GPS-GNSS-WAAS

Radio Navigation Aids Survey This chapter will survey existing operational radio navigation aids. It will examine both aids being decommissioned and aids starting to become operational. For the purposes of this survey, radionavigation aids can be classified in one of four categories: global navigational satellite systems (GNSS), low-frequency navigational aids (Loran-C), aeronautical-only navigational aids (NDBs, VOR/DME), and data augmentation systems that augment GNSS or Loran-C systems. Global Satellite Navigation Systems There are three global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) currently being deployed.1. The global positioning system (GPS) is operated by the US; it is fully deployed and being upgraded.2. The global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) is operated by Russia; it is fully deployed and being upgraded.3. The Galileo positioning system (Galileo) is operated by the EU and is currently undergoing testing; it is scheduled to become operational in 2012.The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has recognized the GPS and GLONASS (Russian GPS)as the two principal candidates for the Global Navigation Satellite System; it is not anticipated that any of the spectrum allocated to global satellite navigation systems will become available for other uses. Table 1 on the following page details key characteristics of the three global satellite navigation systems.

Low-Frequency Terrestrial Navigation Systems Long Range Navigation (LORAN) is a long-range low-frequency navigation system by which hyperbolic lines of position are determined by measuring the difference in the times of reception of synchronized pulse signals from two fixed transmitters [1]; the LORAN-C receiver differs from LORAN-A in that time difference measurements are increased in accuracy by utilizing phase comparison techniques in addition to relatively coarse matches of pulse envelopes of received signals .LORAN-C was originally developed to provide military users radio-navigation capability [2]. It was subsequently selected as the radio-navigation system for civil marine use in the US coastal areas and has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a supplemental system in the National Airspace System (NAS) for the en route and terminal phases of flight. It is also available for a precise frequency source to support precise timing applications. The Department of Defense (DoD) has determined that LORAN is no longer needed as a positioning, navigation, or timing aid for military users and the FAA has determined that sufficient alternative navigational aids exist in the event of a loss of GPS-based services; therefore, LORAN is not needed as a back-up navigation aid for aviation users. The government continues to operate the LORAN-C system in the short term while evaluating the longterm need for the system [2].In addition to the LORAN-C system used in the US and the EU, Russia and many former Soviet states use the Soviet-equivalent CHAYKA system. There are several enhanced versions of LORAN currently in development, including Enhanced Long Range Navigation (E-LORAN) in the US and EUROFIX in the EU. All the enhanced versions are backward compatible with LORAN-C and primarily aim to modulate the timing of data bits. Table 2 details the key characteristics of the primary LORAN systems.

Table 1: Specifications of Three Global Network Satellite Systems

Data Augmentation Systems The primary mode of GPS data augmentation in the United States is the Wide-Area Augmentation System(WAAS), specifications for which are given in Table 5. Table 6 provides specifications for GPS augmentationsystems currently in use by the European Union. Safetycritical GPS augmentation systems are presented inTable 7. Table 5: WAAS Specifications

Table 6: EU System Specifications