INTEGRATED RECEIVER CONCEPT USING PROGRAMMABLE CHARGE COUPLED DEVICES

TO SUPPORT THE INCREASING ACCURACY, SPEED AND EFFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS OF THE ORBIT DETERMINATION PROCESS FOR FUTURE LOW EARTH ORBITING SPACECRAFT MISSIONS, A GROWING NEED FOR IMPROVED SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES IS BECOMING APPARENT. A PRINCIPAL NEED IS THE SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN PSEUDO-NOISE (PN) CODE ACQUISITION TIMES, RELATIVE TO THE TIMES ACHIEVABLE VIA CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES. THIS IS SIMULTANEOUSLY COUPLED WITH ADDITIONAL NEEDS FOR COST EFFECTIVE, MICROPROCESSOR BASED, AND FLEXIBLE SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES THAT PERMIT IMPROVEMENTS IN, AND THE INTEGRATION OF, OTHER KEY RECEIVER FUNCTIONS THAT SUPPORT ORBIT DETERMINATION. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A NEW, INTEGRATED RECEIVER THAT USES PROGRAMMABLE CHARGE COUPLED DEVICE (CCD)/PN MATCHED FILTERS (PNMF) FOR UNUSUALLY RAPID PN ACQUISITION TIME. THE DESIGN SHOULD REFLECT KEY SYSTEM PARAMETERS AND EXPLICITLY SHOW HOW THE CCD/PNMF MAY SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR THE OTHER PROCESSING FUNCTIONS OF SIGNIFICANCE. A PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT, VIA ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION, IS TO BE CONDUCTED TO DEMONSTRATE THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF INTEGRATING SUCH RECEIVER FUNCTIONS, THE POTENTIALLY DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS ACHIEVABLE VIA CCD/PNMF PROCESSING, AND OTHER SIGNAL PROCESSING BENEFITS NOT READILY ACHIEVABLE VIA CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES.