A low-cost real-time GPS/INS integrated system with hardware and software field re-configurability

A real-time GPS/INS integrated system based on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) platform has recently been developed at the Satellite Navigation and Positioning Laboratory, School of Surveying & Spatial Information Systems, University of New South Wales. Compared with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) approach, the FPGA approach can shorten the research and development cycle. Its reprogrammable hardware provides a system design methodology of lower risk and maximum flexibility, being able to integrate a wide range of GPS and INS sensor packages. Tests demonstrate the feasibility of this type of system on an FPGA platform. Functionality of the system has been tested including; the stability and accuracy of the time synchronisation mechanism, the performance of the hardware and software architecture, the workability and accuracy of the algorithm, and finally, the capability of the integrated system to bridge GPS outages.