GSA releases 3rd GNSS User Technology Report

The full GNSS User Technology Report 2020 is available for download. (Cover: GSA)

News from the European GNSS Agency

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has released its latest GNSS User Technology Report, providing a comprehensive analysis of GNSS trends and developments.

With four GNSS available and more than 100 satellites in operation broadcasting multiple frequencies, the GNSS industry is shifting towards the wide adoption of multifrequency receivers across market segments to meet the diverging user needs of emerging applications.

The report includes contributions from leading GNSS receiver, chipset manufacturers and service providers, and serves as a valuable tool to support planning and decision-making with regards to developing, purchasing and using GNSS technology.

Published biennially since 2016, the User Technology Report has become a point of reference for the GNSS industry, research and policy-makers.

Rapid Evolution

‘’The GNSS industry is evolving at a rapid pace and is shaped by the dynamics of emerging applications and user needs as well as the upgrade of existing and new GNSS and Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS),” said Rodrigo da Costa, GSA executive director. “The industry has understood the potential of Galileo’s unique features.”

The third edition of the report begins with a chapter devoted to technology trends common to all segments: receiver design, position processing and signal processing. It also discusses protection measures against GNSS jamming and spoofing, such as authentication, including what 5G and other technologies and sensors can do, in combination with GNSS.

With multi-constellation now being the norm, the industry is moving towards the wide adoption of multi-frequency receivers even for usually power- and cost-constrained consumer solutions. The Galileo E5 is becoming the preferred frequency with about 20% of all receiver models in the market already using it.

The report is built around four macro segments defined on the basis of commonalities from a technology point of view:

• high volume
• safety- and liability-critical
• high-accuracy
• timing devices and solutions (a new-entry in this edition)

Each chapter starts with the macrosegment characteristics and receiver capabilities, depicts the industry landscape and typical receiver form factor, it then delves into the key current and future drivers and trends, and finishes with the added value of the EGNSS, Galileo and EGNOS, for the macrosegment at stake.

Space Data for Europe

This year editor’s special “Space Data for Europe” sheds light on the role that Copernicus and Galileo play within the European Space Programme in the data management and use, now and in the future. It also provides a vision of major transformations underway within our society and our economy and the benefits expected from this digital transformation, paving the way towards the European Data Strategy and Green Deal.

“Today, Galileo and EGNOS already provide increased capabilities which are being used across a broad range of applications, and are already igniting the next generation of location-based applications. In the future, new services — the Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS), Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) and Commercial Augmentation Service (CAS) — will raise the accuracy and reliability bar even higher, and dramatically enhance positioning, navigation and timing solutions for businesses and citizens.

By bringing insight and understanding into the evolutions of GNSS technology, we are creating opportunities for innovation,” concluded da Costa.

The full GNSS User Technology Report 2020 is available for download.