Tag: broadband

  • GPS and PNT experts react to Ligado decision

    GPS and PNT experts react to Ligado decision

    Leaders in the GNSS/PNT community are reacting to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision to approve an order to allow Ligado Networks to deploy a low-power nationwide 5G network. The departments of Defense and Transportation have criticized the decision, concerned about interference with GPS signals.

    Below are statements we have received from our readers.


    Logan Scott, LS Consulting

    Photo: Logan Scott
    Logan Scott

    Spectrum regulation is much like land use zoning in that certain services are kept separate so as to avoid disturbing the neighbors. The FCC has in effect allowed Ligado to build an outdoor concert venue next to a monastery and by way of compensation, they offer free earplugs. GPS / GNSS signals are extremely weak and the receivers are extremely sensitive. To give some perspective, by the time they get to the GPS receiver, GPS signals are about a factor of 20 less powerful than cosmic background noise. Ligado’s spectrum is/was licensed for mobile satellite services (MSS) and so was not likely to interfere with GPS.

    With their new, and much more valuable license, Ligado now has a legal right to build a terrestrial cellular service. Exhaustive testing over the last 10 years has repeatedly demonstrated that such a system will interfere with high precision GPS/GNSS receivers used in surveying, timing, and earth observation. The DoD has also made strong claims that such a system will cause harm to their systems. In all cases, the effect is much like riding a bicycle at night. You can see fine until someone comes around the corner with the high beams on and blinds you.

    The FCC has in effect allowed Ligado to build an outdoor concert venue next to a monastery and by way of compensation, they offer free earplugs.

    In their earlier filings, Ligado had asked for permission to transmit at a power level of 1500 Watts. In an amazing piece of legerdemain, they convinced the FCC, but not the DoT or DoD, that by reducing transmit powers to 10 Watts, there would be no harm. This is a stunningly erroneous claim. As you lower the transmit power, you need many more cellular basestations to cover a given area. To use an analogy from my backyard, I can install one high flow sprinkler head to cover the entire yard or a bunch of low flow heads, each covering a small portion. Either way, the grass doesn’t care about anything other than inches of water and I’m gonna get wet if I run across the yard. Ligado’s core argument is equally wet. Nonetheless, it has great appeal to people who don’t understand how cellular systems work.

    So, moving forward and assuming the license stands, interference events will become more prevalent and GPS will be deemed “less reliable”. Because interference sources are largely untraceable, blame will rarely attach to Ligado.  I expect that GNSS receiver vendors will incorporate improved filters into receivers and pass the cost along to buyers. Ligado, or more likely whoever they sell the spectrum to, will quickly move to petition for increase transmit powers so as to lower capital costs; after all more basestations cost more. And so, the Visogoths have arrived, 4G in hand with a 5G label.


    John Fischer, Orolia

    Photo: Orolia
    John Fisher. (Photo: Orolia)

    At Orolia, we support the position of the DOT, DHS and DOD and the measures they are taking to protect the GNSS band. However, interference is a fact of life in this band as the GNSS signals are very weak, so additional measures must be taken for resiliency, especially for critical infrastructure. Adversarial interference is much worse than this, so a range of solutions are possible: from the simple – for example, a horizon blocking antenna that shields energy from a nearby tower – to full multi-layer defenses that include RF filtering, advanced DSP filtering/detection, alternative PNT from STL signals, atomic clock and IMU backup, and CRPA antennas. No one solution covers every case, but the problem can be managed.


    Mitch Narins, Strategic Synergies

    Mitch Narins
    Mitch Narins

    It is quite concerning when a panel of lawyers makes a decision, despite the results of years and years of studies, and over the objections of our nation’s technical and operational Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) experts. While I have championed the need for a complementary and resilient PNT system for many, many years, one cannot dispute the worldwide benefits that GPS and other GNSS have brought — from safety, security, and economic perspectives.

    As noted in the FCC’s press release, “The order also requires Ligado to protect adjacent band incumbents by reporting its base station locations and technical operating parameters to potentially affected government and industry stakeholders prior to commencing operations, continuously monitoring the transmit power of its base station sites, and complying with procedures and actions for responding to credible reports of interference, including rapid shutdown of operations where warranted.” I believe that it is imperative that GPS users, both within the Government and in the private sector, understand:

    1. How base station location information will be disseminated, what power levels and radiation patterns will be utilized, and what recourse GPS users will have to object to the proposed location and service;
    2. How the service will be monitored for each base station location, what systems will be used to do the monitoring, and how the monitoring information will be publicly disseminated;
    3. How reports of interference will be filed, how and by whom they will be determined to be “credible”, how and in what timeframe will a “rapid shutdown of operations” be accomplished, and how appropriate mitigations will be identified and implemented; and
    4. Given the importance and concern associated with this action, what special oversight mechanisms, involving civilian and military participants, should be put in place to avert potential safety, security, and economic impacts to our nation’s critical infrastructure.

    While one can model, and even test problems based on the location of facilities where aircraft would be expected to be operating close to the ground (e.g., airports and heliports), one can never be sure where a medevac or other first responder helicopter may have to set down in response to an accident or incident site.  In keeping with the FCC’s own press release, it is unclear how a pilot experiencing problems with GPS (if, in fact the pilot could recognize such a  problem) would be able to report the issue and have it mitigated in real time to support a safety or security mission — unless all areas around all ground transmitters were mapped and first responders could request specific ones to be turned off when operations were expected in a known area.  Unfortunately, the limits of these operating areas are, many times, unknown or rapidly changing (e.g., forest fires) and any delay in reaction to unforeseen events could prove detrimental to safety, security, and economic wellbeing.

    Mitre conducted a test wherein small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) could detect and avoid an aircraft based on receipt of its ADS-B squits.  Perhaps these ground transmitters should include ADS-B receivers and automatically go off-air if a helicopter comes within a certain distance.  I have no doubt that Ligado would not appreciate this solution …

    I would hope that those who disagree with this decision will seek out a means to correct this through either the legislative or judicial branches or both.  Personally, I cannot see how this either “promotes the general welfare” or “provides for the common defense” (I didn’t have to go to law school to come to those conclusions).  I also believe that (1) the ever growing importance and criticality of PNT services should provoke the Congress to modify the makeup of the FCC to include PNT expertise at the very top; and (2) the FCC Office of Chief Engineer needs to become an independent point of expertise akin to the Office of Inspector General to preclude undue pressure and potential political “bending” of technical analyses.

    Finally, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the FCC’s order, no one can possibly believe that this decade-long tale of woe is an example of governmental “best practice.”  As it took the energy and significant resources from so many more important PNT initiatives, I hope that a quality/leadership body (perhaps GAO and/or a group of IGs) take up the task to do an independent “lessons learned” assessment of this decade-long tale of woe needs to be carefully examined, as it took the energy and significant resources from so many more important PNT initiatives  — we should never have to go through this ever again.

    Mitch Narins is the principal consultant and owner of Strategic Synergies, LLC, a technical and management consulting firm that he formed after retiring following over four decades of U.S. government service with the FCC, US Navy/Marine Corps, and the Federal Aviation Administration.


    Alison Brown

    Allison Brown
    Allison Brown

    GPS user equipment needs to be designed to be more resilient to interference. The threat to GPS has been well understood for many years but agencies and vendors have been slow to respond to improve national resiliency against jamming threats. The President signed into law the National GPS Timing Resilience and Security Act in 2018 and on 2/12/2020 signed an Executive Order on Strengthening National Resilience through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services recognizing “the disruption or manipulation of these services has the potential to adversely affect the national and economic security of the United States.” The onus is now on vendors and agencies to develop resilient solutions that can operate in the presence of intentional and unintentional interference. These solutions would also mitigate any potential impact from the use of adjacent bands by operators such as Ligado to deploy 5G and Internet of Things services.


    Ellen Hall

    Ellen Hall
    Ellen Hall

    Overall, the GPS industry should be encouraged to do more to protect themselves from harmful interference. While it is too late for today’s receivers, the next generation needs to introduce more resilience. I agree with the House Armed Services Committee Chairman in saying, “While I strongly support development of the world’s most robust, safe and secure network, using L-band spectrum in such close proximity to critical GPS, as Ligado’s proposal requires, carries an unacceptable risk….”

    The FCC said the approval order included stringent conditions aimed at ensuring that GPS would be vulnerable to harmful interference. It seems the only way to prevent harmful interference, would be to permanently fund an oversight commission to monitor Ligado’s system. I believe only Congress can appropriate funding for this effort, therefore the FCC’s decision should be a recommendation to Congress to implement. It is not enough to leave it to a five-person committee to “encourage” that “stringent conditions” are implemented. Enforcement is crucial. Critical infrastructure should be regulated to ensure that we can cope better with “noisy neighbors.”

  • FCC approves Ligado broadband network, DOD and GPS industry react

    FCC approves Ligado broadband network, DOD and GPS industry react

    The five-member Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to approve an order to allow Ligado Networks to deploy a low-power nationwide 5G network.

    The approval comes despite objections from the U.S. Defense Department (DOD), other federal agencies and major U.S. airlines, all of whom are concerned about near-band interference with GPS.

    The FCC said the approval order included stringent conditions aimed at ensuring GPS would not experience harmful interference.

    “After many years of consideration, it is time for the FCC to make a decision and bring this proceeding to a close,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in an April 16 news release. “We have compiled an extensive record, which confirms that it is in the public interest to grant Ligado’s application while imposing stringent conditions to prevent harmful interference.”

    Ligado is seeking to repurpose a swath of L-band spectrum for a 5G network focused mainly on connecting smart devices and other internet-of-things services. According to the FCC, the order will “promote more efficient and effective use of our nation’s spectrum resources and ensure that adjacent band operations, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), are protected from harmful interference.”

    In response, members of both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and other defense advocates are considering legislative action to overturn the order.

    Defense & Transportation departments object

    Photo: gorodenkoff/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
    Photo: gorodenkoff/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

    Two areas that rely heavily on the integrity of GPS signals include defense and transportation. The DOD issued a joint statement with the Department of Transportation (DOT) criticizing the FCC ruling.

    “Americans rely on our Global Positioning System (GPS) each day for many things: to locate citizens in need of emergency assistance through our E-911 system, to secure our financial system, to order and receive shipments, to travel by car for work and leisure, to facilitate commercial trucking and construction work, and even to make a simple cellphone call. Our departments rely on GPS each day for all those reasons as well to coordinate tactical national security operations, launch spacecraft, track threats, and facilitate travel by air and sea. The proposed Ligado decision by the Federal Communications Commission will put all these uses of GPS at risk.”

    House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released a letter he sent to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai raising concerns about Ligado’s 5G network.

    “While the United States must be a leader in the implementation of 5G networks, our creation of these networks must not hamper our military’s operational capacity in any way. China’s aggressive, global promotion of its 5G companies presents a considerable security challenge that must be addressed. However, Ligado’s proposal, which seeks a portion of spectrum adjacent to that used for Global Positioning Systems, poses an even larger security risk.

    “The Department of Defense has been clear and direct: providing this license to Ligado would cause unacceptable operational impacts and adversely affect the military’s use of GPS. The military’s seamless use of GPS is vital to our national security. Our service members rely on GPS satellites for critical precision timing and navigation, and thousands of weapons systems are embedded with GPS signals.

    “While I strongly support development of the world’s most robust, safe and secure network, using L-band spectrum in such close proximity to critical GPS, as Ligado’s proposal requires, carries an unacceptable risk that far outweighs the possibility of a 5G network.”

    ‘Risk of crippling’ GPS

    Defense Secretary Mark Esper said via Twitter on Friday that the “Ligado proposal would needlessly imperil GPS-dependent national security capabilities. The Department continues to support domestic 5G options, but not at the risk of crippling our GPS networks. Nearly a dozen other federal agencies have joined us in opposing this proposal.”

    In to the FCC news release, Pai stated:

    “Although I appreciate the concerns that have been raised by certain Executive Branch agencies, it is the Commission’s duty to make an independent determination based on sound engineering. And based on the painstaking technical analysis done by our expert staff, I am convinced that the conditions outlined in this draft order would permit Ligado to move forward without causing harmful interference. For example, the draft order would authorize downlink operations at a power level that represents a greater than 99% reduction from what Ligado proposed in its 2015 application.”

    Image: A-Digit/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images
    Image: A-Digit/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images

    The release also provided this background about the Ligado proposal, and the “conditions” under which the FCC decided to approve it.

    In recent years, Ligado has amended its application to significantly reduce the power levels of its base stations from 32 dBW to 9.8 dBW (a reduction of 99.3%). Ligado has also committed to providing a significant (23 megahertz) guard-band using its own licensed spectrum to further separate its terrestrial base station transmissions from neighboring operations in the Radionavigation-Satellite Service allocation. As such, Ligado is now only seeking terrestrial use of the 1526-1536 MHz, 1627.5-1637.5 MHz, and 1646.5-1656.5 MHz bands. The Order is conditioned to reflect these technical requirements. It also requires Ligado to protect adjacent band incumbents by reporting its base station locations and technical operating parameters to potentially affected government and industry stakeholders prior to commencing operations, continuously monitoring the transmit power of its base station sites, and complying with procedures and actions for responding to credible reports of interference, including rapid shutdown of operations where warranted.

    However, The decision “appears to ignore the well-documented views of the expert agencies charged with preserving the integrity of GPS, specifically on the critical issue of what constitutes harmful interference to users of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS),” said J. David Grossman, executive director of the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA). He continued,

    Headshot: J. David Grossman
    J. David Grossman

    “GPSIA has consistently advocated for adoption of the 1-dB Standard as the only reliable mechanism that provides the predictability and certainty to ensure the continuation of the GPS success story, with the support of the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation and numerous other federal agencies. The 1-dB Standard for radiofrequency-based services is critical for GNSS. The FCC’s press release refers to conditions placed on Ligado’s application to prevent harmful interference, and GPSIA and its members intend to carefully review the details of today’s order while continuing to vigorously advocate for promoting, protecting and enhancing GPS.”

    Ligado Networks President and CEO Doug Smith issued this statement in reaction to the approval.

    “Ligado thanks the Commissioners for moving promptly to approve the order regarding our applications. We greatly appreciate their unanimous support as well as the expert engineering analysis determining that a terrestrial network can be deployed in the L-band to advance our country’s economic and security interests while fully protecting GPS. Our spectrum can be very instrumental in the transition to 5G, and we look forward to utilizing satellite and terrestrial services to deploy customized private networks and deliver innovative, next-generation IoT solutions for the industrial sector.”

    Positive reactions to the decision

    On April 20, the FCC released a compilation of responses to the decision, all of them in support.

    Attorney General Bill Barr: “I applaud FCC Chairman Pai’s proposal to make available L-band spectrum, to be used together with C-band spectrum, for deployment of advanced wireless services, including 5G. As I said in my speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, swift FCC action on spectrum is imperative to allow for the deployment of 5G. This is essential if we are to keep our economic and technological leadership and avoid forfeiting it to Communist China.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “I commend Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Pai’s draft order that would release the L-Band spectrum. Quick action on this order, in conjunction with the allocation of a portion of the C-Band for 5G, is vital to our national security and will help ensure that the United States is the global leader in advanced technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things, edge computing, and the next generation of telemedicine. Accelerating the deployment of 5G is essential to our country’s growth, and global economic security.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

    Sen. Ron Johnson (WI): “In a time when connectivity is and will continue to be more important than ever, it’s great to see @AjitPaiFCC move forward with freeing up critical spectrum resources for #5G.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Sen. Mark Warner (VA): “As the U.S. works to lead the world in 5G innovation and promote wider high-speed internet coverage, it’s all the more important to put our valuable mid-band spectrum to use. I urge the @FCC to follow the Chairman’s lead and approve Virginia-based @LigadoInsights’s application.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Rep. Billy Long (MO): “I applaud @AjitPaiFCC and the @FCC for taking action to unlock vital L-band spectrum that has been held hostage by bureaucratic slow-walking for far too long. Jobs and 5G is a win-win for the country.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Rep. Doris Matsui (CA): “I called on the @FCC to move forward with new, innovative uses of L-band spectrum to advance 5G. Glad to see the Commission take action on this front today to encourage efficient use of our spectrum.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Former Rep. Bob Barr (GA): “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s decision to circulate a draft FCC Order would at long last move forward the process of opening up a segment of mid-band satellite spectrum for commercial use in 5G technology deserves praise. … If adopted by the five-member Commission headed by Pai, the draft Order would tangibly signal to the country and the world that the United States is committed to seize the leadership in deployment of 5G technology, a role China openly covets.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

    American Action Forum: “More good news from the FCC! 5G is incredibly important and this is yet another example of actions that will enable innovation in 5G and support the growing number of connected devices.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Mark Jamison:  “@FCC approval of Ligado petition should accelerate 5G, bring diversity to marketplace, and increase efficient spectrum use. … Good leadership and bipartisan effort!”  (Tweet, 4/20/20)

    American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Roslyn Layton: “Kudos @AjitPaiFCC for unlocking more vital mid-band spectrum for #5G. Record of 10 years shows @LigadoNetworks took many steps with agencies and firms to address potential issues with GPS. We must move quickly on 5G!” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Citizens Against Government Waste: “The FCC has the engineering expertise to determine the best use of this spectrum and whether alternative uses would cause undue interference. The adoption of the Chairman’s draft order will promote 5G and IoT development, while providing the necessary safeguards for services using adjacent bands, including GPS positioning. … The L-band would not be used at all for the foreseeable future unless the FCC takes action. Freeing up the spectrum requested by Ligado will not only expand the use of 5G, it will also help to prevent other countries, particularly China, from getting ahead of the U.S. in 5G deployment.” (Blog, 4/17/2020)

    Competitive Carriers Association: “[We] commend Chairman Pai for circulating a draft order to approve Ligado’s applications, which will make much-needed mid-band spectrum, specifically L-band spectrum, available for terrestrial use. This long-awaited, positive progress comes at a critical time for all Americans, particularly those in rural areas, who are relying on mobile connections and services more than ever before. Mid-band spectrum provides real opportunities for deploying next-generation technologies, and competitive carriers are eager to access this valuable resource to expand and enhance their networks.” (Statement, 4/16/20)

    Competitive Enterprise Institute: “Access to spectrum is crucial for our modern economy, connecting everything from radios, to cellphones, to satellites. But for too long, turf-wars between federal regulatory agencies have left spectrum bands largely unavailable for valuable commercial applications. Today’s FCC decision wrests spectrum away from bureaucratic waste and delivers it into the hands of people who will aide our economic recovery and resiliency in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

    CTIA—The Wireless Association: “We’re pleased to see that the FCC has managed to cut through the red tape to make a decision on Ligado. This multi-year process reveals the challenges at play in our nation’s spectrum policy and the need for stronger support for new commercial wireless services. We need to all learn lessons from this process and ensure that decisions on key spectrum bands like lower 3 GHz occur in a more expedited and collaborative manner.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

    FreedomWorks: “Freeing up broadband spectrum will make America a global technological leader and will lead to innovations and developments that will improve quality of life across the country. Chairman Pai and the FCC should be applauded for their work resolving these matters[.]” (Blog, 4/15/2020)

    Free State Foundation: “Chairman @AjitPaiFCC has made a commendable decision to act on @LigadoNetworks’ proposal to put L-band spectrum into use for next-gen wireless services. This move takes seriously the @FCC’s responsibility and the urgent need for more commercial spectrum.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy Distinguished Fellow Gigi Sohn: “This decision was a long time coming, but it’s the right one. … Kudos to @AjitPaiFCC for having the fortitude to move this forward.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Information Technology & Innovation Foundation: “Great to see @FCC taking steps to finally approve @LigadoNetworks waiver for terrestrial use of their spectrum. This will be a boon to industrial IoT connectivity, bringing more productivity, safety, and resiliency for users of the network.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    International Center for Law & Economics: “Promoting deployment of 5G & next-gen IoT devices means finding new ways for incumbents to responsibly operate in ever-closer proximity. The @FCC’s Ligado order does that. Credit to @AjitPaiFCC for finding a way fwd that promotes innovation while limiting the risk of interference.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Lincoln Network: “Access to spectrum is an essential feature in any working 5G plan. Frankly, one key barrier in opening up this vital resource is government’s stronghold on ‘beachfront’ spectrum whether they own it or not. … This proceeding has been in regulatory limbo for several years due in large part to government stakeholders’ speculative interference claims regarding GPS-applications. … The FCC’s draft order in this proceeding provides enough protection for incumbents in adjacent bands, adds more competition into the 5G-IoT space, and allows consumers to have more access to broadband. Everybody wins.” (Blog, 4/16/2020)

    Mercatus Center Senior Fellow Brent Skorup: “Too often new tech is stalled by FCC regulation and incumbents. Chairman Pai pledged to breathe new life into Sec. 7. It’s great to see Chairman Pai and the FCC act on that pledge, liberalize spectrum, and expedite the deployment of new wireless services.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    National Security Institute: “Big move by @FCC Chairman @AjitPaiFCC today to support US 5G availability. This is a key nat sec issue w/ threat posed by China + econ benefits of broad 5G deployment in US.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute: “Kudos to @AjitPaiFCC @FCC for again standing up to Fed agencies trying to hoard spectrum they are not using – or, in this case, which is licensed to @LigadoNetworks! A big plus for #5G wireless ecosystem if it’s built out.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    R Street Institute: “If you can change your business model to be more productive and profitable, without hurting anyone else, then regulations shouldn’t stand in your way. Well done, @FCC!” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Progressive Policy Institute: “We applaud the FCC’s ongoing efforts to accelerate the deployment of 5G. Repurposing this commercial spectrum for a mobile broadband network is another step in the right direction.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)

    Public Knowledge: “The Chairman’s proposed Order reveals how the FCC has worked to both protect incumbent GPS users while allowing for pro-competitive commercial licensing of spectrum. … Congress has entrusted the FCC to strike the proper balance between the needs of incumbents and the potential benefits to new entrants or new users, and here, the FCC gets it right. In approving Ligado’s license, the FCC has taken an important step forward in its role as the sole arbiter of spectrum disputes and, in this instance, has correctly sided on behalf of the public interest to help deliver the potential of 5G to more Americans.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

    Technology Policy Institute: “Allowing the Ligado spectrum to lie fallow would represent a waste of valuable resources that could provide substantial benefits for consumers in the form of new Internet of Things and other uses. … Failure to approve the Ligado license modifications would have the opposite effect, transferring a large block of spectrum from the commercial sector back to the government. The Commission’s action today will avoid that outcome.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

    Wireless Infrastructure Association: “WIA applauds Chairman Pai for circulating a draft order to approve Ligado’s plans to deploy a nationwide network that would primarily support 5G and IoT services. After years of diligence, study, and discussion, today’s action is further evidence that the FCC bases its decisions on science and engineering. Freeing up more spectrum, especially mid-band spectrum, is vital to 5G deployment. Ligado’s proposal offers an enormous opportunity for infrastructure investment, deployment, and connectivity for Americans across the country right when we need it most.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)

  • GPS interference concerns with Ligado remain unaddressed, experts say

    Ligado’s proposed broadband service continues to pose a significant risk of harmful interference to GPS, several key signatories wrote in a July 18 letter to U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai.

    The interference would occur despite Ligado’s May 31 amendments to its license modification applications, the letter states. “The proposed Ligado operations, even after the recently proposed amendments, will harmfully impact a wide range of GPS receivers and thus should not be permitted.”

    Key signatories include representatives of Iridium Communications, the International Air Transport Association, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins and Satelles.

    The letter urges the FCC to deny Ligado’s pending license modification application unless Ligado can show it has addressed the substantive GPS interference concerns. Also encompassed in the letter are concerns over interference with satellite communications (SATCOM) and weather data.

    “The record, augmented by recent government reports, makes clear that the interference will be particularly impactful to the countless government and commercial entities that rely on GPS and SATCOM services for aviation safety and other critical services,” the signatories wrote.

    “A number of data points underscore the flaws in the way in which Ligado has attempted to measure interference to GPS from its proposed terrestrial operations.”

    Ligado recently acknowledged that its license modification request as originally filed is insufficient to protect certified aviation GPS receivers, but offered no changes to its proposal to address interference to uncertified GPS systems, SATCOM services (also important for aviation safety), or concerns of the weather data community.

    “Evaluating Ligado’s recent amendment to ensure protection of uncertified GPS receivers and protection of GPS receivers from aggregate interference will be necessary,” the letter states.

    1-dB Criterion. One issue is the 1-dB degradation interference protection criterion, which Ligado has suggested is “neither accurate nor reliable.” That criterion was used in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Adjacent Band Compatibility assessment issued in April, which examined the maximum transmitted power levels of adjacent band systems that can be tolerated by GPS receivers. The study endorsed and strictly applied the 1-dB criterion, and termed it the “accepted, worldwide standard for PNT and many other radio communication applications.”

    “Each of these government efforts supports one conclusion — the proposed Ligado operations, even after the recently proposed amendments, will harmfully impact a wide range of GPS receivers and thus should not be permitted…

    “We urge the Commission to deny Ligado’s pending license modification application as proposed unless Ligado can show it has addressed the substantive GPS, aviation, SATCOM, and weather data interference concerns still outstanding in the record,” the letter concludes.

    Read the full letter here.

  • FCC Chief ‘Confident’ Net Neutrality Rules Will Stand

    Wheeler Also Discusses Spectrum Incentive Auction on CTIA Stage

    LA Times writer Jon Healey interviews the FCC's Tom Wheeler in a fireside chat at CTIA.
    LA Times writer Jon Healey interviews the FCC’s Tom Wheeler in a fireside chat at CTIA.

    As one of Super Mobility 2015’s first speakers, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler reaffirmed his support for the net neutrality rules that CTIA-The Wireless Association, the event’s host, has been fighting in court.

    Wheeler harkened back to his speech to this same audience last year where he received a “less than thunderous response” to his suggestion that broadband should be classified as a public utility. Previously, the FCC had treated broadband as an information service separate from the telephone network.

    “If you have that kind of a role in delivery of Internet, then you ought to be governed under a similar set of rules that apply to everyone and not have a wireless exception,” Wheeler said.

    Net neutrality rules enacted by the FCC early this year prohibit mobile broadband providers from throttling Internet content and utilizing paid prioritization. CTIA filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., this summer in conjunction with other industry associations, opposing the regulation saying it could have “devastating impact on Americans and the U.S. economy.”

    “Imposing Title II on wireless would be a gross overreaction that would interrupt the world’s best wireless industry and interfere with the significant innovations and competition consumers enjoy today.”

    Wheeler disagreed on stage during a fireside chat with Los Angeles Times editorial writer Jon Healey. He pointed out the “tens of billions of dollars” the wireless industry has invested.

    “I’m very bullish on the continued growth of this industry and the continued protection of consumers and how they use the net,” he said.

    Wheeler said he was also “supremely confident” that the incentive auction for 600MHz of broadcast TV spectrum, scheduled to start March 29, 2016, would go off without a hitch and that broadcasters would be there and would agree to sell their spectrum rights. Don’t believe him? Take it from James Murdoch, new CEO of News Corp., he said.

    “I told him I was going to be talking to you today, and I said, ‘Can I tell him you’re going to show up?’ and he said, ‘Yup,’” Wheeler explained to Healey. “We had a fascinating discussion about how the broadcast business has changed. The most interesting part of my conversation with…Murdoch was talking about innovation and need to be continually innovative. The broadcast auction offers incredible opportunities for broadcasters to get a pot of money to innovate with without losing the business model they’ve been successful with.”

  • FCC Chairman to CTIA: Competition, Net Neutrality, Spectrum Top Priorities

    Crowds streamed into the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Las Vegas, to the sounds of ’80s music icon Thomas Dolby and a string quartet covering the ’90s hit “Bittersweet Symphony,” but the buzz wasn’t about the morning keynote speech that would kick off CTIA Super Mobility Week. Instead, the impending Apple Live Event had taken over as a countdown clock ticked on the big screen.

    The Apple circus — though alluded to in introductory remarks by CTIA Chairman Dan Mead, CEO of Verizon Wireless, and CTIA President Meredith Atwell Baker — would have to wait. First on the agenda: Several topics affecting the industry, with an emphasis on spectrum allocation.

    Atwell Baker set up the three-day show, the first combining the CTIA conference with MobileCON. She cited dozens of figures about the incredible growth of the industry before focusing in on the need for a successful spectrum incentive auction with projected 886% mobile data usage growth by 2019.

    “The U.S. had the third-lowest amount of spectrum dedicated to LTE,” she said. “How do we close the gap? The AWS-3 and 600MHz auction are a great start. We hear the wireless carriers may sit out of these auctions. Really? Given our track record, I’m incredulous wireless carriers wouldn’t bring billions of dollars to these auctions.”

    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been pushing for the spectrum incentive auctions to reallocate spectrum from television broadcasters to wireless providers for ever-increasing mobile usage.

    In introducing Tom Wheeler, chairman of the FCC, Atwell Baker lauded his determination to bring the auctions to fruition.

    Wheeler jumped right into his list of the Top 3 issues facing the business for the standing-room only crowd: the incentive auction, net neutrality and competition in the wireless industry.

    Wheeler balanced his concerns with equal doses of praise, lauding CTIA for a “very thoughtful” paper arguing that mobile broadband should not be subject to the same rules as fixed broadband while alternately questioning why some consumers have been led to believe they have unlimited data usage or why others are targets for throttled usage.

    “I’m hard-pressed to understand how either practice, much less the two together, could be a reasonable way to manage a network,” he said.


    RELATED: CTIA’s “Net Neutrality & Technical Challenges of Mobile Broadband Networks”   |   Chairman Wheeler’s Prepared Remarks to CTIA


    He also touched on the need to keep competition alive in the business and avoid the “walled gardens” of the past that created barriers to entry in the market.

    “Where competition exists the commission must protect it. This industry has always told policymakers, ‘We’re different, we’re competitive, but in the last couple of years the FCC and Department of Justice had to be poised to protect that dynamic.”

    Wheeler pointed out the wireless industry’s $260 billion 10-year infrastructure investment as “living proof that profit and progress can go hand in hand” before concluding on the topic of a shared front: spectrum allocation.

    “Our greatest public asset is that which we cannot see: Spectrum. Your government has heard your cry for more spectrum. The Congress responded with a creative and courageous solution,” he said, “an incredibly complex, never-before attempted undertaking.”

  • Innovation: Reducing the Jitters

    Innovation: Reducing the Jitters

    Chip-scale atomic clock.
    Chip-scale atomic clock.

    How a Chip-Scale Atomic Clock Can Help Mitigate Broadband Interference

    Small low-power atomic clocks can enhance the performance of GPS receivers in a number of ways, including enhanced code-acquisition capability that precise long-term timing allows. And, it turns out, such clocks can effectively mitigate wideband radio frequency interference coming from GPS jammers. We learn how in this month’s column.

    By Fang-Cheng Chan, Mathieu Joerger, Samer Khanafseh, Boris Pervan, and Ondrej Jakubov

    GPS World photo
    INNOVATION INSIGHTS by Richard Langley

    THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM is a marvel of science and engineering. It has become so ubiquitous that we are starting to take it for granted. Receivers are everywhere. In our vehicle satnav units, in our smart phones, even in some of our cameras. They are used to monitor the movement of the Earth’s crust, to measure water vapor in the troposphere, and to study the effects of space weather. They allow surveyors to work more efficiently and prevent us from getting lost in the woods. They navigate aircraft and ships, and they help synchronize mobile phone and electricity networks, and precisely time financial transactions.

    GPS can do all of this, in large part, because the signals emitted by each satellite are derived from an onboard atomic clock (or, more technically correct, an atomic frequency standard). The signals from all of the satellites in the GPS constellation need to be synchronized to within a certain tolerance so that accurate (conservatively stated as better than 9 meters horizontally and 15 meters vertically, 95% of the time), real-time positioning can be achieved by a receiver using only a crystal oscillator. This requires satellite clocks with excellent long-term stability so that their offsets from the GPS system timescale can be predicted to better than about 24 nanoseconds, 95% of the time. Such a performance level can only be matched by atomic clocks.

    The very first atomic clock was built in 1949. It was based on an energy transition of the ammonia molecule. However, it wasn’t very accurate. So scientists turned to a particular energy transition of the cesium atom and by the mid-1950s had built the first cesium clocks. Subsequently, clocks based on energy transitions of the rubidium and hydrogen atoms were also developed. These initial efforts were rather bulky affairs but in the 1960s, commercial rack-mountable cesium and rubidium devices became available. Further development led to both cesium and rubidium clocks being compact and rugged enough that they could be considered for use in GPS satellites. Following successful tests in the precursor Navigation Technology Satellites, the prototype or Block I GPS satellites were launched with two cesium and two rubidium clocks each. Subsequent versions of the GPS satellites have continued to feature a combination of the two kinds of clocks or just rubidium clocks in the case of the Block IIR satellites.

    While it is not necessary to use an atomic clock with a GPS receiver for standard positioning and navigation applications, some demanding tasks such as geodetic reference frame monitoring use atomic frequency standards to control the operation of the receivers. These standards are external devices, often rack mounted, connected to the receiver by a coaxial cable—too large to be embedded inside receivers.

    But in 2004, scientists demonstrated a chip-scale atomic clock, and by 2011, they had become commercially available. Such small low-power atomic clocks can enhance the performance of GPS receivers in a number of ways, including enhanced code-acquisition capability that precise long-term timing allows. And, it turns out, such clocks can effectively mitigate wideband radio frequency interference coming from GPS jammers. We learn how in this month’s column.


    “Innovation” is a regular feature that discusses advances in GPS technology and its applications as well as the fundamentals of GPS positioning. The column is coordinated by Richard Langley of the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, University of New Brunswick. He welcomes comments and topic ideas. Write to him at lang @ unb.ca.


    Currently installed Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) ground receivers have experienced a number of disruptions in GPS signal tracking due to radio frequency interference (RFI). The main sources of RFI were coming from the illegal use of jammers (also known as personal privacy devices [PPD]) inside vehicles driving by the ground installations. Recently, a number of researchers have studied typical properties of popular PPDs found in the market and have concluded that the effect of PPD interference on the GPS signal is nearly equivalent to that of a wideband signal jammer, to which the current GPS signal is most vulnerable. This threat impacts LAAS or any ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) in two ways:

    • Continuity degradation — as vehicles with PPDs pass near the GBAS ground antennas, the reference receivers lose lock due to the overwhelming noise power.
    •  Integrity degradation — the code tracking error will increase when the noise level in the tracking loop increases.

    Numerous interference mitigation techniques have been studied for broadband interference. The interference mitigation methods can be separated according to the two fundamental stages of GPS signal tracking: the front-end stage, in which automatic gain control and antenna nulling/beam forming techniques are relevant, and the baseband stage, where code and carrier-tracking loop algorithms and aiding methods are applicable.

    In our current work, the baseband strategy and resources that are practically implementable at GBAS ground stations are considered. Among those resources, we focus on using atomic clocks to mitigate broadband GNSS signal interference. For GPS receivers in general, wide tracking loop bandwidths are used to accommodate the change in signal frequencies and phases caused by user dynamics. Unfortunately, wide bandwidths also allow more noise to enter into the tracking loop, which will be problematic when wideband inference exists. The general approach to mitigate wideband interference is to reduce the tracking loop bandwidth. However, a reference receiver employing a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) needs to maintain a minimum loop bandwidth to track the dynamics of the clock itself, even when all other Doppler effects are removed. The poor stability of TCXOs fundamentally limits the potential to reduce the tracking loop bandwidth. This limitation becomes much less constraining when using an atomic clock at the receiver, especially in the static, vibration-free environment of a GBAS ground station.

    Integrating atomic clocks with GPS/GNSS receivers is not a new idea. Nevertheless, the practical feasibility of such integration remained difficult until recent advancements in atomic clock technology, such as commercially available compact-size rubidium frequency standards or, more recently, chip-scale atomic clocks (CSACs). Most of the research using atomic clock integrated GPS receivers aims to improve positioning and timing accuracy, enhance navigation system integrity, or coast through short periods of satellite outages. In these applications, the main function of the atomic clock is to improve the degraded system performance caused by bad satellite geometries. As for using narrower tracking loop bandwidths to obtain better noise/jamming-resistant performance, the majority of work in this area has focused on high-dynamic user environments with extra sensor aiding, such as inertial navigation systems, pseudolites, or other external frequency-stable radio signals. These aids alone do not permit reaching the limitation of tracking loop bandwidth reduction since the remaining Doppler shift from user dynamics still needs to be tracked by the tracking loop itself. Our research intends to explore the lower end of the minimum tracking loop bandwidth for static GPS/GNSS receivers using atomic clocks.

    High-frequency-stability atomic clocks naturally reduce the minimum required bandwidth for tracking clock errors (since clock phase random variations are much smaller). We have conducted analyses to obtain the theoretical minimum tracking loop bandwidths using clocks of varying quality. Carrier-phase tracking loop performance under deteriorated C/N0 conditions (that is, during interference) was investigated because it is the most vulnerable to wideband RFI. The limitations on the quality of atomic clocks and on the receiver tracking algorithms (second- or third-order tracking loop bandwidths) to achieve varying degrees of interference suppression at the GBAS reference receivers are explored. The tracking loop bandwidth reductions and interference attenuations that are achievable using different qualities of atomic clocks, including CSACs and commercially available rubidium receiver clocks, are also discussed in this article.

    In addition to the theoretical analyses, actual GPS intermediate frequency (IF) signals have been sampled using a GPS radio frequency (RF) frond-end kit, which is capable of utilizing external clock inputs, connected to a commercially available atomic clock. The sampled IF data are fed into a software receiver together with and without simulated wideband interference to evaluate the performance of interference mitigation using atomic clocks. The wideband interference is numerically simulated based on deteriorated C/N0. The actual tracking errors generated from real IF data are used to validate the system performance predicted by the preceding broadband interference mitigation analyses.

    Signal Tracking Loop and Tracking Error

    The carrier-phase tracking phase lock loop (PLL) is introduced first to understand the theoretical connection between the carrier-phase tracking errors and the signal noise plus receiver clock phase errors. A simplified PLL is shown in FIGURE 1 with incoming signals set to zero. In the figure, n(s), c(s), and δθ(s) are receiver white noise, clock phase error or clock disturbance, and tracking loop phase error respectively, with s being the Laplace transform parameter. G(s) is the product of the loop filter F(s) and the receiver clock model 1/s.

    FIGURE 1. Simplified tracking loop diagram.
    FIGURE 1. Simplified tracking loop diagram.

    From Figure 1, the transfer functions relating the white noise and clock disturbance to the output can be derived as:
    In-E1(1)

    The frequency response of H(s) is complementary to 1-H(s). Therefore, the PLL tracking performance is a trade-off between the noise rejection performance and the clock disturbance tracking performance.

    Total PLL errors resulting from different error sources are presented as phase jitter, which is the root-mean-square (RMS) of resulting phase errors. Equation (2) shows the definition of the standard deviation of phase jitter resulting from the error sources considered in this work:
    In-E2 (2)

    where IN-TXT1, and IN-TXT2 are standard deviations of receiver white noise, receiver clock errors, and satellite clock error, respectively, for static receivers.

    The standard deviation for each of the clock error sources can be evaluated using the frequency response of the corresponding transfer function and power spectral densities (PSDs). The equations to evaluate the phase error from each error source are:
    In-E3 (3)

    where Srx and Ssv are one-sided PSDs for receiver clock and satellite clock, respectively. Bw is the bandwidth of the tracking loop and Tc is the coherent integration time.

    Receiver and Satellite Clock Models

    In general, the receiver noise can be reasonably assumed to be white noise with constant PSD with magnitude (noise density) of N0. However, it is not the case for clock errors. The clock frequency error PSD is usually formulated in the form of a power-law equation and has been used to describe the time and frequency behaviors of the random clock errors in a free running clock:

    In-E4(4)

    where sy(f) represents the PSD of clock frequency errors and is a function of frequency powers.

    The clock phase error PSD can be analytically derived from the frequency PSD equation because the phase error is the time integral of the frequency error:
    In-E5(5)

    where f0 is the nominal clock frequency. The h coefficients of the clock phase error PSD are the product of the h coefficients from the clock frequency error PSD and the nominal frequency.

    We have adopted the PSD clock error models in our work to perform tracking loop performance analysis. The PSD of the CSAC is derived from an Allan deviation figure published by the manufacturer and is shown in FIGURE 2. We took three piecewise Allan deviation straight lines, which are slightly conservative, and converted them to a PSD.

    FIGURE 2. Allan deviations for chip-scale atomic clock.
    FIGURE 2. Allan deviations for chip-scale atomic clock.

    Three PSDs of clock error models are listed in TABLE 1, which represent spectrums of the well known TCXO, the CSAC, and a rubidium standard. Phase noise related h0 and h1 coefficients in the CSAC model are assumed to be the same as the TCXO because they can’t be obtained from the Allan deviation figure. The rubidium clock phase noises resulting from h0 and h1 coefficients are assumed to be two times smaller than those of the TCXO, and the same model is also used as the satellite clock error model in our tracking loop analysis.

    TABLE 1. Coefficients of power-law model.
    TABLE 1. Coefficients of power-law model.

    Theoretical Carrier Tracking Loop Performance

    Second- and third-order PLLs are used to study the tracking loop performance. The loop filters for each PLL are given by:
    In-E6(6)

    where F2(s) and  F3(s) are second- and third-order loop filters respectively. Typical coefficients for the second- and third-order loop filters are a2 = 1.414; wo,2 = 4×Bw,2 × a2/[(a2)2+1]; a3 = 1.1; b3 = 2.4; wo,3 = Bw,3/0.7845. Bw,2 and Bw,3 are the second- and third-order tracking loop bandwidths accordingly.

    As stated earlier, three error sources are considered for static receivers. Using the clock error models described earlier, the contribution of different error sources to phase jitter is a function of PLL tracking bandwidth. The resulting phase tracking errors from different error sources are evaluated based on Equation (3) and shown in FIGURE 3.

    FIGURE 3. Phase error contribution from different error sources.
    FIGURE 3. Phase error contribution from different error sources.

    The third-order PLL performance using 2-, 1-, 0.5- and 0.1-Hz tracking loop bandwidths were analyzed as a function of C/N0 and are shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. For each selected bandwidth, three different qualities of receiver clocks were analyzed, and a conventional 15-degree performance threshold was adopted. The second-order PLL performs similarly to the third-order PLL. However, the phase jitter tends to be more biased when the tracking loop bandwidth becomes smaller. This phenomenon will be observed later on using signal data for performance validation. Therefore, only the third-order loop performance analysis is shown in Figures 4 and 5. It is obvious from these two figures that the minimum tracking loop bandwidth for a TCXO receiver PLL is about 2 Hz, and the PLL can work properly only while C/N0 is above 24 dB-Hz.

    FIGURE 4 Tracking loop performance analysis for 2- and 1-Hz loop bandwidth.
    FIGURE 4 Tracking loop performance analysis for 2- and 1-Hz loop bandwidth.
    FIGURE 5. Tracking loop performance analysis for 0.5- and 0.1-Hz loop bandwidth.
    FIGURE 5. Tracking loop performance analysis for 0.5- and 0.1-Hz loop bandwidth.

    As for the receiver using atomic clocks, CSAC and a rubidium frequency standard in our analysis, the PLL bandwidth can be reduced down to at least 0.1 Hz while C/N0 is above 15 dB-Hz.

    Experimental Tracking Loop Performance

    Experimental data were collected at Nottingham Scientific Limited. The experiment was conducted using a GPS/GNSS RF front end with a built-in TCXO clock. The RF front end also has the capability of accepting atomic clock signals through an external clock input connector to which the CSAC (see Photo) was connected during data collection. All data (using the built-in TCXO clock or the CSAC) were sampled at a 26-MHz sampling rate and at a 6.5-MHz IF with 2-MHz front-end bandwidth and four quantization levels.

    A MatLab-coded software defined receiver (SDR) was used to process collected IF samples for tracking loop performance validation. TCXO phase jitters resulting from different tracking loop bandwidths are shown in FIGURE 6 for a typical second-order PLL under a nominal C/N0, which is about 45 dB-Hz. A 45-degree loss-of-lock threshold was adopted (three times larger than the standard deviation threshold used in an earlier performance analysis). In our work, all code tracking delay lock loops (DLLs) are implemented using a second-order loop filter with 20-millisecond coherent integration time and 0.5-Hz loop bandwidth without any aiding. The resulting phase jitters in the figure become biased when the tracking loop bandwidth is reduced. This observed phenomenon implies that a second-order PLL time response cannot track the clock dynamics when the loop bandwidth approaches the minimum loop bandwidth (where loss of lock occurs).

    FIGURE 6. Second-order PLL phase jitter using TCXO.
    FIGURE 6. Second-order PLL phase jitter using TCXO.

    The same IF data was re-processed by the SDR using the third-order PLL with the same range of tracking loop bandwidths. The resulting phase jitters are shown in FIGURES 7 and 8. There is no observable phase jitter bias before the PLLs lose lock in the figures. These results demonstrate that a third-order PLL performs better in terms of capturing the clock dynamics when the tracking loop bandwidth is reduced close to the limitation. Therefore, only the third-order PLL will be considered further.

    FIGURE 7. Third-order PLL phase jitter using TCXO.
    FIGURE 7. Third-order PLL phase jitter using TCXO.
    FIGURE 8. Third-order PLL phase jitter using CSAC.
    FIGURE 8. Third-order PLL phase jitter using CSAC.

    The performance of the TCXO PLL can be evaluated from the results in Figure 7. It demonstrates that the minimum loop bandwidth is 2 Hz, which is consistent with the previous analysis shown in figure 4. However, the minimum bandwidth using the CSAC is shown to be 0.5 Hz in Figure 8. This result does not meet the performance predicted by the analysis, which shows that the working bandwidth can be reduced to 0.1 Hz.

    Analysis and Tracking Performance under PPD Interference

    The motivation of our work, as described earlier, is to improve the receiver signal tracking performance under PPD interference, or equivalently, wideband interference. We carried out a simple analysis first to understand how much signal deterioration a GBAS ground receiver could expect. A 13-dBm/MHz PPD currently available on the market was used to analyze the signal deterioration based on the distance between the PPD and the GBAS ground receiver. A simple analysis using a direct-path model shows that noise power roughly 30 dB higher than the nominal noise level (about -202 dBW/Hz) could be experienced by the GBAS ground receiver if the nearest distance is assumed to be 0.5 kilometers. In this case, any wideband interference mitigation method to address PPD interference has to handle C/N0 as low as 10 to 15 dB-Hz.

    Gaussian distributed white noises were simulated and added on top of the original IF samples, then re-quantized to the original four quantization levels to mimic the PPD interference signal condition. A 20-dB higher noise level was simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of this signal deterioration technique.

    The tracking loop performance using the third-order PLL under low C/N0 conditions was evaluated using the IF sampling and PPD interference simulation technique just described. The evaluation results show that the minimum PLL bandwidth using the TCXO is still 2 Hz. This result is roughly consistent with a previous analysis showing a 24-dB-Hz C/N0 limitation using 2-Hz tracking bandwidth. The PLL using the CSAC performs better than that using the TCXO, which is expected.

    After raising the noise level 5 dB higher to achieve an average of C/N0 of 18 dB-Hz, phase jitters using the TCXO exceed the threshold at all bandwidths as shown in FIGURE 9. The same magnitude of noise was also added to the CSAC IF samples. The resulting phase jitters are shown in FIGURE 10, which demonstrates that the minimum bandwidth is 1 Hz for this deteriorated signal condition. Any further increase in noise level will result in loss of lock for PLLs using a CSAC at all tracking bandwidths.

    FIGURE 9. Phase jitter using TCXO under 18 dB-Hz C/N0.
    FIGURE 9. Phase jitter using TCXO under 18 dB-Hz C/N0.
    FIGURE 10. Phase jitter using CSAC under 18 dB-Hz C/N0.
    FIGURE 10. Phase jitter using CSAC under 18 dB-Hz C/N0.

    Summary and Future Work

    We explored a baseband approach for an effective wideband interference mitigation method in this article. We have presented the theoretical analysis and actual data validation to study the possible improvement of the PLL tracking performance under PPD interference, which has been experienced by LAAS ground receivers.

    The limitations of reducing PLL tracking loop bandwidths using different qualities of receiver clocks have been analyzed and compared with the experimental results generated by processing IF samples using an SDR. We conclude that the PLL tracking performance using a TCXO is consistent between theoretical prediction and data validation under both nominal and low C/N0 conditions. However, the PLL tracking performance using the CSAC was not as good as the analysis prediction under both conditions.

    In our future work, to understand the reason for the tracking performance inconsistency using the CSAC, we will carefully examine and evaluate the hardware components in line between the external clock input and the IF sampling chip. In this way, we will exclude the clock performance degradation due to any hardware incompatibility.

    Other types of high quality clocks, such as extra-low-phase-noise oven-controlled crystal oscillators and low-phase-noise rubidium oscillators, will also be tested to explore the limitation of PLL tracking bandwidth reduction. If the results using other clocks exhibit good consistency between performance analysis and data validation, it is highly possible that the CSAC clock error model mis-represents the available commercial products.

    In our future work, we will also consider simulating PPD interference more closely to the real scenario, by adding analog interference signals on top of GPS/GNSS analog signals before taking digital IF samples.

    Acknowledgments

    The authors would like to thank the Federal Aviation Administration for supporting the work described in this article. Also, the authors would like to extend their thanks to all members of the Illinois Institute of Technology NavLab and to the collaborators from Nottingham Scientific Limited for their insightful advice. This article is based on the paper “Using a Chip-scale Atomic Clock-Aided GPS Receiver for Broadband Interference Mitigation” presented at ION GNSS+ 2013, the 26th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation held in Nashville, Tennessee, September 16–20, 2013.

    Manufacturers

    The CSAC used in our tests is a Symmetricom Inc., now part of Microsemi Corp. (www.microsemi.com), model SA.45s. We used a Nottingham Scientific Ltd. (www.nsl.eu.com) Stereo GPS/GNSS RF front end with the MatLab-based SoftGNSS 3.0 software from the Danish GPS Center at Aalborg University (gps.aau.dk).


    FANG-CHENG CHAN is a senior research associate in the Navigation Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. He received his Ph.D in mechanical and aerospace engineering from IIT in 2008. He is currently working on GPS receiver integrity for Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) ground receivers, researching GPS receiver interference detection and mitigation to prevent unintentional jamming using both baseband and antenna array techniques, and developing navigation and fault detection algorithms with a focus on receiver autonomous integrity monitoring or RAIM.

    MATHIEU JOERGER obtained a master’s in mechatronics from the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Strasbourg, France, in 2002, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from IIT in 2002 and 2009 respectively. He is the 2009 recipient of the Institute of Navigation Bradford Parkinson award, which honors outstanding graduate students in the field of GNSS. He is a research assistant professor at IIT, working on multi-sensor integration, on sequential fault-detection for multi-constellation navigation systems, and on relative and differential RAIM for shipboard landing of military aircraft.

    SAMER KHANAFSEH is a research assistant professor at IIT. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering at IIT in 2003 and 2008, respectively. He has been involved in several aviation applications such as autonomous airborne refueling of unmanned air vehicles, autonomous shipboard landing, and ground-based augmentation systems. He was the recipient of the 2011 Institute of Navigation Early Achievement Award for his contributions to the integrity of carrier-phase navigation systems.

    BORIS PERVAN is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at IIT, where he conducts research focused on high-integrity satellite navigation systems. Prof. Pervan received his B.S. from the University of Notre Dame, M.S. from the California Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

    ONDREJ JAKUBOV received his M.Sc. in electrical engineering from the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague in 2010. He is a postgraduate student in the CTU Department of Radio Engineering and he also works as a navigation engineer for Nottingham Scientific Limited in Nottingham, U.K. His research interests include GNSS signal processing algorithms and receiver architectures.


    FURTHER READING

    • Authors’ Conference Paper

    “Performance Analysis and Experimental Validation of Broadband Interference Mitigation Using an Atomic Clock-Aided GPS Receiver” by F.-C. Chan, S. Khanafseh, M. Joerger, B. Pervan and O. Jakubov in the Proceedings of ION GNSS+ 2013, the 26th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation, Nashville, Tennessee, September 16–20, 2013, pp. 1371–1379.

    • Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks

    The SA.45s Chip-Scale Atomic Clock–Early Production Statistics” by R. Lutwak in the Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Systems and Applications Meeting, Long Beach, California, November 14–17, 2011, pp. 207–219.

    Time for a Better Receiver: Chip-Scale Atomic Frequency References” by J. Kitching in GPS World, Vol. 18, No. 11, November 2007, pp. 52–57.

    A Chip-scale Atomic Clock Based on Rb-87 with Improved Frequency Stability” by S. Knappe, P.D.D. Schwindt, V. Shah, L. Hollberg, J. Kitching, L. Liew, and J. Moreland in Optics Express, Vol. 13, No. 4, 2005, pp. 1249–1253, doi: 10.1364/OPEX.13.001249.

    • Atomic Clocks and GNSS Receivers

    “Three Satellite Navigation in an Urban Canyon Using a Chip-scale Atomic Clock” by R. Ramlall, J. Streter, and J.F. Schnecker in the Proceedings of ION GNSS 2011, the 24th International Technical Meeting of The Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, Portland, Oregon, September 20–23, 2011, pp. 2937–2945.

    “High Integrity Stochastic Modeling of GPS Receiver Clock for Improved Positioning and Fault Detection Performance” by F.-C. Chan, M. Joerger, and B. Pervan in the Proceedings of PLANS 2010, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers / Institute of Navigation Position, Location and Navigation Symposium, Indian Wells, California, May 4–6, 2010, pp. 1245–1257, doi: 10.1109/PLANS.2010.5507340.

    “Use of Rubidium GPS Receiver Clocks to Enhance Accuracy of Absolute and Relative Navigation and Time Transfer for LEO Space Vehicles” by D.B. Cox in the Proceedings of ION GNSS 2007, the 20th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation, Fort Worth, Texas, September 25–28, 2007, pp. 2442–2447.

    • Clock Stability

    “Signal Tracking,” Chapter 12 in Global Positioning System: Signals, Measurements, and Performance, Revised Second Edition by P. Misra and P. Enge. Published by Ganga-Jamuna Press, Lincoln, Massachusetts, 2011.

    “Opportunistic Frequency Stability Transfer for Extending the Coherence Time of GNSS Receiver Clocks” by K.D Wesson, K.M. Pesyna, Jr., J.A. Bhatti, and T.E. Humphreys in the Proceedings of ION GNSS 2010, the 23rd International Technical Meeting of The Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, Portland, Oregon, September 21–24, 2010, pp. 2937–2945.

    “Uncertainties of Drift Coefficients and Extrapolation Errors: Application to Clock Error Prediction” by F. Vernotte, J. Delporte, M. Brunet, and T. Tournier in Metrologia, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2001, pp. 325–342, doi: 10.1088/0026-1394/38/4/6.

    • Tracking Loop Filters and Inertial Navigation System Integration

    “Kalman Filter Design Strategies for Code Tracking Loop in Ultra-Tight GPS/INS/PL Integration” by D. Li and J. Wang in the Proceedings of NTM 2006, the 2006 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Monterey, California, January 18–20, 2006, pp. 984–992.

    “Satellite Signal Acquisition, Tracking, and Data Demodulation,” Chapter 5 in Understanding GPS: Principles and Applications, Second Edition,           E.D. Kaplan and C.J. Hegarty, Editors. Published by Artech House, Norwood, Massachusetts, 2006.

    “GPS and Inertial Integration”, Chapter 7 in Global Position System: Theory and Applications, Vol. 2, by R.L. Greenspan. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., Washington, DC, 1996.

    • GNSS Jamming

    Know Your Enemy: Signal Characteristics of Civil GPS Jammers” by R.H. Mitch, R.C. Dougherty, M.L. Psiaki, S.P. Powell, B.W. O’Hanlon, J.A. Bhatti, and T.E. Humphreys in GPS World, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2012, pp. 64–72.

    “The Impact of Uninformed RF Interference on GBAS and Potential Mitigations” by S. Pullen, G. Gao, C. Tedeschi, and J. Warburton in the Proceedings of ION GNSS 2012, the 25th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation, Nashville, Tennessee, September 17–21, 2012, pp. 780–789.

    “Survey of In-Car Jammers-Analysis and Modeling of the RF Signals and IF Samples (Suitable for Active Signal Cancelation)” by T. Kraus, R. Bauernfeind, and B. Eissfeller in Proceedings of ION GNSS 2011, the 24th International Technical Meeting of The Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, Portland, Oregon, September 20–23, 2011, pp. 430–435.

     

  • Averna Emulator Receives Four-Diamond Ranking from Cable Industry

    Averna, developer of test solutions and services for communications and electronics device-makers worldwide, today announced it has received a Broadband Technology Report (BTR) Diamond Technology Review ranking of 4 “Diamonds” for its DOCSIS Channel Emulator (DCE).

    Now in its ninth year, the BTR Diamond Technology Reviews is a renowned industry program that was developed to recognize some of the top products and solutions available to the cable industry as determined by a distinguished panel of cable telecommunications engineering experts. Engineering executives from Boyer Broadband, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Suddenlink Communications, Comcast, Charter and Cox were among the third-party judges for the 2013 Diamonds. The judges had this to say about Averna’s DCE:

    • “A handy and cost-effective solution for equipment manufacturers to test and validate new DOCSIS products that use bonded channels. MSOs may also have an interest in the product for validating new modem modulation profiles or their own internal product validation efforts.”
    • “Improved DOCSIS performance testing capabilities, at lower cost and with smaller footprint, for equipment manufacturers and network operators.”
    • “A creative way to test DOCSIS networks.”

    Averna’s DOCSIS Channel Emulator (DCE) is a small-footprint channel-emulation platform that helps device makers ensure that their DOCSIS and EuroDOCSIS products deliver optimum performance in the field. It is capable of acquiring, impairing and generating up to 24 downstream (DS) channels in real time.

    The DCE’s flexible FPGA-based design is powered by National Instruments’ vector signal transceiver (VST), which enables Averna to increase the number of supported channels without increasing the DCE’s hardware footprint. The DCE helps users ensure that their equipment meets standards such as the SCTE 40 specifications or MSO-specific configurations. Furthermore, the DCE’s software-based approach and modular architecture protect the client’s investment, allowing them to easily cover both current and future test needs.

    “We are proud to achieve such a high score in the Diamond Technology Reviews,” said Jean-Levy Beaudoin, VP Sales, West USA and Latin America, for Averna. “As the DOCSIS industry moves to high channel counts, the DOCSIS Channel Emulator is the first test instrument specifically developed for this new environment, enabling testing that was not economically and technically possible before. Broadband device makers can now increase test coverage and accelerate testing, improving product quality and time-to-market.”