Galileo

Technology Overview

Galileo is a global navigation satellite system, created by the European Union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA). Galileo is an alternative and complementary system to the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS. On November 30, 2007, the 27 EU transportation ministers involved reached an agreement that Galileo should be operational by 2013. Originally designed for open services (OS) only, the EU added security and defense applications in 2008.

Assisted Galileo (A-Galileo) is mainly used in mobile terminals to enhance performance by means of faster localization (time to first fix, TTFF) and higher accuracy. A-Galileo uses the coordinates of the base station serving the radio cell in which the mobile terminal is located and transmits this information to the mobile terminal via an assisted channel. The assisted data is transmitted via an IP channel (secure user plane location, SUPL) as defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).

Applications

Galileo is intended to become a widely used aid for satellite navigation worldwide, and a valuable tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce, and scientific uses. Galileo also provides a precise time reference used in many applications including the scientific study of earthquakes and the synchronization of telecommunications networks. Galileo also supports a search and rescue channel.

Rohde & Schwarz Test Solutions

The R&S®SMBV100A vector signal generator provides real-world Galileo signals with real navigation data and real almanac data. Any navigation data or satellite track parameter can be modified by the user, providing maximum flexibility to custom-build all kinds of Galileo scenarios. The R&S®SMBV100A can generate standard-compliant signals for all major communications standards such as GSM, WCDMA, HSPA(+), LTE, WLAN, as well as for the GPS navigation system.

Key Parameters

Standardization

The Open Service (OS) version of the European GNSS (Galileo) is specified in the Signal In Space Interface Control Document (SIS ICD) which is being developed by the European Union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA). The public SIS ICD document was released in 2010.