ION requests final comments on GNSS SDR Metadata Standard

The Institute of Navigation’s GNSS Software Defined Radio Metadata Standard working group is seeking its second and final public comment on the standard through Nov. 30.

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of software-defined radio (SDR) data-collection systems and
processing platforms designed for GNSS receiver applications or those that support GNSS bands.

For post-processing, correctly interpreting the GNSS SDR sampled datasets produced or consumed by these systems has historically been a cumbersome and error-prone process. This is because these systems necessarily produce datasets of various formats, the subtleties of which are often lost in translation when communicating between the producer and consumer of these datasets.

The GNSS SDR Metadata Standard standardizes the metadata associated with GNSS SDR sampled data files and the layout of the binary sample files.

The standard defines parameters and schema to express the contents of SDR sample data files. It is designed to promote the interoperability of GNSS SDR data-collection systems and processors. The metadata files are human readable and in XML format.

A compliant open-source C++ API for reading metadata and binary samples is also officially supported to promote ease of integration into existing SDR systems.

Comments can be made by going to sdr.ion.org and clicking on “Submit a Comment.” Public comments are being accepted through Nov. 30.