Spirent Communications has been selected by DLR (German Aerospace Centre) for delivery of advanced GPS (Global Positioning System)/Galileo test systems. DLR will be using Spirent solutions in the context of the EU and FP6 funded project "Airborne New and Advanced Satellite Techniques and Technologies in a System Integrated Approach" (ANASTASIA).
The navigation aspects of the ANASTASIA project focus on performance evaluations in a multi-constellation, multi-frequency complex satellite signal environment. The GPS/Galileo test systems provided by Spirent will be integrated with digital processing components provided by DLR. The resulting wave front simulators will be capable of testing multiple-element, phased-array reception antennas that form part of DLR's research work.
A paper summarising the current status and next steps of the development will be presented at the ION GNSS2006 conference, Fort Worth, Tx, 27-29 September 2006. A further extension of DLR's digital wavefront matrix to a full digital channel matrix, which allows wavefront generation combined with advanced simulation of multipath propagation is planned.
"Spirent is very pleased to be furthering our relationship with DLR on this important project. The Galileo simulation capabilities Spirent is providing to DLR add to an existing GPS test system that we provided in 2004," commented Peter Boulton, technology director for Spirent's positioning business segment. "This agreement marks the inclusion of an additional Galileo system to meet the requirement outlined by DLR for the ANASTASIA project."
