CRPA and Attitude Determination Receiver Testing
The CAST-5000 by CAST Navigation produces a single coherent wavefront of GPS RF signals to provide repeatable testing in the laboratory environment or anechoic chamber. The system generates up to seven independent, coherent simulations that reference a single point. With an intercard carrier-phase error of less than one centimeter, the CAST-5000 is extremely accurate, the company said.
The system generates a wavefront of GPS when its GPS RF generator cards are operated in a ganged configuration. Each generator card provides a set of GPS satellites coherent with the overall configuration. Several RF generator cards may be utilized together, ensuring phase coherence among the bank of signal generator cards.
The CAST-5000 is the only Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA) tester that allows a full end-to-end test of the antenna system. The CRPA antenna, antenna electronics and the GPS receiver can be tested as a unit with or without radiating signals.
CAST-5000 Features
- Generates single coherent wavefront of GPS
- 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) motion generation capability
- Complete SV constellation editing
- Post-mission processing via ICD-GPS-150/153
- Differential/relative navigation
- Antenna pattern modeling
- Waypoint navigation
- RAIM events
- Multipath modeling
- Spoofer simulation
- Satellite clock errors
- External trajectory input
- External ephemeris and almanac
- Several iono and tropo models
- Modifiable navigation messag
- Modeled selective availability
- Time-tagged satellite events
- Selectable host vehicle parameters