International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 5
Number 2
June 2011
233
1 ASSUMPTIONS OF DESIGNED SYSTEM
The starting point is to build a ground-based system
which is mainly associated with the hyperbolic
localization systems. They are based on the
differential measurement method called Time
Differential of Arrival (TDOA). The first hyperbolic
system (Gee) appeared during Second World War. It
has evolved (DECCA, OMEGA), but the moment
satellite navigation appeared, they have practically
gone out of use. Up to now only LORAN C system
is still operational.
Our goal has been to create a system of
hyperbolic localization but made in modern
technology. The designed system uses spread
spectrum signals. The second element is an
asynchronous operation. The system resigns chain
relationship between stations. With this approach,
our system has gained new features and new
functionality compared to traditional solutions.
The first task is to determine the basic
parameters, i.e.: frequency, bandwidth, modulation,
etc. After careful consideration, the following
parameters has been set:
− spread spectrum signals (using DS-CDMA)
− reliance on a hyperbolic system (TDOA method)
− frequency: 431.5 MHz
− the width of the transmission channel – 1 MHz
− transmission speed of navigational information -
1 kb/s.
− modulation: QPSK
2 HYPERBOLIC SYSTEMS – TDOA METHOD
The TDOA method, as mentioned before, is based
on a calculation of the time difference between
stations. Suppose there are N ground stations, the
coordinates for the i-th station are
( )
,,
SiSii
yxS =
where i = 1, ..., N, and the search object's
coordinates are
( )
MM
yxM ,=
.
If you define a signal propagation time between
the i-th station and the searched position in the point
M as T
i
, so the distance between the i-th station and
the point M is as follow:
( ) ( )
,
22
MSiMSiii
yyxxcTd −+−=⋅=
(1)
where:
c - velocity of wave propagation (3 * 10
8
m / s)
Ground-based, Hyperbolic Radiolocation
System with Spread Spectrum Signal - AEGIR
S.J. Ambroziak, R.J. Katulski, J. Sadowski, W. Siwicki & J. Stefanski
Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
ABSTRACT: At present the most popular radiolocation system in the world is Global Positioning System
(GPS).As it is managed by the Department of Defence of the U.S.A., there is always the risk of the occasional
inaccuracies or deliberate insertion of errors, therefore this system can not be used by secret services or ar-
mies of countries other than the U.S.A. This situation has engender a need for development of an autono-
mous, ground-based radiolocation system, based on the hyperbolic system with spread spectrum signals. This
article describes the construction and operation of such a system technology demonstrator which was devel-
oped at the Technical University of Gdansk. It was named AEGIR (god of the ocean in Norse mythology).
This paper presents preliminary results and analysis of its effectiveness.
234
T
i
- the propagation delay between the i-th station
and the point M,
d
i
- distance between i-th station and the point M.
Timing differences between the i-th station and a
first one, can be written as:
T
i1
= T
i
– T
1
(2)
Differences in the distances between those
stations, can be described by the following
relationship:
(3)
After putting equation (1) in equation (3) we
obtain hyperbolic equation:
(4)
Equation 4 presents the difference in distance
between the first and i-th station.
Determination of the distance difference between
another pair of base stations generates more
hyperbolas and a point of their intersection gives us
a position. There are many algorithms [1-4], which
allow to determine the coordinates, however for the
purpose of the system the Chan method was chosen
[1].
The principle of TDOA method can be illustrated
as follows. Assume that we have three reference
stations positioned as in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Deployment of ground stations to illustrate the
method of TDOA
Propagation time from the station to your desired
position in the point M is respectively T
1
, T
2
and T
3
and the distance between them is d
1
, d
2
and d
3
. Each
station has coordinates as follows: S1=(x
S1
, y
S1
),
S2=(x
S2
, y
S2
) and S3=(x
S3
, y
S3
).
Determination of temporary differences between
the stations is illustrated in Figure 2. It has been
assumed that each station transmits at the same time
an impulse signal. Figure 2a shows the moment of
broadcasting signals by the station. Figure 2b shows
the time of receipt of the impulses at the point of
searched position.
Analyzing Figure 2 it can be observed that when
the impulses are transmitted at the same time from
each ground station, the time difference at the
receiver side is easily measured. Unfortunately, such
a synchronization is difficult to obtain.
For this reason, the system has been designed as
asynchronous one. This allows switching off and on
any station without resynchronization the system. In
order to implement this feature, it has been
necessary to create a reference station, which not
only transmits, but is also able to receive signals
from neighbouring stations. With this approach, the
reference station measures the time differences in
synchronization between the reference signal and its
neighbouring stations so the calculated time
differences are sent to the receiver. This mode of
operation is illustrated in Figure 3 [8].
Figure 2. Timing between signals broadcasted by ground
stations a) the moment of broadcasting impulses by the stations
b) the time of receipt of impulses by the receiver
As in the previous example, stations transmit a
reference signal as an impulse, but time of
broadcasting these impulses, as shown in Figure 3, is
random. The stations have the ability to "listen to”
neighbouring stations. This is illustrated in Figure
3b. Reference station designated as S1 receives
signal from other two stations: S2 and S3, and
235
calculates the time difference between its own and
these stations’ signals (nT
21
and nT
31
). These time
differences are then sent to the receiver. The receiver
(pictured in Figure 3c) sets its own time difference
between the received impulses from the reference
station (dT
21
and dT
31
). Additionally, each ground
station sends to the receiver its own coordinates
(respectively x
S1
, y
S1
- the coordinates of the first
station, x
S2
, y
S2
- coordinates of the second station
and x
S3
i y
S3
- coordinates of the third station), so
that the receiver calculates the propagation time
between the reference stations (T
S1S2
, T
S1S3
). Taking
into account all sent data, the receiver calculates a
real difference in propagation time between stations,
which present the following equation:
(5)
The time differences defined in this manner allow
to determine coordinates of searched object M using
one of the sets of algorithms [1-4].
Figure 3. Timing between signals broadcasted by base stations
in an asynchronous system, a) the moment of broadcasting
impulses by the stations b) the time of receipt of impulses by
S1 station c) the time of receipt of impulses by the receiver [8]
In case of reception from only three stations,
Chan’s algorithm will result in a set of two
coordinate values. Only one of them is correct and
the other one lies outside the presented area [7].
3 HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION
The system consists of a localizer/receiver and
ground/reference stations.
The block diagram of a receiver is presented in
Figure 4.
Figure 4. Block diagram of a receiver
The receiver has been made in the technology of
Software Defined Radio [5]. It consists of: an
antenna, a broadband receiver, an analog to digital
converter (in the form of data acquisition card) and
digital signal processor (in form of PC). This
approach allows to shape flexibly functionality of
the receiver. Hardware implementation of a receiver
is presented in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Hardware implementation of the receiver
236
Ground stations, as it was mentioned before, have
the ability to "listen to” neighbouring stations. It is
assumed that the system should consists only of such
stations (Master ones). However for demonstrable
purposes only one Master station is required.
Therefore two types of ground stations were created:
broadcasting stations (Slave type) and broadcasting
and listening ones (Master type).
The block diagram of a Slave station is shown in
Figure 6.
Figure 6. Block diagram of a Slave station
The main element of the station is a radio signal
generator, whose task is to broadcast modulated
signal with data that are generated by industrial
computer. Hardware implementation of a Slave
station is shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7. Hardware implementation of a Slave station
The block diagram of the last element of the
described system - Master station – is shown in
Figure 8.
Figure 8. Block diagram of a Master station
Master station is a combination of a receiver and a
Slave station. The task of the receiver is to listen to a
nearby station and to determine difference in
synchronization between reference signal and
signals from the neighbouring stations. Hardware
implementation of a Master station is shown in
Figure 9.
Figure 9. Hardware implementation of a Master station
237
As already mentioned, the system uses spread
spectrum signals. Broadcasted signals are called
Navigation Messages and they are divided into two
types. First type – called Basic Navigation Message
(BNM), contains information of geographic
coordinates of reference station, the height of the
suspension of the antenna, transmitter power, etc.
The second one – Additional Navigation Message
(ANM) – contains previously mentioned time
differences between stations.
4 TESTS AND RESULTS
The developed technology demonstrator was tested
twice in real conditions. The area of our tests was
the Bay of Gdansk. The first measurements were
carried out in April 2010. with the three ground
stations located: first - on top of the CTM building,
second – on the top of the lighthouse in Hel and
third – on the top of the lighthouse in New Port. The
receiver was placed on a small watercraft. Those
tests allowed us to find the underdeveloped parts of
the system and suggested new approaches.
Subsequent measurements were carried out six
months later, in October 2010. For the purpose of
these tests, the fourth reference station (Slave one)
was added; it was installed on the top of the building
of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications
and Informatics of Gdansk University of
Technology (positions of all four ground stations are
presented in Figure 10).
Figure 10. Deployment of four ground stations (arrows) and a path of GPS and GLONASS positions (doted line) and readings of
autonomous AEGIR system (dots)
238
During field tests a position from a satellite
navigation system was recorded with the use of
a Javad Alpha receiver, which enables simultaneous
reception from both American (GPS) and Russian
(GLONASS) systems.
The effects of our tests are illustrated by the
visualization shown in Figure 10, created with use of
Google Earth software. The dotted line represents
the path of positions received from the satellite
systems GPS/GLONASS, and the dots represent the
calculated positions of the ground-based system.
Analyzing the visualization shown in Figure 10 it
can be observed how accurate the route travelled by
the vessel was reconstructed by points calculated by
the autonomous localization system - AEGIR.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The presented results are the preliminary approach
to the analysis of a designed system. The first results
suggest that this solution can be very useful for
military purposes.
The presented system has been developed to be
very flexible. It allows to use more than three
ground-stations. Placing them in areas of known
positions, allows to create a grid, which will provide
an independent reading of coordinates from satellite
systems.
The presented system is fully asynchronous. In
case of damage or shutdown of one of the stations,
the system in a short time will be again fully
functional. The only condition is to receive signals
from at least three ground stations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The described research is funded by the Polish
Ministry of Science and Higher Education as a part
of research and development project No O R00 0049
06. The authors express their sincere thanks for
allocated funds for this purpose.
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