MINIATURIZED INTEGRATED GROUND PROCESSING SYSTEMS (GPS) AND INERTIAL NAVIGATION INSTRUMENTATION

OUR PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE TO INTEGRATING A GPS RECEIVER AND AN INERTIAL REFERENCE UNIT (IRU) WITHIN A COMMON MODULE. THIS COMMON MODULE WOULD BE USED TO PROVIDE ONBOARD POSITION AND VELOCITY TRACKING CAPABILITIES OF TEST VEHICLES. THE ONBOARD VELOCITY AND POSITION ESTIMATES ARE DOWNLINKED TO A GROUND STATION VIA AN S-BAND TELEMETRY LINK. THE PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE PROBLEMS AND ISSUES INVOLVED WITH ACHIEVING THE SYSTEM ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS IN THE PRESENCE OF SEVERE VEHICLE DYNAMICS AND SIGNAL OUTAGES. SOLUTIONS THAT WILL ENABLE THE ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS TO BE ACHIEVED ARE PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED. THE DESIGN OF THE S-BAND DOWNLINK IS CONSIDERED IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SEVERE SIGNAL FADES TYPICAL ON THIS TYPE OF CHANNEL. TWO FADE PROTECTION TECHNIQUES ARE DISCUSSED AND PRESENTED TO COMBAT THE EFFECTS OF THE S-BAND CHANNEL. INCLUDED WITHIN THE PROPOSAL ARE ENGINEERING DIAGRAMS, LINK BUDGETS, AND PERFORMANCE ESTIMATES TO EXPLAIN AND SUPPORT THE PROPOSED CONCEPTS. GPS BASED ACCURATE POSITION/VELOCITY TRACKING CAPABILITY FOR TEST RANGES. IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN THE PRESENCE OF COMMON LINK IMPAIRMENTS. RECEIVERS EQUIPMENT MAKES USE OF EXISTING S-BAND TELEMETRY EQUIPMENT AND OF THE SHELF MODEMS.