Category: GNSS

NextNav, Satelles collaborate on Bay Area alternative PNT testbed

Technology evaluation capabilities inaugurated in demonstration for U.S. Department of Homeland Seurity

NextNav and Satelles Inc. have partnered on an alternative positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) testbed in the San Francisco Bay area.

Designed and managed by NextNav with a timing source from Satelles, the testbed creates scenarios and conditions to rigorously test the precision and resilience of alternative PNT solutions, allowing technologies to be evaluated in the absence of signals from GPS and other GNSS.

NextNav used the testbed to demonstrate the precision and resilience of the company’s TerraPoiNT network in a GPS-denied environment using STL from Satelles as its absolute timing source. This demonstration for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) showcased the timing accuracy and resilience of TerraPoiNT, which delivered timing synchronization better than 50 nanoseconds in urban and semi-urban settings.

As a source of GPS/GNSS-independent time that the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) determined is highly consistent with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) — including in deep indoor environments — STL provided the timing signal for the demo instead of GPS.

The advent of the alternative PNT testbed is timely given the recent publication of “Understanding Vulnerabilities of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing” by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (part of DHS). This important CISA publication urges owners and operators of critical infrastructure to adopt the responsible use of PNT as defined in Executive Order 13905. The new testbed will be used to demonstrate applications for emergency services, telecommunications, financial markets, the electrical grid, and other critical infrastructure sectors.

“Demonstrating the accuracy and resilience of alternative PNT solutions is integral in validating the capabilities of alternative PNT solutions and, ultimately, increasing adoption across use cases and applications,” said Ashu Pande, TerraPoiNT VP at NextNav. “With the development of this testbed, we can emulate real world deployment scenarios and can more effectively instill confidence across the PNT industry in the viability of alternate PNT solutions.”

“The development of this testbed will enable the rigorous, transparent, and replicable testing of alternative PNT solutions,” said Christina Riley, VP of Commercial PNT at Satelles. “We’re excited to be integrated as the GNSS-independent timing reference for this alternative PNT testbed and are looking forward to continuing our collaborative work to build stronger PNT solutions to augment GPS globally.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation categorized TerraPoiNT from NextNav and STL from Satelles as the top-ranked PNT systems in its technology demonstration report released in January. The testbed collaboration between these complementary alternative PNT service providers underscores the companies’ commitment to promoting the adoption of multiple technologies that complement and augment GPS/GNSS to protect the operations of critical infrastructure.

Image: imaginima/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

October 5, 2021
GNSS constellations create four strong winds

Matteo Luccio

First, there was one. In July 1995, the U.S. Air Force declared the Global Positioning System had met all the requirements for full operational capability (FOC). Soon thereafter, there were two. In December of that same year, Russia’s Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Global Navigation Satellite System, or GLONASS), also achieved FOC. For a quarter century, that was it.

Then, last year, the number doubled, as both the European Union’s Galileo and China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS, named after the Big Dipper asterism, which is known in Chinese as Beidou) achieved FOC.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS, aka Navigation Indian Constellation, or NavIC, which means “sailor” or “navigator” in Hindi) and Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS, also known as Michibiki) are not global yet, but plan to become so. Currently, NavIC is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system, and NavIC-based trackers are compulsory on commercial vehicles in India. QZSS currently complements GPS to improve coverage in East Asia and Oceania, but Japan plans to have an operational constellation of seven satellites for autonomous capability by 2023. The Korea Positioning System (KPS) plans to join the party by 2035.

Who’s next? Will it be another country or a private company? Given that the state-sponsored systems are free to end users, I don’t see what the business model would be for a private GNSS constellation, unless it were to piggyback on one built mainly for another purpose.

Surveyors who have begun to routinely use three or more constellations are over the moon. One, quoted in this month’s cover story, recalls that “the use of GPS for construction staking was an extremely risky proposition” because its residuals exceeded most construction tolerances. Using multiple GNSS constellations, however, has increased confidence in the accuracy of results to the point that some construction companies are relying on GNSS receivers for staking. Additionally, multi-constellation receivers can now increasingly be used under tree canopies and against structures, whether natural or built.

Whatever their mix of military, political and commercial motivations for building, deploying and operating their own GNSS constellations in addition to the original two, the European Union, China, India, Japan, Korea and whichever entity may follow are greatly improving satellite-based positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for all users everywhere — by increasing accuracy, shortening the time to first fix, and making GNSS more impervious to jamming and spoofing.

In 1978, the year that the U.S. Department of Defense launched the first NAVSTAR GPS satellite (“NAVSTAR” was later dropped from the system’s name), Neil Young sang “Four Strong Winds” (originally written by Ian Tyson and performed by him with his wife Sylvia as the Canadian folk-duo Ian and Sylvia).

Now, GNSS has “four strong winds,” two lighter ones and several more breezes to follow. As a sailor and a navigator, I welcome them heartily. As this magazine’s editor-in-chief, I don’t mind that, like Jeep, Kleenex, Popsicle and Xerox, GPS probably will stick in popular culture as a generic term for global satellite navigation systems way past its accurate description of what is in the box.

Matteo Luccio | Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]

October 1, 2021
Celestia Technologies Group joins European move for long-range drones

The ADACORSA Project vision. (Credit: ADACORSA)

Celestia Technologies Group (CTG) is taking part in the ADACORSA project, a European initiative designed to unlock the potential of long-range and beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drones and give Europe a world-class drone industry.

ADACORSA — Airborne Data Collection on Resilient System Architecture — is a major collaborative project launched in May 2020 that aims to demonstrate the safety and efficiency of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in extended out-of-line-of-sight operation ranges.

Specifically, it draws on European expertise in developing sensor and communication technologies for UAVs to underpin their role and reliable capability in long-range applications, including observation, analysis and transport, taking them one step further toward being integrated into conventional airspace.

ADASCORA also seeks to increase public and regulatory acceptance of modern UAV or drone technology. More than 49 specialist companies from 12 European countries are expected to contribute know-how and practical support. The project also aims to research and develop innovative components and systems for airborne observation and detection, telecommunication and data processing along the electronics value-chain.

Task Forces Established

To meet ADACORSA’s ambitious targets, task forces have been set up, one of which will be led by CTG. The company will lead the development of electronic components for reliable and fail-operational environment perception and run one project demonstrator designed to integrate unmanned aircraft systems safely into the common European airspace and ensure that they operate correctly in a multi-unmanned aircraft system environment.

CTG is a Dutch supplier and part of a pan-European company group providing innovative technology products, systems and services to space, aerospace, defense, telecommunications and scientific markets.

Galileo + EGNOS Transponder

CTG will use its expertise in on-board UAV electronics to develop a lightweight, high-performance transponder capable of sending and receiving accurate identification and location data for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Positioning will be based on Galileo, supplemented by its European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), allowing all airspace users to know the location of the vehicle and contribute to safety while supporting other on-board systems such as detect-and-avoid equipment.

The transponder will be based on conventional aviation technologies such as Mode S Interrogator and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and will integrate new concepts including network identification, meaning the vehicle can fly safely in various scenarios. These include in locations close to airports, in drone fleet operations and within the U-Space environment. U-space is a set of European services and procedures designed to support safe, efficient and secure access to airspace for drones.

ADACORSA has received funding from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 876019. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Romania, France, Sweden, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Italy, Finland and Turkey.

September 29, 2021
Editorial Advisory Board Q&A: Public or private sector?

All four current GNSS and two regional systems have been built and are operated by public agencies. Many correction services and complementary PNT services are operated by private companies.

Going forward, what do you expect the division of labor to be between the public and private sectors in building and maintaining PNT capabilities? What should it be?

Ellen Hall

“The space race was championed by governments. Space travel, communications and other technologies were born from government exploration into space. Today we see many private companies engaged in space. Several are intent on supplementing GNSS navigation, and some envision competing. Private companies have a way to go if they plan to compete with systems like GPS, but competition is often at the center of innovation and may benefit everyone.”
— Ellen Hall
Spirent Federal Systems

Jules McNeff

“GNSS and regional systems are established and sustained to meet the needs of the governments and public agencies that operate them. They cover wide areas and provide services to extremely diverse user communities at levels of performance based on resources that are justified by user requirements and limited by technical affordability. When the global/regional service levels don’t meet the needs of a particular user group or require backup for security, the opportunity is opened for other agencies or private companies to create augmentations and complements to meet the additional needs. The mix is variable and will be determined by the user groups and the market.”
— Jules McNeff
Overlook Systems Technologies

F. Michael Swiek

“There is really no single ‘correct’ answer or specific division of labor between public- and private-sector entities in GNSS. The situation we see today is the result of decades of constructive and successful ad hoc evolution of roles among and between public- and private-sector entities. Public agencies are better suited to provide foundation technologies and infrastructure due to the large costs and long timelines associated with establishing the constellations and maintaining stable and consistent service. The private sector is better positioned to provide variety and timely flexibility in developing innovative solutions to the broad range of constantly emerging user requirements across all market segments. This unofficial and continually evolving division of labor has worked successfully and continues to adapt to the evolving world of PNT.”
—Michael Swiek
GPS Alliance

September 29, 2021
EUSPA project applies space tracking to railways

Three test trains, one per rail operator (SNCF, DBN Netz and SBB/Siemens), are used to collect real data. Above is an SBB train in the Lavaux-Oron district, Switzerland. (Photo: RomanBabakin/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)

The European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) could start using Europe’s space solutions to manage rail traffic.

A project funded by the European Union Space Program Agency (EUSPA) is taking steps toward providing a cost-efficient train-tracking solution based on satellite technology, together with other sensors and data.

Knowing the exact position of each train is at the heart of rail operations across the European Union (EU). ERTMS is a major industrial EU project to create a more efficient and safer interoperable railway system. It currently relies on a series of costly ground instruments. In the coming years, ERTMS could switch to EU space solutions.

In a project dubbed CLUG — short for Certifiable Localization Unit with GNSS — experienced rail operators and infrastructure managers came together to define a set of specifications and operational scenarios that meet the most stringent safety needs of the rail sector. The specifications are used by the architects of the CLUG consortium, who are in the process of rolling out the system.

The project’s goal is to assess the creation of a failsafe train localization onboard unit (TLOBU) interoperable across the entire European railway network. The TLOBU will provide trains and railway operators with critical information such as positioning and velocity, complemented by acceleration, heading and attitude for applications.

September 29, 2021
Geoscience Australia launches open-source GNSS corrections software

Geoscience Australia is developing open-source software — named Ginan — that will provide real-time corrections to positioning signals of all the GNSS constellations.

Once operational, Ginan will improve the accuracy of location data from 10 meters down to 3 to 5 centimeters for users with an internet and mobile connection. It will enable industry to provide reliable centimeter positioning to their customers, the agency said in a press release.

“Ginan is part of an exciting and innovative Australian Government program to enable precise positioning technology across the whole of the Australian continent,” said Martine Woolf, head of Geoscience Australia’s National Positioning Infrastructure Branch. “It will provide industry with the ability to use precise point positioning, bringing significant economic and social benefits to Australia.”

Examples of how this data could be used include reducing fertilizer and chemical spray waste in agriculture. It could also improve the operational efficiency of large mine sites through greater use of automation.

“Ginan will allow Australians to enjoy the benefits of precise positioning through the creation of new services and products, and in doing so, drive Australia’s economic growth,” Woolf said. “Our precise location data will inform of near real-time atmospheric conditions, which is already being used by the Bureau of Meteorology to assist with their weather predictions. It will also enable a greater understanding of movements in the Earth’s crust and provide insight into earthquakes, sea-level changes and the atmosphere.”

Ginan 1.0 will be publicly released in June 2022. An alpha version is now available on the Ginan GitHub repository, with a beta version planned for user testing from February 2022.

Ginan concept overview. This diagram illustrates how Australia’s network of GNSS ground station infrastructure streams GNSS satellite observations for Ginan to process and analyze, providing correction data to users through an internet connection. (Diagram: Geoscience Australia)

A thoughtful name

Ginan is named for a star that aided the First Australians as they navigated across the continent.

Woolf said the name of the software is a gift from the Wardaman people from the Northern Territory. Geoscience Australia sought permission to use the name Ginan as part of its commitment to respectfully engage and collaborate with Australia’s First Peoples.

“In the language of the Wardaman people, Ginan means ‘a red dilly-bag filled with songs of knowledge’. We like to think of this software as being similar to a dilly-bag full of knowledge because of the benefits it will unlock,” Woolf said. “Ginan is also the name of the fifth-brightest star in the Southern Cross. Just as the Southern Cross helped the First Australians to navigate this land, the positioning capability we are developing here at Geoscience Australia will enable us to know exactly where we are and where we are going.”

Wardaman Elder Diganbal Rosas said the dilly-bag was an important part of the Wardaman songline of the Katherine region. Songlines help to culturally and physically map land and seas through the transmission of traditional knowledge, cultural values, lore and wisdom across the landscapes. They are a living ancient memory code linking the environment, language and culture.

“Ginan [in our language] has all of the Wardaman knowledge regarding connection to country — all of the stars, the skies, the country, the people and the kinship. Everything we do is held in that dilly-bag, in that Ginan,” Rosas said. “The star teaches us many aspects of that spiritual connection to country, how it all began through those songlines, and how that story connects country to the stars. It is significant [that the Wardaman people have allowed Geoscience Australia to use this name] and I think it is a great opportunity for us to showcase our partnership.”

The Ginan initiative is part of Geoscience Australia’s Positioning Australia program, which is improving the accuracy of location-based data across the nation, bringing it from meters to centimeters.

Further information

Ginan Analysis Centre Software
Ginan GitHub repository
Positioning Australia

Photo: intst/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

September 28, 2021
Virginia Tech’s Mark Psiaki receives ION’s Kepler Award

Mark Psiaki received the 2021 Johannes Kepler Award. (Photo: ION)

The Institute of Navigation’s (ION) Satellite Division presented two prestigious awards Sept. 24 at its ION GNSS+ 2021 Conference, which took place in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mark Psiaki received the Johannes Kepler Award for setting a standard of rigor, clarity and thoroughness in addressing key estimation and signal processing problems in positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).

The Johannes Kepler Award recognizes and honors an individual for sustained and significant contributions to the development of satellite navigation. It is the highest honor bestowed by the ION’s Satellite Division.

Psiaki originated the technique of bit-wise parallel RF signal processing for use in general-purpose processors. This enabler of software-defined GNSS led to the first space deployment of a fully software-defined GNSS receiver on a general-purpose digital signal processor (DSP) and to the widespread adoption of software-defined GNSS across the aerospace industry.

Psiaki’s real-time software radio expertise also enabled the development of a spoofer cultivated in his research group. He led the development of spoofing detection algorithms based on cross-correlation of unknown P(Y) codes and based on direction-of-arrival sensing.

Psiaki was the lead signal processing designer/analyst for the iGPS program that combined Iridium L-band downlink signals, GPS signals and inertial navigation system (INS) data to enhance GPS anti-jam capabilities. Recent work on navigation based on low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites fuses observables from an existing global communications constellation with INS and other sensor data to provide a backup to GPS.

Another contribution demonstrates how Doppler-based navigation could replace pseudorange-based navigation if implemented using a large LEO constellation.

Psiaki has made many contributions to the practice of modeling, estimation, and detection applied to GNSS, including the study of GNSS carrier phase modeling for space-based applications. His campaign to decode the GIOVA-A L1 BOC(1,1) PRN codes enabled Galileo receiver manufacturers to test their systems before the ESA published the codes. His group’s work on ionospheric scintillations led to the first commercially-available scintillation simulators.

Psiaki holds the Kevin T. Crofton Faculty Chair of Aerospace & Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech. He studied at Princeton University, completing a B.A. in physics in 1979 (magna cum laude) followed by an M.A. (1984) and a Ph.D. (1987) in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

He is a past recipient of the ION’s Burka Award, its Tycho Brahe Award, and the Pride at Boeing Accomplishment Award. He is a Fellow of both the AIAA and the ION.

PARKINSON AWARD

Lakshay Narula with Brad Parkinson. (Photo: ION)

The Institute of Navigation’s (ION) Satellite Division also presented Lakshay Narula with its Bradford W. Parkinson Award for his thesis, “Towards Secure & Robust PNT for Automated Systems.”

The Bradford W. Parkinson Award is given annually to an outstanding graduate student in the field of GNSS. The award, which honors Parkinson for his leadership in establishing both GPS and the Satellite Division of the ION, includes a personalized plaque and a $2,500 honorarium.

Any ION member who is a graduate student completing a degree program with an emphasis in GNSS technology, applications or policy is eligible for the award.

September 27, 2021
Roscosmos to deploy GLONASS monitoring stations in five countries

Roscosmos plans to place GLONASS ground stations in Brazil, China, Indonesia, India and Angola, reports the TASS news agency.

“In the near future, another six non-request measuring stations are to be placed abroad: two in Brazil (Belem and Colorado de Oeste), one in China (Shanghai), one in Indonesia (Bukittinggi, West Sumatra), one in India (Bangalore) and one in Angola (Luanda),” the corporation said.

Negotiations with foreign partners have been held. On-site reconnaissance work has been carried out and contracts are being coordinated.

September 24, 2021
ION journal NAVIGATION goes open access on Jan. 1
Image: ION

The Institute of Navigation (ION) has announced that its quarterly journal, NAVIGATION, Journal of The Institute of Navigation, will move to an open access (OA) model of publishing beginning Jan. 1, 2022.

NAVIGATION is a leading peer-reviewed and indexed scientific journal publishing articles on all areas related to the art and science of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).

Printed paper copies of NAVIGATION will be discontinued beginning with the Spring 2022 issue. Instead, ION members will receive an environmentally friendly link to download a compiled electronic copy of each issue.

“Moving NAVIGATION to an open access domain is critical to supporting ION’s mission of advancing positioning, navigation and timing,” said Lisa Beaty, managing editor and executive director of ION. “Moving NAVIGATION to an OA platform will speed the delivery of timely PNT research, without the restrictions of paywalls or price barriers, to a worldwide audience. We want all scientists and engineers to be able to collaborate, analyze and build upon each other’s work for society’s common good.”

The NAVIGATION Editorial Advisory Board’s recommendation to the ION Council to move to an OA model is in keeping with the growing trend to broaden the impact and availability of scholarly research. OA has been shown to increase citations, increase readership, improve the quality of paper submissions, improve search engine prioritization, and increase a Journal’s Impact Factor (JIF). The ION Council approved this recommendation at its July 16 meeting.

The past two years of technical papers that have been published in NAVIGATION will now be available free through the ION website, and after Jan. 1, 2022, will be made available through numerous indexed and abstracted scientific bibliographic databases including:
- Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database (ProQuest)
- ArticleFirst (OCLC); COMPENDEX (Elsevier)
- Current Contents: Engineering, Computing & Technology (Clarivate Analytics)
- Earth, Atmospheric & Aquatic Science Database (ProQuest)
- Electrical & Electronics Abstracts (IET)
- Google Scholar (Google)
- INSPEC (IET)
- Materials Science & Engineering Database (ProQuest)
- Natural Science Collection (ProQuest)
- Science Citation Index Expanded (Clarivate Analytics)
- SciTech Premium Collection (ProQuest)
- SCOPUS (Elsevier)
- Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics).
NAVIGATION’s Open Access model will also be coupled with changes to ION membership. The Institute of Navigation will eliminate the price differential that was required to cover international mailing costs for members who reside outside the United States.

Professional membership will increase benefits to include 12 complimentary technical paper downloads per month — up from 12 per year — from ION’s extensive database of technical papers published in official ION conference proceedings. Students, Retired and Corporate Associate members will also now enjoy 12 complimentary technical paper downloads per month. Premium Professional Member downloads will double from 25 to 50 complimentary technical paper downloads per month.

For more information on NAVIGATION, email [email protected].
September 24, 2021
Xona Space readies for launch of commercial PNT satellite

Xona Space Systems fully funded for first LEO satellite navigation mission

Xona Space Systems is preparing for the launch of its first commercial positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) satellite, the first in a planned 300-satellite low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation designed to cover the globe.

Xona has raised a new funding round co-led by Seraphim Space Investment Trust and MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Toyota Ventures, Daniel Ammann (co-founder of u-blox), and Ryan Johnson (former CEO of BlackBridge, operator of the Rapideye constellation). Follow-on investors also include 1517 Fund and Stellar Solutions.

Xona’s Pulsar precision LEO positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service leverages advances in small satellite technology to provide users with a secure and robust alternative to traditional GNSS. The satellites will orbit 25 times closer to Earth than GPS satellites do.

Xona’s patent-pending system architecture makes use of the efficiency of small satellites to provide an affordable global service with 10 times better accuracy and 100 times better interference mitigation than the legacy systems, the company claims.

“We view global coverage of a safe, secure, and highly accurate navigation service as critical to the future of autonomy and countless other markets,” said Jeff Crusey, investment director of Seraphim Space Investment Trust. “We’re excited to continue supporting Xona because they’re an extremely talented and uniquely positioned team to execute on this plan.”

The funds raised this round will support the completion of Xona’s first orbital mission, scheduled for mid-2022, to demonstrate the capabilities of their Pulsar precision LEO PNT service.

Xona successfully tested its navigation system during a ground-based demonstration earlier this year, marking a major milestone for the company. It is now expanding laboratory facilities to support further development and enable on-site testing and manufacturing. This funding round will also provide for the growth of Xona’s technical team, which includes space and GNSS experts previously from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Maxar, L3 Harris, Blue Origin and SpaceX.

“Knowledge of location and time is one of the most fundamental aspects of both human life and machine operation,” said Brian Manning, CEO of Xona. “GNSS creates trillions of dollars of value by accurately answering the questions of ‘where am I?’ and ‘what time is it?’ for users all around the world. Xona was founded around the mission of enabling modern technology to operate safely in any environment, anywhere on Earth. To achieve this for both humans and machines, a foundation of reliable and accurate PNT is an absolute necessity, which is exactly what we are working to provide at Xona.”

Image: Xona Space Systems

September 22, 2021
BeiDou applications conference showcases short message service

The first International Summit on BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Applications took place Sept. 16 in Changsha, in central China’s Hunan Province. (Photo/Xinhua)

An enhanced version of the BeiDou short message service was showcased at the First International Summit on BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Applications held in Changsha, in central China’s Hunan Province, on Sept. 16, reports China.org.bn.

The short message service enables two-way communication on mobile phones in areas not covered by ordinary mobile communication signals or when base stations are damaged, the website reports. This service would prove useful in the event of an earthquake or other emergencies, as well as offshore fishing.

“Short message service needed a larger satellite terminal such as maritime satellite phone,” said Li Jingyuan, director of the BeiDou short message team at National University of Defense Technology (NUDT). “But the enhanced version’s low-power-consumption feature enables mobile phones to send emergency messages through BeiDou satellites, even without ground mobile communication signals. The information transmission rate of the enhanced version has increased 10 times, which means pictures and voice messages can be sent out quickly.”

At the summit, NUDT, the government of Hunan, and China Electronics Corporation signed an industrial cooperation agreement to further expand short message service to low orbit satellite users. The short-message service could play a role in global satellite internet of things, international life rescue, global emergency communication and other industrial applications, the website reports.

September 22, 2021
Spirent and Qascom collaborate on OSNMA simulation tools for Galileo

SimOSNMA provides vital test tools for Galileo’s emerging end-to-end security protocol

Spirent Communications plc and Qascom have announced a simulation test solution for the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) mechanism.

SimOSNMA is designed to work with Spirent’s GNSS simulation platforms to test OSNMA signal conformance, which will bring new levels of robustness for both civilian and commercial GNSS uses.

The GSS9000 test system. (Photo: Spirent)

SimOSNMA provides developers with new simulation tools to test for OSNMA, the security protocol that enables GNSS receivers to verify the authenticity of signals distributed from the Galileo satellite constellation. Designed to combat spoofing, OSNMA ensures the data received is authentic and has not been modified in any way. It is now completing the test phase before its formal launch.

SimOSNMA enables developers to simulate and test OSNMA signals and features, allowing GNSS receiver manufacturers and application developers to accelerate and assure development programs.

Qascom has been a significant contributor to the development of Galileo OSNMA. The company helped create the main test vectors for early testing and led the Position Authenticated Tachograph for OSNMA Launch (PATROL) project, which is the European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA) procurement looking at the implementation of OSNMA into automotive and mass-market GNSS receivers.

“During the development of the first OSNMA receiver prototype, we needed a tool that would allow us to run tests in a controlled and repeatable environment, generate reference data, test corner cases and system events that seldomly occur in reality,” said Carlo Sarto, head of Security Engineering Domain Area. Qascom. “SimOSNMA will allow industries and agencies to speed up the development and qualification of their systems.”

Since the inception of the Galileo project, Spirent has provided crucial simulation and test capabilities to many of the key organizations and projects responsible for development of the European Space Agency (ESA) program.

SimOSNMA is available now for Spirent GSS7000 and GSS9000 platforms.

September 22, 2021