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The GPS/GNSS newsletter by NavtechGPS Inc., the GPS professional's resource since 1984. |
| March 13, 2007 |
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Editor-in-Chief:
Carolyn P. McDonald (send news items to cmcdonald@navtechgps.com)
Technical
Editor: Keith D. McDonald (satconsult@aol.com)
Production
& Design: Yelena Teterina (yteterina@navtechgps.com)
Welcome to "NavtechGPS
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Included
in this Newsletter:
(click on hyperlinks below to jump to news items)
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ITEM 1) GIOVE-A
NAVIGATION SIGNAL AVAILABLE TO USERS
Credit for this article goes to the Staff Writers of GPS
Daily.
"The GIOVE-A Signal-in-Space Interface Control Document, the
document that gives the technical details of the signals
transmitted by the GIOVE-A satellite, has been released. This
will allow receiver manufacturers and research institutions to
use a real signal for their research and development.
Following the launch of GIOVE-A on 28 December 2005 from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome and the transmission of the first Galileo
signals from medium Earth orbit on 12 January 2006, ESA and
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL - United Kingdom) have
completed the GIOVE-A in-orbit validation activities.
The GIOVE-A signal validation has been accomplished through a
network of 13 Galileo Experimental Sensor Stations (GESS),
deployed world wide, and a GIOVE Processing Centre which
computes precise orbits and clock timings for the GIOVE
satellites, based on the measurements made by the GESS and
satellite laser ranging stations.
The GIOVE-A Signal-in-Space Interface Control Document (SIS-ICD)
is the key document that will allow any user to build a receiver
able to track GIOVE-A signals, interpret the navigation message
and compute the distance between the satellite and the receiver.
Following the successfully in-orbit validation mission, ESA has
decided to release the SIS-ICD to the public to allow receiver
manufacturers and research centres to benefit from experiments
with a real Signal-in-Space for research and development
purposes.
This is possible since the nominal GIOVE-A navigation
Signal-in-Space (SIS) is fully representative of the future
Galileo navigation signals, on all three Galileo frequency
bands, even though GIOVE-A uses specific spreading codes that
are different from the nominal codes of the final Galileo
constellation to allow unambiguous identification of the
spacecraft.
These codes are described in the GIOVE-A public document and
with knowledge of them the GIOVE-A signals can be used for code
and carrier phase tracking in precisely the same way the future
Galileo signals will be used. All GIOVE-A signal spectra are
identical to the future Galileo navigation SIS spectra.
The navigation data symbol rates are identical with the nominal
Galileo data rates for all public signals, and the same
principles as in the final Galileo navigation signal are used
for message encoding. The navigation message structure of GIOVE-A
is different from the future Galileo navigation signal, but the
low level elements of the message differ only in minor details.
The content of the GIOVE-A navigation message is complete with
all ingredients such as, for example, ephemeris and clock
correction, that are needed for pseudo-range calculation and
further positioning processing, thus leading to a full set of
navigation signals.
The time for simulation is over, so the ESA Galileo project team
is putting at the disposal of the user community the information
needed to support the validation of demanding Galileo user
applications with a real satellite."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
ITEM 2) ESA AWARD SSTL
CONTRACT TO BUILD A SECOND GIOVE-A
Credit for this article goes to the Staff Writers of GPS
Daily.
"The European Space Agency (ESA) awarded a contract to Surrey
Satellite Technology (SSTL) to build a second satellite for the
Galileo satellite navigation system. Named GIOVE-A2, the new
satellite will be based on the company's proven GIOVE-A medium
Earth orbit satellite technology.
GIOVE-A2 will help maintain the critical International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) frequency filing secured by its
predecessor for a further 27 months and facilitate further
development of ground equipment. SSTL's Executive Chairman, Sir
Martin Sweeting, commented, "With GIOVE-A, SSTL was able to
provide ESA with a vital part of the Galileo system exactly when
it was needed. GIOVE-A has performed well in orbit and we are
very pleased to be working with ESA again on a second GIOVE
satellite".
Environmental monitoring is also an important ongoing mission
objective for the new satellite. GIOVE-A was the first European
satellite to be launched into medium Earth orbit (MEO) and it
carries two environmental monitors. These units have been
operated almost continuously since launch and are gathering
vital data to characterise the Galileo orbit environment that
will help in the design of the full constellation.
The new satellite will carry some enhancements over GIOVE-A that
will allow additional signals to be generated and received on
the ground. The aim will be to provide early in-orbit
experimentation on the common baseline L1 open service signals
recently recommended by the EU and US. In the future, these open
service signals will provide free of charge position and timing
competitive with other GNSS systems to users.
GIOVE-A was designed to broadcast Galileo signals from space so
that Europe could claim the frequencies filed for Galileo with
the ITU. Following a rapid development programme that started in
the second half of 2003, the satellite was designed, built,
tested and launched before the end of 2005. At 17:25 GMT on the
12th January 2006, the first Galileo signals were transmitted
from the satellite. In March, ESA was able to confirm that it
had brought the Galileo-related frequency filings into use,
three months ahead of the official ITU deadline.
In addition to the frequency filing activity, GIOVE-A was
required to broadcast navigation signals that have allowed
testing of Galileo ground equipment during its ongoing 27-month
mission, which is an essential activity to encourage uptake of
Galileo in the user communities.
GIOVE-A also assisted ESA's clock characterisation experiments.
A highly accurate model was built from tracking the position of
GIOVE-A that enabled ESA to test the performance of the
satellite's state-of-the-art onboard Rubidium atomic frequency
clock. Initial results demonstrated the clocks to be highly
accurate, proving technology that will be integral to all future
Galileo satellites including GIOVE-A2.
The Royal Institute of Navigation recognised the contribution
that GIOVE-A had made to navigation with the Harold Spencer
Award, presented to SSTL by HRH Duke of Edinburgh in October of
last year. Achievements in GIOVE-A also earned SSTL a "Times
Higher Education Supplement's Outstanding Contribution to
Innovation and Technology" award."
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ITEM 3) JUNE COURSES
IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA
Sheraton Safari Hotel
Orlando, Florida
(NOTE: book your hotel room by May
14th and ask for NavtechGPS room-block to get our special rates)
356: "GPS Operation for Engineers and Technical
Professionals", taught by
Mr. Keith McDonald and Dr. Chris Hegarty (June 4-8, 2007)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem356.asp
About this course:
- To give a comprehensive introduction to GPS and DGPS
technology, system concepts, design, operation, implementation
and applications.
- To provide detailed information on the GPS signal, its
processing by the receiver, and the techniques by which GPS
obtains position, velocity and time.
- To present current information on the status, plans, schedule
and capabilities for GPS, as well as for other satellite-based
systems with position determination applications.
- To fill in technical information gaps for those working in
GPS.
Who should attend:
Excellent for engineering staff who need to be rapidly brought
up to speed on GPS, and for those already working in GPS who
need exposure to the system as a whole, in order to work more
effectively.
111: "GPS Fundamentals",
taught by Mr. Keith McDonald (June 4, 2007)(same as Day 1 of
Course 356)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem111.asp
122: "GPS Fundamentals and Enhancements",
taught by Mr. McDonald (June 4-5, 2007)(same as Days 1-2 of
Course 356)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem122.asp
217: "Introduction to Differential GPS",
taught by Dr. Chris Hegarty (June 6, 2007)(same as Day 3 of
Course 356)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem217.asp
356B: "GPS Operations: DGPS, GPS Signals & Processing",
taught by Dr. Chris Hegarty (June 6-8, 2007) (The first day,
Wednesday, is the same as 217)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem356.asp#356B
================================================
447: Applied Kalman Filtering (4.5 days)
Dr. Larry Levy (June 4-8, 2007)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem447.asp
About this course:
This course is a highly intensive short course on Kalman
filtering and Kalman filtering applications. Emphasis in the
course is on practical applications, but sufficient supporting
theory is provided to give attendees the necessary tools for
meaningful research and development work in the field.
Considerable time is devoted to modeling, the most difficult
aspect of Kalman filtering, in an application setting.
There will be a high level of instructor/attendee interaction,
designed to provide hands-on problem solving and solution
discussions. The learning experience will also be supplemented
by homework assignments to assist attendees in improving their
understanding of course concepts.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
ITEM 4) MAY COURSES IN
NOORDWIJK, NETHERLANDS
NavtechGPS will hold GNSS courses on May 21-25, 2007 at
ESA-ESTEC facility in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
The following courses will be offered:
Course 359A: Fundamentals of GNSS (Day 1 of Course 359),
May 21, 2007
Instructor: Mr. Keith McDonald
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem359.asp#359A
Course 359B: GNSS Signals and Receiver Operations
(Days 2-3 of Course 359), May 22-23, 2007
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem359.asp#359B
Instructor: Dr. Chris Hegarty
Course 359C: Galileo Design, Development and Signal
Processing
(Days 4-5 of Course 359), May 24-25, 2007
Instructors: Mr. Marco Falcone, Dr. Jörg Hahn, Mr. T. Burger,
Mr. M. Hollreiser
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem359.asp#359C
Course 359: GNSS Operation for Engineers and Technical
Professionals
(The full 5-day course), May 21-25, 2007
Instructors: Mr. Keith McDonald, Dr. Chris Hegarty, Mr. Marco
Falcone, Dr. Jörg Hahn, Mr. Thomas Burger, Dr. Martin Hollreiser
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem359.asp
Course 448: Advanced Receiver Processing of GNSS Signals
(May 21-24, 2007)
Instructor: Dr. John Betz
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem448.asp
For complete information, please visit
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/sem2007schedule.asp#0704_ESA
Online registration is now available at:
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/semreg.asp
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
ITEM 5) NEWSLETTER
LINKS and USEFUL WEBSITES (This is an archival
list. Please notify us if your own link changes.)
* Mr. Glen Gibbons, founding editor of "GPS World", launched a
new international trade journal, "Inside GNSS" last January.
Subscription is FREE and details can be found at
http://www.insidegnss.com
* The European Space Agency publishes an EGNOS newsletter that
is called EGNOS NEWS, focusing both on EGNOS and on satellite
navigation issues:
http://ravel.esrin.esa.int/docs/egnos/estb/newsletter.htm
* To view details on "GPS World" magazine, the GPS standard
since 1990, go to
http://www.gpsworld.com/gpsworld
* For the archives of the Locus Inc. newsletter on LORAN
positioning and timing, go to:
http://www.locusinc.com/loran_newsletter.html
* For the newsletter published by "Professional Surveyor"
Magazine, go to
http://www.profsurv.com/newpsm/news.php
* Continuously updated newsletter by the US Coast Guard's
Navigation Center "NAVCEN" is at
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/
* Military and Aerospace magazine's newsletter is found at:
http://mae.pennnet.com/Search/index.cfm?Section=Archives
* Kalman filter site maintained by Gregory F. Welch, UNC, Chapel
Hill, NC is at
http://www.cs.unc.edu/~welch/kalman/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
ITEM 6) MEETINGS
CALENDAR
______________________________________
April 23-25, 2007
63rd Annual Meeting
with Bio-Nav and Classified Sessions
Royal Sonesta Hotel
Cambridge, Massachusetts
www.ion.org
______________________________________
September 25-28, 2007 (Navtech Tutorials: September 24-25)
ION GNSS 2007
Fort Worth Convention Center
Fort Worth, Texas
www.ion.org
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Carolyn McDonald, Editor
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