The Sun’s atmosphere and magnetosphere extend far beyond Neptune’s orbit, leaving Earth orbiting through a cloud of plasma that constantly interacts with our planet. In extreme conditions, space weather makes GPS reception less reliable and can impact industrial...
In the nearly three decades since America’s Global Positioning System became fully operational, three more GNSS constellations have entered service. Comprising dozens of satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) or higher, these constellations provide global positioning...
A vehicle’s design and its GNSS/INS implementation can have an influence on reception and navigation performance — especially in high-dynamic motion scenarios. Previously, we looked at the simulation implications for vehicles in flight as well as vessels at sea. In...
Getting accurate, repeatable results from GNSS simulations depends on faithfully reproducing the simulated vehicle’s motion. Last month we explored the variables impacting aircraft simulations. This month, we will look at how GPS reception depends on the design and...
Whether you are testing the integration of a navigation device or characterizing its performance envelope in the lab, the quality of your results depends on the fidelity of your GNSS simulations. Even the smallest inconsistency can send the simulated flight on a wrong...
Warming oceans are making the Arctic more navigable. This creates opportunities for shipping, fishing, and other industries. A warmer Arctic also becomes more strategically competitive. Over the past two years, every American military service has updated its Arctic...
GPS military codes ensure that America’s armed forces receive the most accurate and precise positioning information anywhere in the world at any time. Delivering that performance consistently and reliably requires extensive testing during receiver development,...
In the physical world, GPS signals and radio frequency (RF) interference are naturally coherent. In simulations, every effect at every instance of simulated time must be calculated separately. Synchronizing and combining these calculations to generate coherent GPS and...
Why Simulation Repeatability Matters Given the same initial conditions, GNSS/INS simulations of the same mission scenario should produce the same result every time. Different results indicate a problem with the receiver. Or do they? Poor simulation repeatability can...
Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and inertial navigation systems (INS) are naturally complementing positioning and navigation technologies, because each one compensates for the other’s deficiencies. Therefore, as demand for reliable positioning and...