HIMALAYA

HIgh performance MAss market GNSS receiver muLti stAndard readY for mArket

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The activity is focused on the design and development of a 'ready-to-market' single chip GNSS mass market receiver for GPS, EGNOS and GALILEO signals. Based on the wide expertise of STM in building high performance, ultra low power consumption receivers for the mass market and on the large experience and involvement of the consortium partners in the different domains (mass market AGNSS leading role, aiding techniques, 3gpp, advanced antenna techniques, advanced GNSS algorithms, ...) a baseline has been discussed and defined, covering the principal signal of each satellite system. The starting phase of the activity will allow the partners to perform a trade off analysis, taking into consideration the market expectation as well as the impact the implementation of additional GNSS signals would have in terms of silicon structure, price and total size of the product. This will enable the design and development of the best adequate GNSS receiver to answer market expectations and customer needs. The final product will be ready for the implementation in ALL battery powered GNSS devices, particularly mobile phones, without any particular requirements in terms of power of the user terminal. The whole system will be completed by an application to demonstrate the receiver, inherited from former FP6 LBS projects. Some forward looking research aspects, such as for instance advanced antenna techniques, will bring to the GSA a global view of challenges the mass market receiver world will have to manage in the future. The presence of a known market survey company within the consortium will guarantee the market viability of the developed solution as well as the market awareness, dissemination and exploitation phase.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

EU-funded scientists are developing a multi-satellite global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver that will enhance the precision and accuracy of location-based services (LBS).

Descrizione progetto (Article)

A system-on-chip (SoC) GNSS receiver that makes use of multi-constellation signals, such as global positioning system (GPS), Galileo and European geostationary navigation overlay service (EGNOS), will turn the tide in the design of GNSS receivers.

Assisted-GNSS (A-GNSS) technologies enhance receiver performance for both network-connected and autonomous devices. A-GNSS server provides assistance data to the mobile device, shortening the wait to calculate the position of the user (low time-to-first-fix). It can also be hybridised with other positioning technologies, such as micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensors, thus improving radio navigation, especially in dense-urban areas or indoor locations.

The EU-funded 'High performance mass market GNSS receiver multi standard ready for market' (https://sites.google.com/site/himalayafp7/ (HIMALAYA)) project aims to develop a hybridised application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) GNSS receiver for easy integration into a mobile platform for LBS services. Focus is laid on providing an optimal assisted-GNSS solution that will deliver assistance data about multiple constellations (GPS, Galileo, EGNOS). This ASIC should also make use of complementary technologies (MEMS, Wi-Fi, antennae).

The consortium has already designed the server that will support the Secure User-Plane Location (SUPL) v2.0 protocol. The SUPL protocol is the standard network assistance method to support LBS for wireless communications. Furthermore, it has analysed the algorithms required to enhance the precision and accuracy of positioning in the urban environment. Preliminary antennae for mobile phones have also been designed that operate at different frequency bands and demonstrate acceptable radiation levels.

The scientific team has defined the type of LBS application that will be built for the demonstrator. They have also designed the architecture for the radio-frequency and baseband subsystems of the SoC GNSS receiver.

The final demonstration of the receiver remains to be unveiled. In this case, the hybridised ASIC will be integrated in a platform for mobile and personal applications. Moreover, a real application will demonstrate the usability of the solution and emphasise the added value of Galileo and EGNOS in real mass-market environments.