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With the release of Android 7 (Nougat) in 2016, Google made GNSS raw measurements available to smartphone users, allowing them to improve their positioning accuracy. A tutorial at the IPIN 2018 indoor positioning and navigation conference in Nantes on 24 September explained how users can access raw measurements and examined how they are contributing to better location performance in mass market applications.

In August 2016 Google officially released its Android 7 (Nougat) operating system. With this release, Google made GNSS raw measurements available to users for the first time, giving them access to a range of advanced GNSS processing techniques that had previously been restricted to more professional GNSS receivers.

With these raw measurements, Android users are now able to calculate pseudoranges (the distance between the user’s receiver and the satellite) and position, velocity and time (PVT) on their own, using their Android device. ‘So what?’ you might ask. Well, the opportunity to use this information can deliver significant benefits in a number of areas.

Benefits for users

European GNSS Agency (GSA) Market Development Innovation Officer Martin Sunkevic highlighted some of these benefits at the IPIN 2018 tutorial. He said that, first of all, in the area of research and development, the measurements could be used to test hardware and software solutions for new algorithms, such as for modelling the ionosphere or troposphere. But the benefits to users do not stop there.

“Access to raw measurements also means that developers can now use advanced positioning techniques to create solutions that are currently only available in professional receivers,” Sunkevic said, adding that this increased accuracy is resulting in a technological push to develop new applications. As an example of an app providing high accuracy, he noted PPP WizzLite, which can achieve accuracy of 1-2 meters in motion, and sub-metre accuracy in static mode.

What’s more, access to raw measurements offers new ways to detect radio frequency interference and will make it possible to use the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) to verify data from the Galileo navigation message, which will soon help to increase the robustness of the signal.

In the area of testing, performance monitoring and education, the GSA innovation officer noted that the raw measurements could be used to compare solutions from individual constellations. Using applications such as GNSSLogger and RINEX ON, it is possible to test only satellites from the Galileo constellation, for example. A smartphone testing campaign conducted by the GSA showed that Galileo delivered impressive accuracy gains.

Toolkit

Moisés Navarro Gallardo, Navigation User Receiver Testing Engineer at Airbus, provided an example on how to use RTK positioning using raw measurements. Firstly, there is the raw measurement log file, which can be logged using, for instance, the GNSSLogger from Google. Once logged, the raw measurements can be converted, in post processing, into a standard format, such as RINEX. Other tools, like RINEX GEO++, convert the raw data into RINEX format in real time.

Next, it is necessary to have the ephemerides, which are the parameters needed to compute the satellite positions – these can be downloaded from the Internet, Navarro Gallardo said. The observations from a base station are also needed, which can also be downloaded from the Internet (IGS network) or received from local stations. Finally, an RTK tool is required, like the public RTKLIP tool. With these elements in place, the raw measurements can be used in the RTK PVT solution to allow users to mitigate common errors (between station and the user smartphone) and to achieve a more accurate position.

GSA Task Force

Around the same time as the Android 7 release, the GSA set up a Task Force to engage with navigation and positioning experts and boost innovation around this new feature. Sunkevic noted at the tutorial that one of the GSA’s core responsibilities is to develop the GNSS market and ensure that Galileo is used by as many people as possible.

He said that, with the Raw Measurements Task Force, the GSA aimed to valorise the main Galileo differentiators, including high accuracy and authentication, and to share knowledge and expertise on Android raw measurements and their wider use, including their potential for high accuracy positioning techniques.

One of the main outcomes of the Task Force, highlighted at the conference, is a White Paper with which the Task Force promotes the use of GNSS raw measurements in mass market applications and demonstrates their use to the GNSS community through practical examples.

Galileo App Competition

Promoting the use of raw measurements among the development community is also the aim of an upcoming Galileo App Competition, announced at the IPIN session by Galileo Service Performance Engineer Gaetano Galluzzo, from the European Space Agency’s research and technology centre (ESA-ESTEC).

Galuzzo said that the goal of the competition is to design an Android application capable of performing fixes using single- and dual-frequency raw measurements from GPS, Galileo and GPS + Galileo satellites. Run by ESA in collaboration with the GSA and the European Commission, with support from Google, the competition is open to all students from European universities and trainees in posts at European research and development organisations.

In his presentation at the conference, the ESA engineer highlighted some of the key ingredients needed for high accuracy apps in smartphones, including raw measurements, continuous carrier phase measurements, and dual frequency chips for fast convergence. He noted in particular that dual frequency measurements, along with chipset algorithmic enhancements, are enabling a significant reduction in positioning error, and that decimetre-level accuracy is possible even in devices with low-cost GNSS chipsets, which means that the advantages of Galileo can be enjoyed by people on all budgets.

The GSA recently launched an enhanced version of its popular UseGalileo.eu site, which tracks the many new Galileo-enabled devices and services coming onto the market. You can check the site to find out which chipsets, smartphones or wearables are Galileo-enabled.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

With the release of Android 7 (Nougat) in 2016, Google made GNSS raw measurements available to smartphone users, allowing them to improve their positioning accuracy. A tutorial at the IPIN 2018 indoor positioning and navigation conference in Nantes on 24 September explained how users can access raw measurements and examined how they are contributing to better location performance in mass market applications.

In August 2016 Google officially released its Android 7 (Nougat) operating system. With this release, Google made GNSS raw measurements available to users for the first time, giving them access to a range of advanced GNSS processing techniques that had previously been restricted to more professional GNSS receivers.

With these raw measurements, Android users are now able to calculate pseudoranges (the distance between the user’s receiver and the satellite) and position, velocity and time (PVT) on their own, using their Android device. ‘So what?’ you might ask. Well, the opportunity to use this information can deliver significant benefits in a number of areas.

Benefits for users

European GNSS Agency (GSA) Market Development Innovation Officer Martin Sunkevic highlighted some of these benefits at the IPIN 2018 tutorial. He said that, first of all, in the area of research and development, the measurements could be used to test hardware and software solutions for new algorithms, such as for modelling the ionosphere or troposphere. But the benefits to users do not stop there.

“Access to raw measurements also means that developers can now use advanced positioning techniques to create solutions that are currently only available in professional receivers,” Sunkevic said, adding that this increased accuracy is resulting in a technological push to develop new applications. As an example of an app providing high accuracy, he noted PPP WizzLite, which can achieve accuracy of 1-2 meters in motion, and sub-metre accuracy in static mode.

What’s more, access to raw measurements offers new ways to detect radio frequency interference and will make it possible to use the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) to verify data from the Galileo navigation message, which will soon help to increase the robustness of the signal.

In the area of testing, performance monitoring and education, the GSA innovation officer noted that the raw measurements could be used to compare solutions from individual constellations. Using applications such as GNSSLogger and RINEX ON, it is possible to test only satellites from the Galileo constellation, for example. A smartphone testing campaign conducted by the GSA showed that Galileo delivered impressive accuracy gains.

Toolkit

Moisés Navarro Gallardo, Navigation User Receiver Testing Engineer at Airbus, provided an example on how to use RTK positioning using raw measurements. Firstly, there is the raw measurement log file, which can be logged using, for instance, the GNSSLogger from Google. Once logged, the raw measurements can be converted, in post processing, into a standard format, such as RINEX. Other tools, like RINEX GEO++, convert the raw data into RINEX format in real time.

Next, it is necessary to have the ephemerides, which are the parameters needed to compute the satellite positions – these can be downloaded from the Internet, Navarro Gallardo said. The observations from a base station are also needed, which can also be downloaded from the Internet (IGS network) or received from local stations. Finally, an RTK tool is required, like the public RTKLIP tool. With these elements in place, the raw measurements can be used in the RTK PVT solution to allow users to mitigate common errors (between station and the user smartphone) and to achieve a more accurate position.

GSA Task Force

Around the same time as the Android 7 release, the GSA set up a Task Force to engage with navigation and positioning experts and boost innovation around this new feature. Sunkevic noted at the tutorial that one of the GSA’s core responsibilities is to develop the GNSS market and ensure that Galileo is used by as many people as possible.

He said that, with the Raw Measurements Task Force, the GSA aimed to valorise the main Galileo differentiators, including high accuracy and authentication, and to share knowledge and expertise on Android raw measurements and their wider use, including their potential for high accuracy positioning techniques.

One of the main outcomes of the Task Force, highlighted at the conference, is a White Paper with which the Task Force promotes the use of GNSS raw measurements in mass market applications and demonstrates their use to the GNSS community through practical examples.

Galileo App Competition

Promoting the use of raw measurements among the development community is also the aim of an upcoming Galileo App Competition, announced at the IPIN session by Galileo Service Performance Engineer Gaetano Galluzzo, from the European Space Agency’s research and technology centre (ESA-ESTEC).

Galuzzo said that the goal of the competition is to design an Android application capable of performing fixes using single- and dual-frequency raw measurements from GPS, Galileo and GPS + Galileo satellites. Run by ESA in collaboration with the GSA and the European Commission, with support from Google, the competition is open to all students from European universities and trainees in posts at European research and development organisations.

In his presentation at the conference, the ESA engineer highlighted some of the key ingredients needed for high accuracy apps in smartphones, including raw measurements, continuous carrier phase measurements, and dual frequency chips for fast convergence. He noted in particular that dual frequency measurements, along with chipset algorithmic enhancements, are enabling a significant reduction in positioning error, and that decimetre-level accuracy is possible even in devices with low-cost GNSS chipsets, which means that the advantages of Galileo can be enjoyed by people on all budgets.

The GSA recently launched an enhanced version of its popular UseGalileo.eu site, which tracks the many new Galileo-enabled devices and services coming onto the market. You can check the site to find out which chipsets, smartphones or wearables are Galileo-enabled.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The new EGNOS Safety-of-Life Service Definition Document, published by the European GNSS Agency (GSA), highlights the service’s extended coverage area. 

The GSA has published an updated EGNOS Safety-of-Life (SoL) Service Definition Document (SDD), which is now available to EGNOS users. A highlight of the new SDD is the significant extension to the declared service area that has been achieved since the last update in 2016. Overall, the service area has increased by 25%, with a substantial increase in coverage over Norway, Sweden and Finland and a slight increase over central Romania and north-east Bulgaria. 

Improved availability of LPV-200

This extension in coverage equates to an important improvement in LPV-200 (Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance) availability. First declared in 2015, LPV-200 delivers accurate information on an aircraft’s approach to a runway with the use of GNSS positioning technology. The result is lateral and angular vertical guidance without the need for visual contact with the ground until an aircraft is 200 feet above the runway.  Today there are 150 LPV-200 procedures published across Europe and 434 instrumental runway ends with published LPV/LPV-200 procedures, representing 35% of all European instrumental runway ends. 

Additional clarifications and updates

The updated SDD clarifies use for non-EU and non-ATS cases, showing that it’s not only ANSPs that can benefit from EGNOS, but also aerodrome and rotocrafts operators. In addition, the SDD describes the characteristics and conditions of access to the EGNOS SoL service, along with providing information about the EGNOS system architecture, Single-in-Space (SIS) characteristic, service performance achieved, and EGNOS user interfaces.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The new EGNOS Safety-of-Life Service Definition Document, published by the European GNSS Agency (GSA), highlights the service’s extended coverage area. 

The GSA has published an updated EGNOS Safety-of-Life (SoL) Service Definition Document (SDD), which is now available to EGNOS users. A highlight of the new SDD is the significant extension to the declared service area that has been achieved since the last update in 2016. Overall, the service area has increased by 25%, with a substantial increase in coverage over Norway, Sweden and Finland and a slight increase over central Romania and north-east Bulgaria. 

Improved availability of LPV-200

This extension in coverage equates to an important improvement in LPV-200 (Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance) availability. First declared in 2015, LPV-200 delivers accurate information on an aircraft’s approach to a runway with the use of GNSS positioning technology. The result is lateral and angular vertical guidance without the need for visual contact with the ground until an aircraft is 200 feet above the runway.  Today there are 150 LPV-200 procedures published across Europe and 434 instrumental runway ends with published LPV/LPV-200 procedures, representing 35% of all European instrumental runway ends. 

Additional clarifications and updates

The updated SDD clarifies use for non-EU and non-ATS cases, showing that it’s not only ANSPs that can benefit from EGNOS, but also aerodrome and rotocrafts operators. In addition, the SDD describes the characteristics and conditions of access to the EGNOS SoL service, along with providing information about the EGNOS system architecture, Single-in-Space (SIS) characteristic, service performance achieved, and EGNOS user interfaces.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is pleased to announce that registration for European Space Week 2018 is now open. Register today, and don’t miss out on this opportunity to shape the discussion at the number one European Union space event connecting business, policy-makers, international experts, space-powered businesses and application user communities.

Space is coming to Marseille on 3-6 December 2018, in the beautiful Pharo Palace. Kicking off with the 2nd European GNSS User Consultation Platform and the 5th European Space Solutions Conference, presenting the latest space-powered answers to today’s business challenges, European Space Week 2018 will examine how Europe is using space to tackle challenges in such diverse areas as sustainable development, mobility, defence, economic development and the environment.

At the European Space Week plenary session, participants will learn more about the state of the art of Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus, with input from keynote speakers and high-level officials, including Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska, GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides, French Space Agency (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall and many more.

Parallel sessions dedicated to Smart Cities, Sustainable Land Management, Interconnectivity, Marine and Maritime, Infrastructure Management, Security and Defence will examine how European businesses, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized companies can harness the power of space technology to build the innovative applications and services needed in these areas.

European Space Week 2018 will be an opportunity to learn about the current status of the EU space programmes and to connect with more than 1,500 attendees from across Europe and beyond.

Follow this link to register for European Space Week 2018 and help shape the discussion about how the European space programmes Galileo, Copernicus and EGNOS can be harnessed to benefit Europe’s businesses and citizens.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is pleased to announce that registration for European Space Week 2018 is now open. Register today, and don’t miss out on this opportunity to shape the discussion at the number one European Union space event connecting business, policy-makers, international experts, space-powered businesses and application user communities.

Space is coming to Marseille on 3-6 December 2018, in the beautiful Pharo Palace. Kicking off with the 2nd European GNSS User Consultation Platform and the 5th European Space Solutions Conference, presenting the latest space-powered answers to today’s business challenges, European Space Week 2018 will examine how Europe is using space to tackle challenges in such diverse areas as sustainable development, mobility, defence, economic development and the environment.

At the European Space Week plenary session, participants will learn more about the state of the art of Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus, with input from keynote speakers and high-level officials, including Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska, GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides, French Space Agency (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall and many more.

Parallel sessions dedicated to Smart Cities, Sustainable Land Management, Interconnectivity, Marine and Maritime, Infrastructure Management, Security and Defence will examine how European businesses, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized companies can harness the power of space technology to build the innovative applications and services needed in these areas.

European Space Week 2018 will be an opportunity to learn about the current status of the EU space programmes and to connect with more than 1,500 attendees from across Europe and beyond.

Follow this link to register for European Space Week 2018 and help shape the discussion about how the European space programmes Galileo, Copernicus and EGNOS can be harnessed to benefit Europe’s businesses and citizens.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

Ionospheric effects can be a major source of disruption to GNSS signals, so it is important to be able to predict and compensate for these disturbances. With this in mind, the European Commission-funded Galileo Ionosphere Prediction Service (IPS) monitors ionospheric activity and informs GNSS users in good time of an upcoming event that could disrupt GNSS signals and applications.

The IPS monitors and forecasts solar and ionospheric activity and predicts its effect on GNSS signals and on the final performance of user applications. The Service makes it possible to anticipate any degradation of performance, allowing operators to put in place mitigation measures in good time.

The IPS predictions are delivered for ionosphere-related parameters and GNSS performance at both the European and global level. Delivered in three time scales (nowcast, 30 minutes and 24 hours ahead), the alerts are sent to registered users when the IPS predictions exceed thresholds that have been-pre-defined by the user.

User benefits

The IPS will benefit all users of GNSS signals whose operations can be seriously disrupted by insufficient GNSS performance, in particular the aviation industry, where GNSS performance is important for safety. Also in the aviation sector, the IPS will contribute to ongoing International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) developments in the framework of the Near Real-time Space Weather Information service provision.

The ICAO and other institutional initiatives in the field of operational space weather can reuse the IPS prediction products, compare them with their own predictions, or feed the additional observation and prediction data into their own algorithms to improve the reliability of the forecast. Other users that stand to benefit include electricity and energy grids and professional users such as construction and civil engineering businesses that require stable precise positioning accuracy for their operations.

Fully automated

The IPS concept is based on three pillars – the sensors that take the measurements, a processing facility to generate forecasts and a web-based user interface. The prototype is fully automated and the platform is configurable - only products selected by the user are displayed on the user page.

To access the portal, click here.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).