Legacy GNSS Receiver Multi-System Support via Software Upgrade
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Solution Overview
Problem
Legacy GPS receivers face significant hardware modification challenges in supporting multiple navigation satellite systems due to differences in modulation formats and signal processing requirements, with no existing software-based solutions available for multi-GNSS functionality.
Innovation Solution
A software upgrade approach that utilizes a new/modified RF chip to enable legacy GPS receivers to process signals from different GNSS types, including GLONASS and other systems, without requiring a complete redesign of the navigation host chip, using a channel-specific mixer in hardware and a code correlator implemented in software to synchronize and process measurement data from multiple satellite systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If legacy GPS receivers use hardware correlator design to maintain navigation performance, then processing capability for single system is ensured, but ability to support multiple navigation satellite systems deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional hardware correlator design with a software-based signal processing approach. The RF front-end captures signals from multiple GNSS systems, and software algorithms perform the correlation and signal processing functions that were traditionally implemented in hardware. This substitution enables multi-system support without requiring complex hardware modifications, as the software can be updated to accommodate different modulation formats and signal structures of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and other systems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If legacy GPS receivers are modified to support multiple navigation satellite systems, then multi-GNSS functionality is achieved, but cost and complexity of hardware redesign increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal RF front-end design that can receive and process signals from multiple GNSS systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, etc.) using the same hardware infrastructure. The RF chip and antenna system are designed to be agnostic to the specific satellite system, capturing signals across the relevant frequency bands. This universal approach eliminates the need for separate hardware paths for each GNSS system, significantly reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining full multi-system functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in the software domain to adapt to different GNSS systems. Instead of changing hardware parameters, the system modifies software parameters such as carrier frequencies, code chip rates, modulation types, and signal processing algorithms to match the characteristics of each satellite system. This allows a single hardware platform to support multiple systems by simply loading appropriate software configurations, thereby avoiding costly hardware redesigns.
3Measurement precision
If different modulation formats (FDMA for GLONASS, CDMA for GPS) are processed by separate hardware paths, then signal processing accuracy is maintained, but device complexity and synchronization difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces separate hardware processing paths for different modulation formats with a unified software-based signal processing architecture. The RF front-end captures all signals, and software algorithms handle the diverse modulation formats (FDMA, CDMA, and others) through configurable processing chains. This substitution maintains signal processing accuracy by allowing detailed, format-specific processing in software while avoiding the complexity of multiple parallel hardware paths and their associated synchronization challenges.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for enabling a satellite-based navigation signal receiver to support multiple types of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). A legacy GNSS receiver can support a plurality of GNSS types by software upgrade and with a new/modified radio frequency (RF) chip. There is no need to completely redesign a navigation host chip to support the multiple GNSS types. This invention offers a cost-efficient multi-GNSS solution without sacrificing the navigation performance. A GNSS baseband controller controls synchronization of measurement time for digitized data along a first signal processing path for a legacy GNSS signal and a second signal processing path for a non-legacy GNSS signal.