GPS World, January 2013

ProfeSSional oem e neWSletter An Evolving SAASM Receiver Story Tony Murfin Whatever happed to Allen Osborne Associates AOA As a 1994 report seeking a receiver for a GPS Sounder task stated Signal to noise ratio tests of three high performance GPS receivers in severe multipath conditions clearly show the Alllen Osborne Associates TurboRogue SNR 8000 is superior in locking and tracking C A P1 and P2 codes at very low receiver to satellite elevation angles The advanced features of the TurboRogue may well have been key in AOA receivers being used for a large number of ground reference applications including Monitor Station Receivers for the U S Air Force GPS Operational Control Segment OCS AOA was acquired in 2004 and the GPS group now resides and thrives within the Communication Systems Division of ITT Exelis Corporation ITT Those AOA products and technology have contributed to the ITT military GPS receiver group becoming a leading SAASM receiver supplier Exelis also has a Geospatial Systems group home to the GPS Payload Receiver and Control Systems group currently developing the ground reference receiver as part of Raytheons team for the next generation GPS Operational Control Segment OCX Geospatial Systems has also been continuously involved in the supply of GPS payloads on every GPS satellite launched and has accumulated more than 500 years of on orbit payload life Geospatial Systems is also part of the Lockheed Martin team that is developing and building the satellite payloads for tomorrows GPS III space segment ITT is developing and integrating the navigation payloads for eight GPS IIIA satellites Today ITT boasts that it is the only GPS systems developer to have been a key contributor to all three GPS program segments space OCS and user with both legacy and modernized equipment The receiver guys in Van Nuys have fielded a series of SAASM based receivers over the years beginning with the EGR 1020 which has gone into a large number of Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems SINCGARS is a combat net radio currently used by U S and allied military forces adding position and GPS time sync to each radio terminal The handheld control display allows each radio operator to see the location in real time of all SINCGARS equipped friendly force groups providing active situational awareness on the battlefield The next generation EGR 2000 Small Serial Interface SSI SAASM receiver has been integrated into an in country GPS designed and manufactured system of a U S International Ally and can be found in terminals radios and handhelds This brings us to the current ITT receiver product known as the EGR 2500 Integration and miniaturization have reduced the EGR 2500 to half the size of the SSI receiver With the same capability to track through reduced signal levels and producing highprecision carrier phase and pseudorange its not surprising that the EGR 2500 has found new OEM applications Both Geodetics and Technology Advancement Group TAG have worked with ITT to integrate the EGR 2500 into their products to achieve centimeter level RTK positioning The ARMy SINCGARS has Exelis EGR 1020 inside EGR provides high quality variable rate observations at up to 10 Hz for up to 24 different satellite signals enabling Geodetics and TAG to offer antispoofing RTK performance With the addition of external inertial aiding the EGR can also maintain a high quality RTK solution under high dynamics But the SAASM receiver world is becoming even more competitive and ITT is developing yet another generation of receiver further improving power consumption and performance A pair of ARM 9 processors has been added along with circuitry that is softwarecontrolled to reduce power to blocks not being used so the next EGR will have reduced size weight and cost and is targeted to consume 500 milliwatts in low power mode The enhanced correlator array design will dramatically reduce time to first fix and with todays operational environment in mind an added front end filter reduces the effects of interference and jamming Excerpted Read more at gpsworld com category opinions Tony Murfins monthly Professional OEM newsletter is sponsored by Subscribe free at www gpsworld com subscribe CoPyriGht 2013 north CoaSt media llC All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means electronic or mechanical including by photocopy recording or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the publisher Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use or the internal or personal use of specific clients is granted by North Coast Media LLC for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center 222 Rosewood Dr Danvers MA 01923 phone 978 750 8400 fax 978 750 4470 Call for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U S Copyright Law PrivaCy notiCe North Coast Media LLC provides certain customer contact data such as customers names 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