Global position system (GPS) multiplexed receiver

• US 4,468,793 A
• Filed: 12/01/1980
• Issued: 08/28/1984
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Ward, Phillip W., Holmes, Jerry D., Lindley, Joe H., Fuchser, Troy D., Johnson, Charles R., Maher, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Griffin, Robert L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Watkins, Albert W.
• Application Number:
  US06/211,499
• Time in Patent Office: 1,366 Days
• Field of Search: 455/12, 455/13, 455/260, 455/66, 364/443, 364/459, 364/460, 364/448-452, 364/449, 343/112, 343/113 DE, 343/114, 343/114.5, 343/102, 343/106 D, 343/120, 343/108 M, 343/100 ST, 343/357, 343/418, 340/27 NA, 375/97
• US Class Current: 375/344
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/32 Multimode operation in a single same satellite system, e.g. GPS L1/L2

Abstract

A global positioning system comprises an RF receiver for receiving L₁, L₂ p-code or ca code modulated frequency outputs from one or more space vehicles, a multiplexer operably connected to the receiver multiplexes the L₁ and L₂ signals to the receiver, and code and carrier tracking loops operably connected to the receiver, each loop including a plurality of filters, one for tracking line-of-sight dynamics and another for determining ionosphere effects on the L₁ and/or L₂ signals.

Claims

1. A multiplexed receiver for a Global Position System or the like comprising a digitally implemented RF receiver including:

(a) a single RF receiver channel for receiving the L₁ and L₂ p code or ca code modulated frequency outputs of a plurality of RF transmitter space vehicles;

(b) switching means connected to the receiver channel for coherently switching and tracking the L₁ and L₂ frequencies of each space vehicle; and

(c) code tracking loops and carrier tracking loops operatively connected to the receiver channel, said receiver channel operative in response to the loops to generate I and Q baseband signals from each of the L₁ and L₂ frequencies, said code tracking loops and said carrier tracking loops each including a common predetection circuit connected to the receiver channel for analog-to-digital conversion of the I and Q signals, tracking filter means operative responsively to the I and Q signals for tracking vehicle dynamics as manifested in both code and carrier and for tracking L₁ and L₂ differentials as manifested in both code and carrier, and code and carrier digital oscillators, respectively, connected to the tracking filter means, said code tracking loop further including a code generating means, and said filter means including code tracking sum and difference filters and carrier tracking sum and difference filters said code and carrier digital oscillators, respectively, updated responsively to the said code tracking sum and difference filters and to said carrier tracking and sum difference filters and multiplexed between the L₁ and L₂ frequencies whereby the vehicle dynamics and ionosphere effect on the L₁ and L₂ frequencies is determined.

2. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 1 wherein the single RF receiver channel includes at least one RF amplifying stage for down converting the L₁ L₂ frequencies to a common IF signal.

3. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 2 wherein the RF amplifying stage further includes a digitally implemented automatic gain control for stabilizing the strength of the common IF signal output.

4. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 1 wherein the single RF receiver channel includes a Doppler mixer connected to the RF amplifying stage and carrier tracking loop for removing the Doppler frequency from the selected L₁ and L₂ common IF signals.

5. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 1 wherein the single RF receiver channel further includes a code stripping means connected to the RF amplifying stage and code tracking loop for stripping the code from the L₁, L₂ frequencies of the common IF signal.

6. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 5 wherein the code stripping means is a dual mixer having a power splitter connected to at least one amplifying down conversion stage for dividing the common IF signal, and first and second mixers connected to the power splitter and code generator means, said first mixer for mixing early and late phase code signals with the common IF signal to form a tau-dither code error signal and said second mixer for mixing a prompt phase code signal with the common IF signal for a carrier signal.

7. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 6 wherein the single RF receiver channel further includes an I and Q network connected to the dual mixer for receiving the carrier frequency of the selected L₁ L₂ frequency signals and producing Q_A, I_A, Q_B and I_B baseband signals.

8. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 7 further including a baseband predetection circuit connected to a circuit multiplexer, said circuit multiplixer connected to the I and Q network for multiplexing the and Q.sub.α

, I.sub.α

, Q.sub.β

, and I.sub.β

signals for analog to digital conversion of the said I and Q signals.

9. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 8 further including a circuit having a plurality of I, Q digital accumulators and a controller controlling the integrate and dump time of said digital accumulators said integrate and dump time being chosen with respect to SV data bit edges.

10. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 9 wherein the tracking filter means includes a carrier error generator and a code envelope detector connected to the I and Q digital accumulators for producing, respectively, carrier phase error and code error signals, and carrier and code loop filters connected, respectively, to the carrier error generator and code envelope detector for producing, respectively, carrier and code error words for transmittal to carrier and code digital oscillators, and clocking means for clocking the code and carrier error words at discrete update intervals that are concurrent with the baseband predetection sample data intervals.

11. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 10 further including a baseband processor having a hardware master accumulator connected to the carrier loop filter for receiving the frequency word, and the carrier digital oscillator includes a resolver connected to the hardware master accumulator for mixing the carrier difference frequency with a 2 f₁ reference frequency for producing an analog carrier Doppler frequency for mixing in the Doppler mixer of the single channel RF receiver.

12. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 11 wherein the basband processor further includes a code master accumulator and a code run up calculator connected to the code loop filter for receiving the frequency word of the code loop filter for updating the code error word, and a code digital oscillator including a resolver for mixing an offset frequency and 2 f₁ reference frequency with the code frequency word for producing an analog signal representative thereof, and a code generator means connected to the resolver of the code digital oscillator for code phase multiplexing, said code generator means including a code timer connected to the code digital oscillator'"'"'s resolver for receiving the analog signal thereof, a control clock connected to said code timer for selectively outputting an offset frequency to a code setter and code and carrier clocks;

a p-code generator, a code setter and a ca code generator, said p code generator connected to the code setter and code timer for feeding back code timing state words to the code setter for integer settings, said code digital oscillator further including an adder and a phase accumulator operatively connected to the code master accumulator and code runup calculator for determining the integer settings after fractional integer settings have accumulated to integer settings, said fractional integer settings resulting from a zero frequency word setting in the digital oscillators phase accumulator and adder to establish a code reference phase condition for the code setter and a frequency word setting in the digital oscillators phase accumulator and adder during a run up time to advance the integer code state in the code setter to the desired fractional code phase, and an input selector means connected to the p- code and carrier generators for selectively connecting the code outputs to the receiver channel for stripping the code from the selected common IF signals.

13. A multiplexed receiver according to claim 12 further including a coherent clocking system including a main oscillator connected to a plurality of edge aligned clocks, said main oscillator generating a preselected frequency for preselected carrier local oscillator synthesis, a multiply by two multiplier connected to the main oscillator for generating a frequency to f₁ for the carrier tracking loop and the code tracking loop digital oscillator resolvers;

a divide by 23 divider connected to the multiply by 2 multiplier for providing a 2 f₁ /23 frequency for an I and Q signal analog to digital conversion control;

a divide by 2 divider connected by the divide by 23 divider for providing a 2 f₁ /46 frequency to the carrier tracking loop and code tracking loop;

a divide by 278 divider for providing a 2 f₁ /12788 frequency for the multiplexer and a divide by 32 divider connected to the divide by 278 divider for providing a 2 f₁ /409216 fundamental time frame interrupt to a baseband processor.

14. A global positioning system comprising:

an RF receiver consisting of a single channel having operatively connected therein a multiplexing means for alternately selecting incoming L1 and L2 signals transmitted from space vehicles and a tracking circuit means for tracking vehicle dynamics and ionospheric delay effect on RF signals transmitted from a space vehicle.

15. A global positioning system comprising:

(a) a single channel RF receiver for receiving L₁, L₂ p- code or ca code modulated frequency outputs from a space vehicle;

(b) a multiplexer operably connected to the receiver for multiplexing L₁ and L₂ signals to the RF receiver; and

(c) code and carrier tracking loops, each loop including a plurality of filters one for tracking line of sight dynamics and another for determining ionosphere effects on the L₁ and L₂ signals.