BE-GPIOS
Details
Promotor: | Muls, Alain |
Funding: | Unknown |
Involved staff: | Alain MULS, Peter FARDEAU, |
Start date: | 01 Jan 2015 |
Duration: | 18 months |
Research unit: | Geodesy and GNSS |
Description
Galileo is Europe’s own Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. The fully deployed Galileo system consists of 27 satellites, positioned in three circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) planes at 23 222 km altitude above the Earth, and at an inclination angle of 56 degree with respect to the equator. The Galileo Public Regulated Service or PRS is an encrypted navigation service designed to be more resistant to jamming, involuntary interference and spoofing. It is similar to other Galileo services, but ensures continuity of Service (CoS) to authorised users when access to other navigation services is denied, increases the likelihood of continuous availability of the Signal-in-Space (SiS) and provides an authenticated Position Velocity Timing (PVT) service. The Binary Offset Code (BOC) modulation used by the PRS navigation signals move the signal power away from the band centre, thus offering the potential for better code-tracking accuracy and multipath rejection. The high BOC modulation order of the PRS navigation signals, and the L1A signal in particular, are sensitive for false tracking of correlation peaks. This phenomena has been observed during PRS testing done by European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in limited data sets. In order to obtain better insight in the environmental conditions and the correlation channel causing these false locks, this BE–Galileo PRS In Orbit Validation Service (BE-GPIOS) project proposes a methodology to benchmark the PRS signal tracking and PVT performance in operational environments. A second objective of the BE-GPIOS is to get a better understanding of the PRS navigation services, the security concerns related to the key management and key distribution, the concerns and expectations that Belgian users and user groups have. The aim is that Royal Military Academy–Department of Communication, Information, Sensors & Systems (RMA-CISS) will become and act as a center of competence for the Belgian Government and public entities who have interest in the use of the PRS navigation service for their operational use.