ptf 3207A Multi GNSS Receiver Now has Galileo Option

Application Note – 48

ptf 3207A Multi GNSS Receiver Now has Galileo Option

Introduction

Since the early 1990s, Navigation and precision timing has been possible through the use of receivers used to capture the satellite signals transmitted by the GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system.

Use of the satellites to “discipline” a local oscillator enabled precise timing references to be developed, that could deliver the accuracy of atomic clocks, at a fraction of the price.

International uptake of these systems for critical infrastructure projects however was quite limited, primarily due to suspicion that access to the US Air Force controlled system could be denied resulting in malfunction of such critical areas as communications, power distribution and many other key infrastructure services. Even the existence of the Russian Glonass system did little to offset the concern of service continuity.

With the introduction of additional international systems, these concerns are now substantially laid to rest. Within the past few years, several systems have come online and are now beginning to offer the same level of utility available in GPS.  Collectively these systems are now referred to as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) . The main ones are;

GPS         USA – Operated and controlled by the US Airforce

Glonass  Russia – Operated and controlled by the Russian Federal Space Agency

Galileo    Europe – Created by the European Union and Operated by the European GNSS Agency

QZSS       Japan – A 4 satellite constellation Operated and Controlled by the Japanese Government to enhance precision of satellite services in the Asia Oceana region.

Beidou    China – Operated and controlled by the Chinese Government, the constellation is currently still being supplemented with additional satellites

Multi Constellation Capabilities

ptf has offered highly accurate and stable time and frequency references based on the GPS satellite system for nearly 20 years. In 2015 ptf introduced the ptf 3207A as a new generation and the first ptf multi GNS receiver, at the time designed for GPS and Glonass constellations.

The design was implemented in such a way that future constellations could be integrated as they came online, and the latest implementation includes:

GPS

Glonass

Galileo

QZSS

In addition, the system has the capability to receive signals from the SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation Satellite) systems such as WAAS (in the USA) and EGNOS (in Europe). These SBAS systems were originally introduced to provide additional robustness to enable the satellite based system to be used for aircraft navigation.

Finally the latest version of the ptf 3207A includes anti jamming and anti spoofing capabilities. The system is designed to reject jamming and spoofing signals and provide alarms when such signals are present.

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