Robustness Examination of Tracking Performance in the Presence of Ionospheric Scintillation Using Software GPS/SBAS Receiver

Ionospheric scintillation induces a rapid change in the amplitude and phase of radio wave signals. This is due to irregularities of electron density in the F-region of the ionosphere. It reduces the accuracy of both pseudorange and carrier phase measurements in GPS/satellite based Augmentation system (SBAS) receivers, and can cause loss of lock on the satellite signal. Scintillation is not as strong at mid-latitude regions such that positioning is not affected as much. Severe effects of scintillation occur mainly in a band approximately 20 degrees on either side of the magnetic equator and sometimes in the polar and auroral regions. Most scintillation occurs for a few hours after sunset during the peak years of the solar cycle. This paper focuses on estimation of the effects of ionospheric scintillation on GPS and SBAS signals using a software receiver. Software receivers have the advantage of flexibility over conventional receivers in examining performance. PC based receivers are especially effective in studying errors such as multipath and ionospheric scintillation. This is because it is possible to analyze IF signal data stored in host PC by the various processing algorithms. A L1 C/A software GPS receiver was developed consisting of a RF front-end module and a signal processing program on the PC. The RF front-end module consists of a down converter and a general purpose device for acquiring data. The signal processing program written in MATLAB implements signal acquisition, tracking, and pseudorange measurements. The receiver achieves standalone positioning with accuracy between 5 and 10 meters in 2drms. Typical phase locked loop (PLL) designs of GPS/SBAS receivers enable them to handle moderate amounts of scintillation. So the effects of ionospheric scintillation was estimated on the performance of GPS L1 C/A and SBAS receivers in terms of degradation of PLL accuracy considering the effect of various noise sources such as thermal noise jitter, ionospheric phase jitter and dynamic stress error.