GNSS Signal Demodulation Performance in Urban Environments

Satellite navigation signals demodulation performance is historically tested and compared in the Additive White Gaussian Noise propagation channel model which well simulates open areas. Nowadays, the majority of new applications targets dynamic users in urban environments; therefore the implementation of a simulation tool able to provide realistically GNSS signal demodulation performance in obstructed propagation channels has become mandatory. This paper presents the simulator SiGMeP (Simulator for GNSS Message Performance) which is wanted to provide demodulation performance of any GNSS signals in urban environment, as faithfully of reality as possible. The demodulation performance of GPS L1C/A, GPS L2C, GPS L1C and Galileo E1 OS signals simulated with SiGMeP in the AWGN channel model configuration is firstly showed. Then, the demodulation performance of GPS L1C simulated with SiGMeP in urban environments is presented using the Prieto channel model with two signal carrier phase estimation configurations: perfect signal carrier phase estimation and PLL tracking. Keywords— GNSS; demodulation performance; Clock and Ephemeris Data; channel model; Land Mobile Satellite; statistical propagation model; narrowband propagation; urban