Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

magicGNSS at the fifth International Colloquium on Scientific and Fundamental Aspects of the Galileo Programme

October 27th, 2015 by Guillermo Tobías

magicGNSS will be present at the fifth International Colloquium on Scientific and Fundamental Aspects of the Galileo Programme, presenting “MagicPPP in your Pocket: a Smart, Portable and Efficient Multi-GNSS High-accuracy Solution”.

magicPPP Android OS mobile application has been created with a very ambitious objective: to become the reference point for a new generation of GNSS applications and services. magicPPP has completed its portfolio of capabilities by adding two novel characteristics; single-frequency PPP processing and multi-GNSS constellations support. Hence, this new magicPPP version, together with an external receiver and a stream of accurate satellite products, provides an integrated PPP/RTK solution able to join in one single mobile application the algorithms needed by advance GNSS users, and also make available the GNSS high-accuracy technology to a new market segment that cannot afford the cost of acquiring multiple high-end multi-frequency receivers.

The single-frequency PPP data processing capability incorporated in magicPPP represents the cornerstone where a new GNSS concept will be sustained, Low Cost Precise Point Positioning. Supporting single-frequency receivers means extending magicPPP solution to a huge range of low cost devices, which can now navigate with decimeter-level accuracy. Our PPP algorithms have been enhanced to reduce the effect of the ionospheric delay, cope with different levels of measurements quality and work in harder environments.

The second novel point is the multi-GNSS support; it is a key evolution to improve the positioning solution at user level. The number of available satellites grows every year, and the possibility of processing all of them helps to improve the accuracy of the PPP solutions. In this sense, magicPPP has been upgraded to support all the available frequencies and services of GPS, GLONASS and Galileo, furthermore it has been designed to include new GNSS constellations as QZSS and Beidou with low development effort.

These advanced functionalities have been surrounded with a flexible and powerful android application focused on achieving the best user experience. Three key characteristics have been considered critical for the users, receiver management, session and singular points recording and compatibility with third party applications and data consuming.

PPP in your pocket is already here, watch it below!!!



Welcome Galileo-FOC FM4!

May 25th, 2015 by Guillermo Tobías

After its launch back on March 27 , Galileo-FOC FM4 (GSAT0204) started transmitting on May 21th at about 11:32 UTC, being tracked at that time by the International GNSS Service Multi-GNSS Experiment tracking station in Windhoek, Namibia with PRN E22 (http://gpsworld.com/newest-galileo-satellites-now-transmitting/).

As for the previous FOC satellites, a magicODTS scenario has been configured using MGEX station data for May 23rd and May 24th, and setting WTZR as reference station.

The obtained results are below. Satellite code-phase and carrier-phase residuals:

The following plot shows the Galileo-FOC FM4 apparent clock estimation w.r.t WTZR station:

Following you can find the GPS and Galileo clock stability:

From the above results it seems as the IOT for Galileo-FOC FM4 is running quite smoothly,  let’s hope Galileo-FOC FM3 starts transmitting soon too!

Congratulations to ESA and the Galileo project!!

Second FOC Galileo satellite already processed by magicGNSS!

March 20th, 2015 by Guillermo Tobías

As mentioned in a recent article by GPS World (http://gpsworld.com/galileo-6-signals-acquired/), “On March 17, some stations participating in the International GNSS Service Multi-GNSS Experiment acquired E1 and E5a signals from Galileo 6 (FOC-FM2, GSAT0202). The satellite is using pseudorandom noise code E14.”

Analysing the RINEX data collected by the MGEX network, it seems that at least one clock correction (between 2015/03/19 00:40:00 and 02:00:00 UTC ) has been applied to the on-board atomic clock.

A magicODTS scenario has been configured using MGEX stations and removing all data for E14 prior to that apparent clock correction. The obtained results are below.

Satellite code-phase and carrier-phase residuals:

E14 apparent clock estimation w.r.t WTZZ station:

Apparent satellite clock stability:

Not enough data has yet been collected (roughly 24 hours of data) in order to perform a consisteny analysis, but the initial estimation shows an apparent clock behaviour for FOC-2 satellite which is in line with the expected performances from the Galileo satellites.

These are great news for the Galileo project!!

 

Early processing of first Galileo FOC satellite by magicGNSS

December 1st, 2014 by Guillermo Tobías

As published by ESA back on November 10th (www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Galileo_satellite_set_for_new_orbit), Galileo satellite FM5 has been repositioned during the month of November into a more circular orbit, raising its perigee and reducing its eccentricity from an initial value of 0.23 to a target one of around 0.156 (as stated during last ION GNSS 2014 meeting by ESA).

Last Saturday, E18 satellite started transmitting (as advanced by @GNSS_news) and IGS’ MGEX network (http://igs.org/mgex/) is already tracking it. Based on the collected measurements during November 29th and 30th, and initial orbit and clock estimation for E18 has been performed by means of magicGNSS.

The 4 different clock intervals are shown below:

November 29th 06:15:00 to  November 29th 10:10:00:

After removing quadratic model adjustment:

November 30th 07:45:00 to  November 30th 12:25:00

After removing quadratic model adjustment:

November 30th 13:15:00 to  November 30th 19:25:00

After removing quadratic model adjustment:

November 30th 20:40:00 to  November 30th 23:55:00

After removing quadratic model adjustment:

We hope to better characterise E18 orbit over the next days as more data is available.

Broadcast of magicGNSS’ reference products in the Galileo CS signal

September 29th, 2014 by magicGNSS Team

During the test campaign of the EPOC (Early Proof-Of-Concept) in the frame of the AALECS (Authentic and Accurate Location Experimentation with the Commercial Service) project, magicGNSS reference products have been broadcast in the Galileo E6 signals.

Orbit and clock predictions have been generated 2-3 days in advance of each test by magicODTS using data gathered by the IGS MGEX network (http://igs.org/mgex/). This high-accuracy (HA) data is then sent to GMS and uploaded to the IOV satellites for broadcast during test slots (see figure below).

The E6-B signal has been tracked both with SCE (Spreading Code Encryption) enabled and disabled. During tests broadcast products are gathered and authenticated via TESLA-based NMA and/or SCE. Then, a high-precision data-authenticated PVT solution is computed by means of magicPPP.

The aim of the test campaign has been to evaluate the E6 data transmission performance, and prove that the system is capable of providing authentication and HA positioning/timing services. Several static and kinematic tests have been conducted from mid-July to late-September 2014. The figure below shows performance of a static PVT with SCE enabled: an RMS below 40 cm in the horizontal plane is achieved, including the convergence period.