GPS Acquisition Processor Parallel Correlator Architecture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional GPS receivers take excessively long to acquire GPS satellite signals at geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) altitudes due to the significantly weaker signal strength, with acquisition times ranging from hours to days, whereas at low Earth orbit (LEO) altitudes, it takes around 30 minutes, necessitating a more efficient method for rapid signal acquisition.
Innovation Solution
A GPS acquisition processor utilizing a faster-than-real-time multi-tap correlator architecture that simultaneously searches through the code-phase and Doppler domain for all satellites, effectively increasing the number of correlators from 12 to 32,768, and employing a time-domain flash correlator to reduce search time by increasing the clock rate and multiplexing multiple satellites, allowing for rapid detection of weak signals down to 20 dB-Hz side lobe levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional multi-channel receivers are used to acquire GPS satellite signals at GEO altitudes, then the receiver can detect signals, but the acquisition time extends to hours due to weak signal strength and limited correlators
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the code phase search into multiple segments and processes each segment in parallel using multiple correlators. This segmentation allows the receiver to divide the large search space into manageable portions that can be searched simultaneously, dramatically reducing acquisition time while maintaining the ability to detect weak GEO signals
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the traditional sequential two-dimensional search (code phase and Doppler) into a parallel processing architecture that searches both dimensions simultaneously across multiple correlators. This dimensional transformation from sequential to parallel processing reduces the effective search time from hours to minutes
2Productivity
If the number of correlators is increased to reduce acquisition time, then signal search speed improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple correlator functions into a segmented architecture where code phase segments are processed in parallel. By combining the search functionality across multiple segments and using efficient memory structures to store and retrieve segment data, the system achieves high search speed without requiring a proportional increase in total correlator count
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic segment assignment and processing where correlators can be dynamically allocated to different code phase segments based on current search needs. This dynamic approach allows the system to adaptively manage correlator resources, maintaining high search speed while optimizing the number of active correlators at any given time
Data Source
AI summary
A global positioning system (GPS) receiver that is configured to rapidly acquire GPS signals in space applications and a method for rapidly acquiring GPS signals in space applications is disclosed. In an embodiment, the GPS receiver includes, but is not limited to, a GPS signal acquisition component. The GPS signal acquisition component is adapted to acquire a GPS signal by receiving data from the GPS signal and processing the data to detect the GPS signal.