RF Frontend

Global Navigation Satellite Systems is being developed to provide the fundamental physical quantities of the absolute Position, Velocity and Time (PVT) information to the users. Nowadays the majority of navigation receivers are integrated into mass market products. Satellite-based navigation and positioning especially in mobile terminals will have an increasing influence on our daily lives in the future, especially for Location Based Services (LBS).

Through the new OS signals of Galileo, it is possible to build a multiple-standard and multiple frequency navigation receivers that do not require users to subscribe to a premium service and allowing higher accuracy and multipath performance, hence reducing the navigation errors. The GNSS receivers developed are to be compatible and operate in presence of the multiple cellular transceivers. Since the deployment of Galileo system will extend over multiple years, it is necessary to develop a dual-system GNSS receiver capable of receiving both the GPS and Galileo signals in order to allow full navigation capabilities even in early stages of Galileo development. As a result, mixed Galileo/GPS multi-frequency receivers, operating in the presence of the Wireless Communication Systems (WCS) are likely to become the product of choice for accurate positioning inside building or personal navigation in signal hostile environments.

The objective of this Work Package in the GREAT project is to study, design and develop a RF sub-system, able to operate with Galileo and GPS satellite signals in the presence of the major 2G/3G cellular signals or other assistance technology and to investigate the multiband approach covering different frequency bands. The key focus is on a highly integrated Radio Front-End suitable for use within the mobile phone environment for location based services, satisfying the basic requirements for a mass market receiver such as the low cost, low footprint, good accuracy, low power consumption and high sensitivity. The target is a Galileo E1/E5A and GPS L1/L5 Dual-System Dual Band GNSS Receiver.

The main tasks are to identify and design the circuits for RF sub-system and to develop and manufacture the selected RF architectures, test and validate the performance of radio sub systems under various test conditions or scenarios. The functionalities to be implemented in this work package can be summarised as:

• Operation in the L1-E1 and L5-E5a GNSS band
• Immunity to WCSs interferences
• Provide an analog IF signal to be compatible with the advanced baseband processing