ION: Germany Readying GNSS for Galileo

September 27, 2007

There are three critical questions surrounding Europe's proposed GNSS system: if, when and who—as in who will pay for it.

But it seems as if both hardware and applications developers will have the tools they need to bring Galileo-based products to market if Europe comes up with the answers to those questions. That is, at least if German GNSS companies have anything to say about it.

GNSS industry players (namely, German companies involved in GNSS), having plenty of experience with GPS and GLONASS, are already bringing Galileo tools to market, as evidenced by some of the new products featured or being introduced here in Ft. Worth, Texas, this week as the 20th annual ION GNSS show.

Among those featured in the New Product Announcement presentation session today were:

EADS Astrium GNSS Signal Generator NSG-5100. A single-channel unit intended for receiver and chipset development and product testing, the NSG-5100 will support Galileo's L1, E5ab and E6 signals, as well as GPS, L1, L2 and L5 signals. It can also simulate both EGNOS and WAAS signals.
EADS Astrium BayNavTech. This isn't a product per se, but a facility: the BayNavTech Satellite Navigation Centre in Munich, Germany. It promises to offer performance verification and monitoring of satellite navigation signals, navigation systems and services, an analysis environment for the assessment of the performance and further development of satellite navigation systems, and development and verification of navigation signal generating and processing hard- and software, as well as application systems and services, according to EADS Astrium.
While BayNavTech will accommodate GPS, it has been tailored for—and will soon be—Galileo-ready, said Michael Kirchner, an engineer for navigation systems at EADS. The center will have a Galileo demo ready in early 2008.

IfEN Gmbh NavX-NCS Galileo/GPS RF navigation constellation simulator. First glimpsed at ION GNSS 2006 and formally introduced last June, IfEN's NavX-NCS was developed with WORK Microwave. It supports all of the civil GPS and Galileo signals in one box: E1/L1, L2, E5ab/L5, and E6 frequencies, according to its makers. The unit, which is shipping this month, can accommodate up to nine RF boards consisting of up to 12 channels per board, or a maximum of 108 channels per NavX-NCS chassis. It will also simulate SBAS signals, according to the company.

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