Limited Bandwidths and Correlation Ambiguities: Do They Co-Exist in Galileo Receivers

Abstract

Galileo is the Global Navigation Satellite System that Europe is building and it is planned to be operational in the next 3-5 years. Several Galileo signals use split-spectrum modulations, such as Composite Binary Offset Carrier (CBOC) modulation, which create correlation ambiguities when processed with large or infinite front-end bandwidths (i.e., in wideband receivers). The correlation ambiguities refer to the notches in the correlation shape (i.e., in the envelope of the correlation between incoming signal and reference modulated code) which happen within +/– 1 chip from the main peak. These correlation ambiguities affect adversely the detection probabilities in the code acquisition process and are usually dealt with by using some form of unambiguous processing (e.g., BPSK-like techniques, sideband processing, etc.). In some applications, such as mass-market applications, a narrowband Galileo receiver (i.e., with considerable front-end bandwidth limitation) is likely to be employed. The question addressed in this paper, which has not been answered before, is whether or not this bandwidth limitation can cope inherently with the ambiguities of the correlation function, to which extent, and which the best design options are in the acquisition process (e.g., in terms of time-bin step and ambiguity mitigation mechanisms).