Home // International Journal On Advances in Telecommunications, volume 5, numbers 3 and 4, 2012 // View article

Carrier Phase Discrimination for a Common Correlation Interval GNSS Receiver Architecture

Authors:
Pedro A. Roncagliolo
Javier G. Garcia
Carlos H. Muravchik

Keywords: Phase Discrimination; GNSS; Real-Time Receivers; Digital Phase Locked Loops; Vector Tracking Loops.

Abstract:
Basic measurements of global navigation satellite system receivers are obtained after the correlation of the incoming signal with locally generated replicas. Usually, correlation intervals are chosen synchronously with the data-bits sent with each satellite signal to avoid bit transitions. As a consequence, the ensuing code and carrier phase estimation signal processing operates at its own time and the navigation task must extrapolate loop measurements to a common instant. We have proposed an alternative receiver architecture using a common correlation interval for all satellite signals. Under this scheme, the correlations made for each satellite in-view have a common interval, chosen in synchronism with the navigation process rather than with the data bits. Naturally, now the bit transitions within a correlation interval require special treatment. The advantages of avoiding measurement extrapolation are shown with a scalar phase lock loop structure intended for high dynamics real-time receivers. The operation of this loop in a common correlation interval receiver needs a carrier phase discriminator structure able to produce outputs for the correlation with bit transitions inside the interval. Three possible carrier discriminator schemes are analyzed in this work. It is shown that the loops operating data-bit asynchronously with any of these schemes have similar tracking threshold and phase estimation quality than those working bit-synchronously. The proposed architecture naturally generates a vector of simultaneous measurements and then it is particularly suited for the implementation of real-time vector tracking loops.

Pages: 264 to 273

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2012. Used with permission.

Publication date: December 31, 2012

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2601