New GNSS Signals Demodulation Performance in Urban Environments

Abstract

Satellite navigation signals demodulation performance is historically tested and compared in the Additive White Gaussian Noise propagation channel model which well simulates the signal reception in open areas. Nowadays, the majority of new applications targets dynamic users in urban environments; therefore the implementation of a simulation tool able to provide realistic 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 simulated with SiGMeP in the AWGN propagation channel model, in the Prieto propagation channel model (narrowband Land Mobile Satellite model in urban configuration) and in the DLR channel model (wideband Land Mobile Satellite model in urban configuration) are computed and compared one to the other. The demodulation performance for both LMS channel models is calculated using a new methodology better adapted to urban environments, and the impact of the received signal phase estimation residual errors has been taken into account (ideal estimation is compared with PLL tracking). Finally, a refined figure of merit used to represent GNSS signals demodulation performance in urban environment is proposed.