GPS SIGNAL STRUCTURE

IMASIG-1
 GPS SIGNAL PARAMETERS
PARAMETER C/A SIGNAL P SIGNAL
CODE CLOCK RATE - Rc 1.023 MCHIPS/SEC 10.23 MCHIPS/SEC
CODE LENGTH 1023 CHIPS (1 ms) ≈ 6 TRILLION CHIPS
(1 WEEK)
DATA RATE 50 BITS/SEC 50 BITS/SEC
TRANSMISSION L1 = 1575.42 MHz L1 = 1575.42 MHz
FREQUENCY = 1540 Rc = 154 Rc
L2 = 1227.6 MHz
= 120 Rc

DATA INCLUDES
• TELEMETRY
• SYNCHRONIZATION INFORMATION (PREAMBLE, TIME)
• SATELLITE CLOCK AND EPHEMERIS PARAMETERS
• ALMANACS
• IONOSPHERIC DELAY AND UTC TIME MODELS

IMASIG-2
 MATHEMATICAL SIGNAL REPRESENTATION

b g b
• sL1 ( t ) = AP( t ) D( t )cos 2 πf1t + φ01 + 2 AC(t ) D(t )sin 2 πf1t + φ 01 g
• sL2 ( t ) =
A
2
b
P( t ) D ( t ) cos 2 πf 2 t + φ 02 g
• A = L1 P SIGNAL AMPLITUDE

af af
• P t AND C t = ±1 P AND C/A CODE PRN SEQUENCES

• Da t f = ±1 MESSAGE DATA BIT SEQUENCE

• f1 AND f 2 = L1 AND L2 CARRIER FREQUENCIES

• φ 01 AND φ 02 = AMBIGUOUS L1 AND L2 CARRIER PHASES

IMASIG-3
 PRN CODES

af af a f
• Ci t = G1 t G2 t + nT
i c

• Pat f = X 1at f X 2 t + ai − 1fT

i p

- FOR SATELLITE i

- ni = INTEGER [1 TO 1023] ASSIGNED TO SATELLITE i FOR C/A CODE

- i TAKES ON INTEGER VALUES BETWEEN 1 AND 37 FOR P CODE

• Tc = C/A CODE CHIP WIDTH = 1/1.023×

× 106 SECONDS

• Tp = P CODE CHIP WIDTH = 1/10.23×

× 106 SECONDS

IMASIG-4
GPS SIGNAL WAVEFORM - L1 CHANNEL

IMASIG-5
 GPS SIGNAL RECEIVED POWER
L1 FREQUENCY (1575.42 MHz)

• C/A CODE: -160 dBW (10 −16 WATTS)*

• P CODE: -163 dBW (5 × 10 −17 WATTS)*

L2 FREQUENCY (1227.6 MHz)

• P CODE: -166 dBW (2.5 × 10−17 WATTS)*

ACTUAL LEVELS ARE 5-6 dB HIGHER

*INCLUDES 2 dB ATMOSPHERIC LOSS

IMASIG-6
RECEIVED GPS SIGNAL POWER

RECEIVED SIGNAL POWER - dBm

0 5 20 40 60 80 90
ELEVATION ANGLE - DEGREES

IMASIG-7
 PRN CODE SPECTRAL PROPERTIES

P CODE SPECTRAL DENSITY

• S spi af
f = Ppi Tc
a f
sin 2 πfTc
2 ,−∞ < f < ∞
a f
πfTc

- Tc = P CODE CHIP WIDTH

- Ppi = P CODE CARRIER POWER

- BANDLIMITED TO PROTECT RADIO ASTRONOMERS

-- PREVENTS A RECEIVER FROM ACHIEVING FULL CORRELATION

-- RESULTS IN CORRELATION LOSS DUE TO FILTERING

IMASIG-8
 PRN CODE SPECTRAL PROPERTIES (CONTINUED)

C/A CODE SPECTAL DENSITY

• SHORT 1 MILLISECOND REPEATING CODE

• LINE SPECTRUM WITH COMPONENTS c ji , j = −∞ to +∞ 1 kHz APART

j =+∞
• ∑c ji = Pci
j =−∞

- Pci = C/A CODE CARRIER POWER

• ENVELOPE OF LINE SPECTRUM

af
f = 1000 Pci Tc
a f
sin 2 πfTc
- S ci
a f
πfTc
2

IMASIG-9
GPS SIGNAL POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY

IMASIG-10
 PRN 2 C/A CODE SPECTRAL DENSITY
0

-10

-20 PRN 2 LINE SPECTRUM

C/A CODE SPECTRAL DENSITY - dBc/Hz

ENVELOPE
-30

-40

-50

-60

-70

-80

-90

-100

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
FREQUENCY OFFSET - kHz

IMASIG-11
C/A CODER WITH INITIAL G2 STATE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 G1(t)
G1 CODER

CODE SET TO
CLOCK ALL 1'S +
G1(t)G2(t+n iTc)

INITIALIZE

G2 STATE

INITIAL G2 STATE
• • • • • •
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 G2(t+niTc)

+
G2 CODER

IMASIG-12
TYPICAL P CODER IMPLEMENTATION
COUNT TO
RESET
403,199
RESET (ONE WEEK)

÷ 3750
4092 X1A EPOCHS FOR X1 Z
DECODE 2.5 kHz EPOCH COUNTER
Z-COUNT
X1 1.5 SEC EPOCHS

X1A
4092 CHIPS

15,345,000 CHIPS
+
X1B
4093 CHIPS
10.23 X1 CODE GENERATOR
MHz

COUNT 3750 + P(t) =

RESET EPOCHS X1(t)X2[t+(i-1)Tp]
PLUS 37
CHIPS

X2A

DELAY i
15,345,037 CHIPS CHIPS FOR
+ SATELLITE
i

X2B

X2 CODE GENERATOR

IMASIG-13