Tutorial:
170117
GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband
Signal Processing
Michael Braasch, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
Andrew Dempster, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
This tutorial provides an overview of the hardware architec-
tures and signal processing that form the core of satellite-based
navigation receivers such as GPS. The concepts of spread spec-
trum and code division multiple access are introduced along
with their roles in signal acquisition and tracking. The super-
heterodyne front-end architecture will be described as well as
the baseband architecture that utilizes in-phase and quadra-
ture processing. Tracking loops are discussed along with mea-
surement generation. The tutorial concludes with a brief look
at so-called “modernized” satellite-based navigation signals.
INTRODUCTION
The average person on the street thinks of global navigation satel-
lite systems (GNSS), such as the United States Global Position-
ing System (GPS), as simply a positioning system. Although this
is only partially correct, there are some who incorrectly think the
satellites track the receiver [1]. In reality, the receiver measures
its distance to a number of satellites and then determines its posi-
tion based on these measurements (plus knowledge of the location
of the satellites). At an even deeper level, though, the receiver is
making measurements of time and frequency. From the measure-
ment of time the receiver formulates a measure of distance to a
given satellite known as a pseudorange. From the measurement of
frequency, the receiver determines Doppler shift and hence formu-
lates a measure of line-of-sight range-rate or velocity to the given
satellite. Thus, GNSS are much more than positioning systems.
They can provide three-dimensional position and velocity as well
as precise time (in addition to lesser-known applications such as
reflectometry).
In this tutorial we present an overview of the hardware archi-
tectures and signal processing that form the core of a GNSS re-
Authors' current addresses: M. Braasch, Ohio University,
EECS, 313 Stocker Center, Athens, OH 45701 USA, E-mail:
(braaschm@gmail.com). A. Dempster, University of New
South Wales, Faculty of Engineering, Material Science and
Engineering (E10), Level 7, MSE 718, Sydney, NSW, 2052
Australia.
Manuscript received June 7, 2017, revised August 11, 2018, and
ready for publication August 14, 2018.
Review handled by W. Blair.
0885/8985/19/$26.00 © 2019 IEEE
20 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II
DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2018.
ceiver. We will focus on the legacy GPS civilian signal and will
touch briefly on modernized GPS signals and other GNSS before
concluding. This tutorial will describe the hardware and software
signal processing in the receiver from the antenna input up to the
formation of the aforementioned range and range-rate measure-
ments. Subsequent receiver functions, such as binary data decod-
ing and position-determination, are not presented herein but are
covered in detail in the references provided.
We will start by briefly outlining the hardware and software
processing tasks of the receiver. Following this we will present
a mathematical model of the GPS signal and will introduce the
concepts of code division multiple access (CDMA) signals and
spread spectrum. We will then describe how the correlation of
the received GPS signal with a replica signal (generated by the
receiver) plays a critical role in both acquisition and tracking.
Next, we consider the (transmission) link budget to determine
the signal power at the receiver as a precursor to determining
the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Since GPS is a spread spectrum
system, however, a more useful variant of SNR is introduced:
carrier-to-noise ratio.
The additional noise introduced by the analog components
of the receiver, above and beyond the basic thermal noise, is an
important consideration in receiver design. Thus, the tutorial next
turns to the topics of noise figure and the role that preamplifica-
tion (in the antenna) plays in limiting the impact of subsequent
component noise in the receiver. Attention is then turned to the
superheterodyne receiver architecture. As will be described, this
architecture provides an efficient technique to reject out-of-band
interference by downconverting the received signal from its origi-
nal microwave carrier radio frequency (RF) to baseband (i.e., cen-
ter frequency of 0 Hz) in stages.
We then consider the analog-to-digital conversion process
along with the so-called in-phase and quadrature processing used
to preserve phase information at baseband. Once the signal is sam-
pled, the analog portion of the signal processing is complete, and
attention is turned to the baseband processing architecture. Here
the specific techniques used to implement the aforementioned cor-
relation processing are described. At this point the groundwork
will have been laid to describe how the receiver acquires the signal
of a particular satellite. As we shall see, this is not a trivial task
given the fact that the signal power is 20 to 30 dB below the noise.
Traditional and modern acquisition techniques will be described.
Once a given signal has been acquired, the receiver signal process-
ing turns to tracking. The feedback tracking loops used to track
both the “code” (i.e., modulation) and the Doppler-shifted carrier
will be described.
Once the tracking loops are locked onto the received signal,
the binary data on the signal can be demodulated and the measure-
ments can be formed. The measurement derived from the signal
modulation is known as the “pseudorange.” In parallel, measure-
ments can be derived from the Doppler-shifted carrier. These in-
clude the so-called “delta-range” and “carrier-phase” measure-
ments. Pseudorange measurements typically form the basis for
the computed position solution. Delta-range measurements can be
used to compute velocity. Carrier-phase measurements are used in
high precision applications such as surveying in which measure-
ments from multiple, spatially separated receivers are processed
together.
Finally, the tutorial concludes with an overview of so-called
“modernized” signals in GPS as well as other satellite-based
navigation systems. The technique known as binary offset carrier
(BOC) modulation will be introduced and its impact on receiver
architectures will be discussed.
We start by considering the signal processing roles played by
the satellites and the receiver.
THE ROLE OF THE SATELLITE AND THE RECEIVER
Contrary to the fears of some conspiracy theorists, the job of a
given GNSS satellite is not to track a receiver; in fact, communica-
tion is one-way only, from satellite to receiver. (Note: If a GNSS-
determined position is to be provided to a third-party, a communi-
cation system that is completely separate from the GNSS must be
utilized. This is done, for example, in the Automatic Dependent
Surveillance—Broadcast system that allows air traffic controllers
to track aircraft via GNSS-determined positions that are transmit-
ted from the aircraft on dedicated surveillance frequencies in the
lower L-band.) This allows the system to provide service, theoreti-
cally, to an unlimited number of users. GNSS is thus a so-called
“passive” system and stands in contrast with “active” systems such
as the Distance Measuring Equipment that require two-way com-
munication [2]. The satellite's primary role is to transmit a highly
phase-coherent, frequency-stabilized continuous-wave signal with
precisely timed modulation along with a digital data stream that
tells the receiver the satellite's location, and the precise time. The
receiver's job is to:
FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 21
1. attenuate signals outside of the wanted GNSS band(s)
2. amplify the desired band sufficiently to allow for analog-to-
digital (A/D) conversion
3. downconvert the desired band to a lower frequency to allow for
more efficient filtering and A/D conversion
4. perform A/D conversion
5. search in a range of frequencies and delays to acquire the sig-
nals of the satellites that are “in-view” (e.g., above the local
horizon/terrain); note: this is challenging given the fact that the
signals are 20 to 30 dB below the noise floor
6. track both the carrier frequency and modulation of the satellites
that have been found
7. form range and range-rate measurements
8. decode the digital data on each satellite
9. compute and output receiver position, velocity and time.
In order to ease into these topics, and because it has dominated
satellite navigation for some decades, we will focus on the legacy
civilian GPS signal: the coarse/acquisition code (C/A-code). Later
we will address other GNSS signals. Except where noted, the dis-
cussion assumes the receiver is on or near (i.e., within tens of kilo-
meters of) the surface of the Earth. We begin our look at the GPS
C/A-code by considering a mathematical model of it.
GPS C/A-CODE SIGNAL MODEL
For the purpose of this tutorial, the GPS C/A-code signal broadcast
from a given satellite may be modeled as
s ( t ) = A ( t ) D ( t ) C ( t ) cos (ωct + φ ) (1)
where A(t) is an amplitude factor that models gains/losses on-board
the satellite; D(t) is the biphase modulated data that carries satel-
lite orbital parameters and other information needed by the receiver;
C(t) is the biphase modulated direct sequence spread spectrum code
(also known as a pseudorandom noise or PRN code); ωc is the an-
gular carrier frequency (1575.42 MHz for the case of the GPS L1
band) and ϕ is an arbitrary phase offset. The main components of
this binary phase-shift keyed (BPSK) signal are illustrated in Fig. 1.
GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing
Figure 1.
Illustration of the components of binary phase-shift keyed direct-se-
quence spread spectrum signals such as the GPS C/A-code: (a) unmodu-
lated carrier; (b) data bits; (c) PRN code chips; (d) carrier modulated by
both the data and PRN code.
This type of modulation is known as spread spectrum since the
PRN code causes the final signal to have a much wider bandwidth
than that of the data itself. For the same reason, the PRN code is
known as a “spreading code.” The bits of the spreading code are
referred to as “chips,” and not “bits,” in order to distinguish them
from the information-carrying binary data they are modulating.
By using different spreading codes with low cross-correlation the
satellites are able to share the same band. This is known as code
division multiple access (CDMA).
We noted earlier that the signals broadcast by each satellite
are highly phase coherent. This is made possible because a sin-
gle frequency source (oscillator/clock) is used to generate all of
the signals that are broadcast: all carriers, all codes and all binary
data. Each component of the broadcast signals is derived from a
master atomic clock with a frequency of 10.23 MHz. The L1 car-
rier frequency, for example, is an integer multiple of this: (10.23 ×
106 ) × 154 = 1,575.42 × 106. The C/A-code chipping rate is 1.023
Mchips/s and thus is a simple divide-by-10 of the master clock.
This phase coherence permits synergistic measurement combina-
tions that enable, for example, the high precision relative position-
ing used in survey applications.
As will be described in the next sections, when received on or
near the surface of the Earth, the signal power is far below the ther-
mal noise floor. Both detection (also known as acquisition), as well
as tracking, of the signal is accomplished by correlating a locally-
generated replica of the signal with the received signal. A detailed
description of the correlation processing will be provided later. At
this point it is sufficient to understand that the correlation process-
ing determines how well the received signal and locally-generated
replica match up. A small correlation value indicates a poor match
and a high value indicates a good match. This is illustrated in Figs.
2 and 3. In Fig. 2a, the two codes are separated from each other
by one chip and the corresponding correlation result is very small
(~0.07). Fig. 2b illustrates the case where the two codes are only
half a chip apart and the correlation result is much larger (~0.55).
When the codes are one-quarter chip apart (Fig. 2c), the correlation
result is ~0.77. Fig. 2d provides the results when the two codes
22 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II
are aligned perfectly, and the correlation result is a maximum
(1.0). The correlation function for relative offsets in the range of
−20 to +20 chips is illustrated in Fig. 2e. As the figure shows, the
maximum value occurs only when the locally-generated replica is
aligned with the received signal.
As mentioned above, this correlation processing is the mecha-
nism whereby the receiver is able to detect the signal even though
its power is far below the background noise. Let us now turn our
attention to the subject of signal-to-noise ratio, and we will start by
determining the amount of power that is available to a receiver on
the surface of the Earth. This determination of signal power over
the path from the transmitter to the receiver is known as a power
budget or link budget.
LINK BUDGET
Solar panels are the prime source of signal power on the satellite.
The C/A-code signal power at the input of the GPS satellite an-
tenna is approximately 14.3 dBW (27 W). However, this is an end-
of-life value and the actual value is typically higher [4] and [5].
The satellite antenna gain varies across its main beam. However,
the gain is not maximum at the center of the beam. At the distance
of the Earth from the satellite, the main beam is slightly wider than
the Earth's diameter. The main beam thus provides coverage to the
entire portion of the Earth that is ‘visible' to the satellite. Higher
gain is placed towards the edges of the main beam to compensate
for the increased distance from the satellite to locations on Earth
that are on the edge of coverage. From the perspective of a terres-
trial receiver, example satellite antenna gain values are [23]:
At 5 deg elevation: 12.1 dB
At 40 deg elevation: 12.9 dB
At 90 deg elevation: 10.2 dB
The satellite antenna gain is thus a minimum when the satellite
is directly overhead the receiver. Neglecting losses in the satellite
antenna, the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) is given by
the sum of the input power and the gain. Accordingly, the EIRP
varies from 24.5 dBW (14.3 + 10.2) up to 27.2 dBW (14.3 + 12.9).
For a medium elevation angle (40 deg) satellite, the satellite-to-
receiver distance is approximately 22,000 km. At this distance, the
free-space path loss is (where r is the distance):
 1  dB
free space path loss (@ 40 deg) = 10log10  2 
= −157.8 2
 4π r  m
Atmospheric loss is approximately 0.5 dB, thus the power den-
sity available at the surface of the Earth is approximately: 27.2 –
157.8 – 0.5 = −131.1 dBW/m2.
The purpose of the receiver's antenna is to capture as much
of the available power density as possible while simultaneously
rejecting out-of-band (and possibly out-of-direction) signals. The
antenna's ability to capture the available power density is known
as the effective antenna aperture. An isotropic antenna has an ef-
fective aperture of [6]:
 Braasch and Dempster

Figure 2.
(a) Illustration of a received PRN code (red) and a locally-generated PRN code (blue) that is offset by 1 chip from the received code. The normal-
ized correlation of these two codes is approximately 0.07. (b) Illustration of the correlation function for an offset (tau) of approximately 1/2 chip. The
normalized correlation in this case is approximately 0.55. (c) Illustration of the correlation function for an offset (tau) of approximately 1/4 chip. The
normalized correlation in this case is approximately 0.77. (d) Illustration of the correlation function for an offset (tau) of approximately 0 chip. The
normalized correlation in this case is approximately 1.0. (e) Illustration of the correlation function for offsets (tau) in the range of +/– 20 chips.

λ2 noise at the receiver input or the detector? There are four main
Ae = (2)
4π sources of noise in a GNSS receiver: background radiation,
thermal noise, device noise, and interference. The background
where λ is the carrier wavelength. At the GPS L1 frequency
radiation, also known as sky noise, is comprised of solar ra-
(1,575.42 MHz), the wavelength is approximately 0.1903 m and
diation and reradiation from the Earth. Although nontrivial,
thus the effective aperture is 2.88 × 10−3 m2 or −25.4 dB m2. The
we can neglect it for a first order approximation of the noise
power output from an ideal isotropic antenna is thus: −131.1
in the GNSS receiver. Thermal noise arises due to the ambi-
dBW/m2 – 25.4 dB m2 = −156.5 dBW. In practice, we must modify
ent temperature of the front-end analog electronics being above
this result by the gain of the actual antenna. As an example, a typi-
absolute zero (and typically is assumed to be room temperature
cal GPS aircraft microstrip patch antenna (oriented level with the
or standard temperature). Device noise is the additional noise
Earth's surface) has a gain of −4 dBic at 5 deg elevation, +2 dBic at
beyond thermal noise added by a given component (e.g., an am-
40 deg, and +4 dBic at 90 deg (where dBic is decibels with respect
plifier) due to nonideal operation. Interference (both intentional
to a circularly polarized isotropic antenna).
and unintentional) is beyond the scope of this tutorial, but there
For the example of the medium elevation angle satellite, the
are certainly receiver architecture implications for a designer
final received power available at the receiver input is thus: −156.5
who expects the receiver to be operating in a high interference
dBW + 2 dBic = −154.5 dBW. We can also show that for a satellite
environment (see e.g., [5]).
at zenith (90 deg elevation) the available power is −154.5 dBW (as
At most frequencies of practical interest (e.g., anything below
it was for the medium elevation satellite) but drops to −162.5 dBW
100 GHz) and at reasonable temperatures (e.g., room temperature),
for a low satellite (5 deg elevation). Having determined the typical
the thermal noise power in resistive analog electronics is well ap-
ranges of available signal power, we now must determine the back-
proximated by:
ground noise power in order to obtain the signal-to-noise ratio.
Pnoise = kTB (3)
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO
where k is Boltzmann's constant (1.38 × 10−23 J/K), T is temper-
Let us take −160 dBW as an approximation for the received sig- ature in kelvin, and B is the bandwidth in hertz. The minimum
nal power. Recall this equates to 10−16 W. This is an extremely bandwidth that must be processed for the GPS C/A-code is ap-
weak signal and begs the question: What is the power of the proximately 2 MHz. At room temperature (290 K) and B = 2 MHz,

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GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing

The denominator in the final expression can be thought of ei-

Figure 3.
Analog-to-digital converter output from an experimental GPS C/A-
code receiver. The front-end bandwidth is slightly over 2 MHz and the
sampling rate is 5 MHz. The 10,000 samples illustrated thus represent
2 ms of real-time data. The signals from nine GPS satellites are hidden
within this data.
ther as noise density or as noise power in a 1 Hz bandwidth. Carri-
er-to-noise ratio can thus be considered as signal-to-noise density
or as SNR in a 1 Hz noise bandwidth. From (4), the units of “S” are
watts and the units of “kT” are W/Hz. Thus, carrier-to-noise ratio
has the somewhat strange linear units of Hz or, more commonly
when converted to decibels, dB-Hz. For the example above with
a postcorrelation SNR of +24 dB (100 Hz bandwidth), (4) evalu-
ates to 44 dB-Hz. With nominal GPS signal levels, carrier-to-noise
ratio typically lies in the range of 35 – 55 dB-Hz. Signals can be
unambiguously compared in terms of dB-Hz. Our characterization
of noise is not complete, however, until we consider the additional
noise contributed by the nonideal analog electronics in the front-
end of the receiver. This additional noise, of a single component or
the entire front-end of the receiver, is typically specified in terms
of a quantity known as “noise figure.” As we shall soon see, the
receiver noise figure can be significantly reduced if preamplifica-
tion is provided in the antenna.

the noise power given by (3) is approximately 8 × 10−15 W or −141 NOISE FIGURE AND PRE-AMPS
dBW.
As noted above, each analog component in the receiver front-end
At the receiver input, the SNR is thus (−160 dBW) – (−141
(e.g., amplifiers, mixers, filters) contributes additional device noise
dBW) = −19 dB. An approximate value for the noise contribution
above the inherent thermal noise. Thus, the SNR at the output of a
of the entire analog portion of the receiver (known as the “front
given device will be less than the SNR at the input. We characterize
end”) is 3 dB and thus the SNR of the digitized baseband signal
device noise by quantifying this loss of SNR caused by the device.
is approximately −22 dB. The signal is so weak compared to the
Noise factor (F) quantifies this loss:
noise that it is completely indistinguishable in a time plot as il-
lustrated in Fig. 3.
SNR at device input [linear units]
As will be described later, the “invisible” signals lying beneath F= (5)
SNR at device output [linear units]
the noise are detected and tracked through a correlation process
that “despreads” the signals into the bandwidth of the digital data
The more commonly used “noise figure” (NF) is simply noise
component of the signal. For the GPS C/A-code, the digital data is
factor converted to decibels:
a 50 bit-per-second binary stream and thus has a 100 Hz two-sided
bandwidth. To first-order, particularly for the case of a multibit NF = SNR at device input [in dB] − SNR at device output [in dB]
A/D converter, the correlation process can be assumed to be loss-
(6)
less (i.e., no loss of signal power). Thus, after correlation the entire
signal power is preserved but the effective noise bandwidth can
High quality components typically will have noise figures
be reduced (with filtering) to 100 Hz from the spread bandwidth
on the order of a few decibels (or less). Lossy components (e.g.,
of 2 MHz. From (3), the noise power in a 100 Hz bandwidth at
cables), on the other hand, are characterized by the fact that their
room temperature is approximately −184 dBW. The post-correla-
noise figure is equal to their loss. For example, a 10 meter coaxial
tion SNR is thus (−160 dBW) – (−184 dBW) = +24 dB. This is
cable with an attenuation factor of 1 dB/m will have a loss, and
a clearly detectable signal and conventional techniques can then
a noise figure, of 10 dB. This is due to the fact that a lossy com-
be used to demodulate the digital data. This 46 dB improvement
ponent will attenuate the signal passing through it but does not
(from -22 to +24) is called the “processing gain” achieved by the
attenuate the ambient thermal noise.
despreading process.
The output of an antenna is typically connected to a cable that
However, the fact that the SNR varies as a function of loca-
is, in turn, connected to the receiver. The front-end of the receiver
tion within the signal processing chain is problematic. One could
has numerous analog components, each with its own noise factor.
say “SNR is −22 dB precorrelation” or “SNR is +24 dB postcor-
The overall noise factor of a cascaded set of components is given
relation,” but this is cumbersome. Instead, a metric is utilized
by [7]
that is bandwidth-independent. “Carrier-to-noise (density)” ratio,
typically abbreviated as C/N0, is derived by normalizing SNR by
F2 − 1 F3 − 1
bandwidth: F = F1 + + +  (7)
G1 G1G2

S S S where Fi is the noise factor and Gi is the linear gain of the ith com-
C/N 0 = SNR ⋅ B = ⋅B = ⋅B = (4)
N kTB kT ponent.

24 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II

 Braasch and Dempster

In order to understand the significance of (7), let us first con-

sider the possible range of values of noise factor and linear gain.
The signal power that has been extracted by the antenna can be
degraded by a given receiver component, but no component in the
receiver can create new signal power. Thus, it follows from (5) that
noise factor is always greater than or equal to 1. An ideal amplifier
will boost both the signal and the noise equally and thus the SNR
at its input and output would be equal and the noise factor would
be 1. A nonideal amplifier will induce some signal degradation and
will add some device noise as well, and thus the SNR at its output
will be less than the SNR at the input. The noise factor will there-
fore be greater than 1.
Figure 4.
With regard to linear gain, by definition it must be greater than or Superheterodyne receiver architecture. Each downconversion stage con-
equal to zero. A device that provides amplification will have a linear sists of an amplifier, local oscillator signal, mixer, and bandpass filter.
gain greater than or equal to 1. A device that provides attenuation (Note: Production receivers typically have burn-out protection circuitry
will have a linear gain between zero and 1. Applying this range of and prefilters between the antenna and first amplifier.)
figures to (7) shows us that each term is positive. Thus, each compo-
That is, the frequency band of interest is downconverted in multi-
nent in the front-end chain can only increase the overall noise figure.
ple stages from the original carrier frequency to a low intermediate
High gain components early in the chain can reduce the impact of
frequency (IF) before it is digitized (sampled). A detailed expla-
noisy components later in the chain but they cannot reduce the im-
nation of the superheterodyne architecture is beyond the scope of
pact of the first component (typically referred to as the “first stage”).
this tutorial. Similarly, homodyne architectures, where the signal
To illustrate this, we will consider a simplified example. As-
is downconverted directly to baseband, will not be dealt with here,
sume that after the antenna there are three components: cable (NF
although they have advantages (low number of components) and
= 10 dB, gain = −10 dB), amplifier (NF = 2 dB, gain = 20 dB), and
disadvantages (very careful hardware design to avoid interference
the remainder-of-the-receiver (NF = 8 dB, gain = 50 dB). If after
from signals in adjacent bands). However, by downconverting in
the antenna, the components are connected as: cable -> amplifier
stages it is not necessary to use extremely high Q bandpass filters
-> receiver, (7) can be used to show the overall noise figure is 12.1
and thus the architecture is economical. A generic superheterodyne
dB. However, if the components are connected as: amplifier ->
architecture is depicted in Fig. 4 (as noted earlier, production re-
cable -> receiver, the overall noise figure is 3.44 dB! By merely
ceivers typically have burn-out protection circuitry and prefilters at
switching the order of the components, the noise figure changes
the input port to protect the front-end).
by more than 8 dB. If the first stage is a high gain component, it
As shown in the figure, each downconversion stage consists of
“sets” (e.g., dominates) the overall noise figure by significantly
an amplifier, local oscillator (LO) signal, mixer, and bandpass fil-
reducing the effect of any noise added later in the front-end. This
ter. The local oscillator signals nominally consist of pure sinusoids.
is why most GNSS antennas are so-called “active” antennas that
Now consider the center frequency of the signal input to the first
contain integrated low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). In a laboratory
mixer (which is the carrier frequency or generically the RF). Recall
situation where a rooftop-mounted antenna may be separated from
the familiar trigonometric identity
a receiver by tens of meters of cable, it is essential to have an LNA
at the antenna to prevent the lossy cable from degrading the SNR.
cos α cos β = 12 cos (α + β ) + 12 cos (α − β ) (8)
This LNA integrated with, or connected directly to, the antenna is
referred to as a pre-amplifier (or pre-amp for short) since it pro-
In the case of the first stage mixer, (8) becomes
vides amplification prior to any gain stages in the receiver.
Our characterization of the SNR (or carrier-to-noise ratio) is
cos (ωRF t ) cos (ωLO1t ) = 12 cos ([ωRF + ωLO1 ]t ) + 12 cos ([ωRF − ωLO1 ]t ) (9)
complete now that we have considered the receiver noise as well
as the background thermal noise. The front-end electronics that
The mixer output thus consists of a “sum” frequency term and
we have just considered (from the point of view of noise) provide
a “difference” frequency term. Since we are downconverting, we
three primary signal processing functions: amplification, filtering,
are interested in the difference frequency term (known as an inter-
and frequency downconversion. For the sake of completeness, it
mediate frequency or IF):
should be noted that production receivers typically also have burn-
out protection circuitry and prefilters at the input port to protect the ωIF = ωRF − ωLO1 (10)
front-end. GNSS receiver front-ends typically are designed using
the “superheterodyne” architecture that shall now be described. (Note: If we were designing a transmitter instead of a receiver, we
would want to upconvert a baseband signal to a carrier frequency
and at each stage we would be passing the sum frequency term
SUPERHETERODYNE ARCHITECTURE instead.)
As with most modern receivers, GNSS receiver front-ends are typ- Each stage of downconversion moves the passband of interest
ically designed according to the superheterodyne architecture [7]. down to a lower IF. At each stage the bandpass filter has a more

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GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing
narrow passband than the previous stage in order to improve out-
of-band rejection. The choice of these IFs is known as the “fre-
quency plan” of the receiver. Part of the decision-making process
involves determining what strong out-of-band signals the receiver
may encounter. The IFs are chosen, in part, to avoid being coinci-
dent with any strong out-of-band signals that could cause interfer-
ence.
A variety of considerations are taken into account in the se-
lection of amplifiers, mixers and filters. There is a trade-off in
amplifier design between high gain and low noise [8]. In GNSS
receivers, the total gain is spread over multiple amplifiers in mul-
tiple stages of downconversion to ensure that only modest gain is
needed at each stage. This permits low noise amplifiers to be uti-
lized. Practical mixers can be “unbalanced,” “single-balanced,” or
“double-balanced.” An unbalanced mixer will have some amount
of both RF and LO feed-through in addition to the desired prod-
uct of the two. A single-balanced mixer will have feed-through of
either the RF or the LO signal, but not both. A double-balanced
mixer will have neither RF nor LO feed-through. As mentioned
earlier, one of the advantages of the superheterodyne architecture
is that high-Q filters are not needed in order to achieve good per-
formance. Nevertheless, the passband of the filter at each stage
of downconversion must be chosen to ensure adequate “image”
rejection for the next stage. Image signals are signals at frequen-
cies below the LO frequency that will mix down to the same IF as
the desired RF signal.
Although not shown explicitly in Fig. 4, all LO signals are
driven from a single frequency reference (i.e., clock or oscillator).
This is quite important because the main measurement the GNSS
receiver makes is a time measurement, and using a single time
base makes this far easier. This clock also drives the sampling rate
of the A/D converter. Virtually all GNSS receivers use some form
of crystal oscillator (XO) that operates based on the piezoelec-
tric effect. The temperature-driven instability (drift) in all oscilla-
tors can be improved either through temperature compensation or
temperature control. Temperature compensated crystal oscillators
(TCXOs) contain temperature sensors (thermistors) used to gen-
erate a correction voltage to compensate for changes in tempera-
ture. Even better performance can be achieved by maintaining the
crystal at a near constant temperature, and this is done in oven-
controlled crystal oscillators (OCXOs). Most high-performance
GNSS receivers use either TCXOs or OCXOs to minimize the
clock's effect on the receiver's measurements. Frequency variation
in the receiver's clock will manifest in frequency offsets (pseudo-
Doppler) of the downconverted signal. Clock phase noise will
result ultimately in tracking jitter and finally noise on the mea-
surements.
The superheterodyne architecture takes the low-power, wide-
band RF signal output from the antenna and yields an amplified,
bandlimited (to the GNSS band of interest) signal at a low interme-
diate frequency ready for sampling.
ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION
Once the analog signal has been amplified, downconverted, and
filtered sufficiently, it is then digitized. Unlike digital music, or
26 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II
even voice sampled for telephones, GNSS signals are typically
sampled with a low number of quantization levels. Low-cost
receivers frequently are so-called “hard limiting” devices that
use only 1-bit converters. Higher performance receivers will use
more quantization levels but rarely more than eight (i.e., a 3-bit
converter). These very low numbers of sampling bits are possible
because the signal is despread after digitization, and the signal
resolution is improved by the previously mentioned processing
gain. Legacy GPS signals such as the C/A-code are modulated
with bipolar waveforms and thus a large number of quantization
levels is not needed. With multi-bit converters, automatic gain
control (AGC) is needed to ensure the quantization levels are
being exercised properly (i.e., to minimize the loss of SNR in
the sampling process). Since the signal being sampled is domi-
nated by noise, the AGC circuit is designed to achieve a Gaussian
distribution of samples across the quantization levels. The AGC
level also does not vary very much (in the absence of interfer-
ence), except with temperature variations, which affect the noise
level (see (3)).
The choice of sampling rate is governed not by the highest fre-
quency content of the signal but rather its bandwidth. For example,
if the final IF is at 21.25 MHz and the bandwidth of the signal is
approximately 2.2 MHz, the information in the signal can be ad-
equately captured with a sampling rate slightly higher than twice
the bandwidth (e.g., 5 MHz). Although the highest frequency con-
tent in the signal is at approximately 22.35 MHz, it is not necessary
to apply Nyquist blindly and sample the signal at 45 MHz. This is
due to the fact that the final bandpass filter has attenuated all sig-
nals in the range of 0 – 20 MHz such that they can be considered
negligible. By sampling at a rate higher than twice the bandwidth
but lower than twice the highest frequency, the signal is being pur-
posely aliased down to a lower frequency. This technique is known
as bandpass sampling, IF sampling, or digital downconversion [9],
[10], [11], [25]. In the example above, a 5 MHz sampling rate will
alias the signal down from 21.25 MHz to 1.25 MHz. Since the
bandwidth is 2.2 MHz, the passband of the sampled signal ranges
from 0.15 – 2.35 MHz. Such a signal is clearly sampled properly
at a rate of 5 MHz.
Once the signal has been sampled, baseband processing may
begin. One of the tasks of the baseband processing is the final
downconversion of the (digitized) signal from IF to baseband. This
must be done, however, without losing phase information. The
typical technique used to do this will now be described before the
baseband architecture is presented.
IN-PHASE AND QUADRATURE PROCESSING
After digitization, the signal enters the so-called baseband portion
of the receiver. The signal is converted from its final IF down to
baseband (i.e., center frequency of 0 Hz). However, since most of
the information in the signal is contained in its phase, the conver-
sion to baseband must be done in such a way as not to lose this
phase information. To illustrate this point, consider a generic input
signal
sin ( t ) = cos (ωIF t + φ ) (11)

We seek to downconvert the signal to baseband but not lose
phase information. If we downconvert with a single sinusoid the
result is
smix ( t ) = sin ( t ) cos (ωIF t ) = 12 cos ( 2ωIF t + φ ) + 12 cos (φ ) (12)
If the double-frequency term is filtered out, the remainder is
simply the cosine of the phase. However, since cosine is an even
function, it is impossible to distinguish positive phase from nega-
tive phase. Critical phase information is thus irretrievably lost. In
order to preserve phase, the commonly utilized technique involves
two parallel downconversions
sI ( t ) = sin ( t ) cos (ωIF t ) = 12 cos ( 2ωIF t + φ ) + 12 cos (φ )
(13)
sQ ( t ) = sin ( t ) sin (ωIF t ) = 12 sin ( 2ωIF t + φ ) + 12 sin (φ )
By downconverting two copies of the input signal with two si-
nusoids that are shifted by 90 deg with respect to each other, phase
is preserved. The double-frequency terms are filtered out and the
remaining terms are referred to as the in-phase and quadrature (or
quadra-phase) components
I ( t ) = cos (φ )
(14)
Q ( t ) = sin (φ )
Clearly the phase can be recovered by a simple arctangent op-
eration on the I and Q components. Although the original signal in
this example ((11)) was very simple, the principle is the same for
the actual GNSS signals.
Another reason to create I and Q signals at baseband is that
there is a single analog circuit performing the downconversion
from RF to IF. Due to the high satellite orbit speeds, the Doppler-
shift on the carrier frequencies of the different satellites are not the
same, so the signals from all the satellites being tracked at a given
moment cannot all be brought down to zero frequency together.
The I and Q channels allow us to keep the phase relationships in
these signals.
With this understanding of in-phase and quadrature process-
ing, we may now describe the baseband architecture of the GPS
receiver.
BASEBAND PROCESSING ARCHITECTURE
After the downconverted signal has been sampled, the digital data
enters the baseband processing section of the receiver illustrated in
Fig. 5. The carrier numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) produc-
es sine and cosine waveforms used to perform the aforementioned
in-phase and quadrature final downconversion to baseband. The
remainder of the figure illustrates the processing of the in-phase
samples, since duplicate processing is performed on the quadrature
samples. A separate NCO drives a PRN code generator with the
output feeding a three-stage shift register. The shift register is used
to create “early” (E), “prompt” (P), and “late” (L) versions of the
code (the relative tardiness of these sample streams is only valid
FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 27
Braasch and Dempster
Figure 5.
GPS receiver baseband signal processing block diagram.
after the receiver has started to track the received signal). Each of
these so-called “locally generated” codes (to distinguish them from
the code on the received signal) is multiplied with a copy of the
in-phase samples and the product is passed through an accumulate-
and-dump process (i.e., a digital integrator). This process serves
both to perform correlation of the received signal with the locally-
generated code (more on this shortly) and acts as a low-pass fil-
ter, thus removing the double-frequency term generated when the
sampled received signal is mixed with the carrier NCO signal.
Typical baseband processing thus has six outputs: E, P, L
for both I and Q channels. Each represents a correlation of the
received signal with a time- and phase-shifted version of the
locally generated signal. Let us now consider correlation a bit
more closely.
CORRELATION PROCESSING
As mentioned earlier with regard to Fig. 2, correlation of the re-
ceived signal with the locally-generated code is one of the most
important functions of the receiver, as correlation is used both for
acquisition and tracking. The cross-correlation function of signal
x(t) with signal v(t) is defined as:
∞
R (τ ) ≡  x ( t ) v ( t + τ ) dt (15)
−∞
where τ is the shift parameter known as the “lag.” For periodic sig-
nals, the integration need only be performed over one (or multiple)
period(s). As mentioned earlier with regard to Fig. 5, the combi-
nation of the mixer followed by the accumulate-and-dump circuit
implements the correlation process. The code (either received or
locally-generated) consists of +1s and −1s but the received sig-
nal is the sum of the code plus noise (see Fig. 3). Thus, when the
received and locally-generated codes are aligned, their product is
+1. The integration effectively averages the zero-mean noise but
accumulates the code correlation result over the period of the in-
tegration. The correlation will yield a peak value when the codes
are aligned but will result in relatively small noise values when the
codes are not aligned (Fig. 2 showed the correlation result in the
absence of noise).
GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing
Having described the baseband signal processing architecture,
we may now consider how it is used for signal detection, tracking
and measurement generation. The first step is signal detection, also
known as acquisition.
SIGNAL ACQUISITION
GNSS signal acquisition is essentially a three-dimensional search
process. The receiver must determine which satellites are “visible”
(i.e., above the local horizon such that its signals are incident upon
the antenna) (dimension 1) and, for each visible satellite, must
match its locally-generated “carrier” (dimension 2), and code (di-
mension 3) to the received signal. (Note: It is conventional to refer
to the center frequency of the received signal as the “carrier” even
after it has been downconverted to an intermediate frequency.) The
matching of the locally-generated carrier to the received signal, as
described above, downconverts the received signal to baseband.
The matching (and subsequent correlation) of the locally-gener-
ated code with the received signal accomplishes the de-spreading
needed to narrow the signal bandwidth and raise the signal power
above the noise floor for successful detection (acquisition) and
tracking. As will be described shortly, all three dimensions must
be searched simultaneously. Only after the locally-generated code
and carrier are matched to a signal received from a visible satellite
will the correlation output (e.g., IP in Fig. 5) exceed the background
noise level and yield successful acquisition. In other words, it all
has to work before any of it works!
COLD START
“Cold start” is the term used when the receiver has no a priori
information to help with the acquisition. In a pure cold start the
receiver has not even an approximate knowledge of location, time
or current satellite orbital and clock parameters (known as ephem-
eris). As a result, it must perform a so-called “sky search” in which
it simply attempts acquisition on each and every PRN code in the
satellite constellation. For each code that it searches, the receiver
must then perform a two-dimensional search of all possible code
offsets and all possible frequency offsets. In other words, even if
the receiver is generating the PRN code for a satellite signal that it
is receiving, it must shift its locally-generated code until it aligns
with the received signal. Similarly, a range of frequency offsets
(from nominal) must be searched until the locally-generated carrier
frequency matches the received signal.
Code offsets are typically searched in half-chip steps (thus
2,046 half-chip steps to search through the 1,023 chips of a GPS
C/A-code). The frequency offset is partly due to imperfections in
the satellite and receiver clocks but mainly Doppler shifts due to
satellite and receiver motion. The frequency offset in the satellite
clock is small since atomic oscillators are used. For the medium-
earth orbit (MEO) of GPS satellites, the induced Doppler shift is
in the range of −5 to +5 kHz. Marine and ground vehicles have
relatively low dynamics and thus do not contribute appreciably to
the Doppler. High dynamic jet aircraft, though, can undergo rapid
accelerations with commensurate changes in velocity that cause
Doppler changes of several hundred Hz/s. However, high dynamic
28 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II
maneuvers are typically short-term events and thus are more of a
concern for tracking rather than acquisition. Space-based receiv-
ers in low earth orbit can have high Doppler shifts due their orbit
velocities. The major contributor to frequency offset typically is
the receiver oscillator. TCXOs can add +/− 10 kHz onto the un-
certainty and very low cost oscillators can add hundreds of kHz.
The term “cold start” indicates there may be “warm starts”
and “hot starts” as well. This is indeed the case. Any a priori in-
formation, such as a good guess at location—often the last calcu-
lated—and time—clocks are battery-backed—can help speed the
acquisition process, thus leading to a warm start situation. A hot
start usually indicates the receiver was tracking a given satellite
recently and can reacquire with a greatly reduced search space,
and begin positioning immediately (i.e., it has up-to-date data from
the satellites).
Let us now consider the primary techniques used to perform
signal acquisition. Early generation receivers were typically quite
slow to perform acquisition (e.g., needing several minutes) and
worked solely in the time domain. Modern ASIC designs enable
the usage of frequency domain techniques that effectively parallel-
ize the search process thus greatly increasing speed. Each will now
be examined in turn.
ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES: SERIAL SEARCH
There are three general approaches to GNSS signal acquisition: se-
rial search, parallel frequency-offset, and parallel code-offset. The
serial search technique was the traditional approach and was uti-
lized by most receivers until processing power at the chip-level en-
abled real-time implementation of the parallel search techniques.
Serial search, as the name implies, simply involves the receiver
generating its local code at a particular offset, its locally-generated
carrier at a particular frequency offset, and then correlating this
with the received signal and comparing the result to a threshold. If
the threshold is not exceeded, another code-offset/frequency-offset
is tried and so forth until either the signal is detected or the entire
search space has been exhausted (in which case it is determined
that the satellite is not visible). This method allows for relatively
small, cheap hardware to be allocated to the acquisition process.
Referring back to the accumulate and dump outputs of Fig. 5, the
acquisition detector is formed from the correlation outputs by
Dacq = I p2 + Q p2 (16)
Since the locally-generated carrier is not phase-locked to the
received signal during acquisition, correlation power will be split
between the I and Q channels. Further, squaring of each component
is needed to account for possible phase inversion between locally-
generated code and the received code. Fig. 6 gives an example of
how (16) varies over the entire search space for a particular satel-
lite that was present within the data shown earlier (Fig. 3).
ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES: PARALLEL SEARCHES
Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, not only were all re-
ceivers restricted to serial acquisition, but the bulk of the base-
 Braasch and Dempster

band processing (up through correlation) was performed

in analog hardware. Gradually from the late 1980s and
into the 1990s, the entire baseband architecture was con-
verted from analog to digital (as indicated in Fig. 5). Fur-
thermore, parallel sets of baseband processing hardware
were developed to enable parallel tracking of multiple
satellites (early analog receivers did not have parallel
tracking channels; they had to sequence rapidly through
four or five satellites being tracked). By the mid-1990s,
digital baseband architectures were becoming common-
place. However, due to processing constraints, the data
stream being generated by the A/D converter had to be
processed in real-time with dedicated digital hardware.
Over the next decade processing power reached the point
that parallel search techniques based on the FFT could be
implemented in production receivers.
The parallel frequency search process is illustrated in Figure 6.
Fig. 7 [12], [13], [26]. The basic concept is straightfor- Serial search acquisition detector output for a particular PRN (satellite) that was present
ward. Ignoring the presence of the very low rate data, the within the data shown in Fig. 3. Since the signal is strong, there is a clear single peak
downconverted received signal can be represented by a at the correct code offset and Doppler frequency offset. (Note: Despite the fact that the
simplification of (1): final IF bandwidth of the sampled signal was only 2.2 MHz (i.e., only the main lobe of
the PRN code spectrum was passed), the sharpness of the correlation peak is due to a
low sampling rate of 5 Msps and the coarseness of the Doppler search (1 kHz bins).)
( )
s ( t ) = C ( t ) cos ωIF t + ωoffset t + φ + n ( t ) (17)

where n(t) represents the noise and “offset” represents the

total frequency offset due to the aforementioned clock
and Doppler effects. Recall the PRN code, C(t), consists
of +1s and −1s, and thus when the locally-generated code
is aligned with the received code, the output of the multi-
plier in Fig. 7 is simply

( )
smix ( t ) = cos ωIF t + ωoffset t + φ + n ( t ) C (t ) (18)

Each “−1” in the locally-generated code causes an

Figure 7.
inversion of the noise, but this is of no consequence. If Parallel frequency search process.
the signal is sufficiently strong, taking an FFT of the mul-
tiplier output ((18)) will yield a peak that rises above the
noise. Each incorrect locally-generated code offset will
yield a noisy result that will not exceed a predetermined
threshold. Fig. 8 shows the results of performing this pro-
cess for all of the possible code offsets for the same PRN
shown in Fig. 6 (for the serial search).
Although conceptually more difficult, it is possible to
parallelize the search of the code space (i.e., the “code
offset” axis shown in Figs. 6 and 8) [14], [13], [26]. This
is advantageous since while there may be several dozen
frequency bins to search (e.g., 20 kHz searched in 500 Hz
bins), there are over two thousand code offsets to search
(e.g., 2,046 half-chip steps for the GPS C/A-code), and
multiple satellites to consider. The key idea is to exploit
the tremendous similarity between correlation and con-
volution. Recall the convolution of two signals is given
by

∞
Figure 8.
x (t ) ∗ v (t ) ≡  x ( λ ) v ( t − λ ) d λ (19) Parallel frequency search acquisition detector output for a particular PRN (satellite)
−∞
that was present within the data shown in Fig. 3.

FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 29

GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing
Figure 9.
Parallel code search process. (Note: Although not shown on the figure, one of the
FFT outputs must be conjugated (it does not matter which one).) Furthermore, the
FFT of the PRN code(s) may be precomputed offline and stored in hardware or
software to reduce realtime computational burden.
Figure 10.
Parallel code search acquisition detector output for a particular PRN (satellite) that
was present within the data shown in Fig. 3.
Figure 11.
Generic digital phase-lock loop (PLL). The phase discriminator determines the
difference between the received signal and the signal generated by the numerically-
controlled oscillator (NCO) and provides an output proportional to this difference.
30 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II
whereas the correlation of these two signals was given in
(15).
As (15) and (19) show, the difference between convo-
lution and correlation is that one of the signals is time-re-
versed in convolution but not in correlation. Recalling the
Fourier transform of a time-reversed signal is given by
{ }
F x ( −t ) = X ∗ (ω ) (20)
Then we may write the Fourier transform of correlation as
 ∞ 
F   x ( t ) v ( t + τ ) dt  = X (ω )V ∗ (ω ) = X ∗ (ω )V (ω )
 −∞  (21)
Note that it does not matter which signal is conjugat-
ed. Fig. 9 illustrates the parallel code-search process. This
process must be repeated for each frequency offset in the
search space. For the same PRN as before, the results for
the entire search space are illustrated in Fig. 10.
Another example of parallelism is simply to instantiate
in an ASIC a very large number (a million, say) of acqui-
sition channels, each assigned to one instance of satellite
number/code delay/Doppler frequency [24]. This massively
parallel operation can be used to “instantaneously” acquire
all signals necessary in normal conditions, or drastically
improve the time to acquire weak signals, e.g., indoors.
The conclusion of the acquisition process is the deter-
mination of the code and frequency offset for each satellite
in view. The determined offsets are only rough approxima-
tions that must be refined significantly to enable the code
and carrier-based measurements to be generated. Thus, the
primary purpose of acquisition is to provide starter values
for the tracking loops to “pull-in” the signal and track it
precisely. We now turn our attention to these loops.
TRACKING LOOPS
Beyond determining which satellites are visible, the goal of
the acquisition process is to determine a rough approxima-
tion of the code and frequency offsets. The approximations
need only be close enough to permit closure of the tracking
loops. In other words, the residual offsets in the code and
frequency estimates need to be within the pull-in range of
the tracking loops. Fig. 11 depicts a block diagram of a ge-
neric phase-lock loop (PLL) [15]. There are three broad cat-
egories of tracking loops in a GNSS receiver (code tracking
loop, carrier frequency lock loop or FLL, carrier phase lock
loop or PLL) but all are just applications of the PLL prin-
ciple (to be precise, the carrier tracking loop is actually a
Costas loop [4] rather than a pure PLL, but it is common
in the GNSS community to loosely use the term PLL). In
Fig. 11 the NCO block can be generalized to an NCO driv-
ing a specific waveform generator (e.g., PRN code genera-
tor, carrier-frequency generator). The phase discriminator
(sometimes referred to as a phase detector) determines the
offset between the received and locally generated signals.

Figure 12.
Illustration of the effects of simply holding constant the initial estimates
of code and frequency offset. Early, prompt, and late correlation powers
are depicted. Since the rate of the locally-generated code is too slow,
the late power is observed to increase to double its original value before
decaying.
This is the code offset, frequency difference or phase difference
in the cases of the code tracking loop, FLL and PLL, respectively.
The loop filter serves both to reduce tracking noise and, depend-
ing upon the design, also track a shift in the nominal rate of the
received signal. The loop filter output is an error signal that adjusts
the rate of the NCO to keep the locally-generated signal locked
onto the received signal.
The need for the tracking loop can be understood by consider-
ing what happens if the initial estimates of code and frequency
offset are simply held constant. Fig. 12 illustrates this for the case
of one of the satellite signals in the data of Fig. 3. The plot in the
middle of Fig. 12 depicts the prompt correlation power (computed
using the same algorithm, (16), as was used for detection). The
upper and lower plots depict the “early” correlation power (using
IE and QE) and the “late” correlation power (using IL and QL) us-
ing the correlation results depicted in Fig. 5. How early or late the
locally-generated codes are (Fig. 5) depends upon the receiver but
typically are in the range of 0.05 – 0.5 chip. Narrow spacing of
early/prompt/late correlators has the advantage of reducing noise
and multipath [16] but requires a wider bandwidth front end, high-
er rate A/D conversion, and faster baseband signal processing and
thus a more expensive receiver. The early and late correlators in
Fig. 12 were approximately +/− 0.4 chip spacing relative to the
prompt. Given the chip spacing and the correlation function round-
ing due to a final IF bandwidth of approximately 2.2 MHz, the
early and late correlation powers should be about half the value of
the prompt power if the locally-generated codes are locked onto
the received signal. This is indeed the case at the beginning of the
plot. However, as time goes on (note the duration of the plot is
1 second) this is no longer the case. Indeed, the late correlation
power increases to double its original value before decaying. Thus,
it is clear that the locally-generated code is too slow relative to the
received signal.
FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 31
Braasch and Dempster
The goal of the tracking loop, then, is to make adjustments to
the locally generated signal to keep it locked onto the time-varying
received signal. The first step is to determine the (time or phase)
difference between received and locally generated signals. Thus,
let us now consider the (time or phase) discriminator of the track-
ing loop.
TRACKING LOOP DISCRIMINATORS
We start by considering the code tracking loop. Given the sym-
metric nature of the correlation function (e.g., Fig. 2e), we cannot
use just a single prompt correlator for tracking. If the local code
is slightly early or slight late, the correlation power is the same.
The traditional solution is to implement a so-called delay-lock loop
(DLL). As aforementioned, local codes are generated purposely
early and purposely late. By differencing the two, an unambiguous
code offset discriminator may be constructed. A simplified ver-
sion of this is illustrated in Fig. 13. On the left of the figure are
the correlation functions associated with the late and early corre-
lators. When these two correlation functions are differenced, the
result is the DLL discriminator function (right side of the figure).
As the figure shows, the discriminator function is an unambigu-
ous measure of tracking error since it is an odd function. In actual
practice, the formation of the discriminator function is somewhat
more complicated due to correlation power being split between in-
phase and quadrature channels and potential phase inversions due
to data bit changes. The normalized early-minus-late power detec-
tor is given by
D (τ ) =
(I 2
E ) (
+ QE2 − I L2 + QL2 ) (22)
(I 2
P +Q2
P )
The DLL adjusts the rate of the locally-generated code to main-
tain lock on the received signal. An example is given in Fig. 14.
In stark contrast to Fig. 12, there is a slight increase in power ob-
served over the duration of the run (10 seconds in this plot) and the
prompt power is maintained at a level of approximately twice that
of the early and late powers.
FREQUENCY AND PHASE DISCRIMINATORS
Since it is impossible to determine frequency instantaneously, the
FLL discriminator requires a sequence of at least two correlation
powers. A robust FLL discriminator is given by [4]
ATAN 2 ( cross, dot )
D( f ) = (23)
2π ( t2 − t1 )
where t1 and t2 are the time-of-validity of two sequential sets of
correlations. Equation (23) is comprised of:
cross = I P1 ⋅ QP 2 − I P 2 ⋅ QP1
(24)
dot = I P1 ⋅ I P 2 + QP 2 ⋅ QP 2
GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing

Figure 13.
Simplified illustration of the early-minus-late DLL discriminator function. The constituent late and early correlation functions are shown on the left and
the discriminator (consisting of the early correlation function minus the late correlation function) is shown on the right. (Note: In order to achieve this
particular discriminator function shape in practice one must modify (22) by computing the square-roots of the early, late and prompt powers (this is then
known as a normalized envelope discriminator).)

Figure 15.
Figure 14. Example frequency-lock loop (FLL) discriminator output depicting an
Illustration of the correlation power output when the code tracking loop approximately 200 Hz difference between the received carrier and the
(DLL) is closed (compare to Fig. 12). locally-generated carrier. The spikes in the data are due to phase inver-
sions that arise upon data bit changes.
where “1” and “2” are time indices. Assuming perfect code track-
An example is shown in Fig. 15. The locally-generated carrier is
ing and neglecting noise, the prompt correlation values can be
clearly off by approximately 200 Hz from the received signal. The
modeled by
spikes are due to data bit changes that cause phase inversions.
After acquisition, typically the loop is closed simultaneously
I P1 = cos φ1 I P 2 = cos φ2
(25) on both the code and frequency tracking loops. Once locked, the
QP1 = sin φ1 QP 2 = sin φ2
FLL can be turned over to a PLL. The PLL phase detector is given
simply by
where ϕi is the phase difference between the local and received
carriers at the ith time interval. It can be shown that substitution of ( )
Dφ = ATAN 2 Q p , I p (27)
(25) into (24) and substitution then into (23) yields
Fig. 16 illustrates IP and QP when the code is locked and the
φ2 − φ1 2π Δφ locally-generated frequency is within a few hertz of the received
D( f ) = = = Δf (26)
2π ( t2 − t1 ) 2π Δt signal. Again, the jumps occur due to data bit changes.

32 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II


Figure 16.
Example in-phase (blue) and quadrature (red) correlator outputs for
a case where the code is being tracked and the carrier is within a few
hertz of the received signal.
When the PLL is closed, all signal energy is driven into the
in-phase channel and data demodulation becomes trivial for strong
signals as illustrated in Fig. 17. Since a Costas loop is used to track
the carrier, this demodulation process results in an ambiguity. Spe-
cifically, it is initially not known which bits (e.g., high or low) are
zeros and which are ones. This ambiguity can be resolved through
the use of a known preamble in the so-called telemetry word of the
broadcast data and a six-bit parity sequence at the end of all data
words [3].
Having looked at the discriminators, we now touch on some
issues related to the other two components of the PLL.
LOOP FILTERS AND NCOS
As shown in Fig. 11, a generic digital PLL consists of a phase dis-
criminator, loop filter, and variable oscillator (typically an NCO).
NCOs (also known as digitally controlled oscillators) produce
a given frequency through a clocked phase accumulator (with a
specified phase step) that feeds a sine and/or cosine mapping func-
tion. Details of NCO design are beyond the scope of this tutorial
(see [15]) but the basic theory is straightforward. For those not
familiar with feedback control systems in general, and PLLs spe-
cifically, though, a few words are needed regarding the loop filter.
In general, PLL loop filters are not merely low-pass filters. Al-
though they are designed to reject high frequency noise in the dis-
criminator output, they also serve a compensation role. The NCO
is initially set to generate a nominal frequency given a zero input
from the loop filter. If the frequency of the signal input to the PLL
changes from nominal, the loop filter output fed to the NCO must
change to a nonzero steady-state value. A simple frequency-selec-
tive filter will not provide this. Although a variety of filter types
can be utilized, a common one is a proportional-integral filter. The
number of integrators in the filter sets the order of the loop. If a
simple filter with no integrators is used, the PLL is a first-order
loop. Such a loop will track an input frequency change with non-
FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 33
Braasch and Dempster
Figure 17.
Example in-phase (blue) and quadrature (red) correlator outputs for a
case where both the received signal code and carrier-phase are being
tracked.
zero steady-state error. If the filter has a single integrator, the PLL
is a second-order loop. Such a loop will track an input frequency
change with zero steady-state error but a signal with a nonzero
frequency-rate will be tracked with nonzero steady-state error. Fre-
quency rates occur typically due to dynamics of the platform in
which the receiver is mounted (e.g., an aircraft performing a turn).
Since these are typically short duration events, second-order track-
ing loops are common in civilian receivers. Additional detail on
loop filter design may be found in [4].
With the code and carrier tracking loops locked and the binary data
demodulated, we are finally ready to start generating measurements.
GENERATING MEASUREMENTS
Although a significant amount of signal processing has occurred
from the antenna down to the tracking loops, little has been re-
vealed regarding how the receiver measures time and utilizes this
to generate the range-type of measurements known as pseudorang-
es. The relationship between time and pseudorange is quite simple.
The GNSS pseudorange measurement is defined as
PR = (TOR − TOT ) ⋅ c (28)
where:
TOR = signal time-of-reception (i.e., the time a given point on the
signal arrives at the receiver),
TOT = signal time-of-transmission (i.e., the time the given point on
the signal leaves the satellite)
c = speed of light.
Conceptually, time-of-reception is determined simply by the
receiver polling its own clock at a given measurement time (any
clock offset in the receiver biases the measurement, hence the
name “pseudorange” instead of just “range”). Accurate determina-
GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing

tion of time-of-transmission, however, is what distinguishes GNSS

from non-navigation communication systems that utilize spread
spectrum. Time is encoded onto the GNSS signal in two parts.
Absolute time (with respect to the time reference of the whole
GNSS) is encoded in the data bits. In GPS, for example, the data
is grouped into 30-second frames, each comprised of five 6-sec-
ond subframes. The so-called “hand-over word” or HOW speci-
fies the absolute time-of-transmission of the beginning of the next
subframe. Measurements of time-of-transmission in between these
subframes may be made based on the locked local-code generator.
To understand this, consider the fact that the GPS C/A-code broad-
cast by a given satellite repeats nominally every millisecond. Con-
ceptually then, the receiver may initialize a time-of-transmission
register and preload it with the value obtained from the aforemen-
tioned data. At the beginning of the next subframe, the receiver
may then increment this register by 1 millisecond every time it has
locally generated one whole C/A-code. Doppler shifts will change Figure 18.
the rate of the received signal, but the code-tracking loop will fol- Example of change of pseudorange and corresponding scaled running
low these changes. Thus, the time-of-transmission register will be Doppler count over a 10-second measurement interval with a stationary
incremented at intervals different than 1 millisecond in accordance receiver.
with the Doppler. In actual practice, 1-millisecond steps are far too
coarse (even the code generator chip steps are too coarse) and the
time-of-transmission register is updated according to the instanta-
neous state of the code generator.
Having outlined the pseudorange generation process, we now
consider the measurements derived from the Doppler-shifted car-
rier. Several measurements are associated with the carrier. The re-
lationship between line-of-sight (LOS) velocity and Doppler shift
is given by

vLOS = λo f D (29)

where λo is the nominal carrier wavelength and fD is the Doppler shift

frequency. Since the receiver has to adjust its local carrier frequency
to maintain lock on the received signal, Doppler shift is inherently
measured. More precisely, average Doppler shift over a measurement
interval is measured. Another form of this measurement is given by
accumulating (i.e., integrating) the total number of Doppler cycles
generated over an interval. Scaling the result by the carrier wave-
length provides an integration of (29). This is known as “delta-range”
and, as the name implies, provides a measure of the change of LOS
range over the measurement interval. Finally, the so-called “carrier-
phase” measurement is obtained by maintaining a running Doppler
cycle count and adding the fractional phase (using (27)) that exists
at the end of a measurement interval. This fractional phase measure-
ment is the key to the millimeter-level resolution utilized by so-called
high-precision GNSS applications such as surveying. The integrity
of these measurements is subject to a noise-induced phenomenon
known as “cycle slips” wherein the running Doppler cycle count er-
roneously misses or adds cycles to the total. The occurrence of cy-
cle slips can be minimized by setting a sufficiently high minimum
carrier-to-noise ratio threshold and the use of high-quality front-end
components in the receiver (e.g., low-phase noise oscillators, high Q
narrow-band filters, double-balanced mixers, et cetera).
Fig. 18 illustrates the change of pseudorange (and correspond-
ing scaled running Doppler count) over a span of 10 seconds in
Figure 19.
Example of full pseudorange and corresponding scaled running Doppler
count over a 10-second measurement interval with a stationary receiver
(same data set as Fig. 18).
an example data set taken from a stationary experimental receiver.
Since a high-quality oscillator was used in the receiver, the change
is almost completely due to satellite motion across the sky. When
the data bits are used to resolve absolute time, a full pseudorange
measurement can be made as illustrated in Fig. 19. Over such a
short time span and such a large scale, the measurement appears
to be constant.
With the measurements in hand, the major signal processing
tasks of the receiver have now been described. The algorithms
used to compute position and velocity from these measurements
may be found in [5], [22], [4], [23]. Before concluding this tutorial,
however, we will look beyond the GPS C/A-code and consider the
newer, so-called “modernized,” signals.

34 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II


Figure 20.
How Manchester encoding “splits” the spectrum of a data signal.
GNSS MODERNIZATION
GPS has served the positioning, navigation, and timing commu-
nity well for several decades, and is performing tasks it was never
designed for, and that may not even have been envisaged when it
was being designed, such as providing timing for high-frequency
trading at stock exchanges. Because of these extra demands, new
signals have been added to GPS. For other (mostly political) rea-
sons, new systems have also been designed. What that means is
that whereas “satellite navigation” has been synonymous with GPS
L1 for some time, it is now increasingly being considered as multi-
signal, multi-GNSS. (Note: In the early 1990s, the International
Civil Aviation Organization coined the term “GNSS” to refer to
the global collection of satellite navigation systems. In more recent
times, however, “GNSS” has come also to be used as a generic
moniker for any single global satellite navigation system. The term
“multi-GNSS” specifically refers to receivers and applications that
utilize more than one global navigation satellite system.) In fact,
it's even more than that, with new systems coming on-line that are
regional rather than global. An example of this is the Indian Re-
gional Navigation Satellite System, also known as Navigation with
Indian Constellation (NavIC), with a seven-satellite constellation
that provides service to the Indian subcontinent. A hybrid between
global and regional is the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
(QZSS). QZSS consists of three satellites that transmit GPS-like
signals in highly elliptical orbits designed to improve GPS cov-
erage in the dense high-rise cities of Japan. The proliferation of
satellite systems is a new paradigm that has been called “GNSS
modernization,” requiring “system of systems” receivers [17].
In GPS, new civilian signals have been introduced at L2
(1,227.60 MHz) and L5 (1,176.45 MHz) and a new civilian signal,
in addition to the traditional C/A signal, is also being planned at L1
[18]. The Russian Glonass system traditionally operated on frequen-
cies near L1 and L2, but with separate frequencies for each satellite
(frequency division multiple access). It is moving towards CDMA
for compatibility reasons [19]. The European Galileo system oper-
FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 35
Braasch and Dempster
ates at L1 (which it calls E1) and E5: a
very wideband signal that captures the
L5 band on one side [20]. The Chinese
Beidou system also uses L1, which it
calls B1, and a B2 band which aligns
with the “other” side of E5 [21]. Both
Galileo (E6) and Beidou (B3) have a
signal at 1,268.52 MHz which is re-
stricted (i.e., not for public use).
In terms of receiver design, these
carrier frequencies need to be taken
into account, but there are other impor-
tant parameters of the signals that dif-
fer from GPS L1: the bandwidth, the
modulation, and the data carried. For
the purposes of this tutorial, we will
not discuss the carrier processing or
what is done with the data because the
differences do not call for a different
approach in the receiver. That leaves
bandwidth and modulation.
The GPS L5 signal has a code chipping rate of 10.23 MHz,
i.e., ten times that for GPS L1. The correlation circuits must work
ten times as fast to process the signal, but there are advantages.
The errors that the receiver experiences due to multipath and noise
are reduced, almost by that factor of ten. The L5 code repeats at
the same rate as the L1 code (every 1ms) but there are 10 times as
many chips in the code. This helps with a number of problems we
will not discuss here but it does require a code-search space during
acquisition that is ten times as long. Thus, the benefits of band-
width and longer codes must be paid for in resources: time and/or
hardware and/or power consumption.
A more profound difference is in the introduction of BOC
modulation in the Galileo signals. This is where a square wave
subcarrier (with values of +/−1) at an integer multiple of the code
chipping rate multiplies each chip before spreading and despread-
ing. An example from older communications systems is Manches-
ter encoding, where the subcarrier has the same rate as the chipping
code, to remove the carrier if modulated or DC if unmodulated (see
Fig. 20). This results in the spectrum being split around the carrier.
One component of the Galileo E1-B/C signal effectively uses the
Manchester encoding method at E1 to produce BOC(1,1). To ex-
plain the terminology used for this signal, the integers refer to mul-
tiples of the GPS L1 C/A-code frequency of 1.023 MHz. The GPS
L1 C/A-code signal is thus BPSK (1) because it uses a code that
is binary phase shift keyed at 1.023 MHz. The L5 signal is BPSK
(10). Galileo's BOC(1,1) has a subcarrier and code rate of 1.023
MHz, hence BOC(1,1). The full E1-B/C signal is actually a com-
bination of a BOC(1,1) signal and a reduced-amplitude BOC(6,1)
signal. The result is called Composite BOC or CBOC. The signal
is designed such that lower-cost low-bandwidth receivers are able
to track only the BOC(1,1) component of E1-B/C, while more ad-
vanced receivers can exploit some of the advantages of that higher
bandwidth signal. The Galileo E5 signal is the most sophisticated
signal of all and uses techniques beyond the scope of this tutorial
to create a signal with different subsignals on each side of the car-
GPS Receiver Architectures, Front-End and Baseband Signal Processing

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Dr. Wouter Pelgrum (formerly with Ohio University) of NextNav
LLC is thanked for the provision of the software used to generate
the code and correlation plots. The reviewers of this tutorial are
thanked for their insightful corrections, comments and suggestions
for improvement.

REFERENCES
Figure 21.
By using a subcarrier, the signal can be split over two bands for BOC,
or twice as many signals can be modulated onto the same bands using
AltBOC.
rier using alternative BOC (similar to single sideband modulation).
That signal is AltBOC(15,10) (see Fig. 21).
To track a BOC(1,1) signal, the correlator circuitry needs to
be more complex than for BPSK. The autocorrelation function is
no longer triangular, as shown in Fig. 22. There are two incorrect
negative peaks in the autocorrelation function, so techniques must
be devised to cope. The most straightforward is the use of extra
correlation hardware: very early and very late.
The Galileo BOC(1,1) signal has twice the bandwidth of GPS
L1, which gives a lower multipath error. The correlation shape also
gives a further advantage.
CONCLUSIONS
The current proliferation of GNSS constellations and applications
is a clear indication of the success of the satellite-based navigation
system concept. This article has focused on the signal processing
core of GNSS receivers. Additional information (including how to
determine position and velocity from the measurements described
in this article) may be found in [5], [22], [4], [23].
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BPSK tracking (left) using early, prompt, and late correlators. BOC tracking on the right, where to avoid tracking the incorrect “negative” peaks, very
early and very late correlators are also required.

36 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II

 Braasch and Dempster

[10] Akos, D. M., Stockmaster, M., Tsui, J. B. Y., and Caschera, J. Direct
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bandpass sampling of multiple distinct RF signals. IEEE Transactions
on Communications, Vol. 47, 7 (Jul. 1999), 983–988. Michael S. Braasch (M'92 –
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multiband communications and satellite navigation receivers. IEEE in electrical engineering from
Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. 47, 4 (Oct. Ohio University in 1992. He has
2011), 2308–2316. been performing navigation re-
[12] Cheng, U., Hurd, W., and Statman, J. Spread-spectrum code acquisi- search with the Ohio University
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1997. of the electrical engineering fac-
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using FFT. Electronic Letters, Vol. 27, 2 (Jan. 17, 1991), 158–160. appointed to the Thomas Profes-
[15] Best, R. Phase-Locked Loops—Design, Simulation and Applications, sorship in 2004. He is interna-
3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. tionally recognized for his work in characterizing the effects of GPS
[16] Van Dierendonck, A., Fenton, P., and Ford, T. Theory and perfor- multipath. In addition, his research in the application of phased-array
mance of narrow correlator spacing in a GPS receiver. NAVIGATION: techniques to differential GPS ground reference stations laid the
Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Vol. 39, 3 (Fall 1992). foundation for the development of the first-generation prototype an-
[17] Hewitson, S., and Dempster, A. The ‘system of systems' receiver: tennas for the FAA's Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS).
An Australian opportunity? In Proceedings of the 2007 International In the mid 1990s, he led the Ohio University research group that pio-
Global Navigation Satellite Systems Society IGNSS Symposium, Syd- neered the GPS software-defined receiver. He has also conducted
ney, Dec. 2007. research in the design, development and flight-testing of peripheral
[18] Anonymous. New civil signals. [Online] Available: http://www.gps. vision display systems for general aviation aircraft.
gov/systems/gps/modernization/civilsignals/, last access 22 May He has served as a visiting scientist at the Delft University of
2017. Technology in The Netherlands and has lectured for NATO AGARD
[19] Ipatov, V., and Shebshaevich, B. Glonass CDMA. In Inside GNSS, in Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. He has served as an associate editor
Jul./Aug. 2010. for navigation and technical editor for navigation for the IEEE Trans-
[20] Julien, O., and Macabiau, C. GNSS solutions: What are the major dif- actions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems and since 2014 has
ferences between Galileo and GPS current and forthcoming frequen- served as the IEEE/AESS liaison to the ION/IEEE Position, Location
cies? In Inside GNSS, May/Jun. 2006. and Navigation Symposium (PLANS). Since 2015, he has served
[21] Navipedia. BeiDou signal plan. [Online] Available: http://www.navi- as the associate editor for navigation for SYSTEMS and currently
pedia.net/index.php/BeiDou_Signal_Plan, last access 22 May 2017. serves as the Chair of the IEEE/AESS Navigation Systems Panel.
[22] Groves, P. Principles of GNSS, Inertial, and Multisensor Integrated
Navigation Systems, 2nd ed. Boston: Artech House, 2013. Andrew Dempster (M'92–
[23] Misra, P., and Enge, P. Global Positioning System—Signals, Measure- SM'03) He has a BE degree
ments, and Performance, 2nd ed. Lincoln, MA: Ganga-Jamuna Press, (1984) and MEngSc degree
2006. (1992) from UNSW and a PhD
[24] Pany, T. et al. On the State-of-the-Art of Real-Time GNSS signal degree from University of Cam-
acquisition—A comparison of time and frequency domain methods. bridge (1995) in efficient cir-
In Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Indoor Po- cuits for signal processing arith-
sitioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN), Zürich, Switzerland, 15–17 metic.
Sep. 2010. He is Director of the Austra-
[25] Akos, D. and M. Braasch. A Software Radio Approach to Global lian Centre for Space Engineer-
Navigation Satellite System Receiver Design. In Proceedings of the ing Research (ACSER) at the
52nd Annual Meeting of the Institute of Navigation, Cambridge, MA, University of New South Wales
19-21 Jun. 1996. (UNSW). Prof. Dempster was
[26] Akos, D. and M. Braasch. Global Navigation Satellite System Soft- system engineer and project
ware Radio Receiver Implementation. In Proceedings of the 9th Inter- manager for the first GPS receiver developed in Australia in the
national Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of late 80s and has been involved in satellite navigation ever since.
Navigation (ION GPS-96), Kansas City, KS, 17-20 Sep. 1996. He has published in the areas of arithmetic circuits, signal process-
ing, biomedical image processing, satellite navigation and space
systems. His current research interests are in satellite navigation
receiver design and signal processing, areas where he has six pat-
ents, new location technologies, and space systems.

FEBRUARY 2019 Part II of II IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 37