Simulators & Antennas
RF Multi-Constellation Simulators
Spirent
The NavLab is equipped with several versions of the Spirent RFCS including the last available on the market, GSS9000. The GSS9000 provides numerous benefits to all those working in high-end GNSS technology and application development, including comprehensive and feature-rich simulation and full control of all aspects of the GNSS operating environment, inherent repeatability and the ability to apply systematic errors and incidents that are impossible to realise using actual satellite signals. There are a number of GSS9000 in the NavLab ready to accomodate Galileo evolutions through software and hardware updates.
SIM3D (SPIRENT/OKTAL)
Sim3D is an innovative real-time system that enables the reproduction of an authentic multipath environment. The system combines a state-of-the-art GNSS simulator and an advanced GNSS propagation model. The propagation model relies on a 3D scene of the environment, which is used to generate the multipath and obscuration signature that strictly depends on the location of the receiver’s antenna whether static or dynamic.
Sim3D enables testing in fully customisable environments, ranging from deep urban to dense forest to highway. With a wide range of models available, and the ability to build and introduce your own including true-to-life buildings, cars, pedestrians, and trees, the level of detail is completely in your control.
Augmentation Systems: A-GNSS
Spirent's 8100 LTE system is the optimal solution for conformance and carrier acceptance testing of today’s LTE mobile devices and chipsets. It supports a wide range of application layer and modem layer test areas, and its flexible option-based design allows to add test capabilities as you need them, either in full rack-mount systems or more economical desktop platforms. The 8100 LTE Location Technology Solution is not limited to conducted-mode testing. For OTA (Over-The-Air) testing, it also offers seamless integration with the leading anechoic test chambers.
Ifen NCS Titan
Another RFCS available at the NavLab is the Ifen NCS Titan.
Features:
- Channels per Chassis: 32 – 256
- RF Outputs: 1-4
- Up to 16 frequencies with 16 channels each for all GNSS L-band and IRNSS S-band frequencies
- Embedded noise generator module
- Generation of Evil Waveforms for GPS and Galileo
Radiated Test Setup
The lab can support radiated tests for specific interference scenarios in cooperation with the CATR anechoic chamber of the Antenna & Sub-Millimeter Waves Section in RF Payloads and Technology Division, TEC-EFA. The test setup can accommodate advanced reception antennas, antenna array and simultaneous radiation of simulated GNSS signals and interference signals with different directions of arrival.
RF Record & Replay
The lab hosts a wide range of RF GNSS signals recorders and re-players. A R&R digitalises live signals in L-band (like GNSS, but also HD Radio, LTE, and WiFi ) and stores in digital format the recorded signal/s that can be replayed as many times as needed. The R&R capabilities in the lab can record signals to a maximum of 500MHz per channel than can be tuned on the central frequency of the signal of interest The R&R capabilities of the lab sets a new standard for RF application testing allowing the repeatibility of live signal tests. The Navigation Lab is also equiped with a NAS to store all the recordings.
Network Area Storage (NAS)
Spoofing Generation and Detection
The laboratory has a wide range of GNSS signal simulators capable of generating both the legitimate signals and different kind of interference signals, including jamming and spoofing. The RF signal can be generated using advanced signal generators, or low cost Software Defined Radio (SDR). It is also possible to mix spoofing signals with real signals received from rooftop antennas.
These capabilities allow to test the reaction of the GNSS receivers to attacks, and to generate datasets that can be post-processed by software-defined receiver, supporting the R&D of innovative algorithms for jamming/spoofing detection and mitigation.
Vehicular User
The navigation test vehicles are specialized vans fully equipped with state-of-the-art tech that allows engineer to characterize the satellites navigation performances in realistic user environments. Installed technologies cover from tactical grade intertial measurement system, high-end L-band antennas or customised receivers to mass-market evaluation devices or smartphones. These vehicles have been fully exploited in the frame of Galileo system verification activities since the early constellation phases. Tests have been performed in different environments and dynamic conditions, covering both pedestrian and mobile use cases. In addition to open-sky rural pedestrian and rural vehicle scenarios specified in the Galileo system requirements, also experimentation scenarios such as urban canyons in Rotterdam or Den Haag cities and sub-urban cases like Leiden or Haarlem have been considered.
Pedestrian User
One of the main test uses cases assessed in the ESTEC navigation facilities are the smartphones. Considering that phone users exploiting PNT solutions are mainly walkers, bikers or drivers, testing facilities need to support these type of dynamics. The test-bed that evaluates pedestrian navigation users consists of a backpack fully equipped with navigation technologies that includes a professional antenna and GNSS receiver collecting PNT related data a battery able to supply power in the Test-Bed and a platform to attach the different smartphone devices under test. This set-up is able to save robustly large amounts of data for multiple hours.
The test-bed will collect data for computing reference trajectories with a precise reference system software that later can be used for assessing the accuracy of a PNT solution computed using the data collected with the smartphones.
The picture below shows of the pedestrian test-bed system with five smartphones and a professional GNSS antenna.
Aerial User
A new customised drone has been delivered this week to add to the suite of platforms available for testing GNSS technologies and techniques as part of the Nav Lab at ESTEC (others include test vans, pedestrian and static platforms). It provides hosting capabilities for a significant payload of GNSS receivers, antennas, RF spectrum samplers and support equipment and will allow for the characterisation of their performance in unique user dynamics and environments related to the aeronautical applications of GNSS.
Antenna Farm
The Navigation lab is equipped with a large array of omnidirectional antennas, as well as a directional 3-m dish, which allows high gain signal reception for further analysis and post-processing. In addition the antenna pointing can be programmed by the user through a Matlab controller, in-house made, in order to be able to schedule satellite pointing and tracking in an unmanned fashion.
HGS (3m-dish)
A 3m dish HGA steerable from a PC using MATLAB routines or via a purpose built controller enabling GNSS signals to be observed above the noise floor.
