Locus Lock collaborates with Xona Space System to develop GNSS receiver

Photo: Locus Lock

Locus Lock has partnered with Xona Space Systems to develop a GNSS receiver that uses Xona’s multi-frequency PULSAR service. Locus Lock aims to provide a robust software-defined GNSS receiver for commercial and military applications.

According to the company, Xona’s PULSAR service will be delivered via a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which orbit the Earth approximately 20 times closer than traditional GNSS satellites. This proximity allows PULSAR to offer higher signal power and a modernized signal design to offer improved multipath mitigation, higher accuracy and increased protection against radio frequency interference and spoofing compared to current GNSS systems.

The technology is suitable for various applications, including vehicles navigating dense urban areas, agriculture and construction, UAVs, high-speed aircraft and defense applications. Locus Lock’s GNSS software stack can be deployed on existing customer computational infrastructure, ranging from small embedded devices to larger centralized computers. This flexibility allows for adaptation and configuration of the software to suit specific deployed environments.

The system features inertially aided carrier-phase differential GNSS (CDGNSS) for maintaining precision in challenging ecosystems, advanced interference mitigation and detection technology to ensure authentic GNSS signals are received, and the dual-antenna, triple-frequency RadioLion RF front-end for capturing raw GNSS signals. These features offer signal situational awareness, anti-spoofing, and interference mitigation.