Satellite navigation and communications
Aims
This course focuses on advanced topics in and beyond contemporary satellite navigation systems, specifically to:
Understand how Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS or Galileo work, including their satellites, ground segment, and receivers.
Apply general concepts of mathematics, physics and engineering (linear algebra, calculus, estimation theory, astrodynamics) to the practical problems of radionavigation: acquire the electromagnetic signals and compute position and time with them.
Understand measurement errors: satellite orbit and clock estimation, ionosphere, troposphere, multipath, and receiver contributions.
Have an overview of the radiolocation ecosystem, including system providers, industry, technology trends (hybridization, signals of opportunity, assisted GNSS), challenges (ubiquitous location, power consumption, authentication, integrity, accuracy), standards, and future applications (autonomous cars, UAVs, wearables, IoT…).
Experiment with a MATLAB GNSS software defined radio (SDR) receiver and real data.
At the end, the students should be able to:
Understand how GPS/GNSS work in some depth, and have a general understanding of satellite technologies and radiolocation, including concepts applicable to other fast-growing sectors such as mobile network location or satellite mega constellations.
Understand the technology trends and challenges in the satnav sector.
Develop satnav receiver algorithms and applications and analyse their performance.
Content
The course consists of 9 lectures following this (tentative) schedule:
Introduction: Radionavigation history, trilateration and other radionavigation concepts (TOA, TDOA, Doppler), TOC of the course.
Satellite Navigation Systems: Constellation design, satellites, launchers, ground segment, operations, current systems (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, etc.), augmentations.
Orbits and Reference Systems: Basics (Kepler, Newton), Keplerian orbital parameters, inertial and non-inertial systems, datums.
Signals: Media access (CDMA, FDMA), signal modulations (BPSK, BOC), link budget, carrier frequency properties, coding, error correction techniques, data structure.
Measurement errors: Satellite (clock, orbits, biases), signal propagation (ionosphere, troposphere, multipath), and receiver errors (sampling, quantization, biases, others).
Receivers i: Antennas and RF front ends, signal acquisition, signal tracking, receiver practical implementations (ASIC, FPGA, SDR).
Receivers ii: Position estimation, authentication, high accuracy.
Industry and technology trends: Satnav ecosystem and value chain, hybridization, signals of opportunity, assisted GNSS, authentication, applications.
Guest Speaker / backup session.
In addition there are (tentatively) 4 lab sessions and presentation (The on-campus activities are TBC. They may be removed or replaced by off-campus activities):
Overview of MATLAB SDRs. First experiments with existing samples.
Data grabbing on campus and processing.
Data processing and optimization. Preparation of presentation.
Group presentations.
The lab sessions will consist of getting familiar with the MATLAB SDRs using RF front ends provided in the lab to get your own samples, processing them with the MATLAB SDR, and reporting the results in the written assignment and presentation. Students will work in groups (size and number TBC depending on the number of students). Each group will grab RF samples using RF front ends provided by the lab. They will process the samples and calculate a position with them using the MATLAB SDRs available. They will prepare a presentation describing all the steps performed: data grabbing, acquisition stage, tracking stage (if used), and position, velocity and timing solution (NB: how to measure the accuracy of your solution against a ‘true solution’, and the ‘true solution’ accuracy, is part of the work). Optionally, groups can focus their lab work on one or more aspects in the receiver chain and develop them in more depth. The results of the work will be compiled into a presentation (power point, pdf or similar), to be delivered in 10-15 minutes in the last session. The presentation slides must be self-standing and include the relevant results and conclusions.
More information at: https://onderwijsaanbod.kuleuven.be/syllabi/e/H05T6AE.htm#activetab=doelstellingen_idm8220608
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Satellite navigation and communications
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. The statements made herein do not necessarily have the consent or agreement of the ASTRAIOS Consortium. These represent the opinion and findings of the author(s).
