GPS News  
New Receiver Board Gets All The Right Signals

Illustration of a GPS-2F series satellite.
by Staff Writers
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Mar 14, 2007
UNSW researchers have developed the first Australian receiver that can pick up both the L1 and L2C GPS frequencies, as well as the signal from the first prototype Galileo satellite. "We are the first people in Australia to design hardware and software that will pick up the Galileo signal," explains Associate Professor Andrew Dempster, Director of Research in the School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems.

"In addition to that our board also allows us to pick up both the L1 and L2C GPS signals. Developing technology that picks up all three signals will enable researchers to make satellite navigation more accurate - rather than metre-level accuracy, this will mean centimetre-level accuracy should be available in inexpensive receivers."

The board has an analogue component, tuned to the "old" GPS L1 frequency, which was used to receive the Galileo signal. Extra circuitry allowed the same front end to receive the L2C frequency. What makes the receiver different is its use of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that can be reprogrammed to allow the board to process the L1, L2 and Galileo signals. It is this chip that makes the board so unique and effective.

"For us this is research infrastructure. This board is a platform on which we can conduct many kinds of satellite navigation research," Andrew explains.

The team have now started work on a version of the board that would have two front ends, enabling it to tune in to L1 and L2C at the same time. It will also have a USB port for data logging.

Among other applications, the research could lead to more efficient in-car GPS.

The board, the FPGA design and the on-board software have been made open source and are available on the Internet.

"We will sell the made up boards but if people want to make their own, well the information is there," Andrew says.

Related Links
University of New South Wales
GPS Applications, Technology and Suppliers
All about the technology of space and more
GPS Applications, Technology and Suppliers



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Glonass Cheaper To Build Than GPS Says Putin
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Mar 13, 2007
The global navigation system Glonass should be cheaper and of better quality than the GPS system, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday. "You know what attention I pay to Glonass, and I hope relevant attention will be paid to it," Putin told Cabinet members.







  • Germans Urged To Give Foreign Travel A Rest To Curb Global Warming
  • Raytheon Team Proposes Single International Standard In ADS-B Pursuit
  • NASA Signs Defense Department Agreement
  • Lockheed Martin And FAA Reach Significant Milestone In Transformation Of Flight Services

  • Toyota Anticipates Sharp Increase In Its Hybrid Sales
  • New Nanoscale Engineering Breakthrough Points To Hydrogen-Powered Vehicles
  • Geneva Show Hints At Green Fuel Jumble For Motorists
  • Students Enter Competition To Produce A Zero-Emissions Snowmobile

  • QinetiQ Completes Urgent Satellite Communications System Order For MOD Helicopters
  • Harris Gets Follow-On Production Contract For Military Tactical Communications System
  • US Army Developing Better Access To Intelligence Data Through Distributed Common Ground System
  • General Dynamics Completes Milestone In Design Of US Navy Mobile User Objective System

  • South Korea Wants To Buy Second-Hand Patriot Missiles From Germany
  • Sea-Based X-Band Radar Completes Fine Calibration Testing
  • US General To Reassure Ukraine On Missile Defence Shield
  • US Missile Defenses Performed Well In North Korea Crisis Claims Boeing

  • Plant Size Morphs Dramatically as Scientists Tinker with Outer Layer
  • Indefinite Donor Accord To Preserve World Rice Varieties
  • Up To One Million Fish Found Dead In Thai River
  • Weeding Out The Risk Of Pest Plants

  • Airmen Upgrading Giant Voice Systems In England
  • Indonesia Allots One Billion Dollars To Prevent Floods
  • Relief Flows Into Indonesia Quake Area As Death Toll Revised Down
  • Global Disaster Bill Declines In 2006 Says Swiss Re

  • Saab Space To Supply Antennas For New Generation Direct-To-Mobile Satellites
  • Virtual Reality For Virtual Eternity
  • Boeing Orbital Express to Demonstrate New On-Orbit Servicing Capability
  • Top 10 Materials Moments In History Announced

  • Novel Salamander Robot Crawls Its Way Up The Evolutionary Ladder
  • Look Ma, No Hands, No Humans
  • Learning From Mistakes Next Challenge For Japanese Humanoids
  • Superbots In Action

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement