MediaTek’s Dimensity 700 5G smartphone chipset is a system on chip (SoC) designed to bring advanced 5G capabilities and experiences to the mass market.
The Dimensity 700 joins MediaTek’s Dimensity family of 5G chips, which is designed to give device makers a suite of options for 5G smartphone models. The chips range from flagship and premium to mid-range and mass market devices to make 5G more accessible for consumers everywhere.
GNSS signals received include GPS L1CA and L5, BeiDou B1I and B2, GLONASS L1OF, Galileo E1 and E5, QZSS L1C and L5, and NavIC.
“With our expanded Dimensity portfolio, we’re bringing the latest 5G capabilities to every smartphone tier so more people can enjoy 5G experiences,” said JC Hsu, corporate vice president and general manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communications business unit. “The Dimensity 700 has an impressive mix of 5G connectivity features, advanced camera capabilities like night-shot enhancements, and multiple voice assistant support, all in a super power-efficient design.”
Advanced connectivity features include 5G carrier aggregation (2CC 5G-CA) and 5G dual-SIM dual-standby (DSDS), giving users access to the fastest speeds and 5G-exclusive Voice over New Radio (VoNR) services from either connection, the company said.
On the processing power side, the chip integrates two Arm Cortex-A76 big cores in its octa-core CPU and operates at up to 2.2GHz.
MediaTek’s Dimensity 5G family of chips are designed for 5G devices across all tiers, and with the Dimensity 700 5G devices will now be accessible to even more consumers.
For full specifications and further details on MediaTek’s Dimensity 700 series and 5G portfolio are on the MediaTek website.
“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.
The 10-minute-long drone show included a flying dove with a wingspan of 600 meters, visible from three kilometers away. (Photo: u-blox)
A swarm of bird
A massive swarm of drones created a 10-minute show over Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Sept. 3. The 2,198 miniature UAVs danced for 10 minutes, forming images such as a dove with a wingspan of 600 meters, visible from three kilometers away. Geoscan built and programmed the drones, which use u-blox positioning modules.
Mobile GIS Services (MGISS) is helping the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) deploy rugged handhelds to capture highly accurate survey measurements with cloud-based data storage and GIS software. Trust projects include restoring the largest, continuous blanket bog system in England. Blanket bog has been damaged by excessive burning, overgrazing, man-made drainage and extreme weather events. The YWT is using Spectra SP20 handheld GNSS receivers.
Photo: Genni Brookshire/Ceto Marine Research
Drones to the rescue
Seals and sea turtles face threats from humans, such as fishing nets. Marine biologist Genni Brookshire, Ceto Marine Research, and David Thirtyacre, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, are researching how drones can improve animal rescue, with help from Skyward, a Verizon Company. Her team is using drones to find and help distressed marine animals. “Using a drone before we respond to an animal to determine the animal’s condition — if it’s entangled, its body condition, if it’s sick — allows us to bring the proper equipment,” Brookshire said. “Using a drone allows us to reduce the stress on the animal, and increase our efficiency in responding to their unique situation.”
Photo: dzphotovideo/E+/Getty Images
Flight mysteries tracked
GNSS tech in a smart altimeter is guiding paragliders, skydivers, wingsuit pilots and other free-flying athletes. Dekunu Technologies’ One SmartAlti body-worn altimeter offers altitude and position information similar to what pilots obtain in their cockpits, increasing safety throughout freefall. Along with a multi-constellation u-blox chip, the device includes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB. A cloud service incorporates 3D visualizations of the user’s jump data.
ADVA has launched a set of edge and access network synchronization devices with enhanced capabilities for next-generation applications such as 5G. These latest Oscilloquartz solutions address key challenges for a wide range of industries by bringing new levels of timing accuracy and resilience to edge networks.
The OSA 5412 and 5422 offer precise phase, frequency and time-of-day synchronization and can be used for time-as-a-service applications. Communication service providers, enterprises, broadcast networks and power utilities can deploy synchronization technology at the edge that features multi-band for nanosecond accuracy.
The OSA 5412 and 5422 utilize in-service sync probing and assurance as well as innovative GNSS assurance capabilities. The products also provide support for eight field-upgradeable 10Gbit/s ports, ensuring the scale and efficiency needed for next-generation smart grids, industrial IoT applications and 5G connectivity.
The OSA 5412 is a highly flexible access network synchronization solution that offers compact and cost-effective timing distribution and assurance. The OSA 5422 is engineered for the most extreme conditions. It meets stringent frequency and phase synchronization requirements, delivers the best holdover performance of any edge device on the market, and supports multiple legacy interfaces such BITS and IRIG.
Both solutions address new ITU-T specifications, including for class A and B PRTCs, ePRTCs with strict holdover requirements, and the newly improved class C and D boundary clocks. They also feature onboard multi-band, multi-constellation GNSS receivers that overcome ionospheric delay variation far more cost-efficiently than rival solutions using high-end rubidium oscillators.
The OSA 5412 and 5422 support multiple PTP profiles, NTP and SyncE with a high number of 1/10GbE ports. Both devices are engineered with optional OLED display and with hot-swappable modules and power supplies to be easily upgraded in the field.
“Our latest solutions build on the great success we’ve had with our access synchronization product line. Now operators can harness the power of multi-band GNSS receivers to deliver highly accurate, UTC-traceable timing at the network edge. That enables the availability and precision that will be essential for tomorrow’s services,” said Nir Laufer, senior director, product line management, Oscilloquartz, ADVA.
“By extending the feature set of our edge technology, we’re empowering CSPs to smoothly transition to the reliability and accuracy required for 5G and, at the same time, enabling our unique innovation to be used across a wide range of verticals,” Laufer said. “With support for 10Gbit/s and 1Gbit/s interfaces as well as hardware timestamping, our access timing products are the ultimate in future-proof, space-efficient synchronization.”
“Access grandmaster clocks need to meet stricter demands for accuracy and reliability than ever before, and many industries have their own specific set of stringent timing requirements. That’s why we’ve evolved our portfolio of edge and access network synchronization solutions for the specific challenges of the 5G era,” said Gil Biran, general manager, Oscilloquartz, ADVA.
“Our OSA 5412 and 5422 answer the most urgent timing needs of mission-critical infrastructure in multiple verticals,” Biran said. “They provide nanosecond precision, an abundance of fan-out interface options and operational simplicity thanks to the management and monitoring capabilities of our Ensemble Controller with Sync Director. Operators of broadcast, healthcare, financial networks and more now have a straightforward and affordable path from legacy to next-generation timing.”
Swift Navigation‘s new Precision GNSS Module (PGM) is now available. The PGM module is designed to offer fast evaluation and a quick path to production for those requiring a precise positioning solution.
The PGM is available in a simple-to-use, industry-standard mPCIe (mini peripheral component interconnect express) format and is designed specifically for Swift’s Starling positioning engine running on a host application processor to deliver real-time precision navigation.
The PGM utilizes STMicroelectronics’ TeseoV chipset in Quectel’s multi-constellation, dual-band LG69T-AP receiver to create an affordable, easy-to-use solution for customers building industrial, last-mile and internet of things (IoT) platforms, Swift Navigation said.
The LG69T family of products, based on the ST TeseoV, is an designed for demanding precision applications that require centimeter accuracies. The LG69T-AP — supporting L1/L5 bands — has an integrated ST inertial measurement unit and processor to support dead reckoning for signal-compromised areas such as urban canyons, parking lots and underground structures.
According to Swift Navigation, this proven solution is ready for fast and easy integration and deployment — using industry-standard protocols — to reduce customer engineering investment and enable quick time to market.
This solution operates with the highest accuracy when used with Swift’s Skylark cloud-based, wide-area precise positioning service. Skylark delivers accuracy down to 10 cm. The solution supports standard RTCM OSR (Observation Space Representation) and SSR (State Space Representation) correction formats.
Skylark is available for integration into wide-area, high-precision positioning applications across the continental United States and Europe and is available in Japan, South Korea and Australia, with plans underway to expand globally. Skylark is an ever-expanding service and is scalable to service millions of users.
“We are excited to be offering the PGM utilizing the Quectel LG69T-AP receiver,” said Dave Huntingford, staff product manager at Swift Navigation. “The ability to provide a cost-effective, easily integrated solution, complete with corrections, opens up a host of opportunities for IoT, last-mile and industrial customers to benefit from precise positioning.”
“Quectel is delighted to be working with Swift Navigation to provide the market with an easy-to-use precision GNSS solution,” said Mark Murray, vice president of sales for GNSS and automotive at Quectel Wireless Solutions. “The LG69T-AP, together with Swift’s Starling positioning engine and Skylark corrections, is perfect for supporting applications and markets where <10-cm accuracy is required.”
This product is available today with full production by the first quarter of 2021; an evaluation kit is available. Contact Swift Navigation or Quectel.
How is the completion of Galileo and BeiDou affecting the development of autonomous vehicles?
Ismael Colomina, chief scientist, Geonumerics
“GNSS has had a limited impact on the development of AVs because their developers regard it as insufficiently accurate, reliable, and ubiquitous. Only a minority of them are aware of the benefits that the new/modernized constellations bring. More and improved signals and new services— both commercial and public—such as Galileo’s HAS, NMA and CAS will enable and complement visual, lidar and radar sensors for SAE levels of automation 2 and higher and for ASIL D safety levels.” Ismael Colomina GeoNumerics
Ellen Hall, Spirent Federal System
“Safety is critical to the implementation of AVs and this safety relies upon PNT accuracy, availability and robustness. These three requirements all benefit from constellation diversification in terms of multiple signals, frequencies, satellites, and constellation providers. In addition to the four civilian signals available on three frequencies from the GPS constellation, signals from Galileo and BeiDou provide suitably equipped receivers with extra satellites, signals and ground segment diversity.” Ellen Hall Spirent Federal Systems
Brad Parkinson
“The economic potential of self-driving vehicles is the major driver for their development. Can they be made affordable, safe, dependable, and useful? More operational GNSS constellations may help resolve these issues favorably, but GNSS progress should not significantly influence the large number of developers. My favorite such application is long-haul trucking, which may have some very favorable profit and safety benefits.” Bradford W. Parkinson Stanford Center for Position, Navigation and Time
Image: metamorworks/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty ImagesChris Hogstrom, Spirent Federal Systems
Inertial navigation systems (INS), like most navigation systems, have evolved through countless iterations and improvements over many years. An INS, unlike other navigation technologies, does not rely on any external signals or inputs to aid navigation. It is, therefore, extremely difficult to spoof, jam or disrupt the system, and solar flares, ground/sky visibility and climate do not affect its ability to aid in navigation — unlike GNSS.
An INS knows where it is going because it knows where it has been. Modern INS use a minimum of three orthogonal accelerometers to measure accelerations in the x, y, z planes and a minimum of three orthogonal gyroscopes to measure the angular accelerations about the x, y, z planes. When the INS is initializing, its current location is fed into the system. After initialization, the INS utilizes the sensor outputs to determine its position relative to its starting point.
The INS made its debut during World War II, where it was used to guide German V2 missiles. At the time, the INS was still rather primitive, using two two-degrees-of-freedom gyroscopes and one integrating accelerometer. It wasn’t until the war’s end that Wernher von Braun and his team developed a stable platform with three single-degree-of-freedom gyroscopes and an integrating accelerometer.
World War II Innovation
Once the war was over, the United States Army acquired many of the lead scientists from the German V2 project and furthered research into INS. The Air Force also had an interest in INS and contracted Northrop Aircraft (now Northrop Grumman) to develop the guidance system aboard the SNARK cruise missile. However, the work under Charles Draper at MIT’s Instrumentation Laboratory spearheaded INS for use in aircraft. Draper was an amateur pilot and quickly saw the benefits that a self-contained system provided over the navigation systems of the day. The developments made by the Instrumentation Laboratory led to the success of the inertial-guided transcontinental flight in 1953.
By the late 1960s, military bombers and aircraft used INS, and by the early 1970s, it was commonplace in commercial aircraft, too. Today, INS technology can be found in aircraft, spacecraft, ships and submarines, as well as smartphones, watches and other wearable tech. It has quickly become an essential enabling technology for autonomous vehicles, and future applications are being studied.
The biggest weakness of INS is that they drift over time. This means that the longer an INS functions, the less accurate it becomes. For this reason, many INS are part of a sensor-fusion system. Incorporating data from many different sensors — such as GPS, a barometer, a compass and INS — a sensor-fusion system combines data through a Kalman filter to determine a more reliable and accurate positioning and navigation solution.
Best of Both Worlds
By combining INS with GPS, you get the benefit of both systems while minimizing their weaknesses. GPS and other GNSS have quickly become the gold standard for accurate positioning, as well as being the only global source of absolute position. Receivers tracking four or more satellites can provide their precise location anywhere on Earth.
However, GPS has significant and well-documented weaknesses. These stem, primarily, from the fact that GPS signals are extremely weak by the time they reach terrestrial users. This means that GPS signals, intentionally or otherwise, are easy to jam, and the broadcast nature of the signals means they are open to a variety of spoofing attacks. Fusion systems using an INS and GPS receiver can rely on GPS when the GPS signal is unobstructed, and switch to the INS solution when GPS is unreliable.
In a world where aircraft are now able to fly themselves and cars are quickly achieving autonomy, our dependence on these sensors is ever-increasing. Autonomous solutions with a navigation sensor suite of multiple sensor types are becoming common. Sensor suites can include other vehicle sensors that aid absolute positioning by sensing parameters such as steering angles, wheel rotations, etc. They are also beginning to incorporate non-GNSS-based RF signals to aid in navigation. Multiple sensors offer increased redundancy, helping achieve the required safety levels and the desired performance boundaries.
High-Mileage Testing
Testing and optimizing these sensor-fusion systems presents a serious challenge, especially in the transportation sector. Testing on a live platform can be hugely expensive and lacks any chance of repeatability. For these reasons, simulation is critical. In addition, representative models must take into account the impact of the environment and the dynamics of the vehicle frame (where sensors are installed) to achieve the requisite realism.
My company, Spirent Federal, has spent the past 20 years building sophisticated and robust test solutions so that sensor-fusion systems can be fully tested and characterized. Thorough testing increases performance and reliability in safety- and mission-critical applications.
Specifically, our GSS7000 and GSS9000 GNSS simulators deliver the precision and fidelity needed for high-performance applications, while our inertial emulation platforms incorporate the key industry models of both inertial measurement units (IMUs) and embedded GPS/inertial (EGIs) for dynamic integrated testing in the lab.
We work closely with major defense contractors, such as Northrop Grumman and Honeywell, to provide robust test solutions as well as alternative RF PNT simulation capabilities.
In addition, hardware-in-the-loop incorporation with ultra-low latency, modeling signal propagation in a 3D environment — and the ability to “shift left” with software-only testing — are what helps to make Spirent Federal the trusted partner in sensor fusion development.
Chris Hogstrom is an engineer with Spirent Federal Systems.
The Empire State Building sits atop a massive and solid foundation that hardly anyone ever sees. Above ground it has 2.8 million square feet of offices and hundreds of businesses. It houses 15,000 workers. Yet it would all come crashing down if the underlying and unseen foundation weren’t incredibly strong and dependable.
Timing is the unseen foundation of every networked technology, digital broadcast, financial transaction, electrical grid management and of most navigation systems, just to name a few applications. Yet, as GPS World readers know, signals from our dominant source of timing — GPS — are very faint and easily disrupted.
Short term, localized disruptions happen all the time, and many systems have adapted. A delivery driver using a jammer to hide from his boss is unlikely to disrupt a cell base station as he passes by, for example.
Photo: Georgijevic/E+/Getty Images
But more serious threats are out there. More and more hobbyists are finding ways to spoof receivers. Every few decades the sun flares strongly enough to fry satellites or charge the ionosphere. And because there are so few alternatives, GPS and other GNSS have become huge, tempting targets for adversary nations, terrorists, and sophisticated hackers.
Instead of Manhattan bedrock, our timing foundation is sometimes more like shifting sands.
Systems engineering tells us that, if something is essential, there ought to be two, three or more independent ways of receiving it. Most aircraft, for example, have two or three systems powering the flight controls — because controlled flight is important!
The white paper “A Resilient National Timing Architecture” outlines how the United States can leverage existing infrastructure and provide all citizens two, and many of them three, independent paths to coordinated universal time (UTC).
It proposes a national timing back- bone of mature technologies with very different failure modes — GNSS, eLoran and fiber. This combination will provide rock-solid timing at the 500 ns or better level of accuracy relative to UTC everywhere across the nation, and at 100 ns or better in major metro areas. Users accessing two or more systems would be nearly bulletproof to timing service disruptions.
The National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2018 mandated a terrestrial system to back up GPS timing. Our white paper provides a path forward.
Complying with the law while benefiting current and future technologies should be sufficient motivation. If it isn’t, we must also realize that not acting on this will continue to place us behind other nations such as the United Kingdom, South Korea, Russia and China — all of whom are actively reinforcing their national timing systems.
The task will not be a simple one. Yet America was able to overcome the expense and difficulties of building GPS, at the time the world’s most refined and complex technology, and put it in space. By comparison, establishing a resilient national timing architecture using existing technology in our homeland would be child’s play.
Timing is essential. It is infrastructure for our infrastructure. If our national timing is weak, so is everything that is built upon it.
We will profit from ensuring our timing is as strong, resilient, and easily accessed as possible.
By Yury Urlichich, first deputy director general of Roscosmos State Space Corporation Sergey Karutin, designer general of GLONASS Nikolay Testoedov, director general, Information Satellite Systems JSC
Sergey Koblov, director general, Central Research Institute of Machine Building JSC
The year 2020 heralds the end of another 10-year stage of development of the Russian GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS). Reconstruction of our orbital constellation, started in 2006, is bearing its fruit. Today, it is hard to imagine one’s daily life without the continuous artificial radio-navigation field provided to users globally by the GLONASS orbital constellation since 2011.
GLONASS signals are employed to perform a wide range of tasks, such as
Saving lives in road accidents
Air, ground and naval traffic monitoring and control
Network synchronization of mobile cellular communications
Monitoring and enabling the energy grid, road travel, agricultural equipment operation, and more.
Our orbital constellation is built upon a base of second-generation spacecraft (SC) — Glonass-M SC — that was developed in 2003 and has demonstrated outstanding operational capacity: 14 SC are already operating well beyond their expected lifetimes, and four SC celebrate their 13th birthday in orbit this year. Activities focused on improving GLONASS accuracy have not stopped for a single day.
If we go back to 2014, the SC-based ranging offset (which specialists refer as equivalent ranging deviation) was 1.4 m. We managed to achieve 0.9 m offset on Jan. 30, 2020, and during the same week the offset did not exceed 1.15 m. Furthermore, the penultimate series-produced Glonass-M SC (Cosmos-2545), which was launched on March 30, demonstrated basic service ranging accuracy of 0.38 m on a daily interval and 0.63 m accuracy on the “best week” interval.
Glonass-K No. 15 was launched into orbit on Oct. 25. (Photo: Roscosmos)
It was Glonass-M SC development that enabled users around the world to gain access to the first dual-frequency navigation service, which is necessary for decreasing the effects of the ionosphere on navigation accuracy.
The third generation of GLONASS SC — Glonass-K — was successfully launched from the Plesetsk launch site on Oct. 25. This SC will provide users with a broader range of capabilities — and a more accurate and informative signal in the L3 frequency band. Further gradual rejuvenation of the GLONASS constellation will ensure the ever-improving quality of our navigation services.
Two Glonass-K2 SC are planned for the launch campaign in 2021, and all the experience accumulated during the development of third-generation GLONASS SC (Glonass-K) will be implemented in the fourth-generation SС. Glonass -K2 is a unique SC: It will provide users with five navigation signals, its accuracy will be within 0.3–0.5 m, and its assured expected lifetime will be at least 10 years.
High-Orbit Space Complex
GLONASS developers remain focused on user requirements. Recent surveys show a growing demand for high-quality navigation services in difficult conditions where the SC is visible at more than 25° above the horizon. To satisfy these needs with the implementation of new CDMA signals, development of the GLONASS High-Orbit Space Complex (HOSC) will begin in 2021. Its first SC will be launched in 2025, and complete deployment of the constellation including six SC in three or six planes will be finished by the end of 2027.
As a result, the accuracy and availability of navigation in difficult conditions will improve in the Eastern Hemisphere. But the major anticipated outcome of the HOSC implementation is assured two-fold coverage of the Northeastern segment of the globe with high-accuracy differential navigation data by GLONASS and other GNSS.
HOSC implementation will ensure 25% navigation accuracy improvement over the Eastern hemisphere. Glonass-K SC will be used as a base platform for HASC deployment due to its excellent record.
Ground Control at the Titov Main Test Space Center established a stable telemetry connection with the new satellite shortly after launch. (Photo: Roscosmos)
User Interface Harmony
One of the most important tasks for the year 2020 is harmonization of the GLONASS user interface. As we already mentioned, the signal propagation environment has a strong effect on navigation accuracy; therefore, new issues of GLONASS Interface Control Documents (ICD) are being prepared for publication.
We anticipate that GLONASS end-user accuracy improvement will be achieved through introducing additional information into reserve bits of navigation frames, including relevant parameters of an ionospheric model.
The ICD will contain operating methods with parameters of the ionospheric model and definite recommendations designed for compensation of ionospheric delays by both single-frequency and dual-frequency receivers, as well as generalized methods for compensating for tropospheric delays.
Changes in the ICD concerning FDMA and CDMA signals will ensure backward compatibility and uninterrupted operation for the existing range of user navigation equipment.
The new TW5382 smart GNSS antenna by Tallymatics Inc. is designed for high-accuracy 5G timing. Tallymatics focuses on GNSS timing antennas; it is a division of the Calian Group of Companies, along with Tallysman Inc.
The TW5382 is a multi-band, multi-constellation 5G smart GNSS antenna/receiver that provides 5 ns (1-sigma, clear sky view) timing accuracy. It consists of two components: a Tallysman GNSS Accutenna technology antenna and a professional-grade GNSS timing receiver module.
Accutenna supports the full bandwidth of the TW5382 receiver, strong multipath mitigation and deep filtering, in a compact IP69K enclosure. These features enable the antenna to provide a strong, pure, in- band, right-hand circular polarized signal to the receiver.
Photo: Tallysman
The TW5382’s professional-grade multi-constellation and multi-signal timing receiver tracks GPS/QZSS (L1/L2), GLONASS (G1/G2), Galileo (E1/E5b), and BeiDou (B1/B2) signals. Dual-frequency GNSS enables the receiver to minimize ionospheric delay and enhances multipath mitigation.
Other key features of the GNSS receiver include support for anti-jamming and anti-spoofing, Timing-Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (T-RAIM), and GNSS augmentation systems: WAAS (USA), EGNOS (Europe), MSAS (Japan), and GAGAN (India), all of which provide orbit and clock corrections, a well as health and integrity information.
Multi-constellation tracking enables the GNSS receiver to report the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) estimated by each constellation. The receiver can be configured to output either the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou realization of UTC. The timing pulse can also be configured to suit the user’s requirements.
The TW5382 supports an RS-485 communication interface, which enables the receiver to be configured and monitored.
Lastly, combining the GNSS antenna and receiver in a single package ensures that each smart antenna will produce precisely the same timing signal, as each smart antenna cable delay will be virtually identical. Only the user’s time pulse cable length (smart antenna to user equipment) will have to be considered, which simplifies the operator’s installation.
Contact Tallymatics for more information concerning the ultra-precise TW5382 High Accuracy 5G Timing Smart GNSS antenna.
Originally posted in the Android Developers Blog, the following is reprinted with permission from authors Frank van Diggelen, principal engineer, and Jennifer Wang, product manager, Google.
At Android, we want to make it as easy as possible for developers to create the most helpful apps for their users. That’s why we aim to provide the best location experience with our APIs like the Fused Location Provider API (FLP). However, we’ve heard from many of you that the biggest location issue is inaccuracy in dense urban areas, such as wrong-side-of-the-street and even wrong-city-block errors.
This is particularly critical for the most-used location apps, such as rideshare and navigation. For instance, when users request a rideshare vehicle in a city, apps cannot easily locate them because of the GPS errors.
The last great unsolved GPS problem
This wrong-side-of-the-street position error is caused by reflected GPS signals in cities, and we embarked on an ambitious project to help solve this great problem in GPS. Our solution uses 3D mapping aided corrections, and is only feasible to be done at scale by Google because it comprises 3D building models, raw GPS measurements, and machine learning.
The December Pixel Feature Drop adds 3D mapping aided GPS corrections to Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G). With a system API that provides feedback to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G Mobile Platform that powers Pixel, the accuracy in cities (urban canyons) improves spectacularly.
Image: Frank van DiggelenImage: Frank van Diggelen
Pictures above show a pedestrian test, with Pixel 5 phone, walking along one side of the street, then the other. Yellow = Path followed, Red = without 3D mapping aided corrections, Blue = with 3D mapping aided corrections.
Why hasn’t this been solved before?
The problem is that GPS constructively locates you in the wrong place when you are in a city. This is because all GPS systems are based on line-of-sight operation from satellites. But in big cities, most or all signals reach you through non line-of-sight reflections, because the direct signals are blocked by the buildings.
Diagram of the 3D mapping aided corrections module in Google Play services, with corrections feeding into the FLP API. 3D mapping aided corrections are also fed into the GNSS chip and software, which in turn provides GNSS measurements, position, and velocity back to the module. (Image: Frank van Diggelen)Image: Frank van Diggelen
The GPS chip assumes that the signal is line-of-sight and therefore introduces error when it calculates the excess path length that the signals traveled. The most common side effect is that your position appears on the wrong side of the street, although your position can also appear on the wrong city block, especially in very large cities with many skyscrapers.
There have been attempts to address this problem for more than a decade. But no solution existed at scale, until 3D mapping aided corrections were launched on Android.
How 3D mapping aided corrections work
Image: Frank van Diggelen
The 3D mapping aided corrections module, in Google Play services, includes tiles of 3D building models that Google has for more than 3,850 cities around the world. Google Play services 3D mapping aided corrections currently supports pedestrian use-cases only. When you use your device’s GPS while walking, Android’s Activity Recognition API will recognize that you are a pedestrian, and if you are in one of the 3,850+ cities, tiles with 3D models will be downloaded and cached on the phone for that city. Cache size is approximately 20MB, which is about the same size as 6 photographs.
Inside the module, the 3D mapping aided corrections algorithms solve the chicken-and-egg problem, which is: if the GPS position is not in the right place, then how do you know which buildings are blocking or reflecting the signals? Having solved this problem, 3D mapping aided corrections provide a set of corrected positions to the FLP. A system API then provides this information to the GPS chip to help the chip improve the accuracy of the next GPS fix.
With this December Pixel feature drop, we are releasing version 2 of 3D mapping aided corrections on Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G). This reduces wrong-side-of-street occurrences by approximately 75%. Other Android phones, using Android 8 or later, have version 1 implemented in the FLP, which reduces wrong-side-of-street occurrences by approximately 50%. Version 2 will be available to the entire Android ecosystem (Android 8 or later) in early 2021.
Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections work with signals from the USA’s GPS as well as other GNSS: GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS.
Our GPS chip partners shared the importance of this work for their technologies.
Francesco Grilli, vice president of product management at Qualcomm Technologies Inc.:
“Consumers rely on the accuracy of the positioning and navigation capabilities of their mobile phones. Location technology is at the heart of ensuring you find your favorite restaurant and you get your rideshare service in a timely manner. Qualcomm Technologies is leading the charge to improve consumer experiences with its newest Qualcomm Location Suite technology featuring integration with Google’s 3D mapping aided corrections. This collaboration with Google is an important milestone toward sidewalk-level location accuracy.”
Charles Abraham, senior director of engineering, Broadcom Inc.:
“Broadcom has integrated Google’s 3D mapping aided corrections into the navigation engine of the BCM47765 dual-frequency GNSS chip. The combination of dual frequency L1 and L5 signals plus 3D mapping aided corrections provides unprecedented accuracy in urban canyons. L5 plus Google’s corrections are a game-changer for GNSS use in cities.”
Yenchi Lee, deputy general manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communications Business Unit:
“Google’s 3D mapping aided corrections is a major advancement in personal location accuracy for smartphone users when walking in urban environments. MediaTek’s Dimensity 5G family enables 3D mapping aided corrections in addition to its highly accurate dual-band GNSS and industry-leading dead reckoning performance to give the most accurate global positioning ever for 5G smartphone users.”
How to access 3D mapping aided corrections
Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections automatically works when the GPS is being used by a pedestrian in any of the 3850+ cities, on any phone that runs Android 8 or later. The best way for developers to take advantage of the improvement is to use FLP to get location information. The further 3D mapping aided corrections in the GPS chip are available to Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) today, and will be rolled out to the rest of the Android ecosystem (Android 8 or later) in the next several weeks. We will also soon support more modes including driving.
Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections cover more than 3850 cities, including:
North America: All major cities in USA, Canada, Mexico.
Europe: All major cities. (100%, except Russia & Ukraine)
Asia: All major cities in Japan and Taiwan.
Rest of the world: All major cities in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
As our Google Earth 3D models expand, so will 3D mapping aided corrections coverage.
Google Maps is also getting updates that will provide more street level detail for pedestrians in select cities, such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian islands. In 2021, you can get these updates for your app using the Google Maps Platform. Along with the improved location accuracy from 3D mapping aided corrections, we hope we can help developers like you better support use cases for the world’s 2B pedestrians that use Android.
Continuously making location better
In addition to 3D mapping aided corrections, we continue to work hard to make location as accurate and useful as possible. Below are the latest improvements to the Fused Location Provider API (FLP):
Developers wanted an easier way to retrieve the current location. With the new getCurrentLocation() API, developers can get the current location in a single request, rather than having to subscribe to ongoing location changes. By allowing developers to request location only when needed (and automatically timing out and closing open location requests), this new API also improves battery life. Check out our latest Kotlin sample.
Android 11’s Data Access Auditing API provides more transparency into how your app and its dependencies access private data (like location) from users. With the new support for the API’s attribution tags in the FusedLocationProviderClient, developers can more easily audit their apps’ location subscriptions in addition to regular location requests. Check out this Kotlin sample to learn more.
Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm Snapdragon and Qualcomm Location Suite are products of Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Yang Changfeng, chief architect, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, speaks at an international event. (Photo: BDS)
On July 31, 2020, BDS-3, the global version of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), was formally commissioned, marking the completion of its three-step development process. BDS enters a new era of global services. With the principle of “serving the world and benefiting mankind,” BDS provides seven types of services to users worldwide, including positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services, a global short-message communication (GSMC) service, a regional short-message communication (RSMC) service, an international search-and-rescue (SAR) service, the BeiDou satellite-based augmentation system (BDSBAS), the BDS/GNSS ground-based augmentation system (BDGAS), and the precise point positioning (PPP) service. BDS has been continuously making contributions to improving GNSS capabilities and promoting the development of GNSS applications and technologies.
In 2020, as BDS construction was successfully completed, BDS has made fruitful achievements in application development and internationalization.
System Construction
Space Constellation Deployment. From March to June 2020, two BDS-3 GEO satellites were launched, while the in-orbit tests of two IGSO satellites, two GEO satellites, and two MEO satellites were completed. As the result, the global system constellation was successfully deployed.
By the end of October 2020, 45 in-orbit operational BDS satellites provide services to global users, including 15 BDS-2 satellites and 30 BDS-3 satellites.
Ground System Development. More than 40 new ground stations have been built, tested and commissioned. The BDS ground system is operating stably, supporting daily BDS operations.
Basic Service Enhancement
Generally speaking, the accuracy of the BDS signal-in-space is better than 0.5 m, BDS global positioning accuracy is better than 10 m, BDS velocity measurement accuracy is better than 0.2 m/s, and BDS timing accuracy is better than 20 ns. In the Asia-Pacific region, BDS positioning accuracy is better than 5 m, the velocity measurement accuracy is better than 0.1m/s, and timing accuracy is better than 10 ns.
In the key service area, there are 30 BDS-3 satellites and 15 BDS-2 satellites that jointly provide the services using B1I and B3I signals. The actual average measured positioning accuracies are about 1.48 m horizontally and 2.99 m vertically (95% confidence), which are improvements of about 30% and 5% respectively as opposed to solely relying on the BDS-2 system.
Globally, with the B1I, B3I, B1C and B2a signals, BDS-3 offers service availability of 100% (PDOP ≤6,). The actual measured positioning accuracies are about 1.54 m horizontally and 2.65 m vertically (95% confidence).
Featured Services Benefit Users
Presently, the BDS PPP service covers China and its surrounding areas. By broadcasting the high-precision orbit and satellite clock error corrections through the B2b signal, the high-precision positioning service is provided, while initial testing measurements show that the positioning accuracies are about 0.18 m horizontally and 0.26 m vertically (95% confidence).
BDSBAS was developed in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards to provide SBAS services with superior accuracy and integrity, enabling aircraft approach with vertical guidance of class I (APV-I). The BDSBAS services cover China and its surrounding areas, and the SBAS data, following ICAO standards are broadcast by the three BDS GEO satellites. In particular, the single frequency SBAS service is being provided through the BDSBAS-B1C signal. At the moment, the civil aviation certification process of the BDSBAS SF service is being prepared. The BDSBAS-B2a signal will provide the Dual Frequency Multiple Constellation (DFMC) SBAS service. BDS has been actively participating in the development process of the DFMC standards and carrying out the verification of the draft DFMC SBAS Standard and Recommended Practices.
BDGAS consists of 155 framework reference stations and nearly 2,200 regional stations in China. The system carries out high-precision applications in many fields, such as surveying and mapping, land resources, earthquake monitoring, transportation and meteorology. Its basic services include real-time positioning at the meter, decimeter and centimeter levels, as well as precise post-processing positioning at the millimeter level.
Being developed in accordance with Cospas-Sarsat standards, the BDS MEO-SAR service provides the detection probability of the international search-and-rescue service of better than 99%, with the characteristic return link capability. In July, a joint test was carried out using the BDS MEO-SAR satellites with the Cospas-Sarsat ground station in Maryland, U.S., and the relevant technical documents and the equipment admittance testing reports were formally submitted to Cospas-Sarsat, which provides Chinese contributions to the international MEO-SAR family.
RSMC provides service to China and its surrounding areas through three GEO satellites. Its communication capability is greatly improved compared to BDS-2. With service capacity of 12 million times per hour, the transmitting power of user terminals is reduced to 1-3 W and the single message capacity reaches 1,000 Chinese characters. The construction of the RSMC service platform has been completed to promote the organic integration of short message and mobile communication services, and to further exert the advantages of the BDS featured services.
GSMC provides global services through 14 MEO satellites with single message capacity of 40 Chinese characters.
Figure 1. The number of visible BDS satellites as of BDT 13:00, Oct. 29, 2020. The number of visible satellites at Asia-Pacific Region is greater than 20. (Source: www.csno-tarc.cn)
Integrated Applications
As the system construction accelerates, BDS is also making great efforts to strengthen the development of BDS fundamental products and promote large-scale applications in various fields. The integrated applications and innovative development adopt the “BDS+” and “+BDS” models to improve quality and efficiency as well as to stimulate a healthy and fast-growing GNSS industry.
Fundamental Products. At present, the fundamental BDS products have been used in areas such as mass-market applications, where the performance has reached or is close to the world-class level. Progress has been made in the research and development of multi-system baseband-RF integrated high-precision chips. The 28 nm chips have been mass-produced, and the 22 nm chips are about to be mass-produced. As a result, the function and performance of the chips will reach a new level. The BDS navigation chips, modules, high-precision boards and antennas have been exported to more than 120 countries and regions, serving millions of users worldwide.
Industrial Applications. BDS has been widely used in various fields, including communication and transportation, public security, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, hydrological monitoring, meteorological forecasting, time synchronization, power dispatching, and disaster prevention and mitigation. Significant economic and social benefits have been generated.
In the field of transportation, in the first three quarters of 2020, more than 7 million road vehicles were using BDS. The number of postal and express delivery vehicles using BDS reached 314,000, and the number of ships is about 1,369. In general aviation, 300 planes are using BDS.
In agriculture, BDS-based automatic steering systems are on more than 45,000 pieces of agricultural machinery and equipment, saving 50% of the labor cost. BDS-based agricultural machinery operation supervision platforms are serving 10 million units of agricultural machinery equipment, greatly improving management and operational efficiency.
In forestry, the BDS positioning and short message communication services are widely used in forest fire prevention, natural forest protection, forest inspection, pest control and so on.
In the fishery field, BDS provides fishery managers and fishing vessels with ship position monitoring, emergency rescue, information dissemination, vessel management and other services. BDS terminals have been installed on more than 70,000 fishing boats and law enforcement vessels in China. More than 10,000 people have been saved.
For disaster prevention and mitigation, a three-level platform covering the national ministries and the provinces was built to offer six-tier application services, deploying more than 45,000 BDS terminals.
BDS plays an important role in the emergency response to major disasters such as flooding in South China and forest fire in Southwest China this year. BDS is accelerating entry into new infrastructural construction, and is deeply integrated with new technologies such as next-generation communication, blockchain, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and more. New modes, formats and markets for BDS applications are constantly emerging.
Mass-Market Applications. BDS-based navigation and positioning services have been adopted by various enterprises in the fields of e-commerce, smart mobile terminals, location-based services, the sharing economy and people’s livelihood, profoundly changing people’s production and lifestyles. Just like water and electricity, BDS provides public services that are easily accessible and available on demand. In smartphone applications, domestic and international mainstream chip manufacturers have released communication-navigation integrated chips compatible with BDS. More than 90% of mobile-phone companies applying for access to China’s domestic network support BDS positioning. Smartphones from Huawei, MI, Apple, VIVO, OPPS and other big brands in China are BDS-enabled.
BDS Standards. The updating and upgrading of the BDS standard system is progressing smoothly, with Version 2.0 to be released soon. The BDS application standard systems will be published in electric, railway and other industries. The revision of the national BDS standards is advancing steadily. Four national standards were issued in early 2019, and 28 national standards will be released by the end of 2020. Forty-two standards related to the BDS program have been issued in three batches, while 58 new standards are being formulated.
The work related to BDS intellectual properties is being carried out, and various innovation entities continue to improve BDS’ intellectual property creation, utilization and protection capabilities. Statistics shows that Chinese GNSS-related patent applications reached 12,170 in 2019 and 9,411 by the end of October, with an average growth rate of 21.7% in the past three years.
International Cooperation
Bilateral Cooperation. BDS continues to carry out bilateral cooperation with other GNSS to promote compatibility, interoperability and joint applications. Under the China-U.S. civil GNSS cooperation platform, working groups have been set up to continuously engage in cooperation and exchanges in areas such as compatibility and interoperability, augmentation systems and aviation applications, civil service provisions, etc. China and the Russian Federation held their seventh bilateral meeting in October, and have been pushing forward landmark demonstration projects such as joint ground station set-up, cross-border transportation and precision agriculture. China and the European Union are carrying out coordination, exchanges and cooperation under the framework of the China-EU space cooperation dialogue.
Multilateral Cooperation. The BDS team participates in meetings of the International Committee on Global Navigation Systems (ICG), and continuously promotes discussions on relevant topics. The experience fighting COVID-19 using BDS/GNSS, as well as BDS applications in pandemic prevention and control, are being shared with the international GNSS community. During the ninth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum held in July, video conferences promoted the deepening of China-Arab satellite navigation cooperation.
International BDS Applications. With the export of BDS high-precision products, BDS is widely used in different regions and fields, such as land registration, precision agriculture, warehouse logistics in ASEAN countries, construction in Western Asia, airport timing and plying the seas in South Asia, power plant inspections in Eastern Europe, and land surveys in African countries. BDS high-precision products are exported to more than 120 countries and regions. BDGAS technologies and products are systematically exported, serving more than 100 million users worldwide.
International Standards. BDS has been adopted by many international organizations including the ICAO, the International Maritime Organization, Cospas-Sarsat and mobile communication. A number of international standards supporting BDS have been released. In March, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) officially issued the first international standard for BDS vessel receiving equipment inspection (IEC 61108-5), which provides the basis for global classification societies to carry out type certification of BDS equipment on vessels. In July, the first batch of 3GPP standards supporting the BDS B1C signal was officially released. The series of standards will support BDS signals in Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) of 5G communication. By year’s end, the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) 10403.X standard, which fully supports BDS, will be officially released, marking an important milestone in the creation of a general data format standard for BDS receivers.
Adhering to the development concept of “the Chinese BDS, the World’s BDS and the First Class BDS,” BDS development vigorously carries forward the Beidou spirit in the new era — independent innovation, open integration, unity and pursuit of excellence. By 2035, a more ubiquitous, integrated and comprehensive national PNT system with a spatial-temporal information service infrastructure covering space, sky, Earth and sea, and offering unified high precision, high intelligence, high security and high efficiency, will be built. It will provide core support for future intelligent and unmanned development; continuously promote system upgrading; integrate new technologies such as new generation communication and low orbit augmentation; strive to develop high-quality capabilities such as quantum navigation, full-source navigation, and micro PNT; and build a spatial-time information service infrastructure covering space, sky, Earth and sea, with high precision, high intelligence, high security and high efficiency.
Authors Javier Benedicto (ESA), left, and Rodrigo da Costa (GSA). (Image: ESA)
Throughout 2020, the Galileo Programme under the responsibility of the European Commission, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), has been delivering continuous and reliable global PNT and Search and Rescue (SAR) services, developed improvements to Galileo First Generation ground and space system infrastructure for increased robustness and new service capabilities, and launched a full modernization program aiming in the future at Galileo Second Generation.
The GNSS User Technology Report 2020 has just been released by GSA, providing a complete overview of the current status and trends of the GNSS worldwide market with focus on user technology and in particular European GNSS (Galileo and EGNOS) applications and services.
In addition to providing a high quality open service based on innovative signals in the E1 and E5 bands, Galileo is also the first GNSS constellation to comprise a SAR capability, including the provision of a return link to users in distress. Galileo also features unique capabilities, such as the provision of Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) and of an encrypted navigation signal on E6, the Commercial Authentication Service (CAS). These functions will offer the first protection against spoofing available to civilian GNSS users.
Finally, Galileo will provide free access to a High Accuracy Service (HAS) through the use of an open data channel used to broadcast high-accuracy augmentation messages.
Performance Meeting Expectations
The Galileo constellation consists today of 22 operational spacecraft (24 satellites are available for the Search and Rescue service). Two additional satellites (GSAT0201/E18 and GSAT0202/E14) are currently under testing with regard to potential operational as auxiliary usage in the near future.
The long-term evolution of performance parameters reveals that the Galileo system is continuously improving. In particular, an excellent quality of the navigation message in terms of ranging accuracy can be observed. Since the Initial Service declaration in 2016, ranging accuracy has steadily improved reaching a level of ~25 cm (95%) by mid of 2020, see Figure 1.
FIGURE 1. F/NAV SISE as observed by user receivers (constellation average, 30 days moving average). (Image: ESA)
The timing accuracy benefits from the larger number of satellites in service. Figures 2 and 3 present the evolution of the UTC dissemination accuracy and GGTO accuracy performance better than 2.5 nsec and 4.2 nsec (95%) respectively, which are largely within Galileo service commitments.
Probably the most significant discriminator of Galileo versus other GNSS is its capability to broadcast multi-frequency (E1, E6, E5) signal components on all operational satellites. In the high-end and mid-range smartphone chipset market, dual frequency is becoming the norm. All large players have released dual-frequency chipsets, and the first dual-frequency chipsets targeting the budget device market are now becoming available. Dual-frequency receivers offer improved accuracy and robustness, and potential access to high-accuracy techniques. Multi-constellation is now standard for high-volume chipsets and Galileo with its multi-frequency capability is one of the largest GNSS contributors to this emerging dual-frequency PNT market.
Expanding Galileo Services Portfolio
Galileo offers the Galileo Open service (OS) for positioning and timing services, and Europe’s Search and Rescue (SAR) service contribution to COSPAS-SARSAT, equipped with its unique Return Link Message (RLM) declared operational in January 2020. Furthermore, the Galileo system is expanding its infrastructure capabilities such that, once fully operational, it will offer additional high-performance services worldwide.
Public Regulated Service (PRS) is restricted to government-authorized users for sensitive applications that require a high level of service continuity.
Open Service INAV message improvements on Galileo E1-B are under implementation, namely robust symbol level synchronization patterns, additional insertion of clock and ephemeris data with flexible outer encoding and frequent provision of shortened clock and ephemeris for improved robustness in terms of navigation data retrieval in challenging environments, in addition to facilitating a reduced time to first six (TTFF); these improvements ensure backwards compatibility with previously released OS SIS ICDs.
Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) providing the free authentication of the Galileo Open Service (OS) for geolocation information through the Navigation Message (I/NAV) broadcast on the E1-B signal component.
Commercial Authentication Service (CAS), complementing the OS, providing a ranging authentication function implemented by encrypting the spreading code of the E6C (pilot) channel with a secret key. To ensure backward compatibility, CAS is based on the only civilian signal including cryptographic features (E6). When using both OS-NMA and CAS, users will benefit from data (navigation message) and range authentication, allowing PVT authentication worldwide.
Galileo Batch 3 satellite under test at ESA’s ESTEC facility in the Netherlands. (Photo: ESA)
High Accuracy Service (HAS) complementing the OS by delivering free access high accuracy data and providing better ranging accuracy, enabling users to achieve sub-meter level positioning accuracy.
Support to Safety of Life (SoL) Services through Dual Frequency Multi-Constellation (DFMC) SBAS and supporting the provision of integrity through the concept of Horizontal Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (H-ARAIM). In this context, the Galileo Integrity Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (IFMEA) Process is implemented through measurements and review of the system design, including characterization of feared events.
Galileo Batch 3 satellite under test at ESA’s ESTEC facility in the Netherlands. (Photo: ESA)
Infrastructure Modernization
The Galileo System infrastructure is being upgraded and modernized to support the full service portfolio, provide additional robustness and resilience, ensure security and improve operations.
The Galileo Ground Segment is being upgraded implementing ground segment virtualization technologies. This modernized infrastructure will make it possible to easily accommodate technology refresh and will minimize impact to Galileo service operations, under the responsibility of Spaceopal GmbH, during future deployment activities.
Current ground segment upgrades under production by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space in France (in charge of Ground Mission Segment and Security Monitoring) are addressing the deployment of improved robustness of the navigation and precise timing solutions, the full scope of PRS service capabilities, the expansion of the sensor station and up-link ground station networks, and additional security monitoring coverage to protect Galileo ground and space assets.
Ground segment upgrades under production by prime contractor GMV in Spain are addressing the deployment of a new Ground Control Segment providing increased constellation monitoring and control capabilities up to 38 satellites, enhanced operability features, expansion of the TTC network and additional security protection capabilities.
Upgrades of the Galileo Service Facilities are underway as well, notably the evolution of the GNSS Service Center toward the integration of the OS-NMA and HAS capabilities, and the extension of the reference measurement capabilities of the Galileo Reference Centre, by the prime contractor GMV in Spain. The robustness of the SAR service operations, under the prime contractor CNES in France, is also under improvement.
The production of 12 additional Batch 3 Galileo first generation satellites is proceeding, aiming at readiness for launch from mid 2021 onward. Batch 3 satellites are comparable to the 22 FOC satellites launched previously and built by the same prime contractor OHB Systems in Germany. With Batch 3 satellites, Galileo will reach its full constellation capability, including a number of in-orbit spares.
Galileo Batch 3 satellites will be progressively launched with the new Ariane 62 launcher vehicle, the two strap-on solid booster variant of Ariane 6, currently undergoing the final stages of development led by prime contractor ArianeGroup. Meanwhile, France’s space agency CNES is preparing the Ariane 6 launch facilities at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Ariane 6 is scheduled for its first launch in 2022.
Europe’s new Ariane 6 launch vehicle. (Artist’s concept: ESA)
Toward Galileo Second Generation
The Galileo Programme is fully engaged in the process of developing Galileo 2nd Generation (G2G). Procurement activities for system, satellite and ground segment have been initiated in 2020 with the ambitious goal of starting deployment of the new infrastructure in 2024.
The design of G2G is driven by overarching principles, including backward compatibility, providing an extended portfolio of services and the quality of services, but also the absolute need to meet user demands in a timely and effective manner. The European Commission, in close consultation with EU member states, has converged onto an ambitious set of long term PNT goals for the future European GNSS infrastructures.
G2G Service Portfolio and High-Level Mission Objectives agreed with Programme Stakeholders Service include service evolutions in the areas of signals evolution for increased performance and reduced complexity and power consumption at the user receiver level, time to first-fix, accuracy, authentication and other service attributes, PRS evolutions, advanced timing services, enhanced integration with terrestrial systems (5G/6G), complementarity with external sensors (such as INS, barometer, lidar) and application environments (such as low power devices and internet of things), SAR service evolution, Emergency Warning services, Space Service Volume and Ionosphere Prediction Service.
G2G will build on advanced navigation technology developed over the past 10 years under ESA’s European GNSS Evolution Programme (EGEP) and EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme. This technological leap will allow the early introduction of novel Galileo system features:
Open service capabilities (reduce power consumption and convergence time)
High-accuracy evolution (integrity, availability)
PRS robustness and transmit power
System and SIS in-orbit flexibility, reconfiguration and time-to-market
Inter-satellite links (ranging, mission dissemination, command and control)
SAR second-generation beacons
Reduce operations and maintenance cost
Accelerate time-to-market of new services
Ground technology virtualization and modernization
Acknowledging the changing nature of user requirements, the Galileo second-generation is designed to evolve incrementally and with sufficient flexibility to provide new services or signal features, if and when required, by dynamic reconfiguration of space and ground infrastructure.
