Chapter 14
Pseudo-Ranging Radio Navigation
Systems
14.1 Pseudo-Ranging Position Finding Method
of an Object and Design Concept of Pseudo-Ranging
Radio Navigation Systems
In the previous chapter, the range-finding radio navigation systems without a
transponder were considered, the principle of which is to measure the distance from
a ground station (radio beacon) to an object by the time delay of highly stable radio
signals from ground stations received on board the object. The implementation of
the ranging method stipulates the presence of highly stable reference generators both
at the ground station and onboard an object, which are synchronized with each other
at a given time by a special synchronization signal. At the same time, in practice, it
is not always possible to provide the required level of synchronization, which leads
to errors in the range measurement. For example, a mismatch of 1 ms will result in
an error of 300 km.
Attempts to improve the accuracy characteristics and expand the operational area
of the range-finding radio navigation systems without a transponder while maintaining their main advantage—the presence of only a receiving device on board
an object—led to the development and scientific substantiation of a pseudo-range
method for determining the coordinates of an objects. In this case, the pseudorange method considers the mismatching of the clocks of radio beacons and object
equipment.
The core of the method concludes in the following. Highly stable generators of
radio beacons, or, more simply, clocks, are synchronized with each other, and the
clock of the equipment on the object can be ahead of the clock of radio beacons or lag
behind them by some unknown value δτ . Taking into account the signal propagation
speed ν, the measured by the equipment distance d (t) to the radio beacon will have
an error due to the inaccuracy of the clock of the radio beacon and the equipment of
the object νδτ
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
D. A. Akmaykin et al., Theoretical Foundations of Radar Location
and Radio Navigation, Springer Aerospace Technology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6514-8_14
243
Pseudo-Ranging Radio Navigation
Systems
14.1 Pseudo-Ranging Position Finding Method
of an Object and Design Concept of Pseudo-Ranging
Radio Navigation Systems
In the previous chapter, the range-finding radio navigation systems without a
transponder were considered, the principle of which is to measure the distance from
a ground station (radio beacon) to an object by the time delay of highly stable radio
signals from ground stations received on board the object. The implementation of
the ranging method stipulates the presence of highly stable reference generators both
at the ground station and onboard an object, which are synchronized with each other
at a given time by a special synchronization signal. At the same time, in practice, it
is not always possible to provide the required level of synchronization, which leads
to errors in the range measurement. For example, a mismatch of 1 ms will result in
an error of 300 km.
Attempts to improve the accuracy characteristics and expand the operational area
of the range-finding radio navigation systems without a transponder while maintaining their main advantage—the presence of only a receiving device on board
an object—led to the development and scientific substantiation of a pseudo-range
method for determining the coordinates of an objects. In this case, the pseudorange method considers the mismatching of the clocks of radio beacons and object
equipment.
The core of the method concludes in the following. Highly stable generators of
radio beacons, or, more simply, clocks, are synchronized with each other, and the
clock of the equipment on the object can be ahead of the clock of radio beacons or lag
behind them by some unknown value δτ . Taking into account the signal propagation
speed ν, the measured by the equipment distance d (t) to the radio beacon will have
an error due to the inaccuracy of the clock of the radio beacon and the equipment of
the object νδτ
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
D. A. Akmaykin et al., Theoretical Foundations of Radar Location
and Radio Navigation, Springer Aerospace Technology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6514-8_14
243