GPS World

Tag: GATE

  • GATE Facility Recertified as Galileo Test Bed

    The German Galileo test and development infrastructure GATE has been recertified to serve as a Galileo open‐air test laboratory, for receiver integrity testing (RAIM) for safety‐of‐life (SoL) applications, and for Galileo SIS ICD conformance of signal characteristics and signal quality.

    The GATE facility, in Berchtesgaden, is operated by IFEN GmbH. Certification was conducted by TÜV SÜD, an international service corporation focusing on consulting, testing, certification and training.

    GATE consists of eight transmitting stations that emit Galileo signals in the GATE test area in Berchtesgaden, as well as two monitoring stations that receive and process these signals.

    For application tests, it is essential for GATE to provide constant Galileo specifications for tests, including position accuracy, signal spectrum and navigation data. This is necessary for both test types: tests with the eight “GATE satellites” only and tests with simultaneously usage of the already-existing Galileo satellites in orbit.

    The compliance to the specification was verified by the company NavCert GmbH from Braunschweig, Germany, in a recertification of the GATE test bed. Compared to a full certification, taking place every three years, a recertification only verifies the compliance to the specification by the use of random inspections though tests in GATE.

    The recertification also includes an audit of the operation processes of the operating company IFEN GmbH. Here, the implementation and adherence to process procedures for GATE operation were verified. This includes questions such as whether a sufficiently technical skilled team is available for operating GATE, if the performed application tests are documented in a reproducible way, and how the GATE team handles non‐conformances to the specification and improvements to the system.

    With finalization of the recertification work, the GATE certificate was extended by TÜV SÜD to January 2016. Because of this, GATE customers can rely on the independent verification of the GATE test and development environment for upcoming testing activities, IFEN said.

    As an add‐on, customers of IFEN’s NavX‐NCS GNSS simulator benefit from the recertification by obtaining a confirmation from an independent organization (TÜV Süd), reassuring the functionality of GPS and Galileo signal characteristics and signal quality as per SIS ICD, IFEN said.

  • ESA Awards Contract to IFEN to Develop Advanced GNSS Signal Test Bed

    A contract to design and to deliver an advanced multi-GNSS constellation signal simulator and interface environment testbed was awarded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to IFEN GmbH on October 28, 2013. This contract is concluded in the context of the Signal Test Bed (SIGTB) activities of the European GNSS Evolution Programme (EGEP).

    In addition to addressing the second generation of Galileo, which is planned to provide higher accuracy and signal robustness, the GNSS Signal Test Bed will include the following capabilities:

    • Flexible adaptability to all signal and message standards, whatever the future may bring.
    • Extensive investigation of intentional signal interferences.
    • Testing of GNSS signal performance in newly evolving standards.
    • Generation of even more realistic test scenarios that include background and intentional interference.
    • Refined scenarios of various distortions of GNSS signals.

  • Galileo Test Environment Open for Business

     

    The Galileo Test and Development Environment (GATE) in Berchtesgaden, Germany, officially opened on February 4. The system operator, IFEN GmbH of Poing, Germany, jointly with the German Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development, announced the opening for use by commercial and organizational entities seeking to test equipment with the coming Galileo signals. GATE was developed on behalf of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) with funding by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

    The test area extends across a valley of approximately 65 square kilometers, south-east of Munich, where antennae atop surrounding peaks broadcast the various Galileo signals. Technical details and specifications of the test environment are at www.gate-testbed.com.

    GATE has completed its signal upgrade phase according to the latest version of the European Space Agency’s Galileo Signal-In-Space (SIS) Interface Control Document (ICD) and the European GNSS Agency’s Public Galileo Open Service (OS) ICD. The GATE infrastructure is capable of transmitting the Galileo OS, the Galileo Safety-of-Life (SoL) Service (functional), the Galileo Commercial Service (CS), and a Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) dummy signal.

    The GATE system upgrade has been further extended to also support user integrity testing. GATE can simulating simple alarm-triggering events on the system/satellite level, supporting GPS and GATE/Galileo dual-constellation receiver-autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM), individual user integrity test scenarios, and tests of receivers with different RAIM functionalities.

    The next step will be certification of the GATE test infrastructure as an officially accredited open-air test infrastructure to perform the necessary tests needed for the process to certify Galileo SoL equipment.

    Günter Heinrichs, head of customer applications and business development for IfEN GmbH, described the goals and capabilities of GATE in a 2007 GPS World article. He gave an update on developments in a 2009 video interview. A recent simulation of emergency response scenarios using the Galileo signal is described at Galileo to the Rescue.

  • Official Opening of the German Galileo Test and Development Environment GATE

    On April 2, German Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development Peter Ramsauer will officially open the German Galileo test and development infrastructure GATE with the operator IFEN GmbH. The official opening will be carried out in the presence of the operator of GATE, IFEN GmbH, and guests.

    GATE has now completed its signal upgrade phase, according to the latest version of the ESA Galileo Signal-In-Space (SIS) Interface Control Document (ICD) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA) Public Galileo Open Service (OS) ICD after successful final acceptance by the German Space Agency of the DLR at the end of November 2010.

    The GATE test infrastructure is now capable of transmitting the Galileo OS, the Galileo Safety-of-Life (SoL) Service (functional), the Galileo Commercial Service (CS), and a Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) dummy signal.

    The GATE system upgrade has been further extended to also support user integrity testing. GATE is now capable of simulating simple feared events on system/satellite level, so that the GATE system will support GPS and GATE/Galileo dual constellation RAIM, individual user integrity test scenarios as well as test of receivers with different RAIM functionalities.

    The next step will be the aspired certification of the GATE test infrastructure as an officially accredited open-air test infra- structure to perform the necessary tests needed for the certification process to certify Galileo SoL equipment.