Extend Operational Use of Global Positioning System (GPS) User Equipment (UE) via Operational Techniques and Enhanced Energy Devices

Current generation military GPS User Equipment use significantly more power than a commercial GPS unit. There is a desire to develop operational techniques and lower power devices to increase operational use of hand-held military GPS devices. A lower power alternative to continuously running a SAASM receiver is to use a hybrid solution where the SAASM is only periodically turned on and used to update an alternative navigation system which is running continuously. We propose to develop a Hybrid solution under this SBIR that extends the operational use of military hand-held GPS receivers by periodically shutting off the SAASM functions and using a low-power dead reckoning solution between SAASM fixes. This Hybrid solution architecture is based on commercial components integrated with existing SAASM modules which can result in a low power, handheld solution which maintains the anti-jam and anti-spoof protection provided by military GPS User Equipment. Under this contract we shall document the proposed Hybrid system design and simulate the expected performance under representative operating conditions. A design for a Phase II test-bed will be included in the final report with a test plan to demonstrate the anti-spoof and anti-jam and intelligent power saving features under the Phase II project. BENEFIT: The current battery lifetime on military GPS handheld receivers is significantly higher than that of commercial GPS receivers. For this reason, many operational military users are using C/A code commercial GPS receivers rather than the approved SAASM user equipment in theater. This places them at risk of spoofing which could have disastrous effect on military operations. The proposed solution will provide a low power handheld solution with commercial GPS features while allowing military users to maintain the anti-spoof protection that is provided through the SAASM user equipment.