Tag: chip-scale atomic clock

  • Microchip Technology unveils low-noise chip-scale atomic clock

    Microchip Technology unveils low-noise chip-scale atomic clock

    Microchip Technology has introduced its second-generation Low-Noise Chip-Scale Atomic Clock (LN-CSAC), model SA65-LN. It features a lower profile height and operates in a wider temperature range, providing low-phase noise and atomic clock stability in challenging environments.

    Chip-scale atomic clocks (CSACs) offer precise and stable timing in situations where traditional atomic clocks are impractical due to size or power constraints or where satellite-based references may be unreliable.

    The SA65-LN, featuring Microchip’s Evacuated Miniature Crystal Oscillator (EMXO) technology, offers significant advancements in oscillator design. With a profile height of less than half an inch, power consumption under 295 mW, and an operating temperature range from −40°C to +80°C, this compact device delivers impressive performance. These enhanced specifications make the SA65-LN an ideal choice for a wide array of aerospace and defense applications. It is particularly well-suited for use in mobile radar systems, dismounted radios, IED jamming equipment, autonomous sensor networks, and unmanned vehicles, where size, power efficiency, and temperature resilience are crucial factors.

    The LN-CSAC combines a crystal oscillator and an atomic clock in a single device, offering a low-phase noise of 10 Hz < −120 dBc/Hz, an Allan Deviation (ADEV) stability of < 1E-11 at 1-second averaging time, and an initial accuracy of ±0.5 ppb. The LN-CSAC also demonstrates frequency stability with a < 0.9 ppb/mo drift and maximum temperature-induced errors of < ±0.3ppb. These features contribute to high-quality signal integrity and atomic-level accuracy, potentially extending mission durations and reducing maintenance requirements.

  • Spectranetix announces high-precision A-PNT card for Army

    Spectranetix announces high-precision A-PNT card for Army

    Photo: Spectranetix
    Photo: Spectranetix

    Spectranetix Inc., a Pacific Defense company, has announced the SX-124 ruggedized 3U OpenVPX high-performance positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) card.

    With an ability to provide timing and positioning information in a GPS-denied environment through sensor fusion, the SX‑124 switch is designed for highly integrated systems with a requirement for the U.S. Army’s C5ISR Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) and alignment with the Open Group Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) technical standard.

    The SX-124 can accept external sources or use its onboard GNSS receivers as reference inputs for timing and positioning data. The positioning data can be fused with internal and external inertial measurement units (IMUs). It distributes 11 100-MHz outputs and 11 1PPS outputs in a phase coherent manner.

    The SX-124 provides timing and position holdover from an internal chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) and IMU. A built-in time-of-day clock provides accurate network time stamps on system startup without GPS availability.

    The SX-124 also provides enhanced location information and can be connected to an external IMU as well as a controlled reception pattern antenna (CPRA).

    The SX-124 supports the standard VICTORY shared PNT services from a built-in GNSS timing receiver with an optional built-in M-code GB-GRAM receiver, CSAC and barometer to provide altitude information.

    With the option for expansion to support over-the-air rekeying (OTAR), external fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG), alternative navigation (ALTNAV), and additional GNSS systems such as Galileo, the SX-124 supports the defense community’s need for a high-performance assured PNT (A-PNT) solution in the 3U VPX form factor and aligned to the latest open set of standards.

    “Reliable situational awareness and cooperative, networked maneuvers demand assured PNT capability,” said Daniel Kilfoyle, CTO of Pacific Defense. “Our A-PNT solution embraces the pntOS open sensor-fusion framework and supports multiple sensor connections including GNSS receiver, GB-GRAM, IMU, FOG, CRPA and a two-channel software-defined RF receiver for added flexibility. Combined with exquisite timing and frequency performance and CMOSS alignment, this PNT card is yet another example of our commitment to CMOSS and SOSA.”

    The SX-124 card is on track for production release early next year.

  • Microchip offers new chip-scale atomic clock for defense

    Microchip offers new chip-scale atomic clock for defense

    New SA65 CSAC provides wider operating temperatures, faster warm-up and improved frequency stability in extreme environments

    Photo:
    Photo: Microchip Technology

    Microchip Technology Inc. is offering the new SA65 chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC), providing precise timing accuracy and stability in extreme environments. Designed for military and industrial systems, the Microchip’s SA65 CSAC features ultra-high precision and low power consumption

    Advanced military platforms, ocean-bottom survey systems and remote-sensing applications all require precise timing. CSACs ensure stable and accurate timing even when GNSS time signals are unavailable, thereby helping industrial and military system designers to meet timing requirements.

    Microchip’s SA65 CSAC is an embedded timing solution with improved environmental ruggedness, delivering higher performance than the previous SA.45s CSAC, including double the frequency stability over a wider temperature range and faster warm-up from cold temperatures. The SA65 has an operating temperature range of –40 to 80 °C and a storage temperature range of –55 to 105 °C. The warm-up time of two minutes at –40 °C is 33% faster than that of the SA.45s.

    These performance improvements benefit designers of highly portable solutions for military applications such as assured positioning, navigation and timing (A-PNT) and C5ISR (command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance). It meets precise frequency requirements of a low size, weight and power (SWaP) atomic clock. Improvements such as fast warm-up to frequency after cold start, temperature stability over a wide operating range, and frequency accuracy and stability enabling extended operation while GNSS is denied help to ensure mission success in conflict environments.

    The SA65 CSAC provides precise timing for portable and battery-powered applications requiring continuous operation and holdover in GNSS-denied environments. The SA65 is form-, fit- and function-compatible with the SA.45s, which minimizes risk and redesign costs for the system developer while improving performance and environmental insensitivity.

  • New US Army PNT office welcomes industry on GPS-denied solutions

    New US Army PNT office welcomes industry on GPS-denied solutions

    The U.S. Army is opening a new office and laboratory to develop agile position, navigation and timing solutions to reduce soldiers’ dependence on GPS, according to reports in C4ISRNET and Defense News.

    The new PNT modernization product office will focus on developing and deploying solutions that keep soldiers operating in areas where the GPS signal has been denied, degraded or spoofed. The office will open Oct. 8, and will use an open-systems architecture.

    The new office will also host an Open Innovation Lab, a space where commercial entities can work with the Army to develop PNT solutions. Within lab, the Army has set aside space for the CMOSS (C4ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards) Lab and the Network Cross-Functional Team’s Orion Forge at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

    The lab will be physically separated from the more classified areas of the site to encourage engagement with industry. Technologies to be explored include radio frequency systems, GPS, alt-nav, chip-scale atomic clocks, other timing technologies and celestial navigation.

    According to the reports, the technologies will be fielded fast, with new solutions every five years. This is in contrast to the usual method of a decade spent developing technologies meant to last 20 years so that soldiers can always combat adversaries’ capabilities.

    Andradige Silva, electronics engineer for the C5ISR Center's Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate, and Maj. Doug Williams, assistant product manager for the Joint Battle Command-Platform, access the C4ISR/Electronic Warfare Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS). (Photo: U.S. Army)
    Andradige Silva, electronics engineer for the C5ISR Center’s Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate, and Maj. Doug Williams, assistant product manager for the Joint Battle Command-Platform, access the C4ISR/Electronic Warfare Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS). (Photo: U.S. Army)

  • New miniature atomic clock aids positioning in difficult environments

    New miniature atomic clock aids positioning in difficult environments

    A new miniature atomic clock offers improvements to temperature sensitivity and long-term drift, which correlate to longer holdover durations. Features important to mobile applications —warm-up characteristics, gravity sensitivity, and shock and vibration — as well as new 1 pulse-per-second (PPP) input and output signals are highlighted.

    By William Krzewick, Jamie Mitchell, John Bollettiero, Peter Cash, Kevin Wellwood, Igor Kosvin and Larry Zanca

    The miniature atomic clock (MAC) was developed out of the same size and power-reducing technology, known as coherent population trapping (CPT), as the venerable chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC). By implementing low-power lasers as opposed to traditional lamp designs, this technology allows for unparalleled performance versus power consumption in the commercial oscillator domain.

    Since its initial release in 2009, the MAC has been well-suited for telecom applications as a holdover reference oscillator in GNSS-denied environments. Now, with advances in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) design, signal processing and electronics miniaturization, and by leveraging more than 40 years of atomic clock design at Microchip Technology, the next generation MAC is designed to meet a variety of applications with demanding mission scenarios.

    In this article, we discuss improvements to temperature sensitivity and long-term drift, which correlate to longer holdover durations. We also discuss warm-up characteristics, gravity (g)-sensitivity, and shock and vibration, which are important for mobile applications. Finally, several new features will be introduced including a 1 pulse-per-second (1PPP) input and output signal.

    INTRODUCTION

    Low-drift performance over time and frequency stability during temperature changes have enabled small atomic oscillators to maintain precise time and frequency in the absence of a primary reference such as GNSS. The MAC-SA5X rubidium (Rb) miniature atomic clock has advanced the design of the legacy MAC-SA.3Xm with a wider operating temperature range, additional features and improvement in frequency drift and temperature stability to enable longer holdover durations. Measuring 2 × 2 × 0.72 inches (5.08 × 5.08 × 1.83 centimeters), it is designed for size and power-constrained applications that require atomic clock performance.

    FIGURE 1 shows exterior and interior views of the MAC, while FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of the clock. The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with thermoelectric cooler (TEC) generates the light source at the appropriate wavelength. The laser light is directed into the resonance cell to stimulate the Rb atoms. Use of a VCSEL, as opposed to the traditional lamp design, results in a relatively low-power, small-form-factor package while eliminating frequency jumps and preserving short-term stability. The new TEC enables fast temperature response, increased temperature set-point resolution, and a larger temperature range.

    FIGURE 1 Top view (left), inside view (center) and bottom view (right) of MAC. (Photo: Microchip)
    FIGURE 1 Top view (left), inside view (center) and bottom view (right) of MAC. (Photo: Microchip)

    FIGURE 2. Block Diagram of MAC. (Diagram: Microchip)
    FIGURE 2. Block Diagram of MAC. (Diagram: Microchip)

    The temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) drives an FPGA-based direct digital synthesizer (DDS) for higher accuracy with minimal board space intrusion, differential signaling and additional power isolation. Linear microwave control, which has direct impact on frequency stability as measured by the Allan deviation (ADEV), lock times and temperature compensation, is a key improvement.

    The resonance cell subassembly contains the Rb gas mixture. It is surrounded by an oven with C-field (static magnetic field) coil necessary for controlling the temperature and magnetic field, respectively, of the Rb atoms. Dual magnetic shields mitigate the effects of external magnetic fields. The photodiode printed-circuit-board assembly detects CPT resonance of the clock. The resonator is fundamentally unchanged and therefore not expected to impact the quality factor, Q, of the oscillator.

    The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the CPT signal, on the other hand, has improved thanks to the updated control electronics design, faster servo-loop algorithms and use of lower noise electronics. This is evident in the less noisy clock transition for the MAC-SA5X (orange trace in FIGURE 3) versus the predecessor (black trace). Because the 1-second ADEV is proportional to 1/(Q×SNR), the short-term stability is improved in the new design.

     

    FIGURE 3. CPT resonance of MAC. (Image: Microchip)
    FIGURE 3. CPT resonance of MAC. (Image: Microchip)

    PERFORMANCE

    This next generation of the rubidium atomic clock leverages substantial improvements in both hardware and software. These improvements, coupled with more than a decade of experience in practical CPT technology, have allowed for significant insight into physics behavior and interrogation techniques. This has resulted in improvements to key performance parameters such as temperature range, stability, retrace and lock times. These metrics will be reviewed in the following sections by comparing data from a sample of pre-production engineering units.

    ADEV. Short-term frequency stability of the oscillators is represented in FIGURE 4 as an ADEV measurement. The MAC-SA5X has two performance classifications: The SA53 is the base-performance (red dots) and the SA55 is the high-performance (red squares). The MAC-SA55 has a 1-second integration period, tau (τ) = 1 second, ADEV requirement of less than 3 × 10-11, that follows a 1/√τ behavior to τ = 1000 seconds. ADEV rises at 105 seconds to accommodate the mid-/long-term frequency drift of the oscillator, with a generous margin. The base-performance version MAC-SA53 has a looser ADEV specification of less than 5 × 10-11 at 1 second that follows a 1/√τ behavior to 100 seconds.

    On average (dashed line), the sample units had a 1-second ADEV of about 1.2 × 10-11. A narrow grey line represents the average values of the data set plus two standard deviations, and the orange line represents a sample unit that closely mirrored the average performance (limited sample size of five for long-term testing).

    Two notes on Figure 4 are worth mentioning: The standard deviation line has a larger spread from average as the observation interval increases and a small (~2 × 10-13) bump exists in the measurement at 400 seconds. The former is due to increased measurement noise as there are simply fewer data points for longer τ. The latter is believed to be a result of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the laboratory as it cycled. All MACs are compensated to reduce temperature effects, as will be discussed later. However, these units were not compensated at the time of testing and were more susceptible to HVAC temperature effects compared to full-production units.

    FIGURE 4. Frequency Stability vs. Observation Interval (τ) of MAC Sample Units. (Image: Microchip)
    FIGURE 4. Frequency Stability vs. Observation Interval (τ) of MAC Sample Units. (Image: Microchip)

    Aging. Long-term frequency drift (monthly aging rate) of the MAC has a requirement of 1 × 10-10 per month and 5 × 10-11 per month for the SA53 and SA55 variants, respectively. It is important to note that the majority of sample units fall well within the tighter 5 × 10-11 per month requirement and accordingly affect the average mid-/long-term stability in the ADEV plot. Future production units that only meet the baseline SA53 performance could have inferior stability beyond τ = 100 seconds, compared to our sample data.

    TDEV. The time stability of the phase is represented in FIGURE 5 as a time deviation (TDEV) measurement. This type of test is important to compare oscillators, since it gives an estimation of time error accumulation due to only the free-running oscillator itself by removing time or frequency errors at the beginning of the test. The graph uses the same color scheme as the ADEV plot to indicate average data (dashed line), average plus two standard deviation data (thin line) and a sample unit as an orange trace.

    FIGURE 5. Phase Stability vs. Observation Interval (τ) of MAC Sample Units. (Image: Microchip)
    FIGURE 5. Phase Stability vs. Observation Interval (τ) of MAC Sample Units. (Image: Microchip)

    Based on the required stability performance of the SA55, the time error after three days for a free-running oscillator is predicted to be less than 650 nanoseconds. For the measured units, the MACs had a TDEV of about 230 nanoseconds at τ = three days, due to the long-term drift performance of our samples.

    Phase Noise. Phase noise for the MAC has two classifications: base performance and high performance over the range 1 Hz to 10 kHz.

    Average phase noise data is well below the requirements, for our samples.

    Temperature Effects. As a small Rb oscillator, the MAC inherently has low sensitivity to environmental temperature perturbations compared to most commercial quartz oscillators. To further improve performance, each MAC is characterized and compensated with a high-order polynomial fit of temperature effects to reduce peak-to-peak frequency changes below 5 × 10-11 over a wide operating range. The SA53 has a two times relaxation for this requirement.

    Retrace. Retrace specifications are provided to indicate the expected frequency change of an oscillator due to that oscillator being powered off and back on again. The MAC retrace test is defined as follows:

    • The MAC is powered on, and its frequency offset (from nominal) is measured after 24 hours.
    • Power is removed for 48 hours.
    • Power is turned back on, and its frequency offset is measured again after 12 hours.
    • The delta frequency between the two measurements is calculated to be within ±5 × 10-11.

    A test verified the specification of ±5 × 10-11 after 12 hours.

    For this test, however, we did not wait 12 hours to measure the retrace frequency change. Instead, we began measuring immediately after power was turned back on. The measured data from sample SN00011 is indicative of typical performance and shows how the MAC retrace frequency delta is well within ±1 × 10-11. This unit had a slightly positive delta and meets the retrace requirement in minutes — far sooner than the modest 12-hour specification.

    The sample units as a whole performed similarly to the sample SN00011.

    Warm-up Time. Defined as the time to reach atomic lock, warm-up time is the point at which atomic resonance is attained and the short-term stability performance of the oscillator will be achieved. Test average and standard deviation data is well within the requirement of 8 minutes at temperatures greater than –10°C. At colder temperatures, the requirement is 12 minutes.

    Typical performance is about four minutes to achieve lock at a starting temperature of 25°C. This has been a major design focus; all MACs are designed and tested to quickly achieve lock at all temperatures.

    Power Consumption. Average power consumption in a 25°C environment is about 6 W. Warmer environments reduce the power consumption, due to less required heating of the resonance cell to achieve the appropriate temperature.

    1PPS Disciplining. A 1-Hz (1PPS) input and output signal are new features for the MAC. The 1PPS output is derived directly from the TCXO, and its stability performance is therefore tied to the RF output performance. The 1PPS input accepts a reference signal from a primary reference clock to calibrate the MAC’s 1PPS (and RF) output. The algorithm will simultaneously steer the phase and frequency to that of the external reference (1PPS input), ultimately achieving accuracies of less than 1 nanosecond and 1 × 10-13, respectively. This feature is quite useful for applications where absolute frequency or phase errors need to be minimized and is similar to the function available on the CSAC.

    The MAC can quickly calibrate its RF output by turning on the 1PPS disciplining feature to correct a 1.4 × 10-8 frequency error in minutes. A user can adjust the disciplining time constant to accommodate for noisier 1PPS input signals, if necessary.

    g-Sensitivity Testing. Vibration and g-sensitivity testing was conducted. Static acceleration effects, such as a “tipover” test, on atomic clocks are minimal, and they exhibit a sensitivity of several parts per trillion per g. The MAC significantly outperformed a commercial oven-controlled crystal oscillator or OCXO. This type of performance is important for applications where the equipment is placed on its side, for instance.

    Unlike static acceleration, effects due to random vibration profiles are determined mostly by the TCXO and will adversely affect the performance. Preliminary testing of the MAC has shown an effective sensitivity of several parts per billion per g. TABLE 1 describes the profile used to test the MAC from “MIL-STD-810, Fig. 514.7E-1, Category 24.” The profile was applied to all three axes tested.

    Table 1. Random Vibration Profile Expressed as Power Spectral Density (PSD). (Data: Microchip; Graphic: GPS World)
    Table 1. Random Vibration Profile Expressed as Power Spectral Density (PSD). (Data: Microchip; Graphic: GPS World)

    The g-sensitivity may be calculated from the dynamic phase-noise measurement. The total effective g-sensitivity was determined by taking the magnitude due to the random vibration profile applied in all three axes.

    The total effective g-sensitivity due to the random vibration profile is about 2.4 × 10-9 per g. Results of the worst-case sensitivity are summarized in TABLE 2.

    Table 2. Summary of g-Sensitivity. (Data: Microchip; Graphic: GPS World)
    Table 2. Summary of g-Sensitivity. (Data: Microchip; Graphic: GPS World)

    Table 1. Random Vibration Profile Expressed as Power Spectral Density (PSD). (Data: Microchip; Graphic: GPS World)

    SUMMARY

    Based on the CPT method of interrogation, a commercial miniaturized rubidium atomic clock has been developed with a wider operating temperature of –40 to +75°C and improved performance over its predecessor MAC-SA.3Xm. New features, such as the 1PPS input, allow users to connect a GNSS-derived signal to calibrate the clock and then maintain timing during GNSS-outages for longer durations thanks to improvements in stability performance. Retrace measurements of ±1 × 10-11, temperature stability of less than 5 × 10-11 and fast/consistent warm-up times along with the small size and power afforded by CPT technology enable a variety of mobile applications.

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

    This article is based on the paper “A Next-Generation, Miniaturized Rb Atomic Clock Reference for Mobile, GNSS-Denied Environments” presented at ION ITM 2020, the International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, held in San Diego, California, Jan. 21–24, 2020.


    At Microchip Technology, WILLIAM KRZEWICK is the product line manager, JAMIE MITCHELL is the manager of engineering, JOHN BOLLETTIERO is an associate engineer, PETER CASH is the associate director of clock products, KEVIN WELLWOOD is the manager of software engineering, IGOR KOSVIN is the principal engineer of electrical engineering and LARRY ZANCA is the principal engineer of mechanical engineering.

  • KVH launches TACNAV 3D inertial navigation system

    KVH launches TACNAV 3D inertial navigation system

    Photo: Allison Barwacz
    Photo: Allison Barwacz

    KVH Industries released its TACNAV 3D inertial navigation system, which includes an embedded GNSS and optional chip-scale atomic clock.

    According to the company, the TACNAV 3D’s modular tactical design and flexible architecture allow it to function as either a standalone navigation solution or as the core of a multi-functional Battlefield Management System.

    TACNAV 3D can integrate with a number of military GNSS systems and features one pulse per second timing assurance during GNSS signal loss, the company added. It also includes an iridium transceiver option that transmits and receives vehicle position, waypoint, and target location to and from a command center or other vehicles. It can receive and transmit data over ethernet, CANbus or RS-422 serial data bus.



    “It incorporates a chip-scale atomic clock,” said Bill Houtz, business development — military and government for KVH Industries’ Inertial Navigation Group. “It has an embedded GPS, or we can work with other GPS external systems. It’s extremely flexible. It is an excellent SWAP-C alternative to the ring-laser gyros or other solutions on the market right now.”

  • Microsemi debuts chip-scale atomic clock for space

    Microsemi debuts chip-scale atomic clock for space

    Microsemi Corporation has launched its SA.45s Commercial Space Chip-Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC), a commercially available radiation-tolerant CSAC suitable for low Earth orbit (LEO) applications.

    The device provides the accuracy and stability of atomic clock technology while achieving significant breakthroughs in reduced size, weight and power (SWaP) consumption, the company said.

    As the newest member of Microsemi’s CSAC product family, the Commercial Space CSAC provides excellent drift performance and built-in 1 pulse per second (PPS) input for GPS disciplining, making the device well-suited for holdover applications.

    It is targeted at several other commercial space and space research applications, including:

    • satellite timing and frequency control;
    • satellite cross linking;
    • assured position, navigation and timing; and
    • Earth observation.

    With many spacecraft manufacturers turning to commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts to meet performance, schedule and cost requirements, the Commercial Space CSAC offers a solution for many satellite missions.

    “With the introduction of the Commercial Space CSAC, we now offer a space-deployable atomic precision clock reference with radiation tolerance in support of the space market’s desire to reduce mission costs and design times using COTS devices,” said Peter Cash, director of the clock business unit at Microsemi. “As the first atomic reference clock with low SWaP available for space, our new device is well-suited to applications requiring precise clock synchronization, including a variety of existing and emerging LEO applications.”

    According to a market intelligence report by Euroconsult titled, “Satellites to be Built & Launched by 2026 World Market Survey,” the total revenue for satellite manufacture and launch is expected to be $304 billion between 2017-2026. With revenues of $102 billion, LEO is expected to account for a third of the total market, with 82 percent derived from satellite manufacturing.

    “Harris provides the world’s most advanced sensors, payloads and communications technologies; receiving and information processing systems; and analytics, which provide our customers with the integrated information and actionable intelligence they need for mission and business success,” said Tim Lynch, general manager, Mission Solutions at Harris Corporation’s Space and Intelligence Systems segment. “Microsemi’s latest atomic clock will support Harris in delivering complete mission solutions to our customers.”

    As a stand-alone atomic clock with a 10-megahertz CMOS-compatible output, Microsemi’s Commercial Space CSAC is a timing module providing an impressive short-term stability (Allan Deviation) and frequency stability across the operating temperature (TempCo), the company added.

    A standard CMOS-level RS-232 serial interface is built into the device, which is used to control and calibrate the unit and provide a comprehensive set of status monitors. The interface is also used to set and read the CSAC’s precise internal time-of-day clock.

    Microsemi’s radiation-tolerant ruggedized oscillators also include OCXOs and EMXOs for applications that require higher accuracy and can support higher power consumption.

    Other key features include:

    • Power consumption of less than 120 milliwatts (mW)
    • Less than 17 cubic centimeters volume (1.6 in. × 1.39 in. × 0.45 in.)
    • Radiation-tolerant: 20 krad
    • Single event latch-up (SEL) and single event upset (SEU) tested to 64 megaelectron-volts per square centimeter/milligram (Mev-cm2/mg)
    • Short-term stability (Allan Deviation) of 3.0 × 10–10 at TAU = 1 sec
    • Frequency stability across temperature range (TempCo) less than 5×10-10
    • 1PPS output and 1PPS input for synchronization and time-keeping
    • RS-232 interface for monitoring and control
  • Microsemi announces thermally improved chip-scale atomic clocks

    Microsemi announces thermally improved chip-scale atomic clocks

    Microsemi Corporation has announced its new thermally improved chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) components with full operating and storage temperature. The new devices offer low-power holdover atomic clock technology without compromising size, weight and power (SWaP) while operating at a wide temperature range.

    Microsemi is exhibiting this week at ION GNSS+, being held in Portland, Oregon.

    chip-scale-atomic-clock-csac-wWith an operating temperature range of -10 to 70 degrees Celsius, Microsemi’s new CSAC components are highly reliable, with improved product design, process enhancements and robust product verification/validation, the company said.

    The revolutionary technology enables new applications and missions not possible in the past with traditional OCXO and Rubidium clocks, offering the low SWaP clock technology at 17 cubic centimeters (cc) in size, 35 grams of weight and only 120 milliwatts of power. Microsemi’s CSAC product offers ±5.0E-11 accuracy at shipment and a typical ≤ 9.0E-10/month aging rate, which makes it suitable for many low-power atomic clock holdover applications.

    “The enhancements to our CSAC product offering focus on providing the highest reliability without compromising performance for our customers, particularly in mission critical applications where every milliwatt matters,” said Ramki Ramakrishnan, director of product line management, at Microsemi. “These devices utilize an innovative approach to the component level atomic clock that will help Microsemi access the entire oscillator industry, along with miniature atomic clocks (MAC), and capitalize on the revenue growth potential within the defense, communications, industrial and test and measurement markets.”

    According to the “Crystal Oscillator Market—Global Forecast & Analysts” report posted by Markets & Markets, the total available market (TAM) for the overall oscillator market is estimated to be $2.4 billion in 2016, with OCXO markets targeted by CSAC estimated to have a serviceable addressable market (SAM) of $260 million in 2016.

    Microsemi’s thermally improved CSAC products support the company’s strategic presence in the defense and security markets, targeting applications such as low-power holdover against GPS vulnerabilities for position, navigation and timing security. They are also suitable for holdover in underwater (ocean bottom nodal) applications and atomic frequency reference in test and measurement applications.

    “Leveraging the unique attributes of Microsemi’s CSAC technology, our company is able to offer an unprecedented combination of holdover, g-sensitivity, low power consumption and warm-up performance, while reducing the footprint to less than the critical 0.6 inches height — allowing retrofitting of legacy equipment,” explained Said Jackson, president of Jackson Labs Technologies, Inc. “The CSAC combined with our battle- and theater-proven software algorithms and support hardware enables vastly extended mission times while providing critical backup performance for GPS-denied environments when even the optional integrated Selective Availability Anti-spoofing Module (SAASM) GPS technology is jammed.”

    Microsemi’s thermally remediated CSAC components are sampling now, with full production in October. For more information, visit the website or contact [email protected].

  • 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.

     

  • Precision Timekeeping with Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks

    Broadcast Date: Thursday, March 7, 2013
    Speaker: Steve Fossi, Director of New Business Development, Symmetricom
    Panelist: Ravi Pragasam, Marketing Manager, Embedded Solutions, Symmetricom

    Webinar Topic/Abstract:  Precision timekeeping with all the benefits of Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) – Quantum(tm) SA.45c Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC)

    Atomic clocks have enabled a world where ultra-precise timekeeping is now mandatory for communications, navigation, signal processing and many other applications critical to a modern functioning society. While smaller, lighter and more energy efficient solutions have been introduced to serve the above markets, the atomic clocks used in these systems have not kept in pace and continue to use more power and retain their large form factors. Symmetricom, the industry leader in precise time solutions, has utilized leading edge technology and multiple innovations in various disciplines such as semiconductor laser technology, silicon processing, vacuum-packaging and firmware algorithms to deliver the Quantum SA.45c CSAC (Chip Scale Atomic Clock). The CSAC is small in size, has low weight and consumes very little power. Such an atomic clock with excellent precision in time keeping is ideal for applications that have a constrained power budget and demand a very low-power clock.

    Attend this webinar and learn how the CSAC can address your requirements for a precise clock without consuming excessive power or taking up too much space in your application.

  • Leadership Awards 2012: At the Frontiers of Time

    Robert Lutwak, Symmetricom, winner in the Product category.
    Robert Lutwak, Symmetricom, winner in the Product category.

    New Advances in Receiver Performance and Reliability

    Editor’s Note: This article reproduces the acceptance speeches given by the winners of GPS World’s 2012 Leadership Awards, at the Leadership Dinner in Nashville in September. The Leadership Dinner was sponsored by Lockheed Martin and Deimos Space.


    Remarks by Robert Lutwak, Symmetricom; Chief Scientist, winner in the Products category. His expertise is practical advances to overcome the intrinsic physical barriers to affordable chip-scale atomic clocks, enabling precision time and time transfer in mobile GNSS and communications systems.

    Thank you to the awards committee and especially to the individual who nominated me.

    I would be remiss if anyone left here with the impression that the development of the chip-scale atomic clock was in any way a solo effort. On the contrary, while I have had the privilege of being the front man, the success of this program can be attributed entirely to the fantastic collaboration between three highly disparate groups, from very different industries and cultures: our Research Group at Symmetricom’s Technology Realization Center, in Beverly, Massachusetts; the MEMS group at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, led by Mark Mescher and Matt Varghese; and the optoelectronics group at Sandia National Laboratories, led by Darwin Serkland.  If any of these groups and people had been anything less than extraordinary, both technically and personally,I would not be standing here this evening.

    With this introduction I can say, with little loss of humility, that the chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) is a really cool device. Depending on where you’re coming from, it’s either 100 times lower size, weight, and power (SWAP)  than traditional atomic clocks or it’s 100 times more accurate than quartz oscillators with comparable SWAP. Regardless of your perspective, it clearly represents a disruptive technology and a paradigm shift for portable battery-powered navigation, communication, and timing applications. For comparison, the CSAC can run for a day on a full cellphone battery charge, whereas the next lowest power clock of comparable performance will run down a car battery in an hour. The CSAC is not an evolutionary improvement in SWAP, it is revolutionary in that it enables previously untenable system architectures, mission scenarios, and network topologies.

    Since Symmetricom introduced the first commercial CSAC, roughly two years ago, the market response has been overwhelming. Despite having done our due diligence to predict the market demand and despite having nearly doubled our manufacturing output every quarter, our shipment backlog remains strong, and I am frequently surprised by innovative customer applications that we had not envisioned at the product launch. We have to date shipped many thousands of CSACs to more than a hundred different customers, representing vastly different markets and applications. While many of the novel applications are still in the early stages of prototype development and evaluation, it is clear that CSACs will be ubiquitous across diverse applications within the decade.

    I am fortunate, in my position, to interact directly with the technical integrators of the CSAC and learn the details of many of the applications. My general impression is that the timing and frequency stability performance of the CSAC is adequate for most of the emerging applications. The most common requests that I hear from customers are for reduced cost, power consumption, and size, in that order. It is not surprising that size is at the bottom of the list. In most applications, the batteries are still larger and heavier than the CSAC, so small improvements in power consumption are generally more valuable to reducing system SWAP than size reduction of the CSAC itself.

    As in any new technology, the cost will come down naturally with increased volume and improved manufacturing efficiencies, both at Symmetricom and at our vendors. While it is unlikely that you will get a CSAC in your next free cellphone, I do expect that the cost will progressively decrease over the next several years, and the technology will become cost-viable to an exponentially increasing spectrum of applications. Similarly, we continue to evolve our electronics and algorithms for improved power consumption, aided by external advancements in microwave and microprocessor electronics driven by the smart-phone industry. It is my expectation that a factor of 2X improvement in power consumption is likely within the next three to five years.

    To date, most of the commercial products that have emerged, based on CSAC technology, have been in the timing and frequency calibration space. It is not surprising to me that the time and frequency community was the first to adopt and exploit the technology, as many of them have been closely monitoring the development program and had the internal expertise and experience to rapidly exploit it.

    I admit, though, that I am a bit disappointed to see that there are no papers with “CSAC” in their titles at the 2012 ION-GNSS, but I am confident that this will change in the years to come. Adoption of CSAC by the navigation community has lagged behind the timing community in large part, I believe, because the technology has caught the community somewhat off-guard, and the benefits of the CSAC to INS and GNSS are just now beginning to be realized.

    The most obvious and straight-forward application of CSAC to GNSS is rapid P(Y) acquisition; we have demonstrated 15-second time-to-subsequent-fix (TTSF) after two hours of GPS denial. This was a fairly simple demonstration that consisted of jamming time into an unmodified GPS receiver, but I believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg. With access to the core navigation algorithms within the receiver, precise knowledge of time could improve the receiver performance and reliability on other levels, including (at least):
    ◾    Improved uncertainty of the navigation solution
    ◾    Navigation with less than four (or less than three) satellites
    ◾    Anti-spoof and anti-jam detection
    ◾    Seamless co-integration of GNSS and INS systems

    Another navigation area that I believe is ripe to benefit from CSAC technology is in self-assembling navigation systems, such as a local ad hoc GNSS-like network which self-assembles from handheld timing beacons/receivers. Such a system would have value for safety-of-life applications in GPS-denied environments, such as indoor firefighting and mine safety.

    Thank you again for the recognition and opportunity of this award.