A New Fine Tracking Algorithm for Binary Offset Carrier Modulated Signals

Maristella Musso, Andrea F. Cattoni, Carlo S. Regazzoni Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering (DIBE) University of Genoa Italy

BIOGRAPHY Maristella Musso was born in Genoa (Italy) in 1977. She obtained the Laurea degree in Telecommunications Engineering in January 2003, University of Genoa, with a thesis concerning the study of an integration architecture, based on Software Defined Radio, of satellite positioning systems (GALILEO) and broadband communication systems (S-UMTS). From March 2003 she cooperates with the ISIP40 group. In May 2006, Dr. Musso obtained the Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technology curricular in Space Science and Engineering discussing a thesis about advanced signal processing methods for Global Navigation Satellite Systems. Her main research topics are satellite multimedia communications and advanced positioning systems. She is author and co-author of more than 20 contributions published on journal papers, edited books and international conferences. Andrea Fabio Cattoni was born in Genoa (Italy) in 1979. He obtained the Laurea degree in Telecommunications Engineering in June 2004, University of Genoa, with a thesis concerning feature reduction algorithms for remote sensed hyperspectral images. From October 2004 he cooperates with ISIP40 group, he worked on Cognitive Radio techniques and location systems. From January 2005 he is a Ph.D. student in Information and Communication Science and Technology Space Sciences and Engineering, his research topics are: advanced positioning systems and distributed Cognitive Radio technologies. He is author and co-author of some papers presented at international conferences, an international journal and a book chapter. Carlo Regazzoni was born in Savona (Italy) in 1963. He is Full Professor in Telecommunications at the

Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering (DIBE) of the University of Genoa. He obtained the "Laurea" degree and the Ph.D. in Telecommunications and Signal Processing in 1987 and in 1992, respectively. He is responsible of the Signal Processing and Telecommunications Group at DIBE. His main research interests are: video processing and understanding, software radio communications, data fusion and multimodal localization. He was co-editor of several books and Guest editor of four Special Issues on International Journals. He is author or co-author of more than 50 papers in International Scientific Journals.

ABSTRACT In this paper, an analysis of a new synchronization technique for Binary Offset Carrier (BOC) modulated signals will be presented. Goal of the proposed method is to improve the synchronization performances by reducing the synchronization errors due to the characteristic BOC cross-correlation function. The synchronization is generally based on the envelope of the cross-correlation between the received signal and the local replicas. In a classical NRZ modulation this envelope is approximately a triangle whose peak corresponds to the perfect synchronization between the incoming signal and local replicas. In the BOC case, instead, the cross-correlation is given by a set of triangles with positive and negative peaks in which only the central one corresponds to the perfect synchronization. This paper will describe a novel technique characterized by a different choice of the local replica. In this manner the cross-correlation envelope is composed by different triangles with positive and negative peak; this envelope has one and only one zero-crossing that corresponds to the perfect synchronization. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, a theoretical analysis has been carried on together with computer

simulations. In particular, the main properties of the technique, compared with the classical situation, will be presented.

model the BOC modulation in different carrier-to noise situations are presented followed by the conclusions.

BINARY OFFSET CARRIER SIGNAL INTRODUCTION Due to the modernization of the navigation satellite systems, the interest is recently increased in new spreadspectrum signals and modulations, in order to offer more services to civilian users. To avoid interferences with existing navigation transmissions, and to be compatible with previous systems, new signals must be characterized by precise features, the most important being coexistence with current and already planned signals on the GPS L1 and L2 frequencies, offering more robustness, higher performance, and higher transmission capacity [3]. The choice of the modulation type has to be performed on the basis of different criterions: Minimization of losses of the satellite signals Maximization of energy efficiency Minimization of interferences with the already present transmission systems Optimization of performances and complexity of the receiver The Binary Offset Carrier (BOC) modulation is the final choice of a long process of analysis, and it is a trade off between the previously pointed out characteristics [1]. A particular power spectral density, which allows the coexistence of different signals in the same bandwidth, is one of the most important characteristics of this new modulation technique. In fact, one of the most desirable characteristic for the new modulations techniques is that it should be as orthogonal as possible to code modulation already present in the L1 and L2 frequencies [2]. The new modulations power should be concentrated where the already present spectrum is small. For this purpose a new type of signal, called tri-phase, can be used. In this manner, different services or different signals from the same satellite can be present in the same bandwidth. Unfortunately, a drawback of BOC is related to synchronization problems with respect to classical methods. In fact the correlation with the BOC signal is ambiguous. In order to reduce such errors, a new correlator architecture, obtained by demodulating the received signal with only a local pseudorandom code, is presented. This paper is structured as follows: after this brief introduction, in the first paragraph the BOC modulation is explained, than a theoretical description of the BOC signal is pointed out. In the second part the novel method and its characteristics are described. Finally the experimental results based on a signal simulator able to BOC signal is composed by the product of two different signals. The first one is a classical Pseudo Noise sequence with chip rate Rc and two different values +1 and 1. The second one is a sub-carrier that can be a square signal or a sine signal with frequency Rsc equal or higher than Rc. If a sine-wave is used, instead of a square-wave, the modulation is called Linear Offset Carrier (LOC) [5]. A BOC(n,m), as named in Galileo system, is characterized by n=Rsc/Rca and m=Rc/Rca , where Rca is the frequency of the signal already present in the considered bandwidth. For example, Rca in the GPS C/A code chip rate is equal to 1.023 Mcps. A similar notation, based on the two frequencies of reference, is used in GPS case. The effect of the square sub-carrier on the power spectrum is to split the main lobe of the PN code spectrum into two lobes centered at Rsc from the central frequency. Moreover, increasing fs/fc ratio (or equivalently n/m) enlarges the distance between the lateral sides and, in the same manner, power at frequencies around the center of the bandwidth. Two different cases are shown in the following figure (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Power Spectrum of two different BOC modulations

As it can be seen in Figure 1, BOC modulation can be used without interferences with code modulation already present in the central frequency. Concerning the correlation behaviors, the same modulations are shown in Figure 2. In general, in a classical case, the auto-correlation function of a PN code has a correlation peak. On the contrary, for a BOC signal is visible that multiple peaks (Figure 2), are present [1][10]. They can be useful to

improve tracking, but they can be also a potential source of errors. In fact, it is possible that the system locks the synchronization on a lateral (and hence sub-optimal) correlation peak. In Figure 2, an ideal case is shown. In a real receiver the front end filter determines a smoothing of the peaks.

s(t ) = x(t ) sq(t ) =

x
p =0 kN 1 n =0

N 1

pTc (t pTc ) (1) n pTs (t nTc ) =

n =0

kN 1

(3)

n k

(1) n pTs (t nTs )

It is possible to demonstrate that over-sampling of the PN sequence provided by the square wave can be represented by means of the floor function. A more detailed explanation is given in appendix A. The correlation function, commonly used in the classical demodulation block [6], is given by the multiplication of the received signal with a local replica of the transmitted signal r (t ) :

r (t ) =
Figure 2 Auto-correlation function of two different BOC modulations

kN 1 n =0

y
T

n k

( 1) n pTs (t nTs )

(4)

Rsr ( ) = s(t ) r (t + )dt and for = lTs

0
kN 1

THEORETICAL BOC MODEL The auto-correlation properties of a BOC modulation can be explained with a theoretical formalization, useful in the following to proof the proposed method. The model shown below is obtained on the basis of the rules of the pseudorandom sequences [4]. Firstly, the transmitted BOC signal can be written as the multiplication between x (t ) , a continuous PN sequence of length N, and sq(t ) , a square wave of alternating values +1 or -1
x (t ) =

R sr (lTs ) = Ts

p p =0 k

y p +l ( 1) l
k

(5)

x
p =0
kN 1

N 1

p pTc ( t

pTc )

(1)

From this equation it is possible to evict the presence of multiple positive and negative peaks and that the envelope is given by the autocorrelation function of the considered PN sequence. Due to the property of multiple positive and negative peaks, the acquisition process in the BOC modulation is more complex than in the classical case. Specific techniques must be employed in order to avoid unacceptable errors as the risk of misdetection or wrong peak selection [9]. Three different methods have been proposed in literature to solve the tracking problem in BOC signal: Bump Jumping, BPSK-like and sub-carrier Phase Cancellation (SCPC) techniques. The Bump Jumping technique [10] is characterized by a search of the maximum peak with a comparison of the received power among adjacent peaks. The system employs 5 different local replicas: Very Early, Early, Prompt, Late and Very Late. The Bump Jumping method uses Early and Late to recover one peak and Very Early and Very Late to check if the amplitude of the found synchronization point is the highest. The algorithm achieves the amplitude comparison with the help of a simple up/down counter mechanism. At each epoch the value of Very Early, Prompt, and Very Late samples are compared. When Prompt is the highest both Very Early and Very Late counter are decremented. If this maximum

sq(t ) =

(1)
n =0

pTs (t nTs )

(2)

where xp are the values of the PN sequence, Tc is the duration of the chip of the PN sequence, pTc is a rectangular pulse of duration Tc, Ts is the duration of the half period of the square wave, pTs is a rectangular pulse of duration Ts and T=NTc =NkTs is the total period of the BOC signal. Then the transmitted signal s (t ) becomes

is in Very Early, this counter is incremented and the other one decremented simultaneously. In the same way when Very Late peak is the highest, its counter is incremented and counter for Very Early is decremented. When a counter reaches a particular threshold T, tracker jumps to a new peak and counters are again reset to zero. BPSK-like techniques can be divided into two main groups, each one characterized by considering the received signal as formed by two BPSK. The first one analyses the received BOC(n,m) modulated signal as the sum of two BPSK signals with carrier frequency symmetrically positioned on each side of the BOC carrier frequency. Therefore each lobe is filtered, relocated in the carrier frequency and then correlated with a local replica. At the end of this process the results of the two channels are combined. The second group is similar to the previous one, except that the signal is not filtered independently on the two branches. On the contrary only one filter with a bandwidth including the two principal lobes is used. Consequently, two correlation channels with a different carrier frequency are implemented. The former frequency is (fcarrier + fsc) and the latter is (fcarrier - fsc). Finally, the two channels are combined as in the previous case. In the sub-carrier Phase Cancellation (SCPC) technique a correlation similar to the BPSK one is recovered. This is obtained by a combination of outputs of the correlation with in phase and in quadrature sub-carriers. On one channel, the received filtered signal is correlated with the local BOC signal in sub carrier phase, and on the other one with the local BOC signal in sub carrier quadrature phase. In the follow, the results of the proposed methods will be analyzed having as reference a classical DLL structure with five correlation values (Very Early (VE), Early (E), Prompt (P), Late (L) and Very Late (VL) Errore. L'origine riferimento non stata trovata.Errore. L'origine riferimento non stata trovata.Errore. L'origine riferimento non stata trovata.). In Figure 3 a general DLL architecture is shown.

Figure 3 General DLL architecture

The chosen discriminator function is the Early minus late envelope normalized (EMLEN) expressed as
D( ) =
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 IE + QE IL + QL + IVE + QVE IVL + QVL 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 IE + QE + IL + QL + IVE + QVE + IVL + QVL

(6)

THE PROPOSED PN-BASED FINE TRACKING ALGORITHM

The proposed technique is based on the properties of the cross-correlation between a BOC signal and the PN sequence used to generate it. By considering a period of the received signal s (t ) and of the local replica r (t ) :

r (t ) =

m '=0

y
T

N 1

kN 1 m ' pTc ( t

m' Tc ) =

m =0

m k

pTs (t mTs )

(7)

The correlation function can be shown to be

Rrs ( ) = r (t ) s(t + )dt

0

(8)

and for = lTs is equal to

Rrs (lTs ) =

0 n =0 kN 1 n =0

T kN 1

kN 1 k m =0

x n ( 1) n pTs (t nTs )

m k

pTs (t mTs + lTs ) dt =

= Ts

n k

y n +l ( 1) n = Rrs (l )
k

(9) The correlation function, obtained for the proposed method, is odd around the correlation peak, in fact

kN 1

R rs ( l ) = Ts

x
n =0

n k

y n l ( 1) n
k

being n l = p (10)

kN 1 l p = l

p +l k

y p (1) p +l Ts =
k p +l k

= Ts (1) l

kN 1l p =l

y p (1) p =
k

(11)

VE, E, P, L, VL are the Very Early, Early, Prompt, Late and Very Late samples of the correlation function between the received BOC signal and the local replica of the PN sequence. Spacing between the replicas is depending on the type of BOC modulation that has to be received. In particular, in the considered case, the spacing between the replicas is (1/2n)Tc. These values have to be tested by a condition (indicated as cond in the flow chart) to recognize if the system is inside the synchronization field, i.e. Tc around the synchronization point:

= (1) l Rsr (l ) = (1) l Rrs (l )

that is odd when l is odd and even when l is even; moreover it is possible to demonstrate that for l even, the correlation function has zero value. This property is due to the fact that when k is even, i.e. as in the considered case, it is possible to substitute k=2h and to write R(2l) as sum of even and odd coefficients:

cond = (VE < c ) and (E < c ) and (P < c ) and (L < c ) and (VL < c )

(18)

R (2l ) = +
2 hN 1 m =0

2 hN 1 m=0

2m 2h

y 2 m + 2l (1) 2 m +
2h

(12)
2 m +1

2 m +1 2h

y 2 m +1+ 2l (1)
2h

therefore, by definition of floor function:

hp m < h( p + 1)

(13)

Due to the fact that h, p and m are integer: hp m + 0.5 < h( p + 1) and therefore x 2 m = x 2 m +1
2h 2h

(14)

and, at the same manner, its possible to demonstrate y 2 m + 2l = y 2 m + 2l +1

2h 2h

Figure 4 Flow chart of the proposed algorithm

(15)

So x 2 m y 2 m + 2l = x 2 m +1 y 2 m + 2l +1
2h 2h 2h 2h

h, m, l N

(16)

and

R (2l ) = +
2 hN 1 n=0

2 hN 1 n =0

2m 2h

y 2 m + 2l (1) 2 m +
2h

Where c is a threshold depending on the correlation values outside the field of analysis. If all the samples are smaller than this value, the synchronization is lost and the system has to start again with a new coarse acquisition cycle. Otherwise the algorithm computes a discriminating value and continues with fine tracking. In this considered case the discriminating d is the sum of the extracted samples. According to the d value, the pilot signal assumes three different values: zero in synchronization case, +1 if the replicas are anticipated, -1 if they are delayed.

(17)
2m

2 m +1 2h

y 2 m +1+ 2l (1)
2h

(1) = 0

SIMULATION RESULTS
The previously demonstrated properties are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6 for two modulation cases. The dotted line represents the classical correlation function between the received BOC signal and a local replica of the BOC signal. The solid line is instead the output of the

On the basis of these properties a specific algorithm for BOC(n,m) has been developed. A more clear description of the algorithm is shown in the following figure (Figure 4).

correlation between the received signal and the Gold sequence that has generated the BOC signal. This second case is the basis of the proposed algorithm. As expected, this correlation function is odd respect to the synchronization point.

Figure 7 Synchronization via C/N0

Figure 5 Correlation functions BOC(2,1)

In Figure 7 the results in terms of correct synchronization frequency for different simulations are shown. The improvement with respect to the classical situation is relevant. In fact, the algorithm reduces the probability of synchronization on lateral peaks because it is based on an analysis of oddity of a different correlation function.

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper a new synchronization technique able to improve the correct decision probability in BOC modulation case has been developed. A theoretical model of the BOC signal and its classical cross-correlation have been used as base for the comparison with the proposed method. Simulative results of the two cases have been shown, by using a signal simulator able to model the GNSS system in presence of a channel with variable carrier-to-noise ratio. The synchronization performances have confirmed that the proposed architecture is a viable solution for the ambiguities present in this type of modulation. For future works, more experiments involving a multipath channel should be carried out.

Figure 6 Correlation functions BOC(4,1)

The algorithm takes into account the presence of the zero crossing in the synchronization point, reducing the problem of mis-synchronization on lateral peaks. The tests have been carried out both in the ideal case and in presence of additive Gaussian noise. The carrier to noise ratio (C/N0) has been varied between 34 to 49 dBHz. Moreover, to consider a real situation with the presence of four satellites located at different positions, different delays have been inserted.

REFERENCE
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