisition –160 dBm –160 dBm –146 dBm -146 dBm to delivering the required fast TTFF.
Cold start –148 dBm –148 dBm –145 dBm 146 dBm Drone receivers are typically supplied to drone manufacturers as a module incor-
Hot start –156 dBm –157 dBm –155 dBm -155 dBm porating MEMS accelerometers/gyros along with other functions. Sharing common
features with LBS receivers, a typical receiver will provide multi-constellation
Max navigation update rate 5 Hz 4Hz 18Hz 30Hz solutions. Consumer drones’ mission time is constrained by propulsion, meaning
Velocity accuracy 0.05 m/s 0.2-0.05 m/s 0.05 m/s 0.03 m/s that power consumption of the GNSS module is a lower concern than in LBS.
Horizontal position Autonomous 2.5m 1.2m 2.5m 2.5m Automotive receivers are less constrained by power consumption than other
accuracy 2m N/A N/A 2m mass market chipsets. As a result they do not sacrifice sensitivity by duty-cycling,
SBAS
can track all satellites in the sky including SBAS, and are also starting to adopt
Accuracy of time RMS 30 ns N/A 30 ns 30 ns multi-frequency. They also operate with external active antennas, which provide
pulse signal 60 ns N/A 60 ns 60 ns improved signal strength. Tightly coupling satellite and MEMS based inertial
99%
measurements allows high-rate position output, even in compromised scenarios.
Frequency of time pulse signal 0.25 to 10Hz N/A 0.25 to 10Hz 0.25 to 10Hz
Operational limits Dynamics <4g N/A <4g <4g
Altitude 50,000 m N/A 50,000 m 50,000 m
Velocity 500 m/s N/A 300 m/s 300 m/s
Disclaimer: The above specifications represent a typical chip/SoC package or module based on manufacturer’s published literature for their latest products.
Consequently discrepancies may exist between the installed receiver’s characteristics and those stated above.
* Excludes chipsets for safety-critical/autonomous applications.
** Premium chipsets now incorporate dual frequency but are not yet typical.
GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018
34 DRIVERS AND TRENDS

DUAL FREQUENCY ENTERS HIGH-VOLUME RECEIVERS

In 2017 and 2018 manufacturers launched multi-frequency receivers for the mass market. These These results show that sub-metre accuracy is possible with the right conditions. As techniques
architectures open the door to high-precision techniques, which could result in decimetre evolve to address the limitations of mass market hardware, such performance will become
accuracy in high-volume receivers. commonplace. This will underpin a suite of new applications like augmented reality.

New receivers provide dual frequency Remaining challenges solved with L1/E1 and L5/E5a for the mass market?
In September 2017 Broadcom launched their BCM47755, the first dual-frequency (DF) chipset There are challenges remaining to be addressed in terms of delivering sufficient accuracy, such as
aimed at the smartphone market. In February 2018 u-blox launched their F9 chip, and STM development of low-cost antennas with good phase centre stability and improved duty cycling
launched their latest Teseo receiver, both targeting automotive applications and supporting L1 + to reduce power consumption2. The combination of L1/E1 and L5/E5a can unlock performance
L2 or L1 + L5 frequencies. Intel presented a dual frequency prototype in early 2018, and Qualcomm gains through higher chipping rates, but these require an increase in receiver power that must
demonstrated their Snapdragon X24 LTE, supporting concurrent multi-constellation, multi-fre- be kept minimal.
quency GNSS at the Mobile World Congress (Barcelona) in February 2018.

Dual frequency addresses consumer demand for accuracy

Will next gen smartphones be classified based on the quality of their GNSS?
User demand for more stringent horizontal and vertical accuracy, for example in applications such
Smartphones with dual-frequency (L1/E1 + L5/E5)
as mHealth, augmented reality, and the migration of mapping GIS to high volume devices1, has
GNSS receivers have recently hit the market (the first
led accuracy requirements to tighten from metre to decimetre level.
being Xiaomi’s Mi 8), and they stand out thanks to their
Delivering high accuracy requires carrier phase positioning with ambiguity resolution. Dual unprecedented location accuracy. These smartphones
frequency measurements enable direct ionosphere delay estimation, and use of techniques such will be using the Broadcom BCM47755 Dual-Frequency
as wide laning for quasi instantaneous, “on the fly” ambiguity resolution. In urban environments, GNSS receiver chip, introduced in 2017 and the first one
multi-constellation is also needed to achieve an accurate solution (in order to provide good dilu- ever designed and produced for the mass market.
tion of precision, residuals for Fault Detection and Elimination (FDE), and sufficient multipath-free
It uses the more advanced L5/E5 signals available from Galileo and from the latest GPS satel-
measurements).
lites, in addition to traditional L1/E1 signals. The BCM47755 is capable of producing fixes with
thirty-centimetre accuracy, and also mitigates urban multipath induced errors in a much more
Promising potential reliable way than legacy GNSS receivers.
In January 2018 the GPS World magazine published updated results from Trimble’s investigation
As these dual frequency GNSS smartphones become available in the market, customers will
into “Positioning with Android: GNSS observables”2. Using a proprietary positioning engine, they
start experiencing the enhanced location accuracy. These new smartphones will also showcase
were able to demonstrate the possibility of centimetre level accuracy using the BCM47755 chipset
Galileo’s critical contribution to the accuracy, because if Galileo signals were not available, then
and antenna in ideal conditions. Compared to existing professional GNSS devices the convergence
more than half of the L5/E5 signals would vanish, and the chip would fall back to traditional
time (for ambiguity resolution) was compromised, however the study provided a glimpse of future
L1/E1 performance.
possibilities for consumer receivers.
We believe dual-frequency GNSS will soon become a performance differentiation factor, so
Similarly Novatel tested the Teseo APP (Automotive Precise Positioning) and Teseo V chipsets with
much so that next generation smartphones will be classified based on the quality of their GNSS
their high-precision positioning engine and correction services, in order to demonstrate significant
receiver. Customers will consider the GNSS technology in the smartphone as one of the factors
reductions in position errors utilising the dual-frequency capabilities of the chipset3.
when selecting the device they want to purchase. This demand will push the smartphone OEMs
to make the dual-frequency GNSS feature visible to their customers... maybe showing a unique
location icon on the top bar of the display whenever dual-frequency is used. A clear indication
1 Report on location-based services user needs and requirements.
of the GNSS quality. Time will tell.
2 http://gpsworld.com/positioning-with-android-gnss-observables/ Testimonial provided by the company
3 https://www.gsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/expo/luis_serrano_stm.pdf

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS AND TRENDS 35

ACCESS TO RAW MEASUREMENTS OPENS NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR APP DEVELOPERS AND USERS
Google made GNSS raw measurements available on Android Nougat and higher in 2016. Since then third party developers Android raw measurements task force
can access carrier and code measurements, as well as decoded navigation messages in a growing number of consumer
Launched in June 2017 and coordinated by the European GNSS
receivers. This opens the door for the use of advanced GNSS processing techniques that have previously been restricted to
Agency (GSA), the GNSS Android Raw Measurements Task Force
professional receivers. Several application areas stand to profit from the potential increase in accuracy, such as augmented
aims to share knowledge and expertise on Android raw measure-
reality, location based advertising, mobile health, and asset management. Depending on the device, the API can provide
ments and their use, including their potential for high accuracy posi-
access to navigation messages, carrier phase measurements and to parameters needed to generate pseudoranges.
tioning techniques relevant to mass market applications. The Task
Force includes GNSS experts, scientists and GNSS market players,
all of whom are dedicated to promoting a wider use of these raw
measurements.
FOUR MAIN AREAS OF INNOVATION ENABLED BY GNSS ANDROID RAW MEASUREMENTS
As a first output of this joint endeavour, the Task Force has published
a “White Paper on using GNSS Raw Measurements on Android
devices”. The White Paper provides an insight into the topic,
Scientific use and research and development Increased accuracy including guidance on how to derive pseudoranges from the raw
• A
s raw measurements are avaible on an • S
ubject to hardware limitations, access to measurements, first testing results using various positioning tech-
open source platform, the barrier to entry for raw measurements means a developer can niques, practical tips, and an outlook on its use.
development of novel hardware and software employ advanced positioning techniques
More information, including upcoming workshops, can be found at:
solutions is dramatically reduced. and create a solution currently only
www.gsa.europa.eu/gnss-raw-measurements-task-force
available in professional receivers.
• S
cientific users can use observations for testing
The White Paper can be downloaded at www.gsa.europa.eu
harware and new post processing algorithms. • It results in a technological push to
develop new applications.

USING GNSS RAW

MEASUREMENTS ON
ANDROID DEVICES

Integrity and Robustness Testing, performance monitoring WHITE PAPER

and education
• A
ccess to raw measurements allows
applications to include unique interference • R
esearchers have already been able to use
detection and elimination techniques. raw measurements to monitor performance
of solutions from individual constellations,
• S
BAS corrections can be incorporated without
and compare with other constellations
the need for additional equipment. Towards better location performance
as well as with combined solutions. in mass market applications
• R
aw measurements allow applications to
• T he educational dimension of access to raw
compare solutions between constellations
measurements in a device used by everyone
and provide spoofing protection, or even use
on everyday basis is not negligible too.
genuine system features such as OS-NMA.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

36 DRIVERS AND TRENDS

TESTING CAMPAIGN OF ANDROID SMARTPHONES DEMONSTRATES GALILEO ADDED VALUE

With the declaration of Initial Services in December 2016 Galileo became operational, providing Galileo Tracking vs PVT GPS standalone versus GPS
highly accurate navigation signals around the world. The number of satellites in view made it and Galileo PVT
50
feasible to use Galileo not only for testing proposes, but also for effective use in user devices such 30 GPS + GAL
45 Galileo Tracking GPS only
as smartphones. Galileo PVT
40 20

To facilitate the optimal integration of Galileo signals in smartphones, the GSA launched a test 35 50% distribution
GPS = 6.7 m
campaign of such devices to assess their implementation, the user benefits stemming from it (in 30

Percentile [%]

North (m)
terms of location accuracy and availability), and to provide feedback to the manufacturers. 25 0
20
Thanks to Google's 2016 announcement that raw GNSS chipset data could be accessed from 15 -10
50% distribution
Android 7 devices, users can now process the same raw data that GNSS chipsets use to compute PVT 10 GPS + GAL = 4.5 m
-20
solutions. The access to the GNSS raw data brought the opportunity to assess relative constellation 5
performance, i.e. the benefit of using each different GNSS constellation. Moreover the quality of 0
Urban Mobile Urban Static Windowsill -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
the different GNSS signals, such as Galileo signals, could be assessed. East (m)

Thus, the testing campaign aimed to assess the real user experience, taking into account not only
the GNSS chipset, but all the elements in a smartphone influencing the quality of the location, such The benefits of multi-constellation PVT solutions are also evaluated. For instance using GNSS raw
as the integration of sensors, the antenna and the power saving techniques. The campaign also measurements, one can compute the GPS standalone PVT and the combined GPS + Galileo PVT.
gave the opportunity to provide feedback to the GNSS chipset manufactures in order to optimise The figure on the right shows this comparison in a static scenario. The positioning accuracy using
their multi-GNSS implementation and in particular, the use of Galileo. GPS is around 6.7 meters (50%). By adding Galileo, the accuracy improves up to 4.5 meters, high-
lighting the added value of Galileo in mass market devices.
The test campaign is based on record and replay signals in order to assess the different devices
under the same conditions. Moreover a small number of live test cases are also included, to assess Smartphone manufactures interested in GSA smartphone testing campaign can contact market@
the impact of the assisted GNSS data. gsa.europa.eu
The main monitored figures of merit are:
• Galileo Tracking Availability – Quantifying the receiver ability to track satellites. It computes
the percentage of time that the receiver is providing measurements for a particular satellite,
GPSTest & Glossary
versus the time that the satellite is available (in view). The aggregated tracking availability with To clarify and explain the parameters used in satellite navigation performance testing, the GSA
all the Galileo satellites is also computed. has recently published a dedicated glossary for smartphone users. The glossary is based on
the smartphone app GPSTest (by barbeauDev), which facilitates visualisation and understand-
• Satellite usage in PVT – When a satellite is tracked it does not imply that it is used in the PVT
ing in real time signal reception and
solution. Several reasons can lead to its exclusion, such as signal strength, lack of ephemeris,
positioning performance parameters.

TEST YOUR SATELLITE NAVIGATION PERFORMANCE ON YOUR ANDROID DEVICE

constellation priorities, etc. This figure of merit gives the percentage of time that each satellite
Users will be able to assess the impact GPSTest QR code
is used in PVT over the tracked time.
of external factors and to identify, for
• PVT Accuracy and Availability – Increasing the number of constellations, the accuracy and example, which satellites are being
availability improve in harsh environments where the portion of sky in view is reduced due to tracked, to which constellation they
buildings and narrow streets. belong, the signal strengths, and
the carrier frequencies (for dual-fre- App available at:
The figure on the right shows the Galileo tracking availability (blue bars) for three different scenarios.
quency devices). GLOSSARY
goo.gl/4dHZJu
The tracking reaches almost 50% in the Urban Mobile and Windowsill scenarios. The usage of those
Galileo measurements in the PVT solution however (red bars) is reduced to 25%. It should be noted
that both scenarios are quite challenging owing to the harsh environment conditions, i.e. featuring Glossary available at: www.gsa.europa.eu
blocking elements such as buildings or bridges.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS AND TRENDS 37

AUGMENTED REALITY BENEFITS FROM CENTIMETRE LEVEL PRECISION

Augmented reality can be defined as a real world view of the actual physical environment Enhanced AR requires sophisticated approaches
which is enhanced by overlaying computer generated information. The wide distribution of
Although flat surfaces can currently be reliably identified, and the current precision of GNSS receivers
mass market mobile devices, such as smartphones, which are capable of handling graphical
is sufficient for basic AR applications, more sophisticated AR will require that real world objects are
processing, new GNSS constellations, and more sensitive receivers, are enabling the use of
successfully identified, and that position is known with maximum accuracy. Given the variability
augmented reality in a number of contexts. A common thread though is the need for high
and number of objects in the environment, image recognition techniques utilising neural network
centimetre-level precision position and timing information, to ensure augmented reality appli-
approaches will be required to ensure devices learn to recognise items appropriately.
cations function well.
For instance, in the indoor environment, building plans can provide information on the location
Mass market AR is available today of architectural or utility elements. Once these are recognised as such, combined with position
information derived from sources such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the exact position and view can be
Augmented reality applications need
established. Only once such information is available can a virtual representation of real-life objects
to overcome two key issues. First of all,
be created, to help ensure that augmented information is provided with the correct depth and in
the exact position and orientation of the
the correct position.
device displaying the enhanced image
must be known. Once this is ascertained, The increased precision of location could stimulate the appearance of new concepts built on
the environmental context has to be augmented reality. For example it would be possible not only to access content in a specific location,
recognised correctly to ensure data is but also to draw/create content in 3D space. The first basic ‘drawing by location’ apps are already
displayed in a realistic way. available today, and the trend is expected to continue.
Modern mass market devices can derive
very accurate position information using
multi constellation, dual-frequency GNSS
receivers. This position can be further
enhanced by fusing information from
embedded MEMS devices such as sol-
id-state compasses and magnetometers,
© Gettyimages

which can provide information necessary

for dead reckoning in case of issues with
the signal.
MEMS devices also provide information on device orientation and position. Visual recognition of the
environment based on previously stored information, and approaches such as SLAM are increas-
ingly important thanks to decreasing memory costs and increasing computational power. Many
of the smartphone AR technologies in use today can already perform basic image recognition to
reliably identify flat surfaces such as floors and walls, resulting in applications such as Wallame or
PokemonGo, and software platforms such as Google ARCore. Such functionality is also sufficient
for applications bundled with the latest Samsung S9 and S9+, which can overlay basic informa-

© Gettyimages
tion on outdoor locations, and stable views can be provided by combining dead reckoning with
motion modelling and prediction. Manufacturers such as Apple are also working on displaying
such information in a convenient way through devices such as iGlasses.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

38 DRIVERS AND TRENDS

ROBOTICS REQUIRE TRACKING

Currently no single mass market device demonstrates all the features that one would typically geofencing, driven by GNSS, will provide one of these independent mitigations. Such solutions
expect of an advanced robot, however individual capabilities are featured in a number of are already being used in consumer drones, preventing them from flying into restricted airspace,
consumer mass market devices. These specific functionalities are increasingly making their and in devices such as robot lawnmowers. Good connectivity will also be crucial as information on
presence felt in the form of drones, boats, and cars, and have thus laid down the groundwork dynamic geofences, which vary depending on conditions and changes in the environment, have
for the introduction of independent humanoid robots. to be transmitted in a timely manner to robots and automated devices.

Augmented reality and autonomous navigation require similar levels of precision GEOFENCING AND DYNAMIC GEOFENCING SCHEME
Ensuring that robots can navigate the world autonomously and without causing accidents and
END
disruption is a challenging task. The key is to automate image recognition and ensure that robots
have accurate data on their position and orientation - a similar requirement to that facing augmented
reality. In both cases, real world objects and their position in relation to the device/robot need to be
understood with a high degree of precision. Localisation can be split into two categories; absolute
and relative methods. In the relative case, position is determined in relation to surrounding objects
(via odometry), and in the absolute case, a global reference and coordinate system is used (via GNSS).
One approach to solve the autonomy problem of GNSS is to establish the position and orientation
of the device/robot with accurate (and power efficient) GNSS receivers, combining GNSS derived
information with data from sensors such as accelerometers.

Geofencing
In a future featuring humanoid robots that navigate external environments, there is a clear safety
risk of a robot entering an area it should not (for example a highway). Solutions will undoubtedly START
utilise multiple sensors to ensure safety margins are delivered through independent, redundant Planned route Dynamic geofenced area
solutions. Given the ever-increasing availability and accuracy of geospatial data, it is certain that Geofenced area Peer to peer connectivity between robots

Robotic exoskeletons are Aida Alice – a social robot!

changing lives
Aida is not a gadget or a simple “pizza robot”. Alice’s mission is to interact with peo-
Robotic exoskeletons aim to help peo- ple, particularly with disabled or elderly
It integrates with delivery vehicles and automates the last 50
ple with injuries and movement prob- persons, to secure their environment
© Suitx

meters of the deliveries.

lems to restore the motor functions of and more generally to care about them.
their bodies, and recover autonomy of movement. It can also avoid obstacles by stepping over them, unlike its
Thanks to a Lidar and optical sensors,

© cybedroid
less fortunate colleagues on wheels. But still, it is not capa-
Today this technology does not use GNSS. the robot can make a 3D map of its
ble of identifying unexpected poten-
environment, and detect predefined
In the future however it could enable an individual with lim- tial dangers, and geofencing remains
objects and people.
ited mobility to walk through a street with minimal support. a must for Aida.
Theoretically, the exoskeleton could be programmed with a Nevertheless, Alice could not fulfil its mission without
More at: unsupervisedai.blog/aida-3/
pre-set route with geofenced areas defined, and via dynamic geofencing.

© unsupervisedai
positioning, a user could navigate through obstacles to reach
More at: www.cybedroid.com/alice/
a destination safely.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS AND TRENDS 39

UBIQUITY OF PNT AND CONNECTIVITY ENABLE IOT

With predictions of 29 billion devices by 2022, IoT represents a huge market to address. Although IOT RELEVANT TECHNOLOGIES MAIN FEATURES
the widespread use of GNSS in IoT has been traditionally hampered by its higher battery
consumption and the widespread availability of low power networks, the development of Device power Capability Estimated
Data transfer
innovative cloud-based GNSS receivers could reverse this trend. Moreover, the availability of Technology consumption to provide Frequency max useful
rate
PNT authentication service(s) may constitute an additional benefit for IoT applications. during use location range
GNSS 180 mW Yes - 1.0-1.5 GHz Ubiquitous
GNSS and IoT
Wi-Fi 54 - 1200
Of the estimated forecast of 29 billion connected devices by 2022, around 18 billion will be related 300-1800 mW Yes 2.4 - 5GHz 1.6 km
Mbit/s
to IoT. Already in 2018, mobile phones are expected to be surpassed in numbers by IoT devices,
which include connected cars, machines, meters, wearables, and other consumer electronics. This Bluetooth 100 mW Yes 2.1 Mbit/s 2.4 GHz 100 m
growth will be driven by devices belonging to the short-range segment (e.g. connected by a radio 4G 100-2000 mW Yes 100 Mbit/s 2.0-8.0 GHz <30 km
signal within a range of up to around 100 meters such as Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth), and by the wide-
area category consisting of devices using cellular connections as well as low-power technologies, 5G 100-2000 mW Yes 1 Gbit/s 28GHz-300GHz 0.5-2km
such as Sigfox, LoRaWan and NB-IoT. LoRaWan 100 mW Yes 27 kbit/s 0.4-0.9 GHz <15 km
SigFox 10μW -
INSTALLED BASE OF CONNECTED DEVICES Yes 300 bit/s 0.9 GHz <50 km
100 mW
30 2016 2022 CAGR NWave 25-100 mW No 100 bit/s 0.9 GHz 16 km
Wide-area loT 0.4 2.1 30%
25 Dash7 <100 mW No 167 kbit/s 0.4-0.9 GHz <5 km
20 Short-range loT 5.2 16 20% NarrowBand IoT 100 mW Yes 250 kbit/s 2.0-8.0 GHz <35 km
15 PC/laptop/tablet 1.6 1.7 0%

Source: Ericsson
10
Mobile phones 7.3 8.6 3% and role of the IoT sensor is purely to capture the GNSS signal and send it to the server. According
5 to researchers of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona involved in the research, the use of the
Fixed phones 1.4 1.3 0% cloud GNSS receiver allows for savings in the energy consumed by the sensor, up to one order of
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 16 29 10% magnitude compared with hot and assisted starts, and up to roughly 2.5 orders of magnitude in
billion billion contrast with warm and cold starts.

The advent of these devices has already – and will in the future – considerably increased the number Security, a growing concern
of services and applications that require positioning information. Although GNSS undoubtedly
The rapid development of IoT with a growing number of connected devices provides solutions
constitutes the most accurate and the only ubiquitous resource for locating IoT devices, it can occur
across a wide range of industries, offering new business opportunities for economic growth. This
that other, less accurate, positioning technologies are employed instead. This occurs in light of the
also however opens the door to a variety of new security threats. In fact, IoT devices may need
stringent requirements of low-cost IoT sensors, in terms of low power consumption, in order to
to relay sensitive or regulated information, making them more vulnerable to spoofing attacks.
achieve larger battery lifetime that might not be fulfilled by current GNSS chipsets.
This is the case for law enforcement applications such as monitoring of parolees, or commercial
If on one hand the increasing widespread nature of low-power connectivity is already paving applications such as asset tracking. Within these applications the security of PNT information is
the way to the adoption of GNSS in IoT, with innovative modules entering the market integrating important, as the overall system security is only as strong as its weakest link. In this regard, the
GNSS and LPWAN technologies, recent technological developments might further contribute to authentication services offered by Galileo (OS-NMA and SAS) are likely to be valuable, as they will
the usage of GNSS in IoT. A promising field of research is indeed focusing the attention towards the ensure the users that the PNT information is coming from the signal in space, and was not altered
creation of a cloud-based GNSS receiver for IoT, in which the GNSS signal is processed in the cloud to gain an illegitimate advantage.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

40 E-GNSS ADDED VALUE

GALILEO SUPPORTS UBIQUITOUS POSITIONING IN CITIES AND CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS

Users of mass market devices such as smartphones, tablets or wearables require ubiquitous posi-
tioning. Urban areas however, represent challenging environments for the operation of GNSS
Enhanced GNSS user terminal
receivers since high buildings reduce the portion of visible sky, thus limiting the number of satel- The uptake of newly deployed GNSS is continuously improving the
lites offering a direct line of sight with the device’s antenna receiving the signal. This might lead to quality of service experienced by users, who expect this trend to
degraded performance, for instance when the geometry of visible satellites is not good, or even – if continue in the years to come.
signals from a minimum number of four satellites is not received - to the impossibility of determining
Galileo is continuously moving forward to offer innovative features by further enhancing posi-
a position fix. Additionally, reflecting surfaces of buildings can cause an interference by multipath,
tioning performance through tackling some important aspects. Two main enhancements are
resulting in the position fix computed by the GNSS literally ‘jumping from one position to another’
foreseen by the time Full Operational Capability will be declared:
according to the set of measurements used to compute the position.
• Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA), allowing users to verify that
Galileo satellites boost ubiquitous positioning by not only providing additional satellites in view,
a navigation message is actually broadcast by a Galileo satellite and not by a potentially
adding to existing constellations, but their wide bandwidth signals are better able to cope with
malicious source. This feature will increase the level of protection against GNSS spoofing, of
multipath interference. Thus modern multi-GNSS receivers can leverage better measurements
which the likelihood of occurrence is increasing in many application domains.
from more satellites, with a higher probability of direct line of sight. This enhances basic GNSS
performance factors such as availability, TTFF and accuracy, and finally supports the provision of • An enhanced, but fully backward compatible, Signal-in-Space (SIS) will include additional
a continuous and ubiquitous service to users. data transmitted in the I/NAV message, offering faster and more resilient Galileo PNT solu-
tions in user devices.
Additionally, Galileo is the only GNSS offering navigation message authentication, a feature
expected to be of high interest for application and service providers, since it could enable inno- By the time Galileo OS-NMA and I/NAV improvements are fully implemented, a new generation
vative commercially-sensitive applications and also enhance the quality of big data collection. of enhanced receivers should be developed, tested and implemented to take advantage of
these new features.
EGNOS is usually not integrated into mass market solutions, since SBAS requires continuous oper-
ation and may drain the battery, thus limiting the overall user experience. Nevertheless, some The objective of the grant is to design, develop and demonstrate in an operational environment
niche applications employ EGNOS in dedicated devices in order to take advantage of its enhanced a robust and close-to-market OS-NMA receiver, compliant with the upcoming SIS ICD and taking
accuracy and reliability. full benefit of these enhancements. In line with the overall mission of Fundamental Elements
projects, the receiver shall target a specific application for which improved performance and
E-GNSS CONTRIBUTION TO KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS trustworthiness are considered important.

Key Performance
EGNOS contribution** Galileo contribution**
Parameter (KPP)*
FLAMINGO H2020
Availability ••
The FLAMINGO H2020 project sets out to achieve enhanced location accuracy
Accuracy •• •• in the mass market based on initial Galileo services. The project aims to pro-
Continuity •• duce a service utilising multi-constellation, PPP and RTK mechanisms together
with GNSS raw measurements which plan to provide accuracy of 50cm (95%).
Robustness •• ••
FLAMINGO addresses mass-market devices such as smartphones and IoT
Indoor penetration • devices, to facilitate and demonstrate reliable positioning and navigation in
Time To First Fix (TTFF) •• consumer applications.
* The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III FLAMINGO is cooperating with the European satellite navigation system
** ••• = major contribution, capable of enabling new GNSS applications •• = medium contribution, enhancing (E-GNSS) to build the enabling infrastructure and services for high-accuracy
the user´s experience so benefits (e.g. operational or at cost level) are achieved • = minor contribution, perfor- positioning.
mances improved but no major difference at users´ level.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 41

TRANSPORT SAFETY - AND *

LIABILITY - CRITICAL SOLUTIONS

**

Macrosegment characteristics 42
Industry landscape 43
Receiver capabilities 44
Receiver form factor 45
Drivers and trends 46-55
E-GNSS added value 56

* Safety-critical applications are defined as those that

possess the potential to directly or indirectly cause harm to
humans (death or injury), destruction of the carrier vehicle,
damage to external properties or to the environment.
** Liability-critical applications are defined as those appli-
cations for which undetected GNSS misperformance can
result in significant legal or economic consequences.

© Gettyimages
42 MACROSEGMENT CHARACTERISTICS

NAVIGATION PERFORMANCE MUST BE ASSURED FOR TRANSPORT SAFETY- AND LIABILITY-CRITICAL SOLUTIONS

The priority performance parameters for this macrosegment are:

1. Integrity: in safety-critical applications, specifically alerting if accuracy limits are exceeded
is essential to avoid catastrophic events (including loss of life). In liability-critical applications
integrity is paramount to avoid incorrect application of charges or fines.
2. Continuity: is important to ensure that the application is successfully delivered. For example,
in aviation a loss of navigation during a procedure will result in abandoning the procedure.
Liability-critical applications need continuity in order to ensure records are valid.
Characterisation of the Transport safety- and liability-critical solutions segment 3. Robustness: jamming (particularly self-jamming in the case of liability-critical applications)
can disable applications, whilst spoofing (including self-spoofing) could introduce serious
This macrosegment covers receiver technology for safety- and liability-critical applications in
safety or liability risks.
aviation, maritime, rail and road transportation. These sectors utilise mature safety- and liabil-
ity-critical technology, which is built in accordance with rigorous standards and often subject to 4. Accuracy: an increasing number of applications, particularly those with emerging autono-
certification. mous capabilities, require high accuracy performance, and this parameter is becoming a higher
priority for the macro-segment.
The development of autonomous capabilities across safety-critical transport applications is
increasing the demand for accuracy and integrity, resulting in adoption of high grade, robust 5. Availability: applications need to be able to function at any point in time and across large
GNSS receiver technology as part of a tightly coupled suite of sensors, in order to provide the core geographical areas with lower dependence on infrastructure and weather conditions.
positioning capability. This is prevalent in all sub-markets and in the professional drone sector.
PNDs* are part of the ‘mass market’ segment and excluded from this macrosegment. Timing and SAFETY- AND LIABILITY-CRITICAL KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
Synchronisation receivers are included in the ‘high-precision and timing solutions’ macroseg-
ment**. Key Performance Parameter (KPP)*** Transport Safety- and Liability Critical Solutions

Availability
Key performance parameters***
Accuracy
Applications in this segment have always needed a high level of confidence in navigation perfor-
mance (including integrity and robustness). Recently the term assured navigation performance has Continuity
seen growing use. Although there is no formally agreed definition, it generally refers to the ability
of the system to minimise integrity risk and continue to function in the presence of intentional or Integrity
accidental interference.
Robustness

Indoor penetration

Time To First Fix (TTFF)

Latency
* Personal Navigation Devices, such as GA moving maps, maritime chart plotters, and automotive portable units.
** Timing and synchronisation applications could be considered safety- and liability-critical, but the technology
Power consumption****
involved has more in common with high precision receivers.
*** The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III
**** Power consumption could be critical for flying drones Low priority Medium priority High priority

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE 43

THE ADVENT OF SELF-DRIVING CARS AND AUTOMATED DRONE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT BRINGS DISRUPTIVE INFLUENCERS
TO AN OTHERWISE MATURE MARKET
LEADING COMPONENTS MANUFACTURERS Receiver industry Regulatory environment of the safety-critical
value chains to be influenced by large
BROADCOM Although the core GNSS technology can be common
North America www.broadcom.com
across the sectors, the other elements of a complete
innovators
COBHAM Europe www.cobham.com system are often tailored to the sector. For example, The macrosegment is divided into domains that have
DME and VOR technology, unique to aviation, integrates specific regulatory, certification and operational frame-
DJI Asia www.dji.com alongside GNSS into flight management systems. In the works. Each domain has its own regulatory and standards
ESTERLINE North America www.esterline.com rail sector, balise devices physically mounted on the bodies, and key players tend to integrate vertically up
sleepers of a track measure train locations. In maritime, and down the value chain rather than horizontally. Sector
FURUNO Asia-Pacific www.furuno.com strapdown INS is used, and the automotive industry uses expertise and reputation override economies of scale for
radar and ultrasound sensors for functions such as adap- these sectors, where the priority on safety means that
GARMIN North America www.garmin.com
tive cruise control and parking assistance. the cost of specialised products can be accommodated.
HEXAGON AB (LEICA, Europe hexagon.com The user requirements on underlying GNSS hardware The entry of influential, multi-national organisations at
NOVATEL) technology is beginning to homogenise across sectors the top of the value chain (Amazon, Tesla, Google, DHL,
HONEYWELL North America www.honeywell.com (which all increasingly demand higher accuracy, which Airbus, Uber and others) is changing user demand and
effectively requires multi-frequency capabilities), there applying ‘upward’ pressure to develop more rapidly than
JRC Asia-Pacific www.jrc.co.jp may yet be room for horizontal integration. For example, before.
many chipsets under development for automotive appli-
MEDIATEK Asia-Pacific www.mediatek.com These disruptive influencers are bringing not only signif-
cations may also be attractive for professional drone
icant funds and lobbying power, but also experience in
OROLIA Europe www.orolia.com applications. Such consolidation may be necessary to
developing and implementing at a faster pace of inno-
address the inherently high development cost, long life
QUALCOMM North America www.qualcomm.com vation.
cycles and corresponding technology obsolescence, as
shorter lifecycles are adopted. Key to this will be how the At the same time, regulatory ‘downward’ pressures are
ROCKWELL COLLINS North America www.rockwellcollins.com
safety-critical requirements across the different trans- reacting to constrain the developments within the
SEPTENTRIO Europe www.septentrio.com port segments evolve. existing regulatory frameworks, which are not equipped
to deal with the innovation coming from the sector.
STMICRO- ELECTRONICS Europe www.st.com For example, in the automotive sector it is likely that
future vehicles will utilise GNSS chipsets certified to The opportunity now is for the innovators to help shape
THALES AVIONICS Europe www.thalesgroup.com safety standards to support all on-board applications. future regulations, to enable them to support the adop-
These chipsets will need to deliver high accuracy and tion of innovative technologies within the safety-critical
TRIMBLE North America www.trimble.com reliability to support automation. Once the cost has been environments. The focus is shifting from the detail of the
U-BLOX Europe www.u-blox.com absorbed, it would not be logical to include an additional technology itself, to the ways in which its performance
chipset for other applications, such as integrated naviga- can be measured so that safety is assured. Regulations
Note: This list does not include system and terminal integrators, and therefore
ome key industry players may not appear in the list.
tion displays, when there is already a high-performance can no longer be rule-based and instead need to be
sensor available. performance-based – supported by evidence provided
by innovators to ensure confidence in the technology.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

44 RECEIVER CAPABILITIES

DUAL-FREQUENCY AND MULTI-CONSTELLATION SET TO BECOME COMMONPLACE

Multi-constellation adoption
Receivers for this macrosegment already largely have multi-constellation
capabilities. The percentage of models supporting Galileo and BeiDou has Frequency capability of GNSS receivers1 Constellation capability of GNSS receivers2
risen since the previous issue of this report. The number of devices in the
macrosegment that support all constellations is now approaching 30%, and 100% 100%
it is foreseeable that it will be the most common configuration of receivers
80% 80%
in future (as is already the case in other macrosegments).
60% 60%
Aviation however remains constrained to (SBAS supported) GPS-only
solutions (outside of GA consumer devices) due to regulation, but future 40% 40%
SBAS upgrades will incorporate multi-GNSS. This will take some time due
to long product life-cycles and certification requirements. For example, 20% 20%
EGNOS will augment both GPS and Galileo as part of V3, which is planned 0% 0%
to enter service in 2025. L1/E1 L2 L5/E5 E6

eo

ou

AS

SS

IC
GP

AS

v
QZ
lil

iD

SB

Na
ON
Ga

Be
Automotive applications, such as eCall and advanced driver assistance

GL
systems are fostering rapid adoption of new constellations through regula- 1
shows the percentage of receivers supporting each frequency band 2
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking
tion or the need to have sufficient signals available to deliver performance each constellation
in constrained environments.
Supported frequencies by GNSS receivers3 Supported constellations by GNSS receivers4
Multi-frequency adoption
70% 40%
In 2018 several new chipsets supporting multi-frequency were launched.
60% 35%
The percentage of models which only support L1 has now fallen to under
50% 30%
65%.
40% 25%
The same SBAS upgrades which will push multi-constellation into the 30%
20%
aviation market will also push the adoption of L5. In the meantime, the 15%
20%
forerunners to ASIL/ISO26262 certified chipsets, for autonomous vehicles, 10%
10% 5%
already support multiple frequencies (L1 and a choice of L2 or L5 for the
second frequency). 0% 0%
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
The segment as a whole is demanding high integrity, together with L1/E1 Only L1/E1 + L2 GPS only GPS + Galileo
increased accuracy performance. Whilst sensor and data fusion will increas- L1/E1 + L5/E5 L1/E1 + L2 + E6 GPS + GLONASS GPS + BeiDou
ingly play a role, multi-frequency GNSS is the clear starting point to deliver L1/E1 + L2 + L5/E5 All Freq GPS + Galileo + GLONASS GPS + Galileo + BeiDou
GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou All
such performance. For example, while merchant vessels typically use single
frequency, multi-constellation receivers, Offshore Supply Vessels (OSV) are 3
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3 4
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3
or all the 4 frequencies or all the 4 GNSS constellations
already using multi-constellation, multi-frequency receivers for dynamic
positioning.

Disclaimer: The above charts reflect manufacturer’s publicly available claims regarding their product’s capabilities and judgement on the domains to which they are applicable. Use in actual
applications may vary due to issues such as certification, implementation in the end user product, and software/firmware configuration. In particular, models capable of supporting L1, L2 and
L5 are captured as L1+L2+L5 in the database but are known to support either L1+L2 or L1+L5 in operation. In addition the data is likely to overestimate the applicability of some models, as it is
based upon model availability and not sales volumes into the macro-segment.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 RECEIVER FORM FACTOR 45

REGULATION AND CERTIFICATION FOCUS RECEIVERS ON INTEGRITY

TYPICAL STATE-OF-THE-ART RECEIVER SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE TRANSPORT The number of GNSS receiver suppliers for aviation is rather limited.
SAFETY- AND LIABILITY- CRITICAL SEGMENT Established manufacturers include Garmin, Thales, Rockwell Collins,
CMC Electronics, Universal and Trimble/Ashtech, with more recent
Features Aviation Maritime Automotive additions from Aspen/Accord and Avidyne. The latest certified airborne
Number of channels 12-100+ 12-100+ 32-52 receivers are able to track 100+ GNSS satellite signals in addition to
Code/ Phase processing Code and carrier phase Code and carrier phase Code and carrier phase SBAS channels. These new receivers support RNP approach procedures,
Doppler including those dependent on augmentation, and are able to support
Constellations/ Signals GPS L1 GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, the performance needs of ADS-B surveillance applications.
QZSS, NavIC QZSS, NavIC GNSS receivers focused on maritime usually take the form of an inte-
Sensitivity (typical) -135 dBm acquisition -130 dBm acquisition -147 dBm acquisition grated on-board rover receiver. Primary communication channels are
-140 dBm tracking -135 dBm tracking -162 dBm tracking radio beacons, satellite L band and VHF in AIS or VDES. Multi-constel-
Multipath rejection Usually yes Not documented Usually yes lation and multi-frequency devices improve navigation possibilities in
techniques obstructed environments. Nearly all marine receivers are SBAS enabled
SBAS/ A-GNSS readiness SBAS (E)TSO 145/146 SBAS supported (non-safety SBAS supported (non-safety of and SBAS usage is due to expand following the availability of ad hoc
of life) life)/A-GNSS supported guidelines/regulations. Within RTCM, the GSA, EC, ESA and ESSP have
Receiver connectivity Per ARINC 429 RS422/ NMEA 0183/ NMEA2000 drafted “Guidelines for the use of SBAS in maritime receivers” to foster
this adoption.
TTFF Cold Start: <75s Cold Start: <60 to 120s Cold Start: <33s
Warm Start: <30s Warm Start: <30s Warm Start: <30s A noteworthy innovation in automotive has been the market intro-
Re-Acquisition: <3 to 10s Re-Acquisition: <1 to 10s Re-Acquisition: <1s duction by STMicroelectronics of the world’s first multi-frequency GNSS
Horizontal accuracy (95%) GNSS: 5 – 15m GNSS: 2.5 – 13m GNSS: 2.5 – 13m receiver claiming autonomous-driving precision and automotive safety
DGNSS: N/A DGNSS: 0.3 – 5m DGNSS: 0.3 – 0.5m compliance (ISO26262), in February 2018. This allows for positioning up
SBAS: 3m SBAS: 2 – 8m SBAS: 2 – 8m to decimetre level for Precise Point Positioning and Real Time Kinematic
Vertical accuracy (95%) GNSS: 10 – 20m Not documented Not documented processing. This new receiver tracks satellites of all GNSS constellations
DGNSS: N/A at the same time on two frequencies. Usage of this GNSS receiver serves
SBAS: 4m as a basis for automated systems such as adaptive cruise control, lane
Antenna External External External departure warning, auto-pilot and valet parking.
Standards & Certification DO-229D, DO-245, IEC60945, 61108-1/2/3/4, AEC-Q100
DO-246, DO-208 61162-1/3, 62288, ISO16750 There is an ongoing trend of translating the well-consolidated integ-
DO-178C/ED-12C, NMEA0183/2000, RTCM SC104 ISO26262 ASIL rity concept from aviation to other market domains, e.g. road with its
DO-254/ED-80, USCG or Wheelmark (EC MED) peculiarities and challenges. This will require a tight integration of
DO-160/ED-14G, GNSS with all on-board sensors, as it is not only a function of absolute
DO-253/ED-88, ED-114A, positioning but also of relative motion. It will also require deep envi-
ARINC743 ronment awareness and ideally coordinated navigation..
(E)TSO C115/129/145/146
Under development in EGNOS V3, new EGNOS capabilities will support
Form Factor Complete unit conforming to Complete unit with built-in or Receiver Chip or Module
standard (e.g. 2 MCU) External remote CDU & Ext. Antenna the augmentation of both L1/E1 and L5/E5. This will allow future usage
Antenna Remote CDU Alt. ‘Smart Antenna’ incl. of multi-frequency receivers to achieve significant improvements in
receiver with remote CDU measurement and positioning accuracy in civil aviation, maritime
Others Internal Radiobeacon DGNSS May include up to 6 axis mems and rail.
receiver
Disclaimer: The above specifications represent a typical chip/SoC package or module based on manufacturer’s published literature for their latest products. Consequently discrepancies may exist
between the installed receiver’s characteristics and those stated above.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

46 DRIVERS & TRENDS

GNSS RECEIVERS ARE CORE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PREMIUM AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS

Increased automation will require multi-frequency receivers Smart tachograph
Ongoing development of multi-frequency GNSS receivers targeting premium automotive Within the EU, tachographs are fitted to around 6 million
applications are behind the launch of the first multi-frequency chipsets for automotive appli- vehicles with a mass of more than 3.5 tonnes (in goods
cations in 2018. Although these chipsets might in a sense be considered consumer grade, they transport) or carrying more than 9 persons including
represent a link to the next generation that will be specifically designed to safety standards the driver (in passenger transport). The new vehicles
for autonomous driving. registered after June 2019 will need to be fitted with a
smart tachograph, which aims to ease administration
MFMC receivers can improve positioning accuracy from a few metres toward decimetre level.
associated with tachograph and reduce tampering.
Highly and fully-autonomous vehicles (Level 4 and Level 5 automation) will require chips designed
to meet ASIL/ISO26262 standards. Today’s chipsets provide a baseline for such future chipsets that Smart tachographs incorporate GNSS and provide for automated recording of the vehicles’ loca-
will need to integrate key GNSS features, such as: tion at the start and end of the working day, together with one update after every three hours of
accumulated driving time.
• Quality control of incoming satellite signal;
• Tracking all available GNSS signals in multiple frequency bands with carrier phase measure- Security is critical for a tachograph, and so the device records a number of events, such as power
ments; supply interruption, security breach attempts and calibration data. Smart tachographs will also
• Raw GNSS data suitable to support precision positioning techniques such as PPP and RTK feed into intelligent transport systems, allowing easy integration with telematics systems.
(supported by augmentation services targeting public and private applications);
• Tight and ultra-tight coupling with inertial and other on-board sensors.

Development, supply and testing of OS-NMA user

terminal (PATROL)
InDrive and INLANE Projects The initial OS-NMA Signal-in-Space transmission will enable a ser-
vice experimentation phase in 2019, while reaching full service capability in 2020. Once fully
The InDrive project (Automotive GNSS Receiver for High Integrity Applications on the Drive)
operational, the free-of-charge navigation message authentication will be one of Galileo’s
developed an E-GNSS receiver, which uses data fusion (Bayesian engine for configurable E-GNSS
key differentiators over other GNSS constellations. Before full service operation is achieved
software) and targets level 3 automation (conditional automation, such as advanced cruise
however, a new generation of OS-NMA-enabled user terminals must be developed, tested and
control functions requiring a high level of accuracy, 50 centimetres or less).
implemented, which is where the PATROL project comes in.
The InDrive receiver is responsible for processing the E-GNSS signal. It is used to estimate the
The PATROL (Position Authenticated Tachograph foR OS-NMA Launch) consortium was awarded
level of confidence of the position in automated manoeuvres and to guarantee the false alarm
a contract by the GSA to develop, supply and test Galileo’s Open Service Navigation Message
rates and accuracy expected for the defined use cases.
Authentication (OS-NMA) in a user terminal suitable for smart tachographs.
The InLane (Low Cost GNSS and Computer Vision Fusion for Accurate
The project will develop a user terminal capable of providing trusted position, velocity and
Lane Level Navigation and Enhanced Automatic Map Generation) project
precise time (PVT) data to smart tachographs and other positioning applications. OS-NMA is
proposes new generation, low-cost, lane-level, turn-by-turn navigation
used in combination with other anti-spoofing techniques that are implemented at the receiver
applications through the fusion of E-GNSS and Computer Vision technology. This will enable a
level and backed by standard IT security. The project is divided into two stages:
new generation of enhanced mapping information based on crowdsourcing.
• Stage 1: aims to develop a first version of the User Terminal implementing OS-NMA to be
Delivering lane-level information to an in-vehicle navigation system and combining this with
tested against a full set of spoofing threats identified for the target application;
the opportunity for vehicles to exchange information, will give drivers the opportunity to select
the optimal road lane, even in dense traffic in urban and extra-urban areas. Every driver will • Stage 2: will start once the SIS begins transmitting OS-NMA, and will have the objective to
be able to choose the appropriate lane, thus reducing the risks associated with last-moment upgrade the OS-NMA User Terminal with additional anti-spoofing techniques in order to
lane-change manoeuvres. maximise the trustworthiness of the PVT solution.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 47

EUROPE DEPLOYS ECALL AS INDUSTRY ANNOUNCES FIRST COMPATIBLE CAR MODELS

The GSA and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) have published Implementation Guidelines (in Summary of eCall GNSS compatibility tests results
accordance with the EU Regulation 2017/79) to facilitate the implementation of eCall testing.
GSA/JRC guidelines were published to illustrate how the requirements stated in the eCall Regulation
They are also responsible for issuing the EC type-approval for eCall On-Board Units (OBU).
might be translated in practice into a suite of test scenarios, acknowledging that several alternative
The GSA launched a test campaign where eCall device manufacturers had the opportunity to testing configurations and implementations can be compliant with the EU Regulation. The full list
pre-test their devices, and ensure Galileo and EGNOS compatibility as a response to the European of recommendations is available in the Implementation Guidelines at: www.gsa.europa.eu
Commission publishing Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/79. This Regulation stipulates that all new
The testing campaign involved 13 eCall models from key automotive suppliers. Most of the units
models of passenger cars (M1) and light duty vehicles (N1) must be equipped with eCall in-vehicle
demonstrated their readiness to undergo formal type approval. In some cases, recommendations
systems as of 31 March 2018. Industry players appreciated this opportunity and embraced the
were provided to support further improvements of the actual compatibility with the positioning
support to improve their products.
services provided by Galileo and EGNOS.
Similarly, the new UN Vehicle Regulation 144 on Accident Emergency Call Systems (AECS) entered
In terms of positioning accuracy in static conditions, some eCall units demonstrated that a Gali-
into force in July 2018, and permits harmonisation of performance requirements and test proce-
leo-only solution outperformed GPS+SBAS.
dures with other systems (e.g. ERA GLONASS).
In dynamic scenarios, the observed overall horizontal position errors were in all cases below the
The tests made it possible to thoroughly review the requirements and the test procedures, assessing
specified limit, despite an important dispersion of the results.
a wide range of different testing implementation options. Among others, the tests assessed:
All the units demonstrated full compliance with the cold start TTFF targets, both when simulating
• Positioning accuracy under static and dynamic conditions;
a signal power of -130 dBm (60 seconds) and -140 dBm (300 seconds).
• Cold start time-to-first-fix;
• Re-acquisition performance following signal outages; In the complete suite of test scenarios, the
• Receiver sensitivity. eCall Horizontal Positioning Accuracy sensitivity test was certainly one of the most
45.00 demanding for the eCall units. The majority

Horizontal accuracy [meters]

40.00 of them successfully passed this sensitivity
35.00 test, and some of them demonstrated an
30.00 optimal use of Galileo signals in the posi-
Volvo is the first car maker to release European eCall 25.00
20.00
tioning solution.
Lim
Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo has taken the lead as the first 15.00 Note: All plots refer to the test procedures defined in
car-maker to equip its vehicles with eCall. The new Volvo V60 was type 10.00 Annex VI of the EU Regulation 2017/79.
approved at the beginning of 2018 and is already available on the market. 5.00
0.00
It includes one eCall device, manufactured by ACTIA Nordic in Sweden and Static mode
§ 2.2.2
Static mode
§ 2.2.2
Static mode
§ 2.2.2
Dynamic mode
§ 2.2.3
Dynamic mode
§ 2.2.4
successfully tested by NavCert´s eCall Laboratory in Germany. GPS+GAL+SBAS GAL GPS+SBAS Open Sky Urban Canyon

More models fitted with eCall are to be released eCall cold start TTFF
shortly by Volvo during this year, and from 2019 70.00 350.00
Rx1
on, all of the new portfolio of Volvo models will be 60.00 Lim 300.00 Lim Rx2
eCall-enabled. Cars equipped with eCall use the Rx3
Mean TTFF [seconds]

50.00 150.00 Rx4

same location source as for their in-vehicle naviga- Rx5
tion systems, and Volvo had incorporated Galileo 40.00 Mean Rx6
100.00 Rx7
compatibility in all models from the previous year. 30.00
Mean Rx8
In fact, currently in Europe alone, around 50,000 Rx9
20.00
cars with Galileo satellite navigation capability 50.00 Rx10
are on the road already, and more than 150,000 10.00 Rx11
© Volvo

Rx12
will be enabled at the end of 2018. 0.00 0.00 Rx13
GNSS signal power at -130 dBm GNSS signal power at -140 dBm

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

48 DRIVERS & TRENDS

GNSS UPTAKE IN RAIL AND LOGISTICS IMPROVES OPERATIONAL SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY
Rail networks set to benefit from GNSS Managing the transportation of dangerous goods with authenticated GNSS
The European rail sector is continuing its efforts to establish an architecture that would allow the Dangerous goods for transport include substances and articles that have explosive, flammable,
introduction of a GNSS-based train-positioning concept in the European Rail Traffic Management toxic, infectious or corrosive properties. Having fully reliable knowledge of the position and the
System (ERTMS). Satellite-based positioning has been prioritised by the railway community as one status of the vehicle can be an essential element in effectively preventing or resolving a crisis of
of the five key game changers for ERTMS evolution, in the frame of the latest ERTMS Memorandum this kind. In addition to the basic tracking capability, GNSS can offer enhanced security through
of Understanding. In 2017, preparatory work for the first commercially operated line intending Galileo’s authentication features, which can help detect spoofing attacks. CEN Workshop Agreement
to use GNSS was launched in Italy on the Pinerolo-Sangone line, which is further fostering the (CWA) 16390 is the technical specification for the development of products and applications based
innovation focus within the European space and rail industry by enhancing technical developments. on the services provided by chipsets with EGNOS/EDAS/multi-GNSS and Galileo OS-NMA support.
Key target performances and safety requirements were derived from the functional hazard analysis The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) agreed to introduce the use of tele-
performed on a selected ERTMS reference architecture as part of the GSA H2020 STARS project. matics, taking into account CWA 16390:2018 for the international transport of dangerous goods.
Together with the GNSS performance measurement campaign, the results from STARS form a basis
to finalise the train positioning system architecture by major rail stakeholders within the Shift2Rail Consistently Optimised Resilient Secure Global Supply-Chains (CORE)
X2Rail2 project, which will also influence the future developments of GNSS receivers with specific
The CORE project covers the development of applications and products based on services provided
requirements (multi-frequency, multi-constellation and SBAS features). Furthermore, in the case of
by EGNOS. This project is funded under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European
non-safety relevant applications, operators continue to equip
Commission (FP7) and aims to increase the reliability, speed and efficiency of trade and coordination,
their fleets (in specific cases including the freight wagons) with
while enhancing the effectiveness of global trade oversight. Project CORE’s intent is to demonstrate
GNSS receivers to provide improved supply chain visibility for
how a cost effective, fast and robust solution can be obtained by integrating interoperability,
the logistic service providers and their customers, used to
security, real-time optimisation and resilience.
similar performance levels in other land transportation modes.
In this case, the user requirements on GNSS are comparable
© Gettyimages

with road track & trace solutions, with a potential to exploit

also Galileo OS-NMA to add further confidence in the position
of the railway assets.

Satellite Technology for Advanced RHINOS

Railway Signalling (STARS)
Predicting achievable GNSS performance in a railway environment and creating a universal
approach to this issue, especially for safety-critical applications within ERTMS, is the key role of The Railway High Integrity Navigation Overlay System (RHINOS) project sought to tackle the
the STARS project, continuing its development efforts with the involvement of UNISIG companies challenging environment (in terms of GNSS reception) typical to rail networks.
and the coordination of UNIFE.
RHINOS bridged the existing gap between the aviation SBAS and railway ETCS standards by
Within the project activities, the necessary field measurement procedures were delivered and international standardisation of the SBAS-R interface. The new standard will support interop-
approved. According to these procedures more than 150 days of measurement data for rail erability in railway signalling based on the Virtual Balise concept.
environment characterisation were collected from over 3,000 km of representative railway lines
Moreover the project developed a new concept for the rail community using GNSS infrastruc-
in different environments, including challenging terrain such as mountains, those under heavy
ture realised for aviation applications, with additional layers to meet the rail requirements.
tree canopies, or with many multipath generating elements. This data is currently undergoing
Furthermore, it defined an architecture of a train Location Determination System (LDS) and
detailed analysis to determine the implication on the train positioning subsystem architecture,
the supporting infrastructure needed for its performance assessment. Finally the project also
which must be able to mitigate risks associated with potentially wrong pseudo-range measure-
defined a strategic roadmap for the adoption of an international standard.
ments resulting from variations in the local environment.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 49

AVIATION LOOKS BEYOND GPS L1

GNSS is a key technology of the communications, navigation and surveil- Role of GNSS in surveillance
lance infrastructure in aviation. It can support not only navigation appli-
Whilst the most obvious use of GNSS in aviation is for navigation, it can also be used for surveillance.
cations in all phases of flight, for example LPV approaches and Required
Navigation Performance, but also surveillance applications such as ADS-B. ADS-B
Long product life cycles and the safety-driven need for standards and certi- Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast
fication has meant that aviation use of GNSS is almost entirely restricted (ADS-B) is a technology where an aircraft determines
to one constellation and frequency. The adoption of multi-constellation its position, typically via GNSS, and broadcasts it
and multi-frequency however is just around the corner. periodically to allow tracking by air traffic control-
lers and other aircraft. In some locations ADS-B is
EUROCAE Working Group 62 (WG62) was created in 2002 in the context of
the primary means of surveillance, as ground radar
Galileo satellite deployment and GPS modernisation. In mid-2013, the SBAS
infrastructure may not be fully developed or is not
interoperability Working Group decided to adopt incorporation of a second
economically feasible, but GNSS ubiquity offers a
GNSS frequency using the L5/E5a signal. The EC subsequently published the
solution.
interim antenna Minimum Operational Performance Standard (MOPS) for GPS
and Galileo L1/E1, L5/E5a in 2014. Since then, WG62 has focused its work on In Europe, the Surveillance Performance and Inter-
standardisation of Galileo as well as dual-frequency and multi-constellation operability Implementing Regulation No127/2011
receivers capable of processing signals from Galileo, GPS and SBAS. (SPI IR) mandates aircraft (>5700kg or 250kts) to be
compliant with Mode S and ADS-B Out requirements by 2015. Due to delays in certification and availability of required
The GSA has commissioned a Fundamental Elements project to specifi-
equipment, as well as industrial capacity constraints for equipping aircraft, the date by which operators are to comply
cally support the development of SBAS Dual-Frequency Multi-Constellation
with the SPI IR requirements has been amended and delayed to 2020.
(DFMC) receivers aimed at the level of maturity required for flight tests (i.e.
TRL 7). The project will develop the minimum operation standards, test and Although ADS-B is a current technology, recent developments of space-based ADS-B receivers mean it is likely to see
validate the DFMC SBAS receiver, by following the standardisation processes increased adoption. Two flight tests of the satellite-based ADS-B system were recently completed by the FAA, Nav Canada
from EUROCAE and RTCA. and Aireon, using ADS-B transponders that operate at 125 watts. One third of the 66 space-based ADS-B receivers, which
are free of the line-of-sight limitations experienced by the terrestrial-based ADS-B and radar technology, have success-
With the expectation of developed standards and proven technical and
fully received data during the tests. The introduction of MCMF in the near future is expected to have a positive impact
operational adoption, EGNOS V3 will enter service in 2025 combining the
on robustness and integrity.
use of GPS and Galileo. Use of L5 will improve service robustness against
errors and propagation delays caused by ionosphere. It will be the first such ASAS
regional satellite augmentation system to employ dual frequency. Airborne Separation Assistance System (ASAS) is a collection of applications that utilise ADS-B to transmit information
from an aircraft to the ground and other aircraft. They enable the crew to keep aircraft separate from each other, and
provide flight information concerning the surrounding traffic. Expectations from ASAS are to enhance safety in the cockpit
regarding situational awareness, autonomous modes of operation, and guidance presented directly to the flight crew.
These have a positive effect on capacity, flight efficiency as well as costs and the environment.
Raw Data in ADS-B
Raw GNSS measurement is envisaged to be the future of surveillance. Broadcasting raw data (including pseudo-range
and carrier phase data) within ADS-B messages in place of the derived position coordinates enables aircraft to estimate
the flight paths of other aircraft more accurately, allowing safer operations even under impaired conditions. Raw meas-
urement is also a way to achieve true integration with systems like DME, eLoran, Iridium as well as with cooperating UAVs
and signals-of-opportunity. These improvements only require a software update of the ADS-B message content, and SAE
international has already begun developing standards to bring this approach into the mainstream.
© ESA

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

50 DRIVERS & TRENDS

AUGMENTED GNSS DRIVES THE EVOLUTION OF AVIATION NAVIGATION

Hybrid sensor solutions for positioning and navigation GBAS with Galileo
Aviation has long used a combination of GNSS and inertial technology in Ground Based Augmentation Systems providing augmentation to Galileo
its navigation systems. Research into computer vision-based navigation and GLONASS signals could enable multi-constellation and multi-frequency
systems has been underway for some time, but recent developments in precision approaches, and have the potential to overcome ILS limitations and
Enhanced and Synthetic Vision Systems (EVS and SVS) may provide new enable CAT III landings regardless of visibility.
possibilities in IFR or marginal conditions.
Approaches with GBAS are more flexible than ILS and can enable more efficient
EVS is a system which provides the pilot with an image which is better use of infrastructure. One GBAS station can serve multiple runways for approach
than unaided human vision, by relying on imaging sensors and a head-up as well as departure. Currently, GBAS is only available to CAT I minima. The
display (HUD) for descent below Decision Altitude, whereas SVS combines development roadmap envisages regulatory approval in the coming years for
3D data into intuitive displays to provide improved situational awareness to GBAS evolutions under GAST-E (Dual Frequency) and GAST-F (MCMF), delivering
© GSA

flight crews. Both systems facilitate a reduced pilot workload by presenting CAT II and CAT III minima respectively.
information that is easy to digest during the demanding phase of flight. Combining both solutions would mean super-
MCMF GBAS will have different potential error sources and failure modes than
imposing database-driven synthetic vision and real-time sensor images on the same display, realising the benefits of
GPS L1 C/A code measurements only, which needs to be assessed in order
both systems to enable aircraft access to more runways. The Augmented Approaches to Land (AAL)* project carried
to assure integrity. Dual frequency carrier phase measurements would allow
over ten trial flights and about 70 full flight simulation sessions to validate the “Enhanced Flight Vision System to Land”
mitigation of ionospheric delay and multipath, as well as smoothing noisy
concept of operation. Data collected during these trials assessed the Key Performance Areas of Safety, Environment,
measurements. Experiments conducted by DLR (2016) have shown that “the raw
Human Performance and Airport Capacity, demonstrating that they met requirements.
noise and multipath level of Galileo signals” “are smaller than that of GPS L1”,
on which GBAS is currently based. In particular, Galileo E5a is significantly less
affected by multipath than E1/L1 signals. Ultimately, MCMF GBAS is expected
ARAIM developments to have improved performance in terms of noise and multipath, which could
With the availability of new GNSS constellations and new signals, there deliver better robustness, and thus higher availability than existing GBAS.
is a strong potential to expand the role of Receiver Autonomous Integ-
rity Monitoring (RAIM) for aircraft navigation, and develop a new GNSS
integrity method capable to support aircraft operations for all phases of
flight, including worldwide coverage for LPV-200. GNSS satellites

Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (ARAIM) is an integrity

concept that relies on multiple GNSS constellations and dual frequency to
© Gettyimages

provide global coverage for horizontal and vertical guidance for aircraft,
similar to the service that SBAS already provides regionally. The ARAIM
concept was initially envisioned by the GNSS Evolutionary Architecture Study Satellite signals and
Panel, followed by a working group, WG-C, established under the EU and US agreement that defines the principles for navigation messages
cooperation activities in the field of satellite navigation. The WG-C aims to promote cooperation on the design and
development of the next generation of civil satellite-based navigation and timing systems. To respond to the ARAIM
roadmap, the GSA aims to fund two projects on the development of the ARAIM prototype receivers. These projects will
develop, test and assess the performance of ARAIM receiver prototype(s), characterise and validate the local effects VHF transmit Reference receivers
on the threat model and contribute to the standardisation activities. The development of ARAIM enabled by Galileo GBAS aircraft antenna and antennas
system VHF data
will enhance autonomous on-board integrity monitoring, which will allow the use of the ARAIM functionality for all broadcast signal
phases of flight up to CAT I approach for several decades.
* Evaluation of GPS L5 and Galileo E1 and E5a Performance for Future Multi-frequency and Multi-constellation GBAS, DLR, August 2016.
GBAS ground subsystem

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 51

PROFESSIONAL DRONE APPLICATIONS DRIVE TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESSION

Precise and reliable tracking information, connectivity, hybridisation of various data sources, and harmonised regulation Drone regulation updates
will be critical in allowing the drone market to develop to its full potential.
EASA is nearing the publication of
The high volume of drone traffic expected in the near-term future will require automated drone/UAS traffic management systems the final version of joint European
(UTM), which will maintain contact with each drone and dynamically change its flight route in response to the changing airspace Regulation for drones outlined in NPA
environment and any detected traffic hazards. A high proportion of drone traffic is expected to consist of short-range flights 2017-05 and Opinion 01/2018. The

© Gettyimages
primarily travelling at low level (< 500 ft.), where multiple obstacles are present. Airspace access limitations (geofences) will further regulation proposes to place different
compound the situation. Geofences are expected to change dynamically due to factors such as weather, events or emergencies. requirements on drones using a risk-
Therefore, reliable connectivity solutions will be critical for enabling drone traffic. The technologies used might change depending based approach. The increased resil-
on the environment, for instance in a complex urban setting precision and high connectivity will be crucial, while in a rural setting ience provided through Galileo will be pivotal for ensuring adequate
more emphasis might be placed on ensuring that connectivity is maintained over long distances. New aviation certified GNSS safety can be maintained. Separately, the European Commission and
receivers might have to be developed for drone applications in complicated low-level environments, as the accuracy of receivers SESAR Joint Undertaking are pursuing the development of services
used in manned aviation today will not be sufficient, and miniaturised survey receivers (with Multi-Constellation Multi-frequency, which will enable European U-space. The intention is to introduce
Real-Time Kinematic and Precise Point Positioning) will have to be developed. In such settings, autonomous operations will U-space in several steps (U1 to U4) progressively enabling autonomous
greatly benefit from hybridisation of data from other sensors such as cameras. Technologies such as neural processing will use Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations in increasingly complex
information derived from visual sources to verify the position of a drone and identify objects of interest. environments. To ensure safety, certain minimum requirements will
be placed on the integrity and security of drones depending on the
environment they will function in. Owing to their inherent security,
Urban environment Suburban environment Rural environment
Galileo and EGNOS are well situated to be used in challenging envi-
ronments. Initially operations will be introduced as IFR traffic into
controlled airspace. Once sufficient detect and avoid technology
is developed, BVLOS drones are expected to also seamlessly inte-
grate with VFR traffic. To date several calls for proposals have been
announced to develop the U-Space concept.
GNSS: Centimetre level accuracy, high update rate GNSS: Metre level accuracy, update
Connectivity: High bandwidth important, rate can be compromised
range might be compromised Connectivity: Long range connectivity,
bandwidth might be compromised SkyOpener
Example technology requirements:
Dual-frequency GNSS, differencial GNSS, 5G Dual-frequency GNSS, 5G, Satcom Low cost GNSS, Satcom, ADS-B The SkyOpener project aims to integrate drones into the civilian
airspace. This solution will combine tracking using the Galileo
and GPS satellite constellations and SATCOM communication
services, combining track and detect and avoid functionalities.
MapKITE SkyOpener’s technology will allow drone integration with manned
traffic, eventually easing the transition to the U-Space U4 step.
GNSS (including Galileo and EGNOS) will provide guidance,
The MapKITE consortium developed a novel, low-cost, terrain mapping solution which is heavily reliant on GNSS positioning,
geofencing, tracking information for drone traffic management
navigation and timing (PNT) technology via a combination of terrestrial and aerial surveys. A mobile ground control station – a
and georeferencing data for survey data collected by the drones.
vehicle – provides real-time navigation information to a drone, which maps terrain whilst tracking the vehicle. This ‘Kinematic
Initial project results will be available at the end of 2018, but the
Ground Control Point’ (GCP) practically eliminates the need for traditional GCPs and can achieve a check point accuracy with
project has already showed that it is feasible to use drones for
a mean error of 3.4 cm for easting/northing and 8.6 cm for height. The Galileo E5 AltBOC signal helps to address multipath
long-range survey missions, and is expected to provide a number
issues, which mitigates error in the ground vehicle navigation solution. This in turn enables the combined system to achieve
of benefits. For example, SkyOpener is expected to increase the
its high performance level.
availability of radio communication from 80-90% to 99.9%.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

52 DRIVERS & TRENDS

IMPROVEMENTS ARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT FOR MARITIME SURVEILLANCE, TRACKING AND MONITORING
SBAS for maritime users
GNSS is the primary means of PNT at sea, but integrity and accuracy requirements mean that
spyGLASS Project
standalone GNSS is not sufficient for coastal or port operations. The International Association of The Galileo-based Passive Radar for Maritime Surveillance project brings Passive Bistatic Radar
Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) Differential-GNSS (DGNSS) system has been the solution for many (PBR) based on Galileo coverage (that ensures any point on Earth is permanently illuminated
years, but today the maritime community is also considering using SBAS, which has complementary by several satellites) to marine surveillance. The problem addressed by the project is that using
merits to the marine radio beacon DGNSS. AIS transponders does not guarantee the identification of non-cooperative vessels potentially
involved in various illegal actions.
In the short term, IALA is considering SBAS as an alternative/supplementary source of corrections
for the current DGNSS system, and published guidelines for the retransmission of SBAS corrections The project is developing an industrial design and prototype for a global maritime traffic sur-
using MF radio beacons and AIS stations (G-1129) in RTCM format in January 2018. The proposed veillance system made up of PBR, composed of a transmitter (Galileo satellite), a reflector or
system is fully compatible with existing (non-SBAS) shipborne DGNSS receivers. target (vessel), and a ground-based receiver installed in a control centre. The control centre can
also be mobile (i.e. vehicle based), in order to allow monitoring near a specific area of interest.
In the longer term, SBAS could provide a maritime safety-of-life service as it currently does for
aviation, and be used to its full potential (almost all marine receivers are SBAS-compatible and
could benefit from such service). Maritime users would enjoy a much larger service area than
with DGNSS. Such a service can only be realised when the SBAS provider commits to doing so,
however, (and this is the case for EGNOS V3), but also when receivers are available that implement
Automation in ports
SBAS processing in an adequate manner. This is why the GSA is currently supporting the testing The LOGIMATIC project, focusing on Smart Port Vehicle Management, proposes a solution to
and development of such receiver guidelines drafted within RTCM, through the MAREC project. enable the automation of existing port vehicles in terms of location and navigation via tight
integration of E-GNSS and on-board sensors.
The focus of the project is on straddle carriers in container terminals. LOGIMATIC relies on a
AIS improvements combination of a multi-constellation GNSS receiver augmented by EGNOS and on-board sensors
to provide a continuous, reliable and accurate estimation of the position and velocity of the
AIS is a coastal tracking system, which automatically broadcasts information about the ship to
platforms. The solution is integrated on the Straddle Carrier as part of an On-board Navigation
other ships and coastal authorities. AIS communication takes place using a VHF transponder (with
Unit (ONU) connected to the centralised system for monitoring purposes, and to exchange
two frequencies 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz), using a bandwidth of 25 kHz. This application
action plans and progress reports on their daily tasks.
supports safe navigation and collision avoidance. The fact that AIS receivers have also been hosted
on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites increases the coverage. Vessels can now detect signals operating LOGIMATIC is exploring tight integration of sensors, novel cyber security approaches to GNSS
beyond 40 nm range from land-based AIS receivers, thus contributing to the utility of AIS as a fish- spoofing detection and integration of GIS-based data.
eries’ monitoring tool. Concerns over maritime security and illegal fishing drove the introduction
of mandatory AIS in fishing vessels (mandatory in EU for vessels longer than 15m).
Galileo’s OS-NMA could provide an added benefit in AIS applications through increased resilience.
The OS-NMA is capable of protecting users from spoofing attacks by digitally signing the Open
Service navigation message in the E1 band.
In addition, AIS is used in EPIRBs as a homing signal and by search and rescue helicopters to find
vessels in distress.

© portofrotterdam.com
GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018
 DRIVERS & TRENDS 53

RECEPTION GEOMETRY FOR GPS SIGNALS IN SPACE

GNSS IS SEEN AS A KEY TO PROVIDING RELIABLE PNT IN SPACE HEO Spacecraft

Space-borne GNSS receivers offer missions a suite of capabilities: navigation (particularly precise orbit determina-
LEO Altitudes
tion), attitude determination, precise timing, Earth science applications (as a remote sensing tool) and navigation Geosync < 3,000 km
for launchers. Compared to terrestrial receivers, whilst space-borne receivers need to cope with extreme dynamic Altitude:
35,887 km
forces, environmental radiation, and the mechanical stresses of launch, overall they provide the same PVT services
as their terrestrial cousins.
The use of GNSS is space has a long history; the first space-borne GNSS receiver was utilised in Landsat 4 on 16th July
1982, and have been commonplace since the start of the 1990’s. NASA has been working on specifying the perfor-
First Slide Earth
mance of GPS within its Space Service Volume (SSV) since 2004. Lobes Umbra

For some Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions, such as CubeSats, COTS FPGA hardware programmed with specialised
VHDL descriptions adapted for high dynamics (including widening Doppler windows) are common practice. This
is only feasible if missions have short lifetimes and do not cross Van Allen belts whose high radiation levels require Main Lobe (~47°
radiation-hardened devices. for GPS L1 signal)
GPS Altitude
20,183 km

Galileo in spacecraft
2017 saw the first GPS/Galileo combined receiver flown in © Adapted from NASA (www.gps.gov/governance/advisory/meetings/2016-12/parker.pdf )
space as an experiment on the ISS. The GAlileo Receiver for the
ISS (GARISS) mission will demonstrate and analyse combined
GPS/Galileo L5/E5a performance in orbit. Utilising existing PNT Beyond Low Earth Orbit GNSS is in use, and multi-constellation
code for a Software Defined Radio (SDR) Galileo receiver, the provides improved availability
mission also demonstrates the flexibility of SDR, and allows Above 3,000 km and up to 36,000 km (GEO), the use of single constellation GNSS
development to continue based on operating data. The is challenging due to shadowing of GNSS signals by the Earth’s Umbra (illustrated
mission operates by transferring the waveform from ground above). Working with ‘aggregate signal’ (including side lobes) radically increases
support equipment to the on-board test bed, collecting GNSS the number of satellites in view. NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)
raw measurements, and computing PVT on board of the ISS. mission set records in 2016, for the ‘highest’ ever GPS fix at over 70,000 km, and
also the fastest operational GPS receiver, at 35,000 km/h at perigee. At the time
A key European development is the AGGA (Advanced GPS
of publication, the UN's International Committee for GNSS is preparing to issue a
Galileo ASIC) space-grade component developed by the Euro-
document on Space Service Volume. This aims to describe GNSS use between LEO
pean Space Agency (ESA). Now upgraded to version 4, AGGA-4
and near GEO. Interoperability between GNSS is seen as key to providing reliable
includes 36 GNSS channels in combination with an on-chip
PNT in space, especially in GEO, and this is likely to be most easily implemented
powerful LEON-2FT microprocessor for software processing
via use of a common intermediary reference clock or timescale.
tasks. The AGGA-2 predecessor flew in practically all ESA
Earth Observation LEO satellites since 2006. AGGA-4 is being Multi-constellation provides further benefits, as reported e.g. by NASA
commercialised as a radiation hardened ASIC component and researchers: “A preliminary geometric analysis using only main beam ‘spill-over’
also as part of an advanced Evaluation Kit. It is also available Earth coverage signals from each constellation shows that combining GPS and
pre-integrated into state-of-the-art GNSS space receivers, Galileo would enable an average of three satellites in view at GEO, with four
providing capabilities for processing multi-frequency and satellites in view 30 percent of the time. By comparison, using all constellations
multi-GNSS – including Galileo signals. AGGA-4 now has a first (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS, and NavIC) would enable four satellites
flight heritage mission in GEO as of November 2017, and has visible at GEO approximately 95 percent of the time using the signals in the L1
also been selected for a large number of LEO and GEO missions. frequency band 1.”
© ESA

1 Navigating in Space Taking GNSS to New Heights, Inside GNSS November December 2016.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

54 DRIVERS & TRENDS

SEARCH AND RESCUE BEACONS WILL SOON BENEFIT FROM GALILEO RETURN LINK SERVICE
Galileo is providing a Search and Rescue (SAR) Initial Service that contributes to saving five Currently, Galileo Return Link Service (RLS) is included in all beacon specifications, notably C/S
lives per day, with greater anticipated benefits when the Return Link Service (RLS) becomes T.001 (defining the minimum requirements for 406MHz distress beacons) and C/S T.007 (defining
operational in 2019. the type approval standard for RLS-enabled beacons). EUROCAE WG-98 will continue to develop
Minimum Aviation Systems Performance Standards (MASPS) for ELT RLS, covering the function to
Cospas-Sarsat is an international satellite communication system that detects and locates activated
trigger ELT transmission from the ground, and define high-level concepts and typical functional
emergency beacons and transmits distress alerts to SAR authorities. The role of GNSS in providing
interface requirements between the ELT and the ground.
precise positioning information will become increasingly central, with continuous technolog-
ical improvement and increasing penetration of multi-constellation capabilities in beacons. In Although beacon specification activities are well underway, it is evident that a gap in product
particular, the GSA is committed to supporting the introduction of Galileo’s added value service, offering currently exists in the beacon market, triggering intense support from the GSA to accelerate
RLS, which will enable enhanced capabilities such as acknowledgement of receipt message to the the development of Galileo enabled SAR beacons with RLS for market availability by 2019. The
distress beacon within 15 minutes, and remote activation of beacons, as well as the possibility of GSA is committed to supporting the definition and development of second generation beacons
detecting false alarms. by issuing funding to Horizon 2020 and Fundamental Elements projects, with the objective to
increase the Technology Readiness Level of SAR beacons. For instance, the MESOAR Beacon proto-
With the production of SAR beacons increasing at an annual growth rate of 5% (estimated based on
typing grant awarded 2 aviation projects and 3 maritime projects (see next page) with the goal to
2017 data) and considering that 70% of the surveyed SAR manufacturers declare the inclusion of
develop, test and demonstrate the capabilities of Galileo-based MEOSAR maritime beacons with
Galileo positioning in their product roadmaps, the Galileo RLS service is perceived to bring added
Return Link Service (RLS).
benefits to the current SAR operations.
Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS)
SAR Beacons
GADSS is a concept of operations, developed by the ICAO working group
An essential component of the Cospas-Sarsat
(AHWG) which requests Distress Tracking capable devices by 2021. The
system is the distress radio beacons. There are
GADSS concept consists of the following functions: 1) Aircraft Tracking,
three types of 406MHz beacons – Emergency
2) Autonomous Distress Tracking and 3) Post Flight Localisation and
Locator Transmitter (ELT) for aviation use,
Recovery.
Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon
(EPIRB) for maritime use, and Personal Locator Quoting the ICAO concept of operations, “This GADSS will maintain an up-to-date record of the
Beacon (PLB) for personal use. Although aircraft progress and, in case of a crash, forced landing or ditching, the location of survivors, the
Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) are designed aircraft and recoverable flight data”. The ICAO SARPS on aircraft tracking, which establishes the
to be carried by an individual, some are carried tracking time interval of 15 minutes, will be applicable in late 2018. The GSA objective is to ensure
aboard vessels for users with both maritime that Forward Link and Return Link Services enable ELTs for Distress Tracking (ELT-DT).
and land capacity. From a design perspective,
a PLB is a more compact personal unit which Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
is registered to an individual. EPIRBs on the
In the maritime SAR sector, the International Maritime Organisation
other hand, are registered to a vessel and have
(IMO) is responsible for updating GMDSS, which is now being reviewed
a longer battery life.
to include MEOSAR capabilities and enforce the use of Return Link capability for EPIRBs by Galileo
Full Operational Capability. The next Maritime Safety Committee will provide feedback regarding
this decision.
© ECA Group

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 DRIVERS & TRENDS 55

GSA'S SAR BEACONS PROJECTS LEVERAGE ON GALILEO RETURN LINK SERVICE

HELIOS SAT406M and SINSIN
The HELIOS project aims at providing second generation beacons and associated antennas Ongoing GSA work for slow moving beacons detection involves the development of advanced
designed to operate with the full capability of the new MEOSAR Cospas/Sarsat International algorithms to optimise Forward Link communication between Beacon and MEOLUT. A recent
Programme, embedded in the Navigation Satellite System of Galileo. endeavour includes a Horizon 2020 project called SAT406M, which has investigated an E-GNSS
application providing an end-to-end solution based on the
HELIOS’ GADSS-compliant ‘Distress Tracking-Emergency Locator Transmitter’ (ELT-DT) allows Galileo SAR service using RLS. The project consortia have
a beacon to automatically send a distress signal, providing accurate position when it detects developed an RLS wrist-worn PLB prototype, which can
unusual activity, such as a precipitous drop in altitude. The capability to extend Galileo RLS transmit up to 10 extra bits of information in conjunction
capability is crucial to enabling distress tracking. By 2019, HELIOS will deliver an ELT, an Emer- with MEOLUT capable of tracking 30 satellites. A similar
gency Position Indicating Radiobeacon (EPIRB), a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) and their asso- project, SINSIN, explores an enhanced PLB with a Galileo

© Mobit Telecom
ciated antennas, all compliant with the Cospas-Sarsat international standards. enabled receiver, and a MEOLUT to improve the localisation
of slow-moving beacons with restricted sky visibility.

GRICAS
The GRICAS project developed a safety
concept based on the use of Galileo SAR Fundamental Elements projects
service including the development of New Generation Beacons, innovative MEOLUT that opti- The Cobalt project (led by MRT) is focussing on the research, devel-
mises the position accuracy for high dynamic beacons, a new RLS employment concept, and opment and launch of a COSPAS/SARSAT compliant 406MHz PLB
associated in-flight beacon activation triggers when detecting abnormal flight situations. intended to be used in maritime.

The Maritime Rescue Unit will increase chances of location and survival by improving the relay
GALILEO GLONASS GPS MEOSAR time of the distress alert, increasing the signal location accuracy, improving the signal detec-
tion in difficult conditions, and providing user reassurance through RLS.

Distress signal + position The Phoenix project (led by Ocean Signal) will encompass the design, development and manu-
GNSS COSPAS facture of a 406MHz MEOSAR PLB aiming at accessing the benefits of RLS data encoded in the
Return link Galileo E1B navigation message.
message

Broken The Ametrine project (led by Syrlinks) concerns the design, prototyping and certification of
antenna an ultra-compact SAR RLS first Generation Beacon aimed at the largest market penetration
Beacon and dissemination. The radio module developed by Syrlinks will be adapted for this specific
activated ELT beacon featuring a new specific enclosure to reduce the risk of accidental alarm triggering,
Cruise Broken cable
and integrating RLS status, to minimise the false alarms rate.
Uncertainty
ALERT Post-Flight
localisation
Distress

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

56 E-GNSS ADDED VALUE

KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS IN ALL TRANSPORT MODES BENEFIT FROM GALILEO AND EGNOS
Galileo
Safety- and liability-critical solutions require accurate and reliable positioning information, available
in most of the situations. Used together with other GNSS, Galileo provides a major contribution
in this regard. The higher number of available satellites due to the addition of Galileo significantly
improves accuracy and availability of the provided location. This is of special relevance in chal-
lenging environments - such as urban canyons - mostly due to the density of tall buildings, which
often block a receiver’s line of sight to the navigation satellites. Galileo satellites also support the
achievement of a faster TTFF.
Robustness is also improved by the addition of Galileo. On one hand, the addition of Galileo signals,
New GNSS solutions from STMicroelectronics
data and frequencies makes spoofing and jamming easier to detect. On the other hand, Galileo’s
for Automotive/safety and other segments
unique authentication features (NMA and SAS) ensure the signals have not been tampered with. STMicroelectronics has introduced some new Galileo-en-
abled GNSS platforms:
As a result, Galileo will contribute to estimating a location with sufficient reliability to be used to
safety- and liability-critical applications such as connected vehicles and autonomous cars. • To extend its flagship Teseo-DRAW Automotive Nav-
igation and Sensor fusion solution to target Highly
EGNOS Automated Vehicles, ST has launched the new TeseoAPP
(ASIL Precise Positioning) GNSS multi-band receiver
As with Galileo, the use of EGNOS in safety- and liability-critical solutions also provides a positive
platform, compliant with ISO26262 Functional Safety requirements. The platform supports
contribution in terms of accuracy achieved, thanks to the differential corrections broadcast. Never-
dual-frequency Galileo E1 and E5 signals, blended with all other legacy and modernised
theless, the real added value of EGNOS consists in the provision of integrity and continuity, making
GNSS signals in conjunction with different GNSS Corrections systems, including the new
it an essential addition to aviation and maritime solutions.
Galileo High Accuracy Service. Implementing embedded authentication and anti-spoofing,
the platform supports new liability-critical GNSS applications.
E-GNSS CONTRIBUTION TO KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
• To foster integration of the TeseoIII GNSS receiver, the Teseo-LIV3F GNSS module was
Key Performance introduced for mass market applications, providing Galileo-enabled multi-constellation
EGNOS contribution** Galileo contribution**
Parameter (KPP)* positioning accuracy, supported by the popular STM32 Open Development Environment.
The CLOE (Connecting and Locating Objects Everywhere) platform, co-developed by ST and
Availability •• Sequans Communications (www.sequans.com), was launched to support IoT applications
using new LTE Cat-M and NB-IoT networks, pre-integrated with optimised firmware for low
Accuracy •• ••• power flexible tracking.
Continuity ••• •• Testimonial provided by the company

Integrity ••• ••
Robustness •• •••
Time To First Fix (TTFF) ••
* The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III
** ••• = major contribution, capable of enabling new GNSS applications •• = medium contribution, enhancing
the user´s experience so benefits (e.g. operational or at cost level) are achieved • = minor contribution, perfor-
mances improved but no major difference at users´ level.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 57

HIGH PRECISION AND

TIMING SOLUTIONS
Macrosegment characteristics 58
Industry landscape 59
Receiver capabilities 60
Receiver form factor 61-62
Drivers and trends 63-72
E-GNSS added value 73

© Gettyimages
58 MACROSEGMENT CHARACTERISTICS

FAST, ACCURATE AND RELIABLE: THE DEMANDING REALITY OF PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS

Key performance parameters for high-precision
The key performance parameters are highly dependent on the specific application in question:
1. Accuracy requirements vary from metre, to sub-metre, to centimetre levels for different opera-
tions. It is achieved by deploying multi-constellation and multi-frequency receivers and utilising
RTK, PPP, SBAS or combinations thereof. Certain agricultural activities (e.g. controlled traffic)
require not only pass-to-pass accuracy but also year-to-year (GNSS drift).
Characterisation of the high-precision, timing and synchronisation macrosegment 2. Availability becomes critical especially in attenuated environments or rural areas.
From construction sites to vineyards, and from offshore surveying vessels to telecom networks, 3. Improved Time-To-First-Fix and (re)convergence time is translated into reduced overall time
professional users are using GNSS solutions as their preferred option for high precision positioning spent on a surveying project and, subsequently, to reduced costs.
and for accurate timing. Each constituent segment experiences different operational requirements
4. Integrity is of paramount importance when safety-of-life (and equipment) considerations
and therefore relies on different performance parameters offered by advanced receivers.
apply (i.e. machine control) and is relevant for capital intensive applications (e.g. mining and
offshore applications).
Agriculture
5. Continuity is important for operations in which minimising operational downtime due to
GNSS is the key enabling technology helping farmers to increase the productivity and profitability
obscured satellite reception is critical (e.g. marine engineering).
of their agricultural activities and improve the management of their farms. GNSS also helps them
to reduce their environmental impact and comply with the current legislative and regulatory
Key performance parameters for timing & synchronisation
framework. Through the provision of the precise location of farming equipment, and frequently
combined with other technologies such as GIS, remote sensing (through satellites or drones) and Besides accuracy, continuity and availability the most important parameters for timing and
machine vision, GNSS allows the accurate steering of tractors and the minimisation of pass-to-pass synchronisation are Integrity and Robustness in order to increase protection and resilience of
overlaps, the precise application of agricultural inputs at different rates throughout the field, and the overall system against GNSS system fault, jamming or spoofing.
the retrieval of geolocalised data that can enable more efficient yield monitoring.
HIGH PRECISION AND TIMING KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
Surveying and Mapping
Key Performance High Precision Solutions Timing and Synchronisation
As advanced users of GNSS solutions, surveying and mapping professionals are benefiting from Parameter (KPP)* Solutions
significant improvements in receiver technologies, such as higher availability of signals in the advent
of the multi-GNSS era, falling prices and multi-usability. Several sectors including land surveying Availability
(cadastral, construction and mine), mapping and marine surveying (marine cadastre, hydrographic Accuracy
and offshore surveys) benefit from the spread of high-accuracy GNSS-based solutions. Multi-con-
stellation and multi-frequency receivers, as well as various differential correction techniques (SBAS, Continuity
RTK and DGNSS) and PPP, are currently the go-to option in the surveying and mapping sector. Integrity
Robustness
Timing and Synchronisation
Indoor penetration
Telecom, energy and financial operators use GNSS as an accurate timing and synchronisation refer-
ence source. The telecoms industry is the largest user, and the ambitious plans for 5G technologies Time To First Fix (TTFF)
will require better synchronisation accuracy than ever before. New regulatory frameworks require Latency
financial operators to synchronise their computer systems, whilst energy networks will become
Power consumption
more efficient through better synchronisation. A common driver for all applications is the need
for more robustness and resilience. Low priority Medium priority High priority
* The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE 59

HIGH-END PROFESSIONAL MARKET USERS ARE PUSHING THE LIMITS OF RECEIVER

PERFORMANCE FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL

HIGH PRECISION: LEADING COMPONENTS MANUFACTURERS High Precision

BDSTAR (UNICORE) Asia-Pacific www.bdstar.com Professional users in the high precision segments have been early adopters of cutting-edge tech-
nological innovations, amongst which GNSS plays a pivotal role – both as a centrepiece of several
HEMISPHERE North America www.hemispheregnss.com current solutions and as a driver for their evolution. The most expensive and sophisticated solutions
are first tested and adopted in high-end surveying applications, before being taken up in other
HEXAGON AB (LEICA, NOVATEL) Europe hexagon.com markets once they become more affordable. This is further accentuated by the requirements of
HUACE (CHCNAV) Asia-Pacific www.huace.cn actors in capital-intensive industries (i.e. mining, oil & gas, and large-scale agriculture) investing
heavily in the vanguard of technological development and driving the development of more
JAVAD North America www.javad.com advanced receivers (e.g. for machine control).
JOHN DEERE (NAVCOM) North America www.navcomtech.com The high precision value chain consists of commercial augmentation providers, component manu-
facturers (receivers, antennas, integrated solutions, etc.), system integrators, and application or
SEPTENTRIO Europe www.septentrio.com added-value service providers, serving a wide range of professional users who in turn work or are
TOPCON Asia-Pacific www.topcon.co.jp contracted by a number of end customers. Multinational companies with an established portfolio
of solutions across various applications are leading the various ‘links’ of the global value chain.
TRIMBLE North America www.trimble.com Amongst receiver and component manufacturers, the companies presented (table, left) offer a
comprehensive suite of products serving the different high precision markets, including niche
solutions. At the same time, network RTK services and commercial augmentation solutions (PPP
and DGNSS) continue to proliferate.
TIMING AND SYNCHRONISATION: LEADING COMPONENTS MANUFACTURERS
Timing and Synchronisation
BRANDYWINE COMMUNICATIONS North America www.brandywinecomm.com GNSS provides a unique offering to Timing and Synchronisation (T&S) user communities by deliv-
FREQUENCY ELECTRONICS North America freqelec.com ering a free and highly accurate time and synchronisation capability available worldwide. GNSS has
been rapidly adopted by the T&S user communities and in particular for critical operations, and is
FURUNO Asia-Pacific www.furuno.com even considered as a breakthrough technology, especially for Telecom. Despite its long experience
in GNSS, the T&S industry is still very active with many challenges ahead, linked to an increased
MEINBERG Europe www.meinbergglobal.com need for reliability and security, supported by an evolution of the regulation and ever-increasing
MICROSEMI North America www.microsemi.com requirements by users in terms of accuracy, stability and reliability.

OROLIA (SPECTRACOM) Europe www.orolia.com The T&S value chain is composed of GNSS chipset producers (who are usually generalist providers),
GNSS Time product manufacturers (who add timing market specificities), equipment resellers (who
OSCILLOQUARTZ Europe www.oscilloquartz.com may also provide design consultancy and maintenance/calibration services), system integrators
(who integrate GNSS T&S equipment in complex networks), and network operators. The GNSS Time
TRIMBLE North America www.trimble.com product manufacturers’ industry landscape is composed of well-established international players
U-BLOX Europe www.u-blox.com proposing a wide range of products from OEM boards for commercial applications, up to high-end
products for highly critical applications. Most companies presented in the table focus on specific
market sectors such as telecom, energy, finance, transport, automation or military.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

60 RECEIVER CAPABILITIES

STRINGENT ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS ARE BEHIND THE WIDE ADOPTION OF MULTI-CONSTELLATION AND
MULTI-FREQUENCY RECEIVERS
Multi-constellation adoption Frequency capability of GNSS receivers1 Constellation capability of GNSS receivers2

Users across almost all applications in the high precision segments are 100% 100%
actively seeking to gain from the benefits brought by the use of multi-con-
80% 80%
stellation receivers. This includes increased availability (especially in atten-
uated environments, urban canyons or rural areas), faster ambiguity resolu- 60% 60%
tion, better coverage (especially relevant for northern latitudes), increased
40% 40%
resilience (especially for Timing users), and improved satellite geometry.
Thus, today the vast majority of receivers aimed at professional applications 20% 20%
are capable of processing at least two constellations, whereas 40% can
0% 0%
track four constellations. L1/E1 L2 L5/E5 E6

eo

ou

AS

SS

IC
GP

AS

v
QZ
lil

iD

SB

Na
ON
Ga
Multi-frequency adoption

Be
GL
1
shows the percentage of receivers supporting each frequency band 2
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking
The stringent accuracy requirements of several demanding applications each constellation
(incl. automatic steering in agriculture and multiple surveying operations)
can be met only by the use of multi-frequency receivers. This is achieved by
removing the ionospheric error from the position calculation and effectively Supported frequencies by GNSS receivers3 Supported constellations by GNSS receivers4
mitigating multipath. In a similar vein, the provision of Galileo E5 and GPS L5 45% 45%
as well as Galileo E6 has led to a proliferation of triple-frequency receivers, 40% 40%
achieving a significant reduction in the convergence time for PPP and differ- 35% 35%
ential techniques. An additional benefit from the use of triple-frequency 30% 30%
receivers lies in the increased protection against interference. 25% 25%
20% 20%
In the Timing segment, several GNSS Time products now offer dual 15% 15%
frequency (with a current dominance of L1/E1 + L2 which should decrease 10% 10%
towards L1/E1 + L5/E5 products). This is especially the case in the high-end 5% 5%
solutions to improve accuracy and increase robustness. However, the 0% 0%
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
penetration of dual-frequency receivers remains low, although growth is
L1/E1 Only L1/E1 + L2 GPS only GPS + Galileo
expected in the next five years. GPS + GLONASS GPS + BeiDou
L1/E1 + L2 + E6 L1/E1 + L2 + L5/E5
Today a continuously increasing number of receivers used in professional All Freq GPS + Galileo + GLONASS GPS + Galileo + BeiDou
GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou All
markets operates with triple-frequency capability (for example, over 20%
receives L1/E1 + L2 + L5/E5). 3
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3 4
shows the percentage of receivers capable of tracking 1, 2, 3
or all the 4 frequencies or all the 4 GNSS constellations

Disclaimer: The above charts reflect manufacturer’s publicly available claims regarding their product’s capabilities and judgement on the domains to which they are applicable.
Use in actual applications may vary due to issues such as certification, implementation in the end user product, and software/firmware configuration.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 RECEIVER FORM FACTOR 61

GNSS RECEIVER DESIGN SHAPED BY POSITIONING PERFORMANCE AND RECENT SEGMENT MODERNISATIONS
TYPICAL STATE-OF-THE-ART RECEIVER SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE HIGH PRECISION SEGMENT Receivers in this segment are designed to achieve various high precision levels
The form factor of receivers in this segment is determined by the optimal balance between func-
Features Surveying Agriculture GIS/Mapping
tionality, weight, robustness, and cost. In addition, suitability of the receivers for their intended use
Number of 200-600 200-500 100-300 is paramount, resulting in these identified four classes:
channels
• Static GNSS receiver (2-3 mm) – developed mainly for post-processing of recorded static
Observables Code, code-smoothed phase and carrier phase GNSS observations, which every chipset provides as a standard function (rarely – as an upgrade
Constellations Multi-constellation option). Additional form factors in this group are the provision of enough storage space, high
Multipath rejection Usually yes Usually yes High-end models only capacity internal batteries, and the possibility to connect to external power supply and antenna.
techniques Static observation receivers, especially with modular design, are utilised almost exclusively in
SBAS Supported the surveying and GNSS infrastructure sectors.
Receiver Serial, USB, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3.5G, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, USB, 3.5G, • RTK receiver (8 mm to 2 cm in real-time) – dedicated for RTK/NRTK measurements. Receivers
connectivity and Bluetooth ports, UHF NMEA, RTCM input, Serial NMEA, RTCM input within this group are usually integrated and lightweight, equipped with compact internal and/
and 3.5G radio modems, Lemo/DB9 or external datalink UHF/cellular modems, and are typically used in surveying, agriculture,
Serial Lemo, RTCM input/ construction, mapping and GIS. Most RTK receivers support static measurements as well, either
output as a standard or as an upgrade option. The integration of additional sensors (e.g. electronic
bubble, tilt sensor) with the receiver-antenna body facilitates the operational and accuracy
Multi-frequency Yes Usually yes High-end models only
requirements.
User interface Hardware buttons, Hardware buttons, Hardware buttons,
web interface, external web interface, external embedded virtual or • PPP receiver (5 to 30 cm in real-time) – a common receiver in the agriculture and marine
controller controller physical keyboard sectors, but recently introduced in high-end chipsets for surveying, construction, mapping
and GIS. The required accuracy level is achieved through the promising development of the
TTFF/TTC RTK initialisation: < 10 s RTK initialisation: < 10 s RTK initialisation: < 30 s
real-time PPP technique. An important form factor is the integrated satellite L-Band and/or
PPP convergence: < 1 min PPP convergence: < 5 min PPP convergence: < 1 min
cellular datalink within the receiver.
in selected regions, < 30 worldwide in selected regions, < 30
min worldwide min worldwide • DGNSS receiver (30 cm and above) – typical for some agriculture and most mapping and GIS
Horizontal Static: 2.5 mm + 0.5 ppm - - receivers.
accuracy RTK: 8 mm + 1 ppm RTK: 8 mm + 1 ppm RTK: 1-2 cm + 1 ppm Antenna designs incorporate several new strategies for maximum accuracy
(95%) PPP: 4 cm PPP: 20-50 cm PPP: 10 cm
Traditionally high-precision GNSS antennas are active and incorporate Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA)
DGNSS: 0.25 m + 1ppm DGNSS: 0.25 m + 1ppm DGNSS: 0.5 m + 1ppm and coaxial connection ports to the receiver. The signal multipath mitigation problem is addressed
SBAS: submetre SBAS: submetre SBAS: submetre through various proprietary techniques, providing either deflection or absorption of the multipath
Vertical accuracy Static: 5 mm + 0.5 ppm RTK: 8 mm + 1 ppm RTK: 4-5 cm + 1 ppm signal. The former strategy is common for choke ring antennas, while the latter is realised via special
(95%) RTK: 15 mm + 1 ppm PPP: 9 - 20 cm PPP: 20 cm low power components. Support for the Galileo E6 Commercial Service signal is now featured in
PPP: 9 cm DGNSS: 0.5 m + 1ppm DGNSS: 0.5 m + 1ppm many new antenna models (and chipsets). To exploit the capacity of the Galileo E5 signals – which
DGNSS: 0.5 m + 1ppm SBAS: submetre SBAS: submetre are on a wider bandwidth – a new trend has emerged across private and academic sectors. This
SBAS: submetre entails the development of spiral GNSS antennas, which would be more appropriate for high-pre-
Form factor Rugged smart antenna or Rugged smart antenna, Completely integrated cision applications. Furthermore, additional filtering of near-band Iridium and Japanese LTE signals
modular unit with external remote control box handheld device has recently been introduced. Another innovative feature is the integration of Analog-to-Digital
converters inside the antenna body (Trimble DA1), which provides a new convenient type of
antenna and remote
connection via USB.
controller
Antenna Internal or external, active Internal Internal or external The channel-convergence connection
and passive supported The proven relationship between the number of correlation channels and the speed of initialisa-
RTK readiness All Usually yes High-end models only tion (RTK) and convergence (PPP) continues to dictate the GNSS ASIC chipset functionality. Very
PPP readiness High-end models only High-end models only High-end models only large scale integration allows a significant reduction in the energy per channel, thus chipsets with
channels above 400-500 are becoming mainstream.
Disclaimer: The above specifications represent a typical product based on manufacturer’s published literature for their latest products. Consequently,
discrepancies may exist between the installed receiver’s characteristics and those stated above. GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018
62 RECEIVER FORM FACTOR

GNSS TIMING SOLUTIONS DEVELOPED TO RESPOND TO SPECIALISED DEMANDS

TYPICAL STATE-OF-THE-ART RECEIVER SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE TIMING SEGMENT
High-end Timing GNSS
GNSS Timing Board for
Features Receiver for Critical
Commercial Applications
Infrastructures
Dimensions 100 x 50 x 20 1 Rack Unit
Number of channels Around 24 channels More than 100 channels
Constellations Two constellations (inc. GPS) Multi Constellations

© Gettyimages
Frequencies Single frequency (L1) Single frequency (L1), some are
multi-frequency
Time Accuracy 50 ns 50 ns
Frequency reference Frequency Accuracy (24h avg.): Frequency Accuracy GNSS Timing receivers can range from OEM boards for commercial applications to high-end final
<±1×10-12 (24h avg.): <±1×10-12 solutions in a chassis rack. Each solution is developed to ensure the optimum value proposal in
Short Term Stability: Short Term Stability: a specific targeted market. There is therefore a plethora of equipment choice and the selection
<1×10-10 * <2x10-11 between the devices is usually a trade-off between accuracy requirements, holdover capabilities,
interfaces and, of course, cost.
Holdover Basic holdover (OCXO) Full holdover (Rb)
±5μs over 24 hour ± 1.1 µs over 24 hours
Accuracy level and holdover are critical aspects
Output interfaces 10 MHZ, 1 PPS, NMEA, IRIG 10 MHz, 1 PPS, IRIG to consider when selecting a Timing solution
NTP, IEEE-1588v2 (PTP), SNTP
In nominal conditions with adequate access to GNSS signals, the timing solution can achieve around
Operating temperature range -40/85°C -40/85°C 50 ns time accuracy and ±1×10-12 frequency accuracy. In addition to the different dimensions, the
Antenna External, active and passive External, active and passive high-end timing solutions and OEM cards for commercial applications propose distinct holdover
supported supported capabilities. The holdover oscillator has a significant impact on the equipment performance, and
Smart antennas being therefore the price. A basic OCXO oscillator can run in holdover for 3-4 hours with acceptable
developed performance, while an atomic clock can perform for up to 4-5 months, fulfilling for instance tele-
communications` Primary Reference Time Clock (PRTC) specifications. The oscillator choice usually
Disclaimer: The above specifications represent a typical product based on manufacturer’s published literature for their latest products. Consequently,
discrepancies may exist between the installed receiver’s characteristics and those stated above. accounts for 10% to 50% of the total cost of the solution.

Interfaces and protocols influence the performance of the overall network

GNSS Timing receivers usually offer analog signal interfaces (10 MHz and 1 PPS), as well as serial
interfaces. The most widely used interfaces are IRIG-B output or NMEA+PPS port, which provide
accuracies close to 1µs but only for point-to-point connections.

Moreover, high-end GNSS receivers also offer Ethernet interfaces. In this configuration, GNSS
receivers act as time providers and include network protocols to distribute time over Ethernet
links. The main interest of this approach is that the GNSS Timing solution can distribute time over
© Gettyimages

a large distance and to a large number of units. The performance is significantly related to the
protocol used (SNTP, NTP or PTP), the network architecture, and the number of clients connected
to the device. For instance, one NTP server can handle up to 100,000 clients.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 63

THE SURVEYING SEGMENT BENEFITS LARGELY FROM THE MODERNISATION OF THE GNSS SIGNAL STRUCTURE
AND CHIPSET DESIGN

The trends in survey-grade GNSS receiver design continue to access to NTRIP caster services, or RTK correction exchange via significantly, and as of recently can be even performed to the
follow closely the evolution of chipset technology, as well as TCP/IP. required accuracy in environments that were previously impossible,
the modernisation of all GNSS constellations. Several major e.g. densely built urban areas.
Recent developments in anti-jamming, interference detection
benefits for surveying may be outlined.
and multipath mitigation provide additional benefits when
Prices go down!
surveying in dense urban areas with an abundance of unwanted
Evolution of GNSS methods and services near-band signals. Pushed by the versatility of user requirements, the division
All major GNSS survey component manufacturers are embed- between handheld, modular and smart antenna receiver design
The major component manufacturers continuously develop
ding the full GNSS frequency spectrum, including signals continues to dominate the GNSS survey market. The quality/
better algorithms for multipath mitigation and continuous
without publicly available Interface Control Documentation price ratio is continuously improving however, especially with
tracking during GNSS signal outages. Lowering the power
(e.g. BeiDou B3, GLONASS L3 CDMA and Galileo E6). This trend the emerging Chinese receiver manufacturers in the market.
consumption and extension of the product life cycle is yet
significantly benefits the Three Carrier Ambiguity Resolution Full 3D positioning via GNSS+INS is becoming more and more
another factor, pushing forward the design of survey-grade
(TCAR) and Extra-wide laning algorithms, which yield faster affordable. Survey-grade GNSS receivers are now available at
GNSS chipsets. With capacity of on-board data storage reaching
TTFF (RTK), faster convergence (PPP), and better ionosphere prices below €4,000. Moreover, the trend for many govern-
up to 16-32 GB, static GNSS campaigns or other applications,
refraction elimination among other benefits. Component ment-owned NRTK networks is the provision of unlimited
which produce large amounts of data are more independent
manufacturers are themselves becoming either PPP service high-precision services either for free, or at a low fee.
and secured against data loss.
providers, or team up with these, and consequently embed
dedicated proprietary functionality in their chipsets (e.g. RTX
and OmniSTAR – Trimble; TerraStar – Novatel, Septentrio, Leica
Optimised user interface
Geosystems; StarFire – Navcom), thus providing an optimal Unlike several years ago, a user-friendly web interface console
combination of RTK and PPP in a single chipset. This approach is currently provided by every major component manufacturer
is extremely practical for surveying in areas without sufficient of GNSS OEM chipsets for the survey segment. This provides the
cellular coverage (remote regions, border areas, etc.) where ability to fully manage the receiver remotely, e.g. monitor its
NRTK methods are not available, but a high-precision satellite status, configuration, check for firmware updates, manage secu-
L-Band correction signal provides an instant backup option rity access levels, and others. Some receivers have built-in cloud
for surveyors. connectivity, providing seamless data exchange between field
and office (via FTP push), and even password-secured anti-theft
Benefits from optimised receiver form factor protection. Survey-grade receivers are frequently equipped with
LINUX operating systems as a standard runtime environment.
The availability of channels, which some component manufac-
This provides many intelligent options, including operation via
turers embed into their products, is now reaching over 400-500
LED displays available in some smart antennas and modular
for a single chipset – more than enough to support all current
receiver designs.
GNSS constellations and signals. Apart from the abundant
channel availability, which is apparently well-developed now,
Enhanced multi-sensor integration
standard high-precision chipsets provide connection to a single
antenna, dual antennas for heading, or dual antennas + INS for More and more manufacturers are integrating e-bubbles, incli-

© Gettyimages
full 3D positioning in dynamic or constrained environments. nometers, gyro sensors and magnetometers in the receiver design,
The majority of the rover surveying receivers are produced with providing options for tilted measurements when necessary.
built-in cellular internet functionality, which provide seamless Thus the capacity of many surveying applications has increased

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

64 DRIVERS & TRENDS

A GROWING POTENTIAL FOR HIGH PRECISION SOLUTIONS DELIVERED THROUGH MASS MARKET DEVICES
The high-precision segment penetrates the cloud
Cloud-based GNSS data correction services, and the utilisation of Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology for mass market
devices, are innovative multipurpose high-precision trends, which are a direct consequence of the evolution of the IT sector. A
number of companies provide affordable high-precision GNSS correction services in the cloud, available either for professional
or general devices. These services are referred to as Positioning-as-a-service (PAAS) and are realised in two general concepts:

• PAAS for professional GNSS receivers – the concept is applicable for segments such as mapping and GIS, surveying, and
autonomous vehicles, etc. Data streams, consisting of DGNSS, NRTK, PPP or RTK corrections (depending on the subscription
level), are input in a dual- or multi-frequency GNSS receiver. The resulting accuracy levels are down to 1 cm, albeit with variable
initialisation times, depending on the quantity of the underlying GNSS infrastructure. As an example, SwiftNav Navigation
introduced the SkyLark service in 2018, which provides the GNSS receivers of its proprietary vehicle with fast initialisation
across several metropolitan cities in the USA.

• PAAS for mass-market devices – this approach utilises a mass market mobile device’s generic motherboard via dedicated
service apps, which basically transform it into a GNSS receiver, capable of receiving a cloud-based correction stream and
performing baseband processing on the host CPU. In terms of speed, TTFF, noise, and other relevant parameters, the software
GNSS approach is still inferior compared to the classic ASIC chipsets. However, the SDR technology is finally on the market,
and aims to eventually replace the baseband processing done by the typical OEM chipset in fields like mapping and GIS,
surveying, forestry, and many others. Such minimal cost, low power, software-based GNSS receivers are now available in the
market, e.g. as developed by Galileo Satellite Navigation (GSN) for the Cadence Tensilica Fusion F1 digital signal processor.
© GSA

Trimble provides accurate positioning as a service

Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd (PDP) had a problem. As an environmental
engineering agency in New Zealand, they work on projects of varying size,
complexity, and sensitivity. Accuracy is crucial for their work. Relying on
phone-based GPS is simply not reliable or accurate enough, but purchas- the data and precise measurements in the field and can scale the service up
ing professional survey systems for their field crew was not cost-effective and down as their requirements change. Once a job is completed, the Catalyst
either. Hiring another company to do it may have solved the problem once, subscriptions can be shut off and the antennas can be put on the shelf to wait
but they were undoubtedly going to have to face this issue again. They for the next opportunity to be used.
discovered Trimble Catalyst, a GPS receiver available as a subscription for
For more information on Trimble Catalyst visit catalyst.trimble.com.
Android devices. With Catalyst, they have been able to provide a low-cost,
© Trimble

high-accuracy GPS solution to their field teams. They can quickly capture Testimonial provided by the company

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 65

NEW OPPORTUNITIES ON THE HORIZON THANKS TO UPCOMING FREE HIGH ACCURACY

The evolution of GNSS-based solutions in the high-precision segments is driven by the demanding
performance requirements, the increasing competition that puts signifcant strain on prices, and
the need for integrated solutions that make the best of different technologies (incl. IMUs, LIDAR,
Field Aware Navigation and Timing Authentication
etc.). Thus, users seeking decimetre to centimetre accuracy are primarily resorting to RTK solutions,
Sensor for Timing Infrastructure and Centimetre
or when these are not available (e.g. in marine environments or in rural areas lacking access to RTK
level positioning (FANTASTIC)
networks) they turn to PPP. Recognising the importance of continuous access to high-accuracy FANTASTIC will deliver a further leap for high-precision GNSS applications at two levels simul-
solutions, the benefits of Galileo HAS from the offer of such a PPP-based service include: taneously – receiver and antenna.
• Receiver horizontal positioning accuracy of 20 cm. The GNSS receivers developed in the FANTASTIC project will bring several innovations in
• Global coverage, including high latitudes. advanced GNSS tracking for interference and spoofing mitigation (both via OS-NMA and E6).
• Use of Galileo E6 data channel for augmentation message broadcast. Additionally, the FANTASTIC receiver will include sensor fusion for high-accuracy availability
• Possible regional enhancement by ionospheric corrections to reduce convergence time. and resilience. The developed antenna will deliver increased availability of the high-accuracy
measurements (by appropriate polarisation and space domain processing), as well as exhibit
The service will be provided for free, in line with the trend observed by national CORS networks
increased spoofing protection. Despite these features, the antenna will remain competitive
in some EU countries or by regional systems (e.g. QZSS). This approach is expected to give rise to
from a cost perspective.
new opportunities for innovative services and business models.
The receiver-antenna user equipment will leverage Galileo’s differentiators for three concrete
use case scenarios:
• Construction machine and tractor control – Galileo-specific signal features are exploited to
QZSS starting the operational provision of regional augmentation services enable the improvement of RTK availability and reliability, mainly in harsh environments
With the launch of two satellites in 2017, the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) achieved where the received signal impairments can be mitigated.
the objective of a four-satellite constellation with the first fully operational services starting in 2018.
• Trusted GNSS-based Timing for infrastructures - A first step towards secure commercial
Three of the four satellites follow an inclined geosynchronous orbit products will be made by implementing time authentication, as well as spoofing detection
(IGSO) that traces a north-south asymmetrical figure of eight. and mitigation algorithms based on Galileo’s authenticated signals.
QZS-1 Although optimised for coverage over Japan, the orbit also
• Galileo HAS-based Precise Positioning-Innovations introduced in this project will be based
QZS-3 covers parts of Australia at its widest arc, while its path narrows
on the processing of the Galileo high accuracy service which, with its enhanced navigation
and virtually 'hovers' over Japan. The fourth, geostationary,
message, is expected to improve current PPP performance.
satellite will augment the system and provide disaster
QZS-6
QZS-4
QZS-7
messaging services.

QZS-2 The system transmits GPS-compatible signals (L1/L2/L5).

Additionally, QZSS-specific signals are transmitted in L1, L5
QZS-5
and L6 to enable the Sub-metre Level Augmentation Service
(SLAS) and - in L6 - the Centimetre Level Augmentation
Service (CLAS).
Several application sectors are expected to benefit from QZSS
services, including precision control of autonomous tractors in
agriculture, machinery used in large-scale construction, and drones employed in delivering goods

© FANTASTIC
to the small islands of Japan.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

66 DRIVERS & TRENDS

HIGH DEGREE OF SPECIALISATION IN PROFESSIONAL-GRADE RECEIVERS TO MEET DEMANDING REQUIREMENTS

Within the high-precision segment, a continuous trend for all Construction: engineering, machine control and marine GNSS signal monitoring
component manufacturers is the provision and enhancement
The major trend for all GNSS solutions within this group is the Scientific applications for evaluation of the ionosphere and its
of specific solutions for every workflow, mostly by embedding
provision of full connectivity between all relevant workflow negative effects on critical GNSS applications (e.g. aviation in
and integrating common chipsets in a huge variety of
segments – field, machine/vessel, and office. Receivers are areas close to the Earth’s magnetic poles), especially during its
designs, dedicated to different job aspects. Those solutions
equipped with wide-range WiFi, cloud-based service manage- recent active state (24th solar maximum), are fostering the devel-
are mainly distinguished by specific firmware and software
ment, and other connectivity services. The main receiver features opment of specific GNSS architecture. Dedicated high-rate (up
within versatile robust packaging.
are determined by the nature of the operating environment. to 50 Hz) data logging, multi-frequency chipsets with amplitude
Receiver are housed in metal (typically magnesium) cases that and phase scintillation indices output, and Total Electron Content
Surveying comply with the most stringent industry and military tests for (TEC) monitoring capabilities are designed to meet the need of
Solutions for surveying are typically characterised by a fully inte- vibration and water/dust protection. These rugged receivers are this small, yet important segment.
grated design (receiver, antenna and controller) or smart antenna available as modular or as smart antennas.
design (receiver and antenna only). Receivers are equipped with a
Machine-control GNSS receivers are usually manufactured as
CORS networks
multi-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS chipset, Tx/Rx internal
smart antennas, supporting cabled connectivity with a controller Receivers within this category typically have a modular design. A
radio and/or a cellular modem to receive/send (rover or base
inside the operator’s cabin, from where manual or automatic currently trending feature is the multi-channel, multi-frequency
station) RTK/N-RTK corrections. Power is supplied through at
hydraulic control over the machine’s instruments is performed. and multi-constellation GNSS chipset, integrated with the full
least one rechargeable battery and in some cases external power
Marine construction receivers are additionally characterised by variety of I/O formats and communication protocols available.
supply. A current trend is the integration of additional sensors
some specific tasks, requiring real-time data transfer (usually The critical component is the multifunctional Ethernet, which
(e-bubble, inclinometers), which foster surveying productivity in
via multiport output of NMEA-0183 and/or 1 PPS) to sonars, usually supports Power over Ethernet (PoE), HTTP, HTTPS, TCP/IP,
the field. High-end surveying receivers are capable of dedicated
RF filtering of satellite phone signals (e.g. Iridium), which are a UDP, FTP, NTRIP Caster, NTRIP Server, NTRIP Client, Proxy server,
PPP correction input (depending on the component manufac-
frequent reason for GNSS outages on vessels, and offshore-spe- Routing table, Email Alerts and File Push, Position Monitoring,
turer’s strategy) via both IP and L-Band. On the software side,
cific L-Band PPP services. and IP Filtering, among others. These features are of the utmost
surveying GNSS solutions provide elaborate user-friendly func-
importance for the availability and reliability of the services of a
tions for measurements, stakeout, and libraries with coordinate
CORS network, which are, in turn, utilised in surveying, construc-
systems and datum transformations.
tion, mapping and GIS, agriculture and others.
Agriculture
Agriculture is characterised by the utilisation of smart-antenna GNSS-based data capture at the highest level Model), which is captured during summer
machine-control GNSS devices. High-precision capacity is with aerial imaging systems like the Leica
provided by either single RTK base stations (usually of modular Leica Geosystems' modern land surveying technology, Leica iCON ALS80-HP LiDAR sensor, photogramme-
design), connection to CORS networks, or IP/L-Band, EGNOS and alpine provides a GNSS-based solution for measuring and posi- try solutions or GNSS rovers like the Leica
PPP services. Smartphone and handheld GNSS receivers play a tioning tasks in the construction of ski resort infrastructure, where GS18 T.
complementary role, usually for field checks from metre down maintaining snow and using it in an optimal way is a challenge.
to decimetre accuracy. While the receiver design does not differ At the start of the winter season, the DTM helps the ski resort
significantly from those in other segments (common chipsets are Known for innovative product and solution development, pro- operator calculate the amount of snow needed to reach the
used with same multi-frequency and multi-constellation support, fessionals spanning many industries trust Leica Geosystems optimal snow height. Using the saved terrain model, iCON alpine
channel availability, etc.), the segment provides a vast variety for all their geospatial needs. shows in real-time the snow height under the blade and tracks.
of software solutions, developed specifically for every major This includes winter sport areas, The required accuracy is guaranteed by a local reference station or
task in the field – from land preparation, planting and seeding, which increasingly rely on mod- a reference network service, such as HxGN SmartNet, resulting in
to spraying, irrigation, harvesting, and water supply manage- ern GNSS technology for efficient a safe, accurate and functioning slope. With precise and accurate
ment among others. As cloud-based remote control of all GNSS slope management. The basis for instruments, sophisticated software, and trusted services, Leica
receivers is essential to maximise field production, the trends in accurate snow management is Geosystems delivers value every day to those shaping the future
GNSS receiver design within this group is rich connectivity and a detailed DTM (Digital Terrain of our world, even atop its highest peaks.
communication functionalities.
© Leica

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 67

INTEGRATION OF SOLUTIONS DRIVES THE PROFESSIONAL MARKETS

Combining the best of different technologies in a single solution Surveying hard-to-reach areas with drones
The need to perform complex, high-precision operations in diverse and often difficult environments Surveyors have been quick in recognising benefits from the use of drones across a wide range of
has been driving the emergence of integrated solutions in the market. Thus, beyond making the surveying activities. Their use is generally considered a low-cost, high-yield solution that enables:
best use of the possibilities arriving in the multi-constellation and multi-frequency context, several
• Increased access to areas that are hard to reach by other means. This applies to areas with
solutions rely on the integration of GNSS with other technologies (IMU, total stations, Lidar). In that
complex topographical features, which can be accurately mapped using drones equipped with
regard, interoperability at hardware level is coupled with the ability to access the appropriate tool
Lidar or other optical sensors.
from a single software interface, thus allowing users to switch seamlessly (e.g. between GNSS and
total station in topographic surveys, and stakeout at large construction sites). Integration with • Significant reduction of surveying time. Drones gather data from the sky - in the form of
other sensors is also critical for hydrographic surveys since bathymetry is typically performed by geo-referenced digital aerial images taken from different angles. When equipped with survey-
multi-beam echo sounders (MBES) or Lidar, with GNSS providing the exact position of (the sensor grade GNSS RTK receivers, drones are effectively acting as flying rovers receiving corrections
on) the vessel or aircraft respectively, and INS providing its orientation. from the base station, and collecting vast amounts of highly-accurate data in a very short
timeframe (as compared to conventional ground methods).
All-in-one • Collection of vast quantities of data. Drones can rapidly collect millions of data points with
A common trend across high-precision sectors is that of ‘connected’ operation, allowing a contin- a resolution as sharp as 1.5 cm per pixel. Moreover, drone-mounted cameras can produce
uous communication and data stream between the manager’s office and the in-field workers. continuous filming footage. The collected data can be issued digitally within a few hours after
Thus, managers of large agricultural holdings or construction and mining sites, or supervisors of the survey or, if required, downloaded while still on site.
marine operations and professionals responsible for GNSS/GIS-enabled asset management, require
• Reduced health and safety risks by minimising the need to expose surveying personnel to
all-in-one solutions that enable monitoring, planning and decision-making towards increased
dangerous locations (e.g. unstable slopes, transport routes, etc.)
productivity and cost-optimisation.

From network to user

PPP-RTK solutions constitute an
extension to the PPP concept by NovAtel® Technology: The Benchmark
providing single-receiver users for Truth Trajectory Determination
with information enabling the
Centimetre-level reference systems are a growing necessity for users who are evaluating potential
reduction of convergence times
sensor suites, creating benchmarks for their solutions or generating high-definition (HD) maps.
as compared to that of standard
To achieve the high-accuracy truth trajectory required, especially when addressing autonomy
PPP. Thus, alongside precision
in challenging environments, combining Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Inertial
satellite clocks, ephemeris and
Navigation Systems (INS) is essential.
phase biases, PPP-RTK makes use
of local/regional/national RTK NovAtel’s SPAN® technology combines our OEM GNSS receivers with robust Inertial Measurement
© Gettyimages

networks to provide users with Units (IMUs) to create a tightly-coupled GNSS+INS solution, which provides reliable, continuous
ionospheric and tropospheric 3D position, velocity and attitude – even through temporary GNSS reception outages. Our intel-
delay corrections, allowing them ligent dynamics modelling and patented Antenna Phase Windup technology come together
to perform resolution of ambigui- in firmware options like SPAN Land Vehicle to optimise SPAN performance in fixed wheel land
ties and to achieve cm-level accuracy in significantly reduced time. This approach can benefit several vehicle applications. Users can further optimise the accuracy of SPAN products with best-in-class
application sectors in the high-precision markets, and therefore multiple solutions are currently GNSS+INS Waypoint® post-processing software. NovAtel’s OEM7 receivers come equipped with
under deployment, building on different methods. SPAN to provide the most reliable position all the time. Both receivers and Waypoint Software
support Galileo signals.
Testimonial provided by the company

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

68 DRIVERS & TRENDS

GNSS LIES AT THE CORE OF SMART, CONNECTED AND INTEGRATED AGRICULTURE SOLUTIONS
Faced by continuously growing demand, scarcity of resources and climate change, agriculture Seeing more, knowing more and acting more efficiently
is relying more and more on smart, connected and integrated solutions. This paradigm shift,
The use of remote (and proximal) sensing methods in support of precision agriculture has a long
heralding the advent of Agriculture 4.0, is driven by the increased ability to collect large amounts
history. Its impact however in terms of providing timely and accurate information on several aspects
of data and turn it into informed decisions within an integrated farm management approach.
related to agricultural production has been growing continuously. This is owing to:
Thus, by making use of advancements in Big Data Analytics, IoT connectivity, sensing capabilities
(via satellites, drones or proximal sensors) and robotics, farmers gain an unprecedented level of • The availability of ‘Big Data from Space’ – spearheaded by Copernicus’ free, full and open
knowledge about their crops, livestock and operations. The ‘site-specific’ dimension of this approach data policy, and by the emergence of new EO business models relying on large fleets of
is enabled by GNSS, which enables geolocation of the collected data, precise guidance of the small satellites (e.g. Planet) covering every spot of the Earth daily.
machinery and tracking in a ‘farm-to-fork’ context.
• The increased investment in drone technologies and the relaxation of the regulatory
In that regard, GNSS presents an invaluable component of integrated solutions, driving the digital framework, enabling them to become a viable tool deployed throughout the crop cycle.
revolution in agriculture, supporting the implementation of key regulatory measures (i.e. Common
• The increased availability of hyperspectral cameras developed for agricultural activities,
Agriculture Policy - CAP) and allowing farmers to make their activities more profitable, efficient,
which – through advanced machine learning capabilities – can detect features that no other
safe, and environmentally friendly.
image and certainly no human eye can.
Everything connected! Thus, traditional value chain players and fast-rising venture-backed start-ups are providing farmers
with services that rely on hyperspectral, multispectral or thermal sensors to identify exactly which
IoT technologies are transforming the agricultural world. By enabling the collection, processing
parts of a field lack water or need improvements. Additionally, once a crop is growing, several
and analysis of large amounts of georeferenced, site-specific data, they facilitate the provision of
solutions allow the calculation of the vegetation index, show the heat signature and allow crop
smart solutions designed to provide decision support. This is powered by the proliferation of Big
planting. In all these applications, GNSS is a crucial component as it allows georeferencing of the
Data analytics on the cloud, fast internet everywhere, and advanced inter-connected sensors.
collected data, high accuracy of operations, and even the realisation of profitable business models
(Near) future farming will see farmers accessing and cross-analysing weather, crop or operations-re-
(especially when considering drone-based services in the Beyond Line Of Slight context).
lated information and, eventually, managing their entire agricultural holding on a computer or
mobile device. Data-enabled agriculture is currently the top priority amongst investors, and further
The future is happening now!
supported by major Pan-European initiatives such as Internet of Food and Farm 2020.
As the agriculture sector strains to produce more with fewer resources, the need to embrace the
latest technological trends has led to the emergence of disruptive approaches. Some of these, even
if not fully mature, have been attracting significant amounts of venture capital – often in conjunction
with favourable policy priorities – and are thus worth keeping an eye out for:
• Blockchain*, especially when paired with IoT technologies (involving sensors, RFID tags, or
GNSS authentication) can enable improved product tracking and transparency in supply chains
(e.g. in relation to genetically modified and antibiotic free food), but also decrease transaction
fees in the farming context.
• Nanotechnology-driven precision agriculture involves the utilisation of nanoencapsulated
conventional fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides in order to release nutrient and agrochemical
dosages in a precise and sustained manner.

* A blockchain is a digitised, decentralised and distributed list of records – called blocks, which are linked and secured
using cryptography.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 69

AUGMENTED REALITY ADDS VALUE TO THE WORLD OF HIGH PRECISION

Augmented Reality (AR) has many useful applications, particularly in city planning, construction Future first person view (FPV) drones will show more than just video
and mining. In the high precision market, GNSS receivers already meet the key performance
AR applications relying on the highly accurate position and timing information made available by
parameters required to enable AR. Just as positioning performance can be improved by external
modern GNSS solutions are also making their way into the world of drones.
data, the usefulness of external data can be enhanced by accurate positioning.
This includes, for example, solutions whereby virtual content is integrated in real time into video
In city planning, AR enables project stakeholders to see how a building design will look in its actual
feeds provided by drones. Such technology can have important practical applications. Among
location. During implementation of the project, AR can be used to allow incremental refinements.
others, it can be used to visualise the impact of future buildings on the landscape or for the
This is achieved primarily through visualisation of building models in-situ.
training of drone operators, who will be able to practice delicate manoeuvres using actual drones
In construction, AR permits the overlay of schematics on existing buildings. It also helps project but in safe environments. In operation, it will allow the display of data such as airspace restrictions.
managers to see how everything fits on site before parts are ordered or assembled, thus preventing
In more operational contexts, AR solutions are
errors and reducing costs. Furthermore, AR can drastically improve stakeholder engagement as
benefitting from the fusion of data from multiple
a tool to showcase what it is being built (presenting the end-product) and how the structure will
sensors (e.g. advanced thermal cameras) that
benefit or impact its surroundings. In this context, a growing number of companies are developing
ensure drone operators have access to informa-
their own wearables to support AR applications in construction. This has given rise to mixed reality
tion that is not available in the visual spectrum. In
(MR) solutions – an advanced form of AR – blending real-world objects with digital content, inter-
this regard, a prime example is firefighting where
actively, and in real-time. In this case, different vendors are offering solutions in conjunction with
AR is used to superimpose critical data over the
Microsoft Hololens – the most popular wearable.
video image, such as high-resolution digital
In mining, an early adopter, the application of digital-data visualisation into the real world can terrain models and a 3D hologram of the fire.
improve productivity, safety and even machinery uptime. Mining industry pioneers are using AR/MR Another example is disaster response, where
solutions in several aspects of mining operations; from defining the mining area, to environmental information overlaid via AR onto drone-captured
licensing scenarios, and even closure of a mining site. video of flooded areas can help more effective

© Gettyimages
response or relief activities.

LARA
Powerful and affordable mobile computing
devices combined with cheap dual-fre-
quency chipsets developed for the mass market are blurring the lines between professional
and consumer devices. LARA – the LBS Augmented Reality Assistive System for Utilities Infra-
structure Management through Galileo and EGNOS – has been working on the development
of a new mobile device that provides field workers in underground utilities with the ability to
‘see beneath the ground’. The device combines GNSS technology (Galileo and EGNOS), 3D GIS
technology, and geospatial databases with computer graphics and Augmented Reality in order
to render complex 3D models of underground networks – be it sewage pipes, gas conduits or
electricity cables. The project was concluded in 2017; its outputs are now being commercialised
through the implementation of the corresponding business plan.
© Gettyimages

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

70 DRIVERS & TRENDS

GIS GRADE RECEIVER TESTING CAMPAIGN YIELDS POSITIVE PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Approximately one year after the declaration of Galileo Initial Services, the GSA opened a call at medium latitude (Rome) and with a very mild ionospheric activity. As a consequence, the
for interest in a testing campaign of GIS grade receivers. Several manufacturers expressed their expected added value of multi-GNSS cannot be evidenced (open sky), and neither the advan-
interest and are participating. The testing campaign, using live signals, will continue until the end tages of an ionosphere-free solution (low ionospheric activity), nor those of the high E5a/L5
of 2018. chipping rate (low multipath) are visible. Rather, these results evidence between receivers differ-
ences as large as between configurations differences, so that no conclusion can be drawn on
The objective is not only to evaluate the performance of the receivers, but also to assess the added
these questions. However, they already show that, although the Galileo constellation is not yet
value of Galileo through testing different receiver configurations (from singe constellation, single
fully deployed, Galileo accuracy performance achieves GPS levels, both in single and multiple
frequency to multi-frequency, multi-constellation, combined with RTK or DGNSS) in different envi-
frequency cases.
ronmental conditions.
More challenging scenarios - Urban and Under Tree Canopies - are under assessment, and prelim-
The final goal is to properly estimate specific Key Performance Parameters commonly used by the
inary results confirm that multi-constellation (GPS + Galileo) accuracy outperforms single constel-
GIS community, such as Positioning Error and Time To First Fix.
lation (GPS only) accuracy. Regarding the ionospheric errors we do not expect any significant
The results available so far are summarised in the figure below. The data have been collected in change of the situation, so the analysis of multi-frequency data sets will focus on E5a/L5 multipath
an “open sky” scenario in static mode, single point positioning (RTK and DGNSS yet to be run), discrimination capability and how various receiver models benefit from it.

OPEN SKY SCENARIO: 95 PERCENTILE OF 3D ACCURACY PER RECEIVER

16
95 Percentile of 3D Accuracy [m]

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
GPS L1 GAL E1 GLO L1 GPS GAL GLO GPS GAL GPS GLO L1 GPS GAL GLO GPS GAL GPS GLO All GPS GAL GLO
All Freqs All Freqs All Freqs L1/E1 L1/E1 All Freqs Freqs All Freqs

Receiver 1      Receiver 2      Receiver 3      Receiver 4

Open sky Under tree canopies Urban

Tests in the field are

In an OPEN SKY environment, Galileo-only acquisition
performed in different
and accuracy is as good as GPS-only.
scenarios.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 DRIVERS & TRENDS 71

ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY DRIVE TIMING DEVELOPMENTS

Providing ever better timing performance TYPICAL HOLDOVER CAPABILITY OF TIMING RECEIVER USED IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Even if GNSS receivers already provide very high-performance timing and 3 3 3 3 3 3 >3
Oscillator Maintaining <1msc
synchronisation solutions, improving accuracy remains a continuous chal- mins hrs days wks mths yrs yrs
lenge for manufacturers; precise calibration of the antenna position is used to TCXO
improve timing accuracy, the possibility to compensate antenna cable delays,
Low Spec OCXO
through receiver configuration, is proposed, and algorithms are implemented
to reduce time-pulse jitter. All these improvements allow smoother and more High Spec OCXO
accurate timing solutions from GNSS, even in single frequency. Low Spec Rb
Whilst many receiver manufacturers now propose multi-constellation capabil- High Spec Rb
ities (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and BeiDou) to improve availability and reliability, Source: K. Kovach et al., "GPS Receiver Impact from the UTC Offset (UTCO) Anomaly of 25-26 January 2016", ION GNSS+ 2016, Portland, Oregon.
the provision of dual-frequency GNSS – although currently marginal – is also
increasingly considered not only in the high-end timing receiver market, but
also in medium-end receivers to eliminate ionospheric effects. To limit the
The other side of the T&S receiver story is the local oscillator, which is specified to match the time and phase of the reference
impact on receiver costs, some manufacturers also work on innovative solu-
(master) oscillator (i.e. steered by GNSS). The local oscillator determines both the time precision that the receiver can achieve,
tions to minimise ionospheric effects in single-frequency, such as NeQuick
and the length of time it can operate without GNSS signals (holdover time).
model implementation.
Many developments for smaller and stable oscillators
Improving protection against failure
Local oscillators strongly affect the cost of the receiver and are built around two technologies: atomic and crystal. Atomic
In January 2016, a software upload to US GPS satellites induced a 13-micro-
oscillators typically have several orders of magnitude less uncertainty than the cheaper crystal oscillators. Uncertainty
second misalignment in timing. This seemingly insignificant difference was
is typically expressed both in terms of short term stability and the longer term ‘ageing rate’, which results in the require-
far greater than the maximum tolerance for error in many applications, and
ment to regularly synchronise to GNSS. Atomic
resulted in loss of synchronisation in several systems, including power grids
clocks are historically very bulky and consume OSCILLATOR PERFORMANCE VS. POWER
and financial institutions. The need to protect receivers against these types of
a relatively large amount of power (typically Source: Chip scale atomic clocks, Svenja Knappe, NIST
failures is therefore driving the development of Advanced T-RAIM algorithms,
designed to fit in computer server racks). The 10-7
and the implementation of SBAS such as EGNOS, which remained stable and
recent development of commercially available TCXO
properly synchronised to UTC during the 2016 GPS anomaly.
chip-scale atomic clocks therefore provides a 103
Towards more traceability compelling option for applications that demand MCXO

Frequency Stability at 1 Day

10-9

Timing Error at 1 Day (µs)

high timing accuracy or holdover capability, a OCXO
There exists an increasingly strong market demand for traceable and certi-
small form factor and low power consumption. DOCXO
fied time. Formal traceability to UTC and timing liability, however, cannot be 101
This is vital for robustness as interference for
ensured by GNSS receivers only, with the unique recognised providers of legal
example, can be addressed by entering hold- 10-11 CSAC Compact
time being the National Metrology Laboratories (NMIs) participating in the
over, but only if the oscillator provides sufficient Rubidium
UTC calculation performed by the BIPM. Nevertheless, in order to meet the 10-1
accuracy for the application’s requirements until
demand of several users such as the finance industry, various initiatives have
the interference has passed. At the other end of 10-13
been launched to provide Time-as-a-service, promising Time traceability and IMPACT High-Perf Cesium
the size and power consumptions scale, current Space Rb
certification such as NPLTime or DEMETRA. These solutions rely on several
research and development into optical clocks, Battery 10-3
complementary techniques including GNSS. Passive
and using lasers to cool atoms, promise the Operable
10-15 H Maser
More info is available from: www.npl.co.uk/commercial-services/products- potential for reducing the uncertainty by further
and-services/npltime and from: www.demetratime.eu orders of magnitude. 0.1 1 10 100
Power (W)

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

72 DRIVERS & TRENDS

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE APPLICATIONS REQUIRE MORE RESILIENCE TO MITIGATE SECURITY THREATS

Precise time is crucial to a great variety of economic activities worldwide such as communication interference monitoring. Even if more recent, the development of solutions to provide robustness
systems, electric power grids, and financial networks. Increasing robustness of these systems is against spoofing is also becoming the norm; it includes constellation and frequency agility, the
therefore high on the agenda of the GNSS Timing industry. use of an advanced T-RAIM algorithm (or Time Synchronisation Attack Rejection and Mitigation
– TSARM), but also signal processing techniques (e.g. C/N0 monitoring, time jump monitoring).
GNSS Timing receivers are increasingly designed and built for robustness Active antennas with selective angular steering patterns are also increasingly considered for both
jamming and spoofing mitigation. Once jamming or spoofing are detected, a good holdover capa-
The first level of defence against GNSS threats is ensured by implementing best practices at
bility is crucial to provide resilience.
receiver level. Protection against jamming is provided by several interference detection and
mitigation solutions, often based on proprietary solutions, such as notch filters or wide band
Networking can help to mitigate cyber security threats
Network capabilities can be used to complement the strengthening of the whole system. For
instance, a network provides point-to-point comparison with another external source. Moreover,
network hierarchy can be used to re-route synchronisation or make a decision to maintain an
isolated sub-network.

Galileo-based synchronisation
for critical infrastructure

For many critical infrastructures from different industry sectors like telecoms, power, finance,
Orolia-Spectracom adding resiliency
broadcasting, defence and traffic/transportation, Meinberg's GNS181 receiver is a powerful
to Time Sensitive Networks (TSN)
and reliable time and frequency synchronisation solution. The GNS181-based clock module
can use up to three different GNSS constellations in parallel, supporting Galileo, GPS, GLONASS
Time sensitive networks (TSN) use an enhanced data link layer to minimise latency and uncer-
and BeiDou. It is fully compatible with Meinberg's Intelligent Modular Synchronisation (IMS)
tainty in time transfer and time stamping of data and events to process critical information. It
product family. The IMS-GNS181 clock module can easily be added as a second, redundant
nurtures the exponential development of digital economy.
clock module to an already deployed IMS system or can replace an existing clock module as
the primary source of time and frequency. GNSS is the most widely spread source feeding TSN through IEEE 802.1AS using Precise Time
Protocol. GNSS timing receiver are the key interface between the external world and TSN. Galileo
The IMS platform makes it possible to com-
is the easiest, most accurate way to access public and traceable timing source for critical TSN.
bine a large number of input and output
cards with the GNS181 receiver, allowing
Timing GNSS receiver must detect and manage GNSS signal disturbance. Orolia-Spectracom, as
the use of Galileo as a time and frequency
a leader in critical infrastructure timing solutions, has included in their GNSS receivers Broad-
synchronisation reference in many different
Shield, a smart threat detection algorithm able to notify the network operator of jamming and
environments. Different chassis form factors
spoofing. Mitigation action can be automatically engaged to switch over other external timing
share the same modules and make it possible
sources such as LORAN, Low Earth Orbit STL service or rely on an embedded high performance
to adapt an IMS system to fulfil almost any
oscillator. BroadShield is also ready for the forthcoming Navigation Message Authentication
synchronisation requirement, regardless of
service that will be a unique feature delivered by Galileo.
application.
Orolia-Spectracom timing products are benefiting from such resiliency to provide TSN timing
you can trust.
Testimonial provided by the company Testimonial provided by the company

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 E-GNSS ADDED VALUE 73

EUROPEAN GNSS BOOST HIGH PRECISION APPLICATIONS PERFORMANCE

Applications included in the “high-precision and timing solutions” macrosegment are the most demanding from a performance viewpoint.
There is therefore a strong willingness from users to employ new technological solutions able to ease their professional activities, while
technology providers are continuously innovating to differentiate their products. From this perspective, Galileo and EGNOS represent a
key differentiator to improve accuracy, availability, integrity, resilience and robustness.
In terms of accuracy, Galileo will support demanding users through the delivery of the Galileo HAS. Thus, the Galileo HAS - provided free of
charge – will deliver PPP corrections globally via E6 (no additional communication channel needed) and its triple frequency will enable faster
Maxim’s latest generation multi-
convergence time, thus shortening the time needed to get a first accurate fix. Additionally, users will benefit from using the E6B signal for
constellation/multi-band GNSS
tri-laning, allowing for greater reliability and enhanced accuracy. For timing users, the addition of Galileo satellites will contribute to ensuring
front-end enables the highest
that the most challenging requirements in terms of accuracy are met, including 5G requirements.
level of performance and flexibility
The addition of Galileo satellites to the ones tracked by multi-GNSS receivers also enhances service availability. This is especially useful in Maxim’s latest MAX2771 GNSS front-end is a
difficult environments where fewer satellites are normally visible. Furthermore, by leveraging full E5 AltBOC, the multipath rejection will be single-conversion, low-IF GNSS receiver specifically
improved as well as the performance under tree canopy. For timing applications, this is of special relevance, since the addition of Galileo would targeting the highest performance applications.
improve integrity and ensure availability of the Timing Service should other GNSS experience major outages. Designed on Maxim’s advanced, low-power SiGe
BiCMOS process technology, the MAX2771 supports
Robustness is also enhanced by Galileo; its authentication features will help mitigate external threats such as spoofing. Especially as the
all the GNSS/RNSS and their frequencies. Incorpo-
Galileo SAS will include the first-ever GNSS spreading code encryption capability for purely civil purposes, increasing the security of profes-
rated on the chip is the complete receiver chain,
sional applications by giving users confidence that they are using signals and data from actual satellites, and not from another source. This is
including a dual input LNA and mixer, followed by
of special interest in the timing & synchronization domain, since it may enable the development of innovative applications, including based
filter, PGA and multi-bit ADC, along with a fraction-
on time stamping.
al-N frequency synthesizer, and crystal oscillator.
EGNOS on the other hand has already proven its usefulness among professional users, owing to its capability of providing an affordable and
The MAX2771 completely eliminates the need for
easy-to-use solution offering the sub-metre accuracy needed to support many entry-level applications, such as mapping and precision farming.
external IF filters by implementing on-chip mono-
Finally, EGNOS integrity fulfils the user need of understanding the degree of fidelity of a measurement, by adding a level of confidence to the
lithic filters. The programmable filter allows for
positioning and timing information provided.
bandwidths from 2.4MHz up to 36MHz providing
the ability to support narrowband as well as wide-
E-GNSS CONTRIBUTION TO KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS band carriers (such as Galileo E5) making the device
EGNOS contribution** Galileo contribution** especially suited for precision applications.
Key Performance
[High precision/Timing and [High precision/Timing and To implement a full solution, the MAX2771 can be
Parameter (KPP)*
Synchronisation] Synchronisation] connected to a microcontroller running the GNSS
Availability •••/•• baseband software in order to implement a soft-
ware-based receiver. Alternatively, the ADC samples
Accuracy ••/ ••/•• from the MAX2771 could be input to an FPGA with
an embedded microprocessor. The lower-level
Continuity •••/••• baseband processing can be done using the FPGA
Integrity •••/••• circuitry, and the higher-level processing imple-
mented in software running on the microprocessor,
Robustness •••/•• ••• /••• for a higher performance, hardware-based solution.
Time To First Fix (TTFF) ••/ Testimonial provided by the company

* The Key Performance Parameters are defined in Annex III

** ••• = major contribution, capable of enabling new GNSS applications •• = medium contribution, enhancing
the user´s experience so benefits (e.g. operational or at cost level) are achieved • = minor contribution, perfor-
mances improved but no major difference at users´ level.
GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018
74

EDITOR’S SPECIAL: AUTOMATION

Characterisation 75
GNSS's role in automation 76
Data fusion 77
AI in automation 78
GNSS in future automation 79-84

© Gettyimages
 CHARACTERISATION AUTOMATION 75

GNSS WILL BE A CRUCIAL SENSOR IN THE AUTOMATED WORLD

Whilst automation may seem like a new phenomenon, it has a long history; indeed the concept of an automaton and even the word itself originated in ancient Greece. Automation deals with
controlling systems and performing tasks automatically, i.e. without human intervention. Throughout the ages, advances in automation have provided huge leaps forward in the quality of human
life, ridding mankind of difficult, dangerous, or tedious tasks. Today we are entering a new era where automation will not only take on simple tasks performed in a well-defined context, but will
be applied to increasingly complex tasks performed in a changing environment, including ‘safety-of-life’ applications such as autonomous operation of unmanned vessels, cars or flying taxis.
Automatic controllers need system state/output information available from different sensors to provide commands to actuators, which act upon the system to drive it towards its desired state.
GNSS will be a crucial sensor in the automated world, whether for synchronising sensors, as the primary positioning sensor for automated transport, or as a tool to calibrate other data sources.
GNSS will be a known quantity in an increasingly complex world of sensors and processing.

THE EVOLUTION OF AUTOMATION

Maritime
Production line Advanced driver Autonomous Level 4 self-driving Level 5 self-driving
automation aids Surface Ships vehicles1 vehicles2

Mechanisation Control theory Autopilots Basic automated Fully automated

drone traffic drone traffic
management management, (U4)

Key performance requirements Assurance demanded

To deliver the required safety, integrity – detecting and alerting if a system has failed to meet the Integrity alone will not allow automation to be realised or, more specifically, to be approved. For
required accuracy – is the first performance parameter. In future automation applications, however, that, the performance in terms of navigation and time must be assured. This means dealing with
this will not be sufficient; a fully self-driving vehicle typically cannot abandon its procedure (e.g. a both unintended and malicious interference to ensure security (especially cybersecurity) as well
plane landing) when a fault is detected, rather the system must be able to adapt and take adequate as safety in the context of an overall solution.
measures to minimize the overall impact on safety. Parameters such as continuity play a role in
Discussing the case of a marine system responding to a spoofing attack, it has been stated that
ensuring that performance is still met for the complete duration required by the application. This
“the appropriate figure of merit is the Integrity Risk (IR), i.e. the probability of the ship’s position
must be the case even in the presence of interference or spoofing; this is referred to as robust-
error exceeding a given alert limit, without raising an alarm3.”
ness. In future, the user experience will need to provide seamless performance during transition
between environments (such as leaving a tunnel). This statement equally applies to other contexts. Approaches to solving this problem focus on
processing independent data from different and redundant sources to form-fused PVT solutions,
The next most important parameter is availability. To succeed, automated systems must match
and on evaluating the level of trust which may be placed on them, combined with some external
or exceed the capability or performance of existing systems. If there are limits on when or where
knowledge (for example map data and historical data).
a system can function this would not be achieved.
Finally, high accuracy is required in most automation applications. For example in the case of an 1 Fully autonomous safety-critical functions, with limited operations (not all scenarios)
autonomous vehicle, it is not sufficient to know which road the vehicle is on as the lane it occupies 2 Fully autonomous system with performance equal to that of a human driver in every scenario
must also be known. 3 Todd Humphries, “Assured Navigation and Timing” ION GNSS17-0213

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

76 AUTOMATION GNSS'S ROLE IN AUTOMATION

GNSS AND AUTOMATION ARE MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL

Some automation needs can be satisfied by augmented GNSS alone. For example, the most The interface of GNSS and automation is not one-way. Automation techniques offer the poten-
stringent aviation Required Navigation Performance (RNP) standards are met by GNSS. These tial to improve GNSS receiver performance. The use of techniques in real time in-receiver, rather
standards must be met autonomously by the Flight Management System to provide the than in post processing, is on the increase.
predictability needed for future operational concepts to be achieved.
Automation enhances GNSS navigation performance
Automation in need of timing and synchronisation Algorithms can augment GNSS by adapting navigation plans to mitigate environmental factors
Controllers need inputs from sensors to assess the state of automated systems and send commands such as multipath, or by utilising historical data to exploit the relationship between environmental
to actuators. The more complex the system is, the higher the diversity and quantity of the sensors. factors and measurements. Such techniques are likely to offer significant performance benefits
Data from these sources must be properly synchronised or time tagged to be used together, and and, as is true of all automation, will present new challenges in testing and assuring safety.
GNSS is the best known tool to achieve this with the required accuracy, which can range from ms
One novel approach addresses multipath for the application of drone delivery by focusing on flight
to ns depending on the applications and their dynamics. For example:
path planning to avoid multipath, rather than eliminating multipath errors in the navigation solu-
• In smart grids thousands of interdependent events impact the network every second, and tion. A 3D model of buildings, combined with GNSS orbital data, is used to predict the occurrence
electricity must be routed correctly to microsecond accuracy. of multipath. A routing algorithm can then be used to plan the optimal route to be followed by
the drones, considering both the multipath and obstacles.
• Autonomous vehicle communications (whether on land, sea, or in the air) for cooperative
sensing and positioning applications require very demanding time and synchronisation accu- Another example uses historical data to relate ionospheric phase scintillation to its effects in the
racy (down to ns level)1. frequency domain. Such an approach allows autonomous detection and response to phase scin-
tillation. Although still in the research and development phase, this provides an excellent example
GNSS is the primary positioning sensor for many automated navigation tasks of the benefits that can be delivered through applying new processing techniques to the rapidly
increasing volume of data available.
Automation has been used to perform navigation tasks for many years, and the current trend
towards ‘autonomous navigation’ is but the last stage of a long term process; indeed autopilots
are widely used in maritime and aviation to follow a specified course, and dynamic positioning
systems are common in marine engineering. These systems require position or speed as an input,
and GNSS is by far the best position and velocity sensor available in most situations. Naturally as the
level of autonomy increases, so do the requirements on the source of PVT information (particularly
with respect to integrity, continuity and overall trust in the results), and GNSS is complemented by
other means to deliver the requested level of performance.

GNSS calibrates other sensors

When GNSS does not meet navigation requirements alone, it works symbiotically with other
sensors. For example, visual odometry systems are subject to drift over time as their error is biased.
As GNSS error is not subject to bias, the combination of the two sensors provides a better solution
than either individual sensor can.

© Gettyimages
1 www.ignss2018.unsw.edu.au/sites/ignss2018/files/u80/Slides/D3-S2-ThA-Hasan.pdf

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 DATA FUSION AUTOMATION 77

FUSION OF MANY DIFFERENT DATA ENABLES AUTOMATION TO FULFIL ITS REQUIREMENTS

The performance required by advanced automation applications can only be achieved through the integration
of many sources of information, combining GNSS, INS, computer vision, and external data such as mapping
layers. As an illustration, in level 5 autonomous cars a system will create its own model of reality with data from
many different sensors, heavily augmented with external information. Ensuring this data is correctly combined
into a coherent solution is the challenge, which must be met across the technology layers; from sensors and Sensor fusion proof of concept for autonomous train
networks, to application programming and any human-machine interfaces. Specification, implementation, localisation using dual chain architecture with an
verification and validation of these layers will need to be rigorous to deliver safe systems. EGNOS aviation receiver and a Galileo road receiver

Fusion of data from the same sources, collected across a network It is highly probable that due to harsh environments, GNSS alone could not reach
improves robustness through data cross-checking the performances requested for the most critical train localisation applications.
To overcome GNSS limitations, Thales, FDC and GeoSat decided to leverage on
In applications such as smart grids, synchronisation is crucial. Such networks typically utilise GNSS for timing
their aviation and road experience and develop and test a proof of concept of
and synchronisation, but any signal disruption could pose a threat to their stability. Fortunately, as sensors are
enhanced GNSS systems dedicated to autonomous train localisation.
organised in a network, there is sufficient redundant data available to validate individual measurements, and to
perform autonomous monitoring for anomalous events. Furthermore, appropriate action (e.g. re-routing) can A proper combination of these two chains, one coming from an “aircraft-based
be performed if a malfunction is detected at one node. In co-operative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) the solution” and a second one coming from an “automotive-compliant system”,
situation is further improved, as receivers are likely to be more diverse, and thus subject to fewer systematic issues together with the use of a railway track database characterising the GNSS envi-
such as firmware vulnerabilities. C-ITS requires vehicles to communicate not only between themselves but also ronment at key measuring points (in order to prevent masking or interference
with fixed infrastructure. The exchanged information will help establish situational awareness between vehicles situations) has been simulated for the first time in a laboratory. This was carried
communicating about conditions and hazards ahead and allowing independent cross-checking of data. out using real Signals-in-Space recorded on railway tracks in France, and then
fully tested on German regional lines.
Hybrid positioning and navigation The solution proved to be very promising, with meaningful results in terms of
To provide precise, reliable and secure localisation in autonomous vehicle applications, multiple navigation tech- both accuracy and integrity monitoring that will be further consolidated in a
nologies must be integrated. Especially in harsh environments, it can be a challenge to ensure correct functioning subsequent activity.
of safety-critical functions such as collision avoidance systems. For cases where mere dead reckoning is not suit- Testimonial provided by the company
able, more novel approaches are in development including coupling of GNSS, radar, camera, INS and signals of
opportunity. Fusion of augmented GNSS and dead reckoning can provide sufficient accuracy for lane level navi-
gation; ultra-tight coupling not only enhances position solutions, but also enables more rapid re-convergence 2D projection radius
of GNSS.

Adding computer vision data to enhance GNSS-INS hybrid solutions Track-determination

GNSS and INS are the two most commonly used techniques for navigation, but both have limitations. GNSS is
dependent on the signals it receives (loss of signal is not unusual in harsh environments) and INS increases its Start
error rapidly over time. Whilst high-end INS systems can maintain suitable accuracy for many applications (and
indeed very high-end systems are used to provide truth data in certain test environments), they are simply too
expensive for the mass market, which uses automotive or consumer grade MEMS based INS delivering much Fork recognition
lower performance. This low accuracy can however be mitigated by integration with fast image processing and
computer vision: image misalignment analysis can be used to address some of the limitations in low cost MEMS
On-track position
sensors and potentially enable more advanced applications.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

78 AUTOMATION AI IN AUTOMATION

AI AND AUTOMATION ARE NOT THE SAME PHENOMENON

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are often seen as the same thing, but in fact they
are different. Automation is used to undertake relatively simple tasks which humans would
normally have to perform, whereas true AI is empowered to make decisions, which implies the Sensor fusion for accuracy, reliability
possibility of influencing safety. and availability. Everywhere. Every time.
Whether it is cars or other unmanned vehicles, autonomous systems require precise and reli-
Who is in charge? able position and attitude information, continuously. The new challenges for robustness and
Automation is present in one form or another within most industries today. It typically increases precision call for a multi-sensor approach, where complementary technologies contribute to
productivity by giving the machine monotonous and repetitive tasks, which can be performed a reliable PNT.
with suitably controlled variance. In this context automation is slave to human instruction, whether
Professional GNSS is a key element of this: GNSS positioning is an epoch-by-epoch technique,
predetermined or via active control. Typically this is based on bespoke algorithms, which are
where each measurement taken is a new measurement, independent of and not influenced
designed for the specific application only. True AI is different; the machine can make its own deci-
by errors in a previous measurement. It relies however on satellite visibility: guaranteeing reli-
sions. AI is not designed and given a set of instructions to follow. Instead it is given training data,
able and accurate PNT with GNSS-only in urban canyons, tunnels, obstructed areas or difficult
from which it seeks patterns and self-selects the appropriate method. This allows AI to generate
working environments such as container yards can be challenging, even with the plethora of
emergent strategies to solve problems, which humans either have not, or could not invent. Exam-
constellations and frequencies.
ples exist firstly in games (computer or board), where the environment and rules are finite and
explicitly known. It is not uncommon for humans to adopt game strategies first invented by AIs. At Septentrio, we design our GNSS solutions with a focus on reliability and availability in addition
From this perspective, many future automation applications may in fact be slave to AI instruction, to accuracy. Smart integration of inertial sensors builds on these strengths to make affordable
rather than human. high-precision positioning and orientation solutions possible for ever more demanding
applications. A 3D orientation and an improved velocity estimation are additional benefits of
The paradox of complexity in mundane tasks a GNSS/INS integration.
Moravec’s paradox states “it is comparatively easy to make computers exhibit adult level perfor- Testimonial provided by the company
mance on intelligence tests or playing checkers, and difficult or impossible to give them the skills
of a one-year-old when it comes to perception and mobility”. As a result, AI is more likely to be
adopted in legal practice than in typical GNSS applications. Nevertheless, examples of AI are under
AI, automation and GNSS
development in the transport domain. Whilst a modern autopilot will return control of an aircraft
to the human pilot when it falls outside of known parameters, future autopilots are likely to assist AI and automation interact with GNSS differently,
human pilots in dealing with failures or unexpected situations – moving away from so-called ‘brittle although in both cases GNSS is used as a sensor for
automation’. This will not be an overnight transformation, but instead a stepwise introduction of the system to help establish PVT knowledge.
new capabilities. The first stage of such technology is already deployed in the US military’s Auto-
• GNSS' role in automation, as discussed in previous
Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) which has recovered control of aircraft when
pages, is primarily that of a PVT sensor supplying
pilots have lost consciousness. AI will also be very important in the future automotive environment
instantaneous input for the system’s control
(see next page). In both these examples, although GNSS will be a key provider of information, it
loops.
will also be one source amongst many that the AI utilises to understand its situation and respond
accordingly. • AI also uses GNSS as an input, in this case to
support high level decision making. Typically
this requires a large dataset to train from through
deep learning. This means AI seeks GNSS data as

© Gettyimages
metadata for their primary dataset, rather than
as an instantaneous measurement.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 GNSS IN FUTURE AUTOMATION AUTOMATION 79

THE FUTURE OF ROAD TRANSPORT FORESEES NO HUMAN INTERVENTION

One area that is blurring the line between AI and automation is self-driving vehicles. Manufac-
turers are currently working on Level 4 (high) and Level 5 (complete) automation of vehicles.
Level 4 automated vehicles will be capable of steering, braking, accelerating, monitoring the
vehicle, the roadway and broader environment under “standard” and safe road conditions.
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. continues to
Level 5 means no human attention is required at all; indeed, such a vehicle would not even
enhance the "Connected Car" experience by including broad support for Galileo and
advanced Location features for Telematics, Emergency Services, Navigation, Cellular V2X
have controls for a human to operate like today.
(C-V2X), ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System), Semi-Autonomous, and Autonomous
driving solutions.
Human out of the control loop
Levels of automation (0 to 5) are guidelines that describe different levels of autonomy in cars, from The automotive segment is rapidly moving towards higher levels of safety, predictability and
a single automated aspect to fully autonomous cars. Level 4 is characterised by hands-off driving autonomy, prompting the need to accommodate new requirements. As such, the availability
which is likely to take place in the early to middle part of the next decade. Level 4 autonomy is not of accurate time information, direction of travel, velocity and precise positioning are becoming
expected to be available in all situations but in carefully defined areas and/or situations – so called requirements. However, because of the challenging environments automobiles frequently
“operational design domains”. A driver is not required in this stage of automation, but tools like encounter, (e.g. dense urban canyons, heavy foliage areas, etc.), where performance is impacted
HD mapping, more timely data, car-to-car communication and off-site call centres will be used to by NLOS or multi-path interference, this level of performance may not always be supported
deal with unusual hazards. Full Level 5 automation will allow the car to handle all on-road situa- in today's vehicles.
tions, everywhere, and with no operational design domain limitations. This will be enabled by high
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon™ automotive platforms features Galileo/EGNOS, enabling OEMs to
frequency data updates, a high volume of data available for exchange, and advanced computers
meet strict automotive requirements for telematics units, emergency services, navigation, V2X,
processing it. The advent of these cars is expected not long after Level 4, potentially around 2030.
ADAS, and semi-autonomous and autonomous driving solutions. The additional support for
multi-frequency GNSS, including GPS (L1+L5) and Galileo (E1 + E5a), is also becoming critical
From automation to autonomy for automotive localisation solutions to aid in reducing ionospheric errors, and to mitigate the
A number of technologies being developed today are bringing automation to vehicles. These negative impact of multipath interference, hence enabling deployment of precise positioning
include cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) utilising Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and solutions globally.
Vehicle to everything (V2X) communication technologies. The current standard of choice for V2V
Support for Galileo/EGNOS and concurrent processing of six satellite constellations is inte-
communication is Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), which is based on IEEE 802.11p.
grated in the latest Snapdragon 820A chipset solution, as well as the full suite of Qualcomm
Vehicles using this technology can transmit and receive information on speed, position, and perfor-
Snapdragon™ LTE modems.
mance approximately 10 times per second. Such information can be used by both the driver and/or
Testimonial provided by the company
automated driver assistance systems. V2X communication extends V2V to elements of infrastruc-
ture, supplying information on road conditions or hazards. GNSS will play a key role in delivering
accurate position and speed data, as well as the necessary precise timestamping of all V2V informa-
tion. Cybersecurity will be key to ensuring the safety of the application; the exchanged information
will have to be authenticated and secure, highlighting the importance of using constellations that
offer these services, such as Galileo. Achieving full autonomy will be much more challenging as the
ground environment is very unpredictable. It will require approaches such as SLAM (Simultaneous
Localisation and Mapping), which enables vehicles to establish details of the environment they are
in and determine their location in relation to environmental features. To achieve this, GNSS posi-
tion information is combined with data from Lidar, radar, ultrasound or cameras. Using processing
techniques such as Bayesian estimation, Kalman filtering and/or common-position-shift methods,
and object recognition by neural networks, the environment map is updated with the locations of

© Qualcomm
the detected objects, and this information is used to establish the optimal trajectory.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

80 AUTOMATION GNSS IN FUTURE AUTOMATION

AUTOMATION SPREADS TO ALL TRANSPORT MODES

A voyage towards smart shipping
Automation in the maritime industry is commonly used today for domains such as control of machinery, bilge Kongsberg testimonial
and ballast, energy and power management, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and many others. In
PNT-related applications, its main current uses are found in ports, and in autopilot and dynamic positioning In autumn 2016 the test site Trondheimsfjorden in Norway
systems on vessels. was inaugurated as the world’s first test area officially
dedicated to the development of technology for auton-
Unmanned remotely operated or autonomous surface and sub-surface vessels are becoming more popular for
omous ships. The test bed is a vital facility for the devel-
applications such as hydrographic survey, search and rescue1 and offshore resource exploration. For example,
opment of sensors, software and systems that enable
fleets of small-scale autonomous vehicles are routinely used by the UK’s National Oceanography Centre, operating
autonomous vessels.
together to collect a range of environmental data2. Key to this is precise and autonomous navigation. Solutions will
undoubtedly incorporate significant sensor fusion, as well as GNSS augmented through PPP, but novel techniques Autonomous technology is likely to enable fully or partly unmanned ships to
such as horizon detection will also play a role. be an important part of the future transport system in Europe and the world.
A key element in this domain is the need for reliable GNSS infrastructure for
GNSS is at the heart of integrated navigation systems availability, safety and security. Autonomous operations will need to navigate
safely in close proximity to other stationary or moving vessels and objects.
Mariners have always considered not entrusting their safety to any single source of information (position
Galileo will play a vital role in ensuring the service is more resistant to jamming
or otherwise) to be good seamanship. This is reflected and formalised in the e-Navigation concept, which
and spoofing. Autonomous operations will require higher redundancy in the
is applicable to all kinds of vessels (manned or not) and which is becoming increasingly important as we
instrumentation of the vessel, and high accuracy for situational awareness
move towards fully autonomous vessels.
and accurate proximity zones in e.g. auto-docking (auto-mooring) operations.
As is the case for any transport mode, autonomous oper- Autonomous vehicles will also have several other sensors that merge information
ation requires a high accuracy and integrity level of the (sensor fusion) to create proximity zones for the vessel as well as neighbouring
positioning system, which must deliver assured PNT. objects with high precision and high integrity; the utilisation and availability
of Galileo and EGNOS is therefore vital.
This is achieved through the combined use of multiple
Testimonial provided by the company
constellation, multiple frequency (augmented) GNSS, and
Onboard sensors
Radar, Lidar, cameras, of independent, redundant position, speed and orienta-
GNSS, AIS DP to control vessel tion sensors, fully in line with the IMO Performance stand-
ards for multi-system shipborne navigation receivers, and
with the e-Navigation concept. With the increased level
of automation, new sensors appear (Lidar, cameras) that
Communications
were not commonplace on manned vessels.

Remote
Operating
Centre

1 www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2018/01/02/a-fantastical-ship-has-set-out-to-seek-malaysian-air-

© Kongsberg
lines-flight-370
2 Global Marine Technology Trends 2030 Autonomous Systems, Lloyd’s Register Group Ltd, QinetiQ and University
of Southampton, 2017

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 GNSS IN FUTURE AUTOMATION AUTOMATION 81

MARITIME AUTONOMOUS SURFACE SHIPS (MASS) ON THE HORIZON

As in other transport or industrial domains, the maritime industry is undergoing a digital method to classify the levels at which machines and humans interact in controlling ships, resulting
revolution enabled, amongst other technologies, by the next generation of communications in six “automation levels” (see the graphic below).
networks that is already delivering broadband connectivity at competitive prices. This contrib-
Current projects focus on remote control of specific workboats, but there is also significant interest
utes to an increasingly automated and autonomous (maritime) world, which will in the next
in the area of semi-autonomous ships, plus autonomous or remote control in harbour operations.
few years move from smart ships, to smart fleets and to smart shipping.
For the longer term, some research projects such as the Rolls-Royce-led Machine Executable
Broadband connectivity provides the means for remote real-time monitoring and control of vessels
Collision Regulations for Marine Autonomous Systems (MAXCMAS) project are investigating how
from shore, which is seen as one of the key values as well as a milestone towards full autonomy.
autonomous vessels could co-exist with manned ships, and use existing and future satellite capa-
Indeed, major industry stakeholders such as Rolls-Royce, Wärtsilä, Navtor or Kongsberg have already
bilities for collision avoidance and communications. MAXCMAS demonstrated that autonomous
demonstrated technologies for remotely controlling different types of workboats, such as tugs,
vessels could comply with the current IMO collision avoidance Colregs regulations*, and in some
platform supply vessels or local container ships. Remote control and autonomous technology is
cases can even exceed the existing requirements for manned ships.
likely to be adopted in other vessel types before 2020. This might be a passenger vessel operating
between islands, or a coastal cargo ship, or an autonomous surface vessel used to deploy under- According to industry experts (Rolls-Royce, Lloyd’s Register), AL 6 (fully autonomous ocean going
water remotely-operated vehicles. vessels) could be operational by 2035, a timeframe not very different from that of the automotive
industry.
Much in a similar way to the automotive case, autonomous navigation is first arriving through
connected vessels, and is progressing stepwise towards full autonomy. Lloyd’s Register produced a * Colregs – Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, amended 2007.

Autonomy levels (AL) adapted from Lloyds Register

As shipping develops more autonomous vessel technology Lloyd’s Register produced a method
to classify the level at which machines and humans interact in controlling ships.

Manual Steering Decision support Onboard or Execution with Execution with Monitored autonomy – Full Autonomy
Operator on board on board shore-based human being human being decisions by system
decision support who monitors and who monitors and
approves can intervene
Next steps…
Unmanned ships will most likely start with local applications.

Remotely operated local vessel: Remote controlled Remote controlled Autonomous unmanned
reduced crew with remote support unmanned coastal vessel unmanned oceangoing ship oceangoing ship
and operation of certain functions
Source: Marine Electronics & Communications – 1st Quarter 2018. www.marinemec.com

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

82 AUTOMATION GNSS IN FUTURE AUTOMATION

FROM REMOTELY PILOTED DRONES TO AUTONOMOUS FLYING ROBOTS

Professional drone applications already require accurate and reliable tracking, but when advancing to automated applications,
with no pilot in line of sight, the need for robust GNSS grows.
Some drone operations are already automated, but end-to-end safety of flight remains the responsibility of a human operator, even in
‘beyond line of sight’ operations. To deliver the full economic growth and societal benefits expected from drone services, drones must
be safely integrated into all classes of airspace through a suitable UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management or UAS Traffic Management)
system; the ultimate goal remaining the ‘flying taxis’ as demonstrated in 2017 in Dubai. u-blox delivers centimetre-
level positioning solutions for
mass market industrial and
automotive applications

U-space The new u-blox F9 positioning platform com-

bines multi-band Global Navigation Satellite
U-space is Europe’s initiative to enable this new service market while
System (GNSS) technology with dead reck-
ensuring the safe and secure integration of drone operations in urban
oning and high precision algorithms. It is
areas as well as in our countryside. U-space intends to address:
compatible with a variety of GNSS correction
• All operating environments data services to achieve precision down to
• All types of airspace the centimetre level. It uses GNSS signals in
• All kinds of missions multiple frequency bands (L1/L2 or L1/L5) and
• All categories of drones delivers fast TTFF.
• All drone users
The u-blox ZED-F9P is the first multi-band
U-space is a set of new services and specific procedures designed to GNSS receiver based on the F9 technology. It
support safe, efficient and secure access to airspace for large numbers delivers centimetre-level accuracy in seconds
of drones, relying on a high level of digitalisation and automation of U-space services and will enable high-precision positioning
functions. applications for the mass market, particularly
U1 (2019+) U-space foundation services provide e-registration, e-iden-
due to its cost, size and power consumption.
Ultimately, U-space will enable complex drone operations with a high tification and geofencing.
Its ability to receive signals from all GNSS
degree of automation to take place in all types of operational environ-
U2 (2022+) U-space initial services support the management of drone constellations further improves performance
ments, including urban areas.
operations and may include flight planning, flight approval, tracking, by increasing the number of satellites that are
The progressive deployment of U-space is linked to the increasing availa- airspace dynamic information, and procedural interfaces with air traffic visible at any given time.
bility of blocks of services and enabling technologies. Over time, U-space control.
Automotive applications of the F9 technol-
services will evolve as the level of automation of the drone increases,
U3 (2027+) U-space advanced services support more complex opera- ogy include lane level navigation for head
and advanced forms of interaction with the environment are enabled.
tions in dense areas and may include capacity management and assis- up displays and vehicular infotainment sys-
As is the case in other transport modes, connectivity is a key enabler tance for conflict detection. Indeed, the availability of automated ‘detect tems as well as for vehicle to everything (V2X)
of the planned services and automated functions such as ‘Detect and and avoid’ (DAA) functionalities, in addition to more reliable means of communication. In the industrial realm, F9
avoid’, ’Tactical deconfliction’, ’Dynamic geofencing’ and ‘Collaborative communication, will lead to a significant increase of operations in all will enable mass adoption of commercial
interface with ATC’. environments. unmanned vehicle applications including
drones and ground vehicles such as heavy
From the GNSS point of view, another key enabler is the assured availa- U4 (2035+) U-space full services, particularly services offering integrated
trucks or robotic lawnmowers.
bility of a PNT system that delivers high accuracy, integrity and robust- interfaces with manned aviation, support the full operational capability
Testimonial provided by the company
ness. This is likely to be realised by augmented GNSS with dual frequency, of U-space and will rely on very high level of automation, connectivity
SBAS and authentication. and digitalisation for both the drone and the U-space system.
Credit: The U-space blueprint is the work of the SESAR Joint Undertaking (www.sesarju.eu)
GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018
 GNSS IN FUTURE AUTOMATION AUTOMATION 83

AUTOMATION CONTRIBUTES TO SMART MOBILITY

The world is rapidly urbanizing, and increased congestion is pushing the transport systems of many cities to the limits, costing travellers and municipalities valuable time and money. Innovative
ideas, including hybrid transport modes are proposed to help solve the smart mobility equation. Proposals include adding the sky as a third dimension to the urban transport networks, or utilising
swarms of self-driving pods. Whatever the transport systems of the future are going to look like, they undoubtedly will be highly automated and in most cases unmanned. Below are some exam-
ples of such projects, as well as places where this future is being tested in real conditions.

Ten cities with autonomous vehicles in use

More than 100 robotic shuttles are on the road worldwide,
although not all on a regular road. Many only run students

© 2017 NEXT Future Transportation inc.

through campus, or deliver goods within factories. Below are ten
selected places where actual driverless vehicles are in use today:
1. Bad Birnbach (Germany) - 700 metres in

Airbus Pop.Up / © Italdesign

regular traffic, from the station to the spa.
2. Paris (France) - Three road sections of almost
one kilometre along the Île-de-France.
3. Las Vegas (USA) - Circuit on Las Vegas Boule-
vard. Total length just under a kilometre.
4. Sion (Switzerland) - Two tracks with a total length
Self-driving pods
Pop.Up of 3.5 kilometres through the entire Old Town. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai is testing
innovative self-driving pods.
Pop.Up is a concept vehicle system designed to relieve traf- 5. Hong Kong (China) - 300-metre track in
fic congestion in crowded megacities. Pop.Up envisages a the West Kowloon Cultural District. These consist in swarms of autonomous “pods” that can link
modular system for multi-modal transportation that makes together, and detach in 5 seconds depending on the desti-
6. Berlin (Germany) - Test operation on the
full use of both ground and airspace. nation of riders. Not only do they provide users with on-de-
Euref campus in Schöneberg. Transporta-
mand door-to-door transportation, they are also designed
The Pop.Up electric and driverless vehicle is shaped as a tion of employees to the office building.
to offer services in-motion; during the trip one can call for
passenger capsule designed to be coupled with two different
7. Nanyang (Singapore) - 500-metre circuit on the service modules (bar, shop, toilet, restaurants etc.), which
and independent electrically propelled modules, the ground
grounds of Nanyang Technological University. reach and join the passenger’s module, while in motion,
module and the air module.
without any stops.
8. Christchurch (New Zealand) - One kilo-
The Pop.Up vehicle combines the flexibility of a small two
metre test track at Christchurch Airport. The RTA says the autonomous pods would travel on pre-pro-
seater ground vehicle with the freedom and speed of a ver-
grammed routes in the first few years, but would eventually
tical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle, thus bridging 9. Lyon (France) - Two autonomous shuttles operate a 1.3
become accessible for pick up from home using a mobile
the automotive and aerospace domains. kilometre itinerary on the banks of the river Saone.
telephone application.
Pop.Up is an Airbus, Audi and Italdesign project. 10. Sydney (Australia) - Autonomous shuttle in the city's
Dubai’s RTA last year also unveiled plans for a “flying taxi”.
Olympic Park. Total length of the line is 700 metres.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

84 AUTOMATION GNSS IN FUTURE AUTOMATION

AUTOMATION HAS GREAT POTENTIAL BEYOND TRANSPORT

Integration of autonomous vehicles Automation in agriculture
For some applications, the integration of autonomous machines offers tangible benefits. For With the exponential growth of the Earth’s population, agriculture/food production needs to make
example, in precision agriculture the integration of drones and an autonomous tractor reduces another step into automation. The current needs are crop protection and crop production. Autono-
the potential damage caused by the tractor to the crops. It also expands its sensing and applica- mous vehicles are now widely used in the large-scale farming industry. Advanced Farming System
tion area, whilst addressing the limitations of drones in terms of flight time and load capacity. (AFS) hardware delivers guidance correction to an acceptable level of accuracy and provides data
One of the innovations in development involves small robot fleets operating in swarms. This is such as machine location, diagnostics, and fuel and engine status.
the starting point of the coordination and multitasking of multi-robot systems, which consist of
large numbers of mostly simple physical robots. Rendezvous of the various vehicles will require Drones are a new, high-precision way to obtain geo-tagged images from the air and 3D inspection
very precise coordination, which demands high accuracy, integrity and robustness. models with 1 mm resolution. New MEMS sensors (accelerometers, gyros, magnetometers, and
often pressure sensors), smaller GNSS receivers, incredibly powerful processors, and a range of
As applications may benefit from both vehicles moving simultaneously, any delay or uncorrelated
digital radios make drones a perfect automatic/autonomous worker.
errors in positioning would be highly detrimental. To address these issues, approaches typically
involve the ground vehicle following route planning on GIS through GNSS, or a communications
link between the vehicles. When the air vehicle needs to return to the ground vehicle, GNSS allows
Automated seabed surveying
it to reach the approximate location, and computer vision is utilised to steer the control loops 70% of the Earth is covered by water, but so far just 20% of it has been surveyed (Mars, Venus and
typically through a simple/cheap controller. the Moon are better surveyed). This was highlighted when searchers trying to locate the missing
flight MH370 discovered two underwater volcanoes, one bigger than Mount Vesuvius. Recognising
Automation in power grids the need for faster advancement in seabed mapping, GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the
Oceans) and the Nippon Foundation launched project Seabed 2030 with the aim of facilitating the
Power grids can benefit greatly from auto-
complete mapping of the global ocean floor by the year 2030. In parallel, the Shell Ocean Discovery
mation. Some examples of automation used
XPRIZE was launched. This is a three year global competition challenging teams to advance ocean
in these applications include remote fault
technologies for rapid, unmanned and high-resolution ocean exploration1. Proposed innovative
indicators, smart relays, automated feeder
approaches include artificial intelligence, aerial drones, underwater robotic swarms, lasers, and
switches, automated capacitors, automated
autonomous surface and underwater vehicles; high-accuracy GNSS is used for all but sub-surface
voltage regulators, transformer monitors and
positioning.
automated feeder monitors.
With increasing requirements on existing
infrastructure, GNSS can be used to obtain
© Gettyimages

microsecond-level timing information,

synchronous sampling and time stamping
of data. These applications are critical to
ensuring that grid relays can send power
without causing any tripping. Such technologies have, for instance, enabled the 100 MW battery
installation delivered by Tesla in Australia.

© oceandiscovery.xprize.org
GNSS is therefore of interest for high performance synchronisation of power grid networks, espe-
cially the provision of time services to meet the needs of high accuracy in-time determination and
event synchronisation, and the use of authenticated and certified time.

1 oceandiscovery.xprize.org

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 85

ANNEXES
Annex 1: GNSS constellations
and frequencies 86
Annex 2: Augmentation Systems 87
Annex 3: GNSS Key Performance
Parameters 88
Annex 4: List of Acronyms 89
Annex 5: Methodology 90
Annex 6: About the authors 91

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

86 ANNEX 1 GNSS CONSTELLATIONS AND FREQUENCIES

ANNEX 1: GNSS CONSTELLATIONS AND FREQUENCIES

GNSS CONSTELLATIONS GNSS FREQUENCIES

Parameter GPS GLONASS Galileo BeiDou

Orbital Period 11hrs 58min 11hrs 15mins 14hrs 04mins 12hrs 37min

Orbital Height 22,200 Km 19,100 Km 23,222 Km 21,150 Km

Inclination 55° 64,8° 56° 55°

Number of Orbital 6 3 3 6
Planes

Number of 24 operational + 6 21 operational + 3 24 operational + 6 27 MEOs + 5 GEOs

satellites spares spares spares + 3 IGSOs

Reference frame WGS-84 PZ90 GTRF CGCS 2000

Reference time GPS Time (GPST) GLONASS Time Galileo System BeiDou Time (BDT)
(GLONASST) Time (GST)

Source: Navipedia http://www.navipedia.net/index.php/GNSS_signal

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS ANNEX 2 87

ANNEX 2: AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS

Augmentation systems improve GNSS key performance parameters; in particular accuracy, integrity Stated
Name Service Supported Constellations Method Owned by
and availability. To meet high-accuracy demands prior to the availability of satellite-based augmen- performance
tation or high-precision PPP solutions, there has been a proliferation of public and private providers Omnistar VBS <1m GPS DGNSS Trimble
of ground based RTK and DGNSS solutions. Thus, for those users requiring high GNSS performance HP 10cm GPS LR-RTK
(e.g. geodetic survey, maritime port operations), there is already a wide choice of potential solutions XP 15cm GPS PPP
with most states having two or three providers to choose from at a national level. Between them, G2 <10cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
these providers have hundreds of ground monitoring stations and transmitters. RTX ViewPoint <1m GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo PPP Trimble
+ QZSS
Globally, options exist from the availability of satellite-based networks, or commercial providers
RangePoint <50cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo PPP
operating global level RTK, DGNSS or increasingly, PPP networks.
+ QZSS
The main commercial options at a global level are summarised in the table on the right. FieldPoint <20cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo PPP
+ QZSS
Public augmentation systems CenterPoint <4cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo PPP
+ QZSS
Satellite-based augmentation systems utilise a regional network of ground monitoring stations VRS Now <2cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo PPP
with known position, and transmit correction information messages from dedicated satellites, to + QZSS
enable end users to apply corrections from individual GNSS satellites. Starfix/ XP 10cm GPS PPP Fugro
Seastar G2 10cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
Name Stated accuracy Supported Constellations Owned by G2+ 3cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
G4 5-10cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo PPP
BDSBAS Horizontal: <5m Current: BDS + GPS + GLONASS China
L1 1.5m GPS DGNSS
Vertical: <8m Future: BDS + GPS + GLONASS + Galileo
SGG <1m GPS + GLONASS DGNSS
EGNOS Horizontal: <1m Current: GPS Europe XP2 10cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
Vertical: <2m Future: GPS + Galileo (FOC in 2020) Atlas Basic/H100 50cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo1 PPP Hemisphere
GAGAN Horizontal: 1.5m GPS India H30 30cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo1 PPP
Vertical: 2.5m H10 8cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo1 PPP
MSAS <2 m GPS Japan Starfire SF2 5cm GPS + GLONASS PPP John Deere
QZSS-SBAS 0.01-1m Current: GPS Japan C-Nav C1 5cm GPS PPP Oceaneering
Future: GPS + GLONASS + Galileo (FOC in 2020) C2 5cm GPS + GLONASS PPP International
SDCM Horizontal: 0.5m Current: GPS + GLONASS Russia Veripos Apex 10-20cm GPS PPP Hexagon AB
Vertical 0.8m Future: BDS + Galileo + QZSS Apex2 5cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
WAAS Horizontal: <1m GPS USA Apex5 <5cm GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo
Vertical: <1.5m + QZSS
KASS ~3m Korea Ultra 15cm GPS PPP
Ultra2 8cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
Standard 1m GPS DGNSS
Ground-based augmentation systems utilise a network of national or regional ground refer- Standard2 1m GPS + GLONASS DGNSS
ence stations, from which radio transmitters send measurements concerning GNSS corrections TerraStar TerraStar D 10cm GPS + GLONASS PPP Hexagon AB
(provided by accurately surveyed ground stations) directly to end users. TerraStar L 40cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
While SBAS and GBAS above are primarily developed for civil aviation needs, the IALA DGNSS TerraStar M 1m GPS + GLONASS DGNSS
system based on a network of maritime radio beacons used as reference stations and transmitters, TerraStar C 2-3cm GPS + GLONASS PPP
has also been operational for over 20 years serving the maritime community.

1 Planned for future versions

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018
88 ANNEX 3 KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

ANNEX 3: GNSS KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

Availability: is the percentage of percentage of time the positioning or timing solution can be
computed by a user in the coverage area.
• System availability: is what GNSS Interface Control Documents (ICDs) refer to. Values typically
range from 95 to 99.9%.
• Overall availability: takes into account the receiver performance and the user’s environment.
Values vary greatly according to the specific use cases and services used.

© Gettyimages
Accuracy: is the difference between true and computed solution (position or time). This is
expressed as the value within which a specified proportion –usually 95%- of samples would fall
if measured.
This report refers to positioning accuracy using the following convention: centimetre-level: 0-10cm; vastly different factors that determine performance (for example, availability of Wi-Fi base stations
decimetre level: 10-100cm; metre-level: 1-10 metres. for Wi-Fi-based positioning).

Continuity: is the ability of a system to perform its function (deliver PNT services with the required Time To First Fix (TTFF): is a measure of time between activation of a receiver and the availability
performance levels) without being interrupted for the intended operation. It is usually expressed as of a solution, including any power on self-test, acquisition of satellite signals and navigation data
the risk of discontinuity and depends entirely on the timeframe of the application. A typical value and computation of the solution. It mainly depends on data that the receiver has access to before
is around 1*10-4 over the course of the procedure where the system is in use. activation:
• Cold start: the receiver has no knowledge of the current situation and must thus systematically
Integrity: is a term used to express the ability of the system to provide warnings to users when it
search for and identify signals before processing them – a process that can take up to several
should not be used. It is the probability of a user being exposed to an error larger than the alert
minutes.
limits without timely warning.
• Warm start: the receiver has estimates of the current situation – typically taking tens of
The way integrity is ensured and assessed, and the means of delivering integrity related informa-
seconds.
tion to users are highly application dependent. Throughout this report, “integrity” is to be under-
stood at large, i.e. not restricted to safety-critical or civil aviation definitions but also encompassing • Hot start: the receiver understands the current situation – typically taking a few seconds.
concepts of quality assurance/quality control as used in other applications and sectors.
Latency: the difference between the reference time of the solution and the time this solution
Robustness: relates to spoofing and jamming and how the system can cope with these issues. It is is made available to the end user or application (i.e. including all delays). Latency is typically
a more qualitative than quantitative parameter and depends on the type of attack or interference accounted for in a receiver, but presents a potential problem for integration (fusion) of multiple
the receiver is capable of mitigating. Robustness can be improved by authentication information positioning solutions, or for high dynamics mobile devices.
and services.
Power consumption: the amount of power a device uses to provide a position. The power
Indoor penetration: ability of a signal to penetrate inside buildings (e.g. through windows). Indoor consumption of the positioning technology will vary depending on the available signals and data.
penetration does not have an agreed or typical means for expression. In GNSS this parameter is For example, GNSS chips will use more power when scanning to identify signals (cold start) than
dictated by the sensitivity of the receiver, whereas for other positioning technologies there are when computing a position. Typical values are in the order of tens of mW (for smartphone chipsets).

Important Notices:
1. Applications often trade off parameters against each other depending on their requirements. For example, in safety-critical applications integrity is prioritised over accuracy, whilst in mass market applications low power
consumption and TTFF are prioritised over integrity.
2. The above definitions are applicable to this report only and are not meant to be used for any other purpose.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 ACRONYMS ANNEX 4 89

ANNEX 4: LIST OF ACRONYMS

3D Three Dimensional EO Earth Observation LPWAN Low Power Wide Area Network SAS Signal Authentication Service
AAL Augmented Approaches to Land EPIRB Emergency Positioning Indicator Radio Beacon LSQ Least Squares SAW Surface Acoustic Wave
ADAS Advanced Driver Assistance System ERTMS European Rail Traffic Management System LTE Long-Term Evolution, commonly known as 4G LTE SBAS Satellite Based Augmentation System
ADC Analogue-to-digital converter ESA European Space Agency MASS Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship SDCM System for Differential Corrections and
ADS-B Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast ES Enhanced Services MBES Multi-Beam Echo Sounder Monitoring
AFS Advanced Farming Systems EU European Union MCMF Multiple-Constellation Multiple-Frequency SDG Sustainable Development Goal
AGC Automatic Gain Control EVS Enhanced Vision Systems MC Multi-Constellation SF/DF/TF Single/Dual/Triple Frequency
A-GNSS Assisted GNSS FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access MEMS Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems SiP System in Package
AHWG Ad Hoc Working Group FM Frequency Modulation MEO Medium Earth Orbit SIS ICD Signal in Space Interface Control Document
AI Artificial Intelligence FOC Full Operational Capabilities MEOLUT Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal SIS Signal in Space
AIS Automatic Identification System FPV First Person View MEOSAR Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue SLAM Simultaneous Location And Mapping
AltBOC Alternative BOC modulation GADSS Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System satellites SLAS Sub-meter Level Augmentation Service (QZSS)
AM Amplitude Modulation GAGAN GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation MF Medium Frequency SNAS Satellite Navigation Augmentation System
AoA Angle of Arrival GA General Aviation MOPS Minimum Operational Performance Standards SoC System on Chip
ARAIM Advanced RAIM GBAS Ground Based Augmentation System MR Mixed Reality SoL Safety of Life
AR Augmented Reality GCP Ground Control Points MSAS MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System SOOP/SoOp Signal of Opportunity
ARNS Aeronautical Radio Navigation Service GEO Geostationary Orbit NavIC NavIC- Indian Regional Navigational Satellite SPP Single Point Position
ASAS Airborne Separation Assistance System GIS Geographic Information System System SVS Synthetic Vision Systems
Auto-GCAS Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System GLONASS Russian GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya NLOS Non Line Of Sight SW Software
BDS BeiDou Navigation Satellite System Sputnikovaya Sistema NMA Navigation Message Authentication T&S Timing and Synchronisation
BeiDou Chinese GNSS, formerly known as Compass GMRS General Mobile Radio Service NMEA National Marine Electronics Association TATT The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad
BOC Binary Offset Carrier modulation GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System OBD On-Board Diagnosis & Tobago
BVLOS Beyond Visual Line of Sight GPS Global Positioning System OBU On-Board Unit TDoA Time Difference of Arrival
CAT I, II, III ILS Categories for precision instrument GSA European GNSS Agency OCX Next Generation Operational Control Segment ToF Time of Flight
approach and landing GSO Geosynchronous Orbit (GPS) TTFF Time To First Fix
CDMA Code Division Multiple Access H2020 Horizon 2020 ONU On-board Navigation Unit UAS Unmanned Aircraft System
CED Clock and Ephemeris Data HAD Highly Automated Driving OS (Galileo) Open Service UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
C-ITS Cooperative Intelligent Transport System HAS High Accuracy Service (Galileo) OS-NMA Open Service Navigation Message UHF Ultra-High Frequency
CLAS Centimeter Level Augmentation Service (QZSS) IALA International Association of Marine Aids to Authentication UNIFE Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes
CLOE Connecting and Locating Objects Everywhere Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities OSR Observation Space Representation (Association of the European Rail Industry)
COMPASS see BeiDou ICAO International Civil Aviation Organisation PAAS Positioning As A Service UNISIG Union Industry of Signalling (Industry
CORS Continuously Operating Reference Station ICG International Committee on GNSS PBN Performance Based Navigation consortium developing the ERTMS technical
COSPAS- Russian Cosmicheskaya Sistyema Poiska IF Intermediate Frequency PLB Personal Locator Beacon specifications)
SARSAT Avariynich Sudow - Search and Rescue IGSO Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit PLLs Phased Locked Loops UNOOSA United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Satellite-Aided Tracking ILS Instrument Landing System PND Portable Navigation Device UTC Coordinated Universal Time
COTS Commercial off-the-shelf (product) IMU Inertial Measurement Unit PNT Positioning, Navigation and Timing UTM UAS Traffic Management Systems
CPU Central Processing Unit INS Inertial Navigation System PPP Precise Point Positioning V2V Vehicle to Vehicle
CS (Galileo) Commercial Service IOC Initial Operational Capabilities PVT Position, Velocity, Timing V2X Vehicle to everything
CSAC Chip Scale Atomic Clock IoT Internet of Things QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System VBS or VRS Virtual Base Station or Virtual Reference
CW Continuous Wave IR Integrity Risk R&D Research and Development Station
DGNSS Differential Global Navigation Satellite System IS Initial Services RAIM Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring VDES VHF Data Exchange System
DME Distance Measuring Equipment IT Information Technologies RFID Radio-Frequency Identification VFR Visual Flight Rules
DSRC Dedicated Short Range Communication ITS Intelligent Transport System RF Radio-Frequency VGA Video Graphics Array
DoA Direction of Arrival JRC (EC´s) Joint Research Centre RLS Return Link Service VOR VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range
EC European Commission KASS Korean Augmentation Satellite System RNP Required Navigation Performance VTOL Vertical Take-off and Landing
EU28 European Union (28 Member States) KPP Key Performance Parameter RNSS Regional Navigation Satellite System WAAS Wide Area Augmentation System
EDAS EGNOS Data Access Service LBS Location Based Service RPAS Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Wi-Fi Wireless Fidelity. Wireless communication
EGNOS European Geostationary Navigation Overlay LDS Location Detection System RSSI Received Signal Strength Indication protocols standardised by IEEE 802.11 (ISO/CEI
Service LEO Low Earth Orbit RTCA Radio Technical Commission of Aeronautics 8802-11)
E-GNSS European GNSS LIDAR Light Detection And Ranging RTCM Radio Technical Commission for Maritime WLSQ Weighted Least Squares
EKF Extended Kalman Filter LNA Low-Noise Amplifier Services
eLORAN enhanced Long-range Navigation LP Location Protocol RTK Real Time Kinematic
ELT Emergency Locator Transmitter LPV Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance SAR Search and Rescue

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

90 ANNEX 5 METHODOLOGY

ANNEX 5: METHODOLOGY USED FOR CREATING THE GNSS USER TECHNOLOGY REPORT

This GNSS User Technology Report uses the GSA’s internal Technology Monitoring Process (TMP). The analysis includes all major receiver manufacturers in Europe and worldwide: Avidyne, Broadcom,
CSR, Esterline, Furuno, Garmin, Hemisphere GNSS, Honeywell, Infineon, Intel, Japan Radio Co., John
It complements the market monitoring and forecasting process, and its objective is to monitor
Deere, Kongsberg, Leica Geosystems AG, Mediatek, NavCom Technology, Nottingham Scientific
trends and developments in the GNSS supply industry. It supports the GSA in: defining the best
Ltd, NovAtel, Omnicom, Orolia, Qualcomm, Rockwell Collins, Septentrio, SkyTraq Technology, STMi-
strategy towards Galileo market adoption; provision of updated statistics on Galileo penetration
croelectronics, Texas Instruments, Thales Avionics, Topcon, Trimble, u-blox, and Universal Aviation.
in user terminals and chipsets; and analysing Galileo positioning among other GNSS and location
technologies. Military / defence receivers, chipsets and modules are not discussed in this report.
Part of the process is to keep up-to-date independent analysis, which assesses the capabilities of The information contained within this report is a compilation of in-house knowledge, scientific
receivers, chipsets and modules currently available on the market. For the analysis, each device is papers, receiver and other user technology manufacturers’ websites and, if needed, has been veri-
weighted equally, regardless of whether it is a chipset or a receiver, and no matter what its sales fied by consultation with experts in the relevant domain.
volume is. The results should therefore be interpreted not as the split of constellations utilised by
end-users, but rather the split of constellations available in manufacturers’ offerings.

Disclaimer
The GNSS User Technology Report Issue 2 was created by the European GNSS Agency in cooperation with the European Commission.
The information provided in the Report is based on the Agency`s best knowledge at the time of publication. Although the Agency has taken utmost care in
checking the reasonableness of assumptions and results, the Agency accepts no responsibility for the further use of the content of the Report.
Any comments to improve the next issue are welcome and shall be addressed to [email protected].

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ANNEX 6 91

The European Commission The European GNSS Agency (GSA)

European Commission (EC) is responsible for management of the The GSA’s mission is to support European Union objectives and achieve the
European satellite navigation programmes, Galileo and EGNOS, highest return on European GNSS investment, in terms of benefits to users and
including: economic growth and competitiveness, by:

• Management of funds allocated to the programmes; • Designing and enabling services that fully respond to user needs, while continuously improving
• Supervising the implementation of all activities related to the programmes; the European GNSS services and infrastructure;
• Ensuring clear division of responsibilities and tasks in particular between the European GNSS • Managing the provision of quality services that ensure user satisfaction in the most cost-efficient
Agency and European Space Agency; manner;
• Ensuring proper reporting on the programme to the Member States of the EU, to the European • Engaging market stakeholders to develop innovative and effective applications, value-added
Parliament and to the Council of the European Union. services and user technology that promote the achievement of full European GNSS adoption;
• Ensuring that European GNSS services and operations are thoroughly secure, safe and accessible.
The Galileo and EGNOS programmes are entirely financed by the European Union.

The authors would like to convey special thanks to the contributors of this report:
• Galileo Services;
• Companies providing testimonials: Broadcom, Javad, Kongsberg, Leica, Maxim Integrated,
Meinberg, Novatel, Orolia-Spectracom, Qualcomm, Septentrio, STMicroelectronics, Thales,
Trimble and u-blox.

GNSS User Technology Report | Issue 2, 2018

Integrated Market Development at the GSA
The GSA GNSS User Technology Report is a product of ongoing market development and tech-
nology monitoring activities that aim to:

• Stay close to the user and the value chain: involving GNSS users, downstream industry,
experts and other stakeholders in key market segments by managing relationships with
stakeholders, organising and participating in user and industry fora, identifying needs and
assessing stakeholder satisfaction.

• Monitor GNSS market and technology: forecasting future developments by market segment,
including regular collection, modelling and expert validation of current information, drivers and
assumptions; analysis of the GNSS downstream industry market share; cost-benefit analyses
of the European GNSS Programmes and future scenarios; monitoring trends in positioning
technology; and tracking of E-GNSS penetration.

• Build and implement E-GNSS market strategy with market players and institutional
stakeholders: fostering the use of EGNOS in aviation, agriculture, LBS, maritime, road, rail,
surveying and timing & synchronisation; preparing the market for the uptake of Galileo in all
segments; promoting integration of E-GNSS inside chipsets, receivers and devices; organising
workshops and testing; and supporting EU industry business development and competitiveness.

• Manage EU-funded R&D on GNSS applications and services within FP7 & H2020
programmes: leveraging results for E-GNSS adoption and EU industry competitiveness,
including 238 demonstrations of E-GNSS applications; 79 products, 192 prototypes, 23
patents/trademarks – with more results on the way.

• Manage EU-funded R&D on GNSS chipsets, receivers and antennas: gearing these
end-products to end-users from all segments, aiming to support the EU industry with grants or
tenders/procurements tailored to meet current and future user needs.

The European GNSS Agency: linking space to user needs.

[email protected] © 2018 European GNSS Agency

www.gsa.europa.eu Copyright note: This information can be republished without charge provided the
European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged. If you do republish, we would be
@EU_GNSS
grateful if you link back to the GSA website www.gsa.europa.eu.
@EGNOSPortal
Facebook.com/EuropeanGnssAgency ISBN 978-92-9206-035-0 – TS-AD-18-001-EN-N