GNSS testing solutions company Spirent Communications has added BeiDou Phase 3 signals to its GNSS RF constellation simulators.
BeiDou Phase 3 signals are available immediately on the GSS7000 and GSS9000 simulators, and existing users can obtain the software upgrade by contacting Spirent.
The addition of these new signals to the GSS7000 and GSS9000 simulators follows the launch of the first two Beidou-3 satellites in November 2017. Two others were launched Jan. 12.
Phase 3 of the Chinese BeiDou system will extend its coverage from Asia to the entire world. It will provide receiver developers and integrators with additional GNSS signals to make positioning, navigation and timing systems more accurate, and help to support new applications, such as autonomous vehicles.
The new signals will use the same carrier frequencies as the GPS and Galileo systems, so chipset manufacturers and device developers will need to test integrated designs to avoid problems caused by confusing data from different GNSS.
“By offering the BeiDou Phase 3 signals, our customers can test their designs well before the system is fully operational, which is expected in 2020,” said Stuart Smith, lead product manager at Spirent Communications. “With signals already starting to appear, it is important for developers to have test tools that can ensure devices will successfully make use of all GNSS signals.”
Sierra Wireless, a provider of fully integrated device-to-cloud solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), has introduced multi-mode, low-power wide-area (LPWA) cellular modules.
The modules are targeted at rapidly growing markets in asset tracking and connected industrial equipment, smart cities, healthcare, agriculture and wearables.
AirPrime HL78 modules, featuring Altair Semiconductor’s integrated ALT1250 chipset, deliver power performance that extends the life of battery-operated devices by 5-10X compared to older LTE-M/NB-IoT modules.
The new level of power saving modes was designed for power-constrained IoT applications, and includes improved wake-up and sleep-mode responsiveness, as well as ultra-low sleep-mode power.
The modules also integrate GNSS tracking capability, security and an embedded SIM in a new compact CF3 size (18 x 15 millimeters) that is pin-to-pin compatible with other HL Series modules.
Customers have the flexibility to deploy the same device on global LTE-M (Cat-M1/eMTC) and NB-IoT (Cat-NB1) networks, with support for more than 20 LTE frequency bands in addition to optional 2G fallback.
Built-in security, including HTTPS, secure socket, secure boot and free unlimited firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates from the AirVantage device management IoT Platform, helps customers ensure HL78 deployments are future proof and secure.
LTE-M and NB-IoT LPWA networks deliver a new class of wireless technology specifically designed for low-power IoT applications. LPWA technologies combine lower cost, broader coverage and better battery life with globally available and secure cellular networks ready to connect hundreds of millions more things to the internet.
“With the HL78 modules, OEMs and system integrators have the most scalable, lowest power module platform to build their global IoT applications on,” said Dan Schieler, senior vice president and general manager, OEM solutions, Sierra Wireless. “And to make it even simpler for our customers, we’ve integrated the SIM and cloud, as well as GNSS and security features, to drive down the size of LPWA connected devices while enhancing tamper resistance and security.”
“More than 690 million LTE-M and NB-IoT connected devices are expected by 2022, and the market needs a low-power, compact embedded module to connect their industrial, smart city, smart home and simpler static sensor applications,” said Dan Shey, managing director and vice president at ABI Research. “With the addition of the HL78 product line, Sierra Wireless has amassed a broad portfolio of low power devices to drive the billions of advanced IoT connections we expect in the next decade.”
“The ability to switch seamlessly between any commercially deployed LTE-M or NB-IoT frequency band gives HL78 customers the flexibility to choose which network they want to deploy their low bandwidth application on. And for those regions where LPWAN coverage is not as widely available, optional 2G fallback ensures their devices stay online,” said Ilan Reingold, vice president, business development and marketing at Altair Semiconductor (a Sony Group company). “Incorporating Altair’s advanced IoT chipset, HL78 devices will also enjoy an extended life of up to 15 years on a single battery.”
The AirPrime HL78 modules are fully compliant with the 3GPP Release 13 standard and are Release-14-ready to support NB2 features in the future.
Sierra Wireless AirPrime HL and WP Series modules are interchangeable across 2G, 3G, 4G and LPWA technologies. They use the CF3 form factor, which is footprint compatible across product lines, providing customers with the option to develop smarter by building their connected IoT product or service on a single module.
HL7800 and HL7802 modules are sampling with lead customers now, with general availability in the third quarter of this year.
Qualcomm Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announced several automotive agreements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018, at North Hall Booth 5616. The show took place Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas.
As the automotive industry advances toward 5G, highly advanced connectivity solutions are needed to support road safety, mission critical applications, as well as advanced capabilities, such as autonomy.
With the Qualcomm Snapdragon automotive platform’s integrated GNSS and automotive dead reckoning, future vehicles are expected to have the increased capability to effectively be aware of its surroundings.
2017 Jaguar Land Rover. (Photo: Jaguar)
Jaguar Land Rover.Jaguar will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon automotive platform in the Land Rover to power highly advanced telematics, infotainment and digital cluster with integrated connectivity and rear-seat entertainment. The platform will help meet the demand for rich, immersive and seamless connected in-vehicle experiences in future Jaguar Land Rover vehicles.
For telematics units, Jaguar Land Rover will use the Snapdragon 820Am automotive platform to provide customers with ultra-quick and efficient connectivity throughout the vehicle by integrating 4G LTE Advanced, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.
As Qualcomm Technologies’ most advanced automotive solution, the Snapdragon 820Am Automotive platform features a custom-built 64-bit Qualcomm Kryo CPU, custom-built Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU for virtualization advantages, and Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP Vector eXtension to stream high-definition videos seamlessly onto multiple displays.
It also features the Snapdragon X12 LTE modem to support Category 12 speeds up to 600 Mbps download, as well as vehicle sensor integration and computer vision to support driver assistance using the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine.
2018 Honda Accord.The 2018 Honda Accord features the Snapdragon Automotive Platform to power applications for its in-vehicle infotainment and navigation system. The 2018 Honda Accord also features a Qualcomm 4G LTE modem designed to support the Hondalink vehicle connectivity system.
BYD Electric Vehicles. Chinese new energy company BYD Company Ltd. also selected Qualcomm Technologies’ automotive solutions for its upcoming electric vehicles. Anticipated to begin in 2019, BYD electric vehicles will feature integrated infotainment and digital cluster systems powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820A Automotive platform.
The software architecture, hypervisor support and integration capability of the 820A supports BYD’s efforts to integrate its infotainment and digital cluster systems into a single electronic control unit (ECU). This is designed to deliver significant optimization and integration benefits compared to previous architectures, which used several different ECUs within the vehicle.
Qualcomm Technologies’ automotive solutions help improve power efficiency within the integrated ECU, which aids in enhancing the vehicle overall performance, battery life and driving range. The use of Qualcomm Technologies’ integrated infotainment and cluster system with Snapdragon 820A Automotive platform is designed to support a unified user interface, improvement in contextual awareness, and a rich in-vehicle user experience with multimedia.
Visteon Cockpit.Visteon Corporation plans to deliver the next-generation of its SmartCore cockpit controllers using automotive solutions from Qualcomm.
Future SmartCore cockpit controllers will feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820A Automotive platform to support automakers’ demand for highly advanced virtual cockpit controllers, which Visteon will design to support autonomous driving technology and applications.
Visteon’s SmartCore domain controller, which can independently operate several cockpit domains on one system-on-a-chip (SoC) through a single driver interface, will be the first platform-based domain controller to incorporate the Snapdragon 820A Automotive platform.
Using Snapdragon automotive solutions from Qualcomm Technologies, Visteon aims to make available technologies to support advanced virtual cockpits and autonomous driving through Visteon’s scalable hardware and software stack in SmartCore and its DriveCore autonomous driving controller.
DriveCore is an open platform consisting of the hardware, middleware and frameworks to develop machine learning algorithms for object classification, detection, path planning and execution.
Visteon is scheduled to launch the first SmartCore-based solution in 2018 on a high-volume, global vehicle platform with a European automaker.
Antenova Ltd., manufacturer of antennas and RF antenna modules, has launched a new compact, all-in-one active GNSS antenna, part number M20047-1, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) show, Jan. 9-12, in Las Vegas.
The M20047-1 antenna adds another option to the company’s existing range of positioning antennas and modules.
It operates in the 1559–1609 MHz bands, and offers designers a useful, space-saving option for small tracking devices.
It’s key features are the active components, the built-in LNA and filter, which act to boost the signal to the GNSS processor in environments where there is a restricted view of the sky and line-of-sight to the horizon is difficult. With the LNA and filtering already built into the antenna, designers will not need to add them, and can save space on their PCB.
The M20047-1 is a very low profile rigid FR4 antenna measuring 7.0 x 7.0 x 1.1 millimeters, making it suitable for use in small tracking devices. It is suitable for tracking all kinds of moving objects, telematics and wearable sports devices.
The M20047-1 antenna is named Active Sinica and is an alternative to Antenova’s existing Sinica antenna, part no SR4G008, which is marketed for accurate positioning.
Antenova’s antennas are specifically designed for easy integration; however, the company provides full engineering support to help customers with all aspects of antenna testing, tuning and integration.
With the successful launch of newest BeiDou-3 navigation satellites, Beidou’s pace of globalization is quickening. As a provider of China’s domestic GNSS core products, Unicore Communications brought its full range of products to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which took place Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas.
Unicore’s exhibits are targeting intelligent drive and the internet of things (IoT).
For intelligent drive, Unicore is showcasing its UM482 high-precision GNSS module, which is designed for high-end L3 self-driving and robots.
Unicore also is introducing a cost-effective low-power GNSS module — UM442 — which is suitable for L2 ADAS applications and community-based GNSS navigation and maps.
UM442 is a cost-efficient high-precision real-time kinematic (RTK) and heading module that can simultaneously track GPS, BDS, GLONASS and Galileo. It also supports SBAS and QZSS.
Based on high-performance data-sharing technology and the simplified operation system of the Nebulas II chip, the UGypsophila RTK algorithm dramatically optimizes matrix processing. Therefore, the UM442 can track many more satellites and shorten the initialization time to 5 seconds.
Satellite view during a UM442 road test using the UGypsophila RTK algorithm. UM442 achieves centimeter-level RTK positioning using a low-cost ceramic antenna.
With on-board MEMS and the U-Fusion integrated navigation algorithm, UM442 can achieve accurate and reliable positioning even in the most challenging environments such as urban canyons and tunnels.
UM442 also provides attitude information such as rolling angle and pitching angle, which is suitable for many new applications such as community-based navigation maps and ADAS. Even with a low-cost ceramic antenna, the UM442 can achieve centimeter-level RTK positioning, as well as a 0.2-degree/1-meter baseline heading accuracy.
At CES, Unicore plans to introduce BeiDou products into the large volume market of consumer electronics. Ufirebird is an ultra-small, ultra-low-power multi-GNSS positioning system-on-chip (SoC), using 28-nm technology. The chip supports BDS, GPS, GLONASS and Galileo signals, and the software can be extended to support WAAS/QZSS/EGNOS/MSAS/GANGAN enhanced signals.
Unicore’s UFirebird-UC6226 low-power GNSS SoC is designed for mobile devices.
Two packaging methods are available: WLCSP and QFN40. For WLCSP packaging, the chip size is only 1.73 x 2.87 mm, and for QFN40 packaging, the chip is AEC-Q100 compliant, aimed for highly reliable automotive-grade applications.
UC6226 is equipped with a built-in sensor hub capable of providing access for multiple sensors for fusion positioning. It supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GNSS hybrid positioning, and better than 1-m differential positioning accuracy.
Compared with Unicore’s previous generation GNSS SoC, UC6226 has reduced power consumption by 60%. The minimum tracking power consumption is lowered to 18 mW, significantly improving battery endurance.
With a built-in anti-jamming module, LNA and -162dB sensitivity, UC6226 can maintain accurate and precise positioning under complex environments.
UC6226 has been successfully applied by China’s bicycle sharing companies. In addition, the chip will be used in intelligent watches, smartphones, smart cameras and many other IoT devices requiring smaller size, lower power consumption.
BlackBerry Limited and Baidu Inc. are collaborating to accelerate the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technology for automotive OEMs and suppliers worldwide.
The companies have signed a statement of intent to make BlackBerry QNX‘s ISO26262 ASIL-D certified safety operating system (OS) the foundation for Baidu’s Apollo autonomous driving open platform.
Also, BlackBerry and Baidu will work together to integrate Baidu’s CarLife, the leading smartphone integration software for connected cars in China, as well as its conversational artificial intelligence system DuerOS, and high-definition maps to run on the BlackBerry QNX Car (Infotainment) Platform.
Blackberry QNX will host demonstrations of its foundational software for autonomous and connected vehicles at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018, at North Hall Booth 7523. The show takes place Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas.
“BlackBerry QNX has established itself as the OS platform for safety-certified production-based systems,” said Li Zhenyu, general manager of Intelligent Driving Group, Baidu. “We aim to provide automakers with a clear and fast path to fully autonomous vehicle production, with safety and security as top priorities. By integrating the BlackBerry QNX OS with the Apollo platform, we will enable carmakers to leap from prototype to production systems. Together, we will work toward a technological and commercial ecosystem for autonomous driving, intelligent connectivity and intelligent traffic systems.”
“Joining forces with Baidu will enable us to explore integration opportunities for multiple vehicle subsystems including ADAS, infotainment, gateways and cloud services,” said John Wall, senior vice president and GM of BlackBerry QNX. “Baidu has made tremendous strides in artificial intelligence and deep learning. These advancements paired with their high-definition maps and BlackBerry’s safety-critical embedded software and expertise in security will be crucial ingredients for autonomous vehicles.”
Announced by Baidu in April 2017, Apollo is an open platform that provides a comprehensive, secure, and reliable solution that consists of cloud services, an open software stack and reference hardware and vehicle platforms. It supports all major features and functions of an autonomous vehicle.
More than 70 global partners are involved with Apollo, including OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, developer platforms and technology start-ups. The project was named after the historic lunar landing program to illustrate its scale and complexity. BlackBerry provides OEMs with cybersecurity technology to protect and mitigate, including hardware, software, applications and end-to-end systems from cyberattacks.
BlackBerry’s pedigree in security and continued innovation has led to recent automotive design wins with Delphi, Denso, Qualcomm, Visteon and others.
From April 1 onward, car manufacturers are required to equip new vehicles for sale in the European Union with an eCall module. In the event of a serious accident, this emergency call system automatically sends data to the uniform European emergency phone number 112 to facilitate faster response by emergency services.
The independent test house CETECOM has now certified the eCall test solution from Rohde & Schwarz, which can be used to simulate a public-safety answering point, in accordance with the EN standard. This puts manufacturers and suppliers in a very good position for acceptance tests of their installed emergency call systems, and the Russian emergency call counterpart ERA-Glonass can also be tested with an extension.
The Rohde & Schwarz eCall test solution is the first of its kind to be certified by an independent test body, according to the company. CETECOM has examined the implementation of the eCall test public safety answering point (PSAP) in the Rohde & Schwarz solution for the pan-European emergency call system and certified it as compliant with the CEN EN 16454:2015 standard. This is a prerequisite for tests compliant with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/79.
CETECOM has been officially designated as a technical service for eCall by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority. After March 31, manufacturers must equip new vehicles for sale in the EU with an eCall module. The R&S CMW-KA094 test solution is the first independently certified test PSAP system based on a wireless communications test platform.
Rohde & Schwarz thus offers a compact solution for reproducible end-to-end functional tests and standard-compliant conformance tests of eCall and ERA-Glonass modules. The prescribed conformance tests can be performed with the test solution.
Manufacturers and suppliers use these tests to check whether the installed modem properly initiates an emergency call in the event of a motor vehicle accident, correctly acquires the relevant data and sends it via the mobile network, and is able to establish a voice connection to the PSAP.
Test houses and vehicle manufacturers use this solution for type approvals and for other tests requiring the emulation of mobile networks, such as location-independent testing of a car telephone.
The certification of an eCall test solution by an independent body demonstrates that Rohde & Schwarz is a reliable partner for the automobile industry — the majority of global OEMs use the R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester and rely on the field-proven Rohde & Schwarz test solution.
The company is also developing test features for the next-generation eCall over LTE system and making the corresponding solution fit for the future and for testing new vehicle telematics units.
Along with eCall, Rohde & Schwarz supports the automobile industry with test solutions for V2X communications (from a vehicle to other users).
The eCall test solution based on the R&S CMW500 platform in combination with the R&S SMBV100A GNSS simulator is the first to be certified by CETECOM. (Photo: Rohde & Schwarz)
Technical basis. The R&S CMW-KA094 application software specifically developed for eCall is based on the R&S CMW500 platform in combination with the R&S SMBV100A GNSS simulator.
The software simulates a PSAP and controls the R&S CMW500, which emulates a mobile network in the lab. It also controls the GNSS simulator, which provides the position data of the accident location.
The R&S SMBV100A additionally supports the GNSS receiver performance tests in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/79 Annex VI.
The eCall test solution can be fully automated with the R&S CMWrun sequencer software for further conformance tests, enabling users to directly utilize ready-made test sequences for eCall and ERA-Glonass modules compliant with ETSI TS 103 412, CEN EN 16454 or GOST 33467. This additionally facilitates demonstration of the functional capability of the overall system in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/79. For more information on how to test eCall and ERA-Glonass system modules, visit www.rohde-schwarz.com/ad/press/ecall-cetecom.
Harxon has launched the HX-DU2017D, a frequency-hopping OEM modem designed to provide strong anti-jamming and signal receiving capability for complex data-intensive applications.
HX-DU2017D is a miniature, dual-frequency, software-selectable 840 MHz and 900 MHz data link modem. It provides a power switching of 0.5 W, 1 W and 2 W, 20 ms/30 ms/40 ms/50 ms/ frequency hopping interval, and supports point-to-point, point-to-multipoint network.
Its full duplex mode ensures secure data transferring and stable long-range communication, the company said.
HX-DU2017D also provides short latency of data transmission and communication recovery in millisecond level.
According to Harxon, HX-DU2017D allows fast and secure, simultaneous data communication for mission-critical applications, especially in the fields of precision agriculture and UAVs, including unmanned plant surveys, UAV plant protection and automatic mowers.
It could easily be placed on a UAV with its extremely small footprint for tight OEM integration and design flexibility. Meanwhile, its frequency hopping transmission ensures the data security and flight stability.
Lear Corporation, a global supplier of automotive seating and electrical systems, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Israel-based EXO Technologies, a developer of GPS technology providing high-accuracy solutions for autonomous and connected vehicle applications.
EXO Technologies has operations in San Mateo, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
EXO Technologies has developed core technology that addresses the need for high-accuracy positioning in a vehicle. Its proprietary technology works with existing GPS receivers to provide centimeter-level accuracy anywhere on the globe without the need for terrestrial base-station networks.
EXO Technologies offers a software-based GPS approach — PICO pinpoint positioning software — that enhances GNSS receivers. By correcting satellite orbit error and clock error, it eliminates the inherent error sources within navigation messages. Its algorithms reduce complementary errors and construct a full positioning solution.
The integration of EXO’s technology with Lear’s vehicle and connectivity expertise will enable a superior vehicle positioning solution, the companies say.
“EXO has developed technology that is essential for the future of connected and autonomous vehicles,” said Nuri Golan, EXO co-founder and CEO. “We are extremely excited to join the Lear family where we will provide unparalleled solutions for vehicle-to-vehicle, autonomous driving and other applications.”
“Lear is a leader in automotive connectivity solutions including Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communications,” said Matt Simoncini, Lear’s president and chief executive officer. “The acquisition of EXO Technologies will provide Lear with a differentiated technology to significantly improve GPS accuracy and reliability, thereby enhancing vehicle safety and enabling autonomous driving.
“The combination of EXO Technologies with Lear’s existing resources further strengthens our connectivity capabilities,” Simoncini said. “We see excellent growth opportunities for our E-Systems business as the proliferation of connected and autonomous vehicles will drive increased demand for improved accuracy and reliability in vehicle positioning.”
Tersus GNSS Inc., a GNSS positioning solution provider, has introduced three new GNSS kits. The BX305, BX306 and BX316 HRS kits feature high-precision BX305, BX306 and BX316 GNSS RTK boards.
The HRS kits consist of RTK receivers, GNSS antennas, RS05R radio station modems, radio station antennas, and related cables and converters.
Tersus GNSS BX305-HRS kit.
Tersus GNSS BX306-HRS kit.
Tersus GNSS BX316-HRS kit.
Embedded in the receivers are the Tersus RTK boards. They are compact-design, energy-efficient, centimeter-level accurate GNSS real-time kinematic (RTK) boards, bringing high-precision positioning accuracy to the market, the company said.
Different from the standard BX305/306/316 GNSS kits, the new HRS versions are equipped with RS05R, lightweight and robust UHF, which is a rover radio solution for wireless application.
It provides reliable data communication for demanding conditions that require a combination of stability, high performance and long-range operation.
With complete components and accessories in the kits, they can be used in a variety of applications, such as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), surveying, mapping, precision agriculture, construction engineering and deformation monitoring.
“If timing is to become mission critical, redundant means of distributing timing information is essential,” according to NIST.
NIST hosted the “Time Distribution Alternatives for the Smart Grid Workshop” at its Gaithersburg, Maryland, campus on March 21. The information gained will inform future NIST, U.S. Department of Energy, national laboratories and private sector technical programs and strategic planning.
The workshop consisted of experts on both electrical power and wide-area time distribution. The experts came from industry, utilities, academia and government.
The findings cover desired future characteristics, targets, challenges and barriers to adoption of time distribution alternatives; and priority R&D areas for time distribution alternatives.
Potential alternatives to wide area distributed time synchronization include Enhanced WWVB (radio signal broadcasting), eLoran (hyperbolic radio navigation) and the IEEE Wide Area Precision Time Protocol (PTP – master slave clock synchronization).
Results of the workshop illustrate the need for alternatives to existing GPS timing systems as well as backup systems and many of the challenges that need to be addressed to develop and implement alternatives. Some of the overarching themes that emerged include the following:
While a number of potential alternative exist, they will require further infrastructure, research and concerted investment to implement and demonstrate their potential to replace, supplement, back up, or fill gaps in existing GPS systems.
Potential alternatives may need to be combined in ensembles to fill gaps, create the needed redundancies, and supplement GPS-based timing.
Future alternatives to GPS will need to have the same or better levels of accuracy, resilience, security, trustworthiness, and availability to supplant existing systems; a diversity of timing distribution systems may be needed (terrestrial, communication-based, wireless, etc.).
Dependency on space-based systems is currently strong due to their perceived reliability; there is limited awareness of the possible adverse impacts of timing failure events in such systems (and few backups exist).
Developing and using existing alternatives and new technologies, and integrating these with legacy systems will require standards and use cases to enable new technology, architectures, and interoperability among systems.
Better understanding of attack and failure threat modes is needed to estimate and demonstrate the true consequences of timing failures in systems based entirely on GPS.
Google has publicly released GNSS Analysis app v2.5.0.0 with advanced processing and analysis tools for raw GNSS measurements retrieved from Android devices. The primary intent of these tools is to enable device manufacturers to see in detail how well the GNSS receivers are working in each particular device design, and thus improve the design and GNSS performance in their devices. However, with the tools publicly available, there is also significant value to the research and app developer community.
The v2.5 release builds further on capabilities first announced and made available in 2016 in Android Nougat, when the application programming interfaces (APIs) were introduced, and then updated in May 2017. The latest iteration, announced December 1, now includes the following updates:
Smoothed pseudoranges.
Plots of positions from raw and smoothed pseudorange.
Plots of measurement errors for raw and smoothed pseudorange.
Saves raw and smoothed pseudoranges to derived data file.
Calculates and saves intersystem time biases to derived data file.
Full details, download links, user manual, and more are available at an Android developers’ blog post: GNSS Analysis Tools. The article also lists Android devices that support raw GNSS measurements. Android powers more than 2 billion devices, and Android phones are made by many different manufacturers.
In its basic and original form, the GNSS Analysis Tool is a desktop application that takes in raw the GNSS Measurements logged from the user’s Android device as input. The desktop application provides interactive plots, organized into three columns showing the behavior of the RF, clock, and measurements. The user can see the behavior of the GNSS receiver in great detail, including receiver clock offset and drift to the order of 1 nanosecond and 1 ppb and measurement errors on a satellite-by-satellite basis. This enables sophisticated analysis at a level that was previously almost inaccessible to anyone but the chip manufacturers themselves.
The tools support multi-constellation (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS) and multi-frequency. The image below shows the satellite locations for L1, L5, E1 and E5 signals tracked by a dual-frequency chip.
The tools provide an interactive control screen for manipulating the plots. The tools also provide automatic test reports of receivers, evaluating the API implementation, received signal, clock behavior, and measurement accuracy. In each case it will report PASS or FAIL based on the performance against known good benchmarks. This test report is primarily meant for the device manufacturers to use as they iterate on the design and implementation of a new device.
Frank van Diggelen, Android Location Lead at Google, gave a recent workshop presentation at the Royal Institute of Navigation’s International Navigation Conference (RIN INC) in Brighton, UK. Reportedly the topic of most interest to the conference audience was carrier phase from phones, which is available through the Accumulated Delta Range (ADR) field in the raw measurements. The table at the GNSS Tools page shows which phones support ADR. Apps are appearing on the apps store to take advantage of the raw measurements, and give enhanced accuracy through PPP and RTK.
In particular, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, has released two apps built on GNSS Raw Measurements: PPP WizLite, and RTCM Converter. The German company Geo++ Gmbh has a RINEX Logger.
Frank van Diggelen conducts Android location workshop at RININC.
The RIN INC workshop/demo showed how data collected earlier in the day on Brighton’s sea front could then be analyzed using the new release. Van Diggelen gave an example of how combined ionosphere and troposphere delays could be calculated using the GNSS Analysis tools release based on the raw data logged that day. A reference satellite was chosen and the tools enabled relative delays between that satellite, which was near zenith, and all other satellites in the constellation to be measured. Understanding this has real potential in improving the accuracy of single-frequency GNSS devices. The potential applications include jammer detection via AGC analysis, carrier-phase analysis and many others.
