Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
PCTEL, Inc., offers the Medallion GPS multi-band antenna platform, whichs covers the GPS L1 band (1575.42 MHz) as well as 806-960MHz 1710-2170MHz, and 2.3-2.6GHz
By Inside GNSS
LabSat from Racelogic Ltd. is an L1 GPS simulator with RF record and playback capabilities, ruggedized for use in the field to record all-in-view GPS satellite signals in a digital form that can then be replayed at a later date. Measuring 170 x 128 x 38 millimeters, LabSat comes with a carrying case, GPS magnetic aerial, and a 260GB Freecom external hard drive for recording data. The system can then reproduce the real world data — including such artifacts as multipath, ionospheric effects, and signal dropouts —on the bench.
By Inside GNSS
Septentrio offers the PolaRx3G GNSS receiver, featuring 66 hardware channels that can track all-in-view GPS and Galileo reception of the L1 and L5/E5a signals (including GIOVE-A, GIOVE-B). Additionally PolaRx3G can receive satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) channels and features an optional built-in memory card for data storage. The PolaRx3G has a user-selectable raw data output (code, carrier, SBAS navigation data) rate of up to 20 Hz and optional pulse-per-second PPS output (x = 1, 2, 5, 10).
By Inside GNSS
Trimble has introduced the postage stamp–sized Resolution SMT, a 12-channel parallel tracking, embeddable GPS receiver in a surface mount packaged designed to provide precise GPS or UTC time and synchronization for many static timing applications.
By Inside GNSS
CellGuide has introduced the RAMON, a 5.4 x 4.6 x 1.1–millimeter GPS module, containing the company’s ACLYS chip and an RF chain, which together with its associated host-based software, is targeted at mass-market device manufacturers. According to CellGuide, RAMON requires only three external passive components and input from the host’s TCXO for full GPS operation, both autonomously and in assisted-GPS (AGPS) mode with -160 dBm sensitivity. A power-management design reduces power consumption to less than 10 milliwatts in tracking mode and 20 microwatts in standby mode.
By Inside GNSS
OnPOZ offers the SubX 16-channel GPS box with built-in satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS — WAAS or EGNOS) capability providing two-meter (circular error probable) real-time positioning and sub-meter postprocessed accuracy (code and carrier phase). Measuring 4.7 x 2.6 x 1.6 inches (12.0 x 6.5 x 4.0 centimeters) and weighing 0.67 lb. (0.3 kilogram), the water resistant SubX operates with a 1-hertz update rate for up to 24 hours in low-power mode (GPS receiver and antenna) and 18 hours in high-power mode (GPS, antenna and Bluetooth) using a rechargeable lithium-ion 7.4-volt battery.
By Glen Gibbons
Maxtena offers its RadioMax M1575CQA GPS quadrifilar antenna. Its compact size and ground–plane independence is designed to simplify integration into handsets. The M1575CQA directly connects to an RF transceiver chip without baluns or matching networks. RadioMax technology reduces currents that are driven onto the ground plane, making the antenna more resistant to the effects of human exposure (for better performance in handsets). According to the company, RadioMax provides efficiency of 38 percent (total spherical) and gain of -1.3 dBic.
By Glen Gibbons
Hemisphere GPS offers the dual-frequency R220 GPS receiver, a 39-channel that offers real-time kinematic (RTK) operation with 12 channels of L1 C/A code, 12 channels of L1 P-code, and 12 channels of L2 P-code tracking. The other three channels can be used for tracking satellite-based augmentation systems including OmniSTAR’s commercial HP and XP differential correction services or three additional channels of L1 C/A-code tracking.
By Glen Gibbons
Quellan offers a GPS Noise Cancellation Starter Pack for its QHx220 RF noise canceller, an IC is incorporated into a handset to cancel electromagnetic interference (EMI) and improve signal integrity. Typical applications are a sensitive GPS receiver co-located with a GSM/CDMA transmitter or a GPS system corrupted by digital noise. The QHx220 reduces EMI by taking the sampled interference source as an input and filtering the sampled signal to emulate and subse¬quently remove the incurred interference on the received victim signal.
By Glen Gibbons
u-blox has released a new low-voltage GPS module — the NEO 5D. Operating at 1.8 volts, the module require 40 percent or more less power compared to its predecessors in the 50-channel u-blox 5 engine product line: 72 mw @ 1.8V in the “Eco” mode and 77 mW @ 1.8V in the “maximum performance” mode. The module comes in a 12x16x2.4-millimeter package and employs u-blox’s SuperSense acquisition and tracking technology with a reported reacquisition and tracking sensitivity down to –160 dBm. Cold-start acquisition sensitivity is -143 dBm with a time to first fix of 32 seconds.
By Glen Gibbons
OnPOZ Precision Positioning (a division of VGI Solutions) offers a new EZSurv GNSS Post-Processing version that offers full compatibility with GLONASS satellite signals. According to the company, EZSurv is compatible with most of the raw GNSS data formats on the market. The software computes high-accuracy geodetic results, enabling seamless data postprocessing among different brands of GNSS receivers using the following surveying modes: static, rapid static, stop and go, kinematic, semi-kinematic, and on-the-fly (OTF) for single and dual frequency receivers.
By Glen Gibbons
GPS Creations offers the GPS SIM14, an L1/L2 GPS constellation simulator available in either C/A code–only or C/A-code and P-code configurations, which can simulate up to 14 satellites simultaneously. The simulator can be integrated with a multi-function feature card (MFI/O) to provide extended capabilities such as IMU, automotive, and factory test & timing. An adjustable RF power output has a dynamic range of 66 dB.
By Glen Gibbons
Magellan has introduced its MB 500 OEM GNSS receiver board with GPS+GLONASS+SBAS dual-frequency, real-time kinematic (RTK) capability. Offering 75 channels, the receiver can track the following signals: GPS L1 C/A, L1/L2 P-code, L1/L2 full wavelength carrier; GLONASS L1 C/A, L2 P-code, L1/L2 full wavelength carrier; and satellite-based augmentation systems code & carrier (WAAS/EGNOS/MSAS).
By Glen Gibbons
