Low-Cost Global Positioning System (GPS) Oscillator

"Next generation high performance Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance, tracking and timing systems will need to be smaller lighter and less costly. The oven controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) is a key component in determing the performance of theGPS system. Conventional OCXO's suitable for precision GPS applications are large, require substantial amounts of power and are costly to manufacture. These limiting factors play a role in determining the overall size and cost of the GPS system. MTI hasdeveloped a very small and power efficient OCXO in our standard Model 220 which is currently manufactured in high volume. In Phase 1 we will focus on reducing the warm up time of the 220 and the amount of power required during the warm up mode. Our goalis to realize a warm-up time of <30 seconds while consuming 2 watts of power maximum. With some modification it is possible that MTI can offer a compact, power efficient, economical and specification compliant OCXO. MTI has been designing frequency control products for the commercial and military wireless industry since 1989. Our experience and engineering resources make us an excellent candidate to successfully perform the required research and development in PhaseI that will allow us to fabricate and test prototypes in Phase II. Phase I research will provide the initial design work needed to modify MTI's standard model 220 OCXO to meet power requirements and stability performance