GNSS antenna arrays : hardware requirements for algorithm implementation

GNSS antenna arrays and beam forming/nulling have long been studied from an algorithm perspective. However, the hardware and implementation design issues are not as well understood. A low cost data collection platform for continuous recording of eight simultaneous IF streams are presented with an analysis of its performance. Also, the requirements on front end components are examined, specifically their impact on array processing versus single antenna processing. Focus is exclusively on digital beam forming as that is the only feasible approach for advanced algorithm implementation, and differences between traditional receiver architectures and a software defined radio approach will be emphasized. It is found that simultaneous recording of multiple IF streams allows for great flexibility in the field of antenna array processing for GNSS. Also, commercial off the shelf components shows sufficient performance, although care must be taken regarding issues such as phase consistency and cross talk between front ends.Godkänd; 2006; 20070201 (ysko