The main theme of the 2017 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit was ‘GNSS – is it time for backup?’ The GSA was present to help provide answers to this question and update the global GNSS community on progress and future trends in its programmes, including discussion on possible requirements for a second generation of Galileo satellites.

Following the opening plenary session on 14 March, the main meat of the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit took place on 15 and 16 March and included dedicated sessions on the Galileo Search and Rescue (SAR) service and the Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS).

Free and available virtually anywhere, GNSS timing and location signals have been incorporated into virtually every current technology. This ubiquity and ease of use means that any significant disruption to GNSS services caused by natural events, accidents, equipment malfunctions or malicious acts will have a major impact on our society. So it was timely that the Summit discussed what the options were for backup.

Opening the session Dana Goward, President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation in Washington, said that “the last thing we want is a loss of confidence in a primary utility like GNSS” but he saw the idea of backup as more than an insurance policy but also “a system that would complement, augment and ensure a robust architecture.”

Why backup?

Prof. Per Høeg of the Danish National Space Institute described some of the natural “space weather” phenomena that can disrupt or degrade GNSS signals. He thought that cooperative wireless positioning receivers were one option for backup.

But space weather is not the only issue. The European Commission (EC) described its plans to draft a European Radio Navigation Plan that aims to develop a comprehensive picture of existing EU navigation and timing infrastructure to help EU Member States decide on future infrastructure strategies. The EC representative believed that “GNSS would remain the core technology but that other technologies would be identified that could help fill gaps and serve as backup in challenging environments.” He also highlighted that GNSS, as the reference system for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions, must have its radio spectrum protected.

The International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) is very keen to establish GNSS backup as reliance on GNSS increases and there is a decline in ‘traditional’ navigation skills. Francis Zachariae of IALA said any backup must provide “Availability, accuracy, continuity, and integrity. Integrity is the most important factor.”

Guy Buesnel, a PNT Security Technologist from Spirent Communications also highlighted the threat to GNSS with examples of interference from a range of application areas. Recently the Pokemon Go game had accelerated innovation in spoofing as gaming enthusiasts attempted to simulate locations to capture rare Pokemon!

Further examples of GNSS jamming and spoofing equipment were shown by Tony Flavin of Chronos Technology Ltd. He thought that the new multi-constellation environment helped, but as all GNSS effectively use the same signal spectrum jamming was a big problem and any backup must use a different part of the spectrum.

The threats for applications in the timing domain were outlined by John Fischer of Spectracom Orolia. He said that any alternative to GNSS “must be ubiquitous, reliable and dependable, accurate and traceable to coordinated universal time (UTC).”

Harold Martin of the National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing in Washington, DC, agreed that it was time for backup and remarked that what was required was “A machine-to-machine seamless transition; a system that is complementary.” In the US enabling a backup was a long standing policy and he noted that both Russia and China have ground-based backup systems.

Gian-Gherardo Calini, Head of Market Development at the GSA concluded the presentations, arguing that each GNSS market segment required a different situation and therefore there was a need to “assess the user needs in each segment and identify the most appropriate technology mix for each.”

“Everyone wants reliable PNT services,” he continued. “Both existing critical applications, such as aviation and marine timing, and emerging applications, such as rail, road and unmanned autonomous vehicles.” To achieve this requires robust protection of the GNSS frequency spectrum through both interference monitoring and enforcement of the law. “GNSS is becoming intrinsically more robust,” he said, due to multi-constellation interoperability, better and stronger signals, and authentication at the system level and improved antennas and signal processing at the equipment level.

However, Calini agreed that “GNSS cannot be the sole means of PNT solutions” for our critical applications. He emphasised the importance of awareness and training and said that “GNSS must be complemented by alternative means including but not limited to alternative radio navigation systems.”

Galileo: the next gen

On 15 March Prof. Vidal Ashkenazi of Nottingham Scientific Ltd led a debate on Galileo beyond 2020 that attempted to sketch out the requirements for a second generation E-GNSS. Setting the scene, Prof Ashkenazi said that “By 2020 users with multi frequency receivers would have 100 or more GNSS satellites at their disposal.”

Miguel Manteiga Bautista from ESA thought that the design and selection of technologies of the next generation would benefit enormously from the range of user profiles now available. “For the first generation only a handful of user profiles were used in the design,” he said. Ubiquitous location for all was the goal. Cost was also a big issue, he thought. “Already there were eight cost models available to guide the second generation,” he stated.

“It is really important to listen to users,” agreed Richard Balden of Qinetiq Group plc. He thought it was very important that the first generation of Galileo delivers its core mission fantastically well and that Generation two builds on that. “From a user perspective continuity is key,” he said.

“The next generation system must do the same cheaper or add more,” stated Dr. Kristian Pauly, of Galileo satellite manufacturers, OHB System AG. “Route one is save money wherever you can, route two is add more services.”

The European Commission speaker examined the potential user base including emerging new applications such as autonomous vehicles. He thought that the ongoing market analysis of the GSA is very useful “to help understand the whole span of applications.” He noted that the earliest that any second generation satellite might be launched was 2023 and that cost would be a very important factor.

John Hanley of CGI considered that any new system needed to be more flexible and able to react to the needs of programmes and markets.

The final view was given by Miguel Romay Merino from Spanish firm GMV. He thought it was important to make the system simple and easier to evolve. In particular he looked to simplify the ground segment. Key success factors for the user included centimetre-level accuracy combined with improved levels of integrity and authentication.

Paul Flament of the European Commission updates the Munich Summit on the Galileo programme.

GNSS update

The summit’s main sessions had kicked off on the morning of 15 March with programme updates from all the worldwide global, regional and augmentation satellite navigation systems.

Paul Flament, from the European Commission had given the update on the status of Galileo and commenced by showing the audience his Galileo-enabled smartphone saying: “It is in my phone, it is working.” He emphasised that it was important for Europe to now reap the benefits of our investments in space systems saying “Galileo is there, use it!” He also underlined that the EU institutions would continue to support Galileo into the future.

Flament reported that Galileo Initial Services launched in December 2016 and were performing very well. He reminded the audience that Galileo was the first open service GNSS operating on multiple frequencies and looked forward to the formal launch of the Galileo Search and Rescue (SAR) service in early April. Two off-orbit Galileo satellites were already contributing to the SAR signal and were likely to be included in the Open service at some point due to their SAR performance.

The status of EGNOS was given by Jean-Marc Piéplu, GSA Head of EGNOS exploitation Department. He described the current configuration a new geostationary satellite coming into play and increased coverage through the system of 39 ranging and integrity monitoring stations (RIMS) sites. Further RIMS were being planned to extend coverage. Already some 327 EGNOS-enabled runway approach procedures had been published in Europe and a further 519 were planned by 2018. Looking to the future, he said that EGNOS V3 mission requirements had been established. The GEO-3 payload services contract had been signed with a launch date at the end of 2018 and he anticipated that system qualification would be achieved during 2022.

Summit participants also got updates on the American GPS, Chinese BeiDou, Japanese QZSS and Russian GLONASS programmes.
 

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