RADIO NAVIGATON

Electromagnetic Wave Theory

All electronic navigation systems that

provide positional information rely on the
radio wave in some way. A basic
understanding of the theory,
characteristics, and behavior of these
radio waves is necessary to understand
the errors inherent in these systems.
 The Electromagnetic Wave

Cycle: One complete sequence of values Period: Time required to repeat on cycle
of the strength of a wave. of the wave.
Wavelength: Length of a cycle in distance Phase: The amount (in degrees), by
units. which a cycle has progressed.
Amplitude: The wave strength. Hertz: Cycles per second.
Frequency: Number of cycles/second. Carrier: Base wave before it is
modulated.
Modulation
A wave that is transmitted at a constant
frequency cannot convey much information. For a
wave to carry information, it must be modified, or
“modulated”. Different ways to modulate waves are:
 Amplitude Modulation (AM) – The amplitude of a carrier wave is
modulated. (Commercial radio broadcast)
 Frequency Modulation (FM) – The frequency of a carrier wave is
modulated. (radio and TV Audio)
 Pulse Modulation – The continuous wave is broken into short
bursts, or pulses, separated by silence. (RADAR)
 Phase Modulation – The phase of a carrier wave is modulated.
(Satellite Navigation Systems)
Behavior of Waves in the Atmosphere

 Reflection - any surface can reflect electro-

magnetic waves (smooth vs. rough surface)
 Refraction - the bending of waves as they
pass through a more dense medium
 Absorption - waves lose energy
 Diffraction - the bending of waves around an
obstruction that cannot be penetrated
 Interference - (constructive vs. destructive)
waves colliding with each other
Hyperbolic navigation
systems
Hyperbolic navigation systems

 Based on the measurement of the difference in the

time of arrival of EMW from two transmitters to the
receiver in the craft

 The locus of the points which have a constant value

of delay is a hyperbola on a plane surface.

 DECCA
 OMEGA
 LORAN – A
 LORAN – C
 Introduction

 Hyperbolic systems are based on measuring the

difference in distance between a craft and two
known sites.

 The name arises from the fact that the locus of

points which have a constant value of such
difference is a hyperbola on a plane surface.
The locus of such points of constant difference
are known as ‘Line of Position ( LOP )’
 Fixed distance difference between the craft and
the two sites lie on a hyperbolic locus that passes
between the sites.

 Definition of terms:
 base-line
 base-line extension
 line of position (LOP)
 centre-line (CL)
Basic Concept

CL
X

base-line
extension A base-line B

LOP
Hyperbolic Navigation

A B
D

C
 AP BP
td  
C C
Simplifying, the equation becomes:

x2 y 2
2
 2 1
a b
where l 2
a2 
4
2
l
b2  d 2 
4
 LORAN - A

 It stands for ‘ long range navigational aids’, developed

during last world war and found wide use.
 Pacific and Atlantic sea boards of north America and
the region of Japan served by loran
 It operates in MF band around 2 MHz
 Its a pulse system, ground station transmit a train of
pulses with fixed time relation between them and at the
receiver, these pulses are identified and the delay
between them is measured on CRO tube.
 If the two transmitter transmit identical pulse
simultaneously, then its very difficult to determine
which pulse arrived first
 To avoid this pulse transmission are not made
simultaneously.
 LORAN - A
o
t=0

A B

p
d1 o
t= t1
A B

o t= t2

A B

0 d2
t= t2+t3
A B
t =0 Transmitter A transmit a pulse

t = t1 = (d1/c) the pulse reaches the craft

t = t2 Transmitter B transmit a pulse (absolute delay)

t = t2 + t3 = t2 + d2/c the pulse from b reaches the craft

The transmission of B takes place after the pulse from A reaches B

The time delay between two pulsed is t2+t3-t1 is measured

t2 is known to the receiver so t3-t1 can determined (-ve or negative

The distance between two transmitter is from 400 to 700 Km

 The pulse repetition frequencies used in the region
20, 25, 331/3 hz , generated by high accuracy clock
generators

 The sequence of pulse for a master- slave pair

ABAB…

 The interval between one transmission of A and next

transmission of B is called ‘absolute delay’ (ζ).( AD
must be greater than the time taken for transmission
to reach from A to B ie β= 2d/c )

 The maximum time interval between A and B pulse at

the receiver (ζ+ β)
 The minimum time interval between A and B pulse at
the receiver (ζ- β)
 In order to differentiate A and B, the interval between an
A and the next B is always more than half the pulse
repetition frequency(T/2), and B to A always less than
half the PRF

 The minimum interval between the reception of A and B

pulses should be > T/2
ζ- β > T/2
ζ- β = T/2 + a
ζ =β + T/2 + a
The maximum and minimum interval between the pulses
are
t max = (β + T/2 + a) + β
t min = (β + T/2 + a) – β =T/2+a
LORAN- A EQUIPMENT
 LORAN –A transmitter have peak power of 100 kw
which feed in to vertical quarter wavelength antenna
 The master and slave transmitter provided with
crystal controlled oscillators to maintain the repetition
rates

 This employs three basic reception rates of 20, 25,

and 33 1/3 Hz.
 Each rate is subdivided into group of eight
frequencies which differ from above but accurately
controlled steps of 1/25,1/16, & 1/9.
 3*8=24 channels
LORAN- C
 Loran - C

 Loran – C is a low freq. radio navigation aid

operating in the radio spectrum of 90 to 110 kHz.

 It consists of transmitting stations in groups forming

chains.

 At least three transmitter stations make up a chain.

 One station is designated as master, while others are

called secondaries.
 The chain coverage area is determined by the
following factors:
 Transmitted power from each station
 The geometry of the stations
 Distance between the stations
 Orientations between the stations

• Receivers determine the applied coverage area by

their signal processing techniques and can derive
position, velocity and time information from the time
difference (TD) between the time of arrival (TOA) of
a radio wave from a secondary minus the TOA of a
radio wave from the master station.
 Each of the stations in all Loran –C chains transmit
pulses that have standard characteristics.

 The pulse consists of a 100 kHz carrier that rapidly

increases in amplitude in a carefully controlled
manner and then decays at a specified rate forming an
envelope of the signal.

 Each station in a chain repetitively transmits a series

of closely spaced pulses called a pulse group at the
group repetition interval (GRI) of the chain.

 The GRI uniquely identifies the chain.

 When the chain is synchronized to universal time
(UT) the master station also sets the time reference
for the chain.

 Other stations of the chain are secondaries and

transmit in turn after the master.

 Each secondary pulse transmission is delayed in time

so that nowhere in the coverage area will signals from
one station overlap another
 The number of pulses in a group, pulse spacing
in a group, carrier phase code of each pulse,
time of transmission, the time between
repetition of pulse groups from a station, and
the delay of secondary station pulse groups
with respect to the master signals constitute the
signal format.

 Each station in a chain is assigned a signal

format based on its function.
 The signal format is modified by blinking certain
pulses to notify the user of faulty signal transmission.

 The signal format is also modified to accommodate a

single transmitter station in two chains.

 This is accomplished by permitting transmission for

one of the chains to take precedence over the other
when the signal format calls for simultaneous
transmission in both chains. This function is called
blanking.
 The transmissions actually consist of a succession
of pulses, eight in number for the slave stations
and nine in the case of the master station.
 The ninth pulse transmitted by the master station
is used for coding to indicate malfunction in any
station.
 Loran-C has a range of 3500 km over sea and2200
km over land
 A time difference is measured which gives
position on the LOP.

 Further positioning is done by two or more

LOPs.

 After computing the above time difference, the

position of the aircraft is calculated in terms of
latitude and longitude and displayed.
 Diagram from p:163 of Dhunta
 Diagram from p:55 of Nagaraju
 Diagram from p:164 of Dhunta
 Over the chain coverage area, the
propagation anomalies exhibit both spatial
and temporal variations.

 The temporal variations (time difference

TD ) fall into two primary categories:
 Diurnal time difference
 Seasonal time difference
 Absolute Accuracy Performance:
 The total accuracy is dependent upon the
geometric dilution of precesion (GDOP) factor at
the user’s location within the coverage area.
 GDOP is a dimensionless factor that expresses the
sensitivity of position fix accuracy to errors in time
difference (TD) measurements

 The repeatable and relative accuracy of Loran-

C is usually between 18 and 90 meters.
 Availability:

 Although individual Loran-C

transmitting equipment is very reliable,
reduntant equipment is used to reduce
system downtime.

 Loran-C transmitting station signal

availability is therefore greater than 99%
 Reliability
 Reliability is a measure applied to system equipment
such as receivers, timers and transmitters.

 Redundant equipment keep the system in an almost

fail-safe mode.

 The only significant failures in service have occurred

when transmitting antennas have collapsed or a
severe lightning strike has completely destroyed the
output modules in a solid-state transmitter.
 Repeatability
 The Loran-C system repeatability is excellent in
terms of days to weeks or longer.
 Integrity
 Direct Ranging
 Differential Loran-c
 DECCA NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

Itoperates at LF band between 70 to 120 kHz,

uses unmodulated sin waves
Here measurement can be done by measuring
the phase difference between the signals of the
two stations.
DECCA chain consist of four stations, a master
and three slaves, slaves being at the corner of a
triangle and master at the center.
These will give three set of hyperbolic position
lines
 Decca Station Topology

B3 B1
purple

red
A

green

B2
 If all station uses same frequency, its very difficult to
find phase difference and also to differentiate the
transmitter

 To avoid this ambiguity, radiating harmonically related

frequencies from stations is adopted

 The four frequencies are related by common sub

harmonics.

 If f is sub harmonic, master station has frequency 6f

and slaves has 5f, 8f, 9f.
Master station slave common
harmonics
6f 8f(red) 24f
6f 5f(purple) 30f
6f 9f(green) 18f

Frequency f=14.166 KHz (slave stations are

distinguished by colors)

Master station slave common

harmonics
85 113.3(red) 340
85 70.8(purple) 425
85 127.5(green) 255
Frequencies in KHz
 Let A (master), radiating a freq n1f, and B (slave)
radiating n2f Let the radiation at A proportional to
cos (2 n1ft), and at B proportional to cos (2 n2ft),

 The two stations are phase locked at common harmonic

frequency
 The field at the receiver (P) due to these stations id proportional
to
cos (2  n1ft - (2π AP/λ1 ) ) and

cos (2  n2ft - (2π BP/2) )

Where = c/n1f and 2 =c/n2f

1

 Let the m1 harmonic of the first and m2 harmonic of the second

be the same m1n1=m2n2
 The output of the multiplier will give these harmonics

cos m1(2πn1f t – (2πAP/λ1))

cos m2(2πn2f t – (2π BP/λ2 ) )

 The phase difference between these two outputs

(2π m1 AP/λ1 )- (2πm2 BP /λ2 ) =

= (2π m1n1f AP / λc )- (2πm2n2f BP / λc )
= 2 π AP - 2 π BP
(c/m1n1f) (c/m2n2f)

= 2 π (AP – BP)/ λmn

where λmn is the wave length of the common harmonic frequency

 Measurement of phase difference rather time difference give
rise to ambiguity, can be measured only from 0 to 360 deg.

 The region defined by two adjacent hyperbolae which

correspond to a phase change of 360 deg (ie. A path
difference change of λλmn ) is called a ‘Lane’.

 To reduce the ambiguity, ‘ lane identification’ is used.

Measuring the PD between the signals from the stations and
the frequency f
 The transmitted frequencies, wavelength and
lane widths are given in table for f = 14.166
kHz.
Station Trans. Freq. Lane width (m) Common
kHz Harmonic Freq.
kHz
Master 85.000 --- ---
Λ=3521m
Red Slave 113.333 440.074 340.00
Λ=2640m
Green Slave 127.500 586.765 255.00
Λ=2347m
Purple Slave 70.833 552.059 425.00
Λ=4275m
 Lane identification

 The 14 KHz signal is required, and its provided by master transmitter

(transmit 6f and 5f) and each slaves transmitter transmit 8f and 9f
simultaneously

 To reduce the ambiguity, the measurement of the phase difference

between the signals from the stations and the frequency f (~ 14.0 kHz)

 The hyperbolae defined by this are more widely spaced and on a base
line, the distance between adjacent hyperbolae (corresponding to a
phase change of 360 deg) is a half wavelength at the freq. f about 10.5
km.

 The region between two adjacent hyperbolae is called a ‘zone’.

 Lane identification signal will be sent for short intervals thrice every
minutes
 Normal operation

8f

6f

5f 9f

At the beginning of each full minute, the normal

transmission is interrupted and the master
station transmits 6f – 60 Hz, for 1/12 sec.
This initiates the red lane identification cycle
 RED lane identification

8f , 9f

5f , 6f

off off

Then MS transmit 6f and 5f and red slave

transmit 8f and 9f, for half a second. After this
normal transmission is resumed.
 GREEN lane identification

off

5f , 6f

8f , 9f
off

At the beginning of 16th second, green lane identification is

initiated. Here MS transmit 6f+60Hz and Green Slave transmit
8f and 9f
 Purple lane identification

off

5f , 6f

8f , 9f off

At the beginning of 16th second, purple lane

identification is initiated. Here MS transmit 6f &5f and
Purple Slave transmit 8f and 9f
DECCA RECEIVER

 The four frequencies received are separated by crystal

filter, amplified and applied to frequency multiplier

 Appropriate output is given to discriminators, then its

applied to decometers

 These meters indicates phase difference and also the

position within the lane
 Basic System
In phase

Master Tx Tx Slave
340 kHz 340 340 340 kHz
Red

340
340 340
Q
Onboard receiving
340 kHz 340 kHz
equipment

Red Decometer
 Possible Working System
In phase
Master Slave
Tx Tx
X 1/4 X 1/3
340 kHz 85 113.33 340 kHz
Red

85 113.33
Q
Onboard receiving
X4 X3
equipment
340 340

Red Decometer
Practical 85 kHz Scheme
In phase
85
Master Slave
Tx 14.166
X 1/6
85 kHz 85
113.33 X8
113.33

85 113.33
Q
Onboard receiving
X4 X3
equipment
340 340

Red Decometer
 Decca Communication Receiver
Multipliers
In Out

Decometers
Purple Slave 5f 5f 30f
30f Purple
30f
Master 6f 6f 18f

24f 18f Green

Green Slave 9f 9f 18f

24f Red
Red Slave 8f 8f 24f
 Decca Communication Receiver
Multipliers
In Out

Decometers
Purple Slave 5f 5f 30f
30f Purple
30f
Master 6f 6f 18f

24f 18f Green

Green Slave 9f 9f 18f

24f Red
Red Slave 8f 8f 24f
 Lane Identification

IN OUT
5f
L-1 pointer
6f -5f
f
6f
9f -8f

Sector

Multipliers
6f

9f 9f 18f
24f -18f Vernier
8f 8f 24f
 OMEGA
VLF Radio-NAVIGATION
System
 OMEGA SYSTEM

 Omega is a hyperbolic system of navigation based on

measurement of phase difference of continuous waves of very
low frequencies.

 The advantage of using very low frequencies in the range of

10KHz is that the signals are subionospheric (ie) the wave
propagate between the earth and D- layer of the ionosphere
and does not suffer high attenuation thereby providing long
range coverage, typically 5000 to 15,000 nmi.

 Signals with as low as 10 microVolts/meter can often be

detected and used for navigation

 Primary interest to navigation users is the signal phase which

provides a measure of transmitter-receiver distance.
 Its comprised eight transmitting stations located
through out the world.

 CW signals are transmitted on four harmonic

frequencies and one station unique frequency.

 The signal frequencies are time shared among the

station so that a given frequency is transmitted by
only one station at any given time
 Each station transmits a signal precisely controlled in time and
frequency which is derived from a cesium atomic clock. Three
frequencies of 10.2 KHz, 12.1KHz, 13.6 KHz and 11.33’ KHz
are transmitted on a time shared basis

 The three common operating frequencies are all harmonics of

a common 283.333 Hz frequency.

 Thus every 1/283.333 sec or 60/17msec all Omega transmitter

carrier together cross zero on rising edge. The sequence is
repeated every 10 sec and in the time not utilized for these
transmissions , each station transmits a characteristic
frequency of it’s own f1, f2, f3 etc.
 At any time , there is never more than one station
transmitting at 10.2 KHz, 13.6 KHz and 11.33’ KHz.

 To determine LOP each Omega station can be paired

with any other Omega Station.

 The receivers are equipped with ‘fly wheel

oscillators’ which lock on to the phase of the received
signal and thus remember the phase of the signal till
the next transmission at that frequency.
 Thus at any time , the phase of the received signal at
these frequencies is available and the measurement of
phase difference between the signals at any of these
frequencies from two stations can be made though they
are not transmitting at the same time.

 This measurement gives the position of the receiver

within a lane formed by two stations.

 The Omega system has relatively low accuracy due to

variations in propagation condition.

 The error in position fix obtained by Omega alone can be

as high as 6 to 7 Kms, Combined with other systems ,
the accuracy can be much better.
Signals with amplitude as low as 10 micro
volts/meter can often detected and used for
navigation

The eight omega station uses same

electronic equipments signal generation,
control and amplification units.

But they use different antenna type to cover

long distance
Three antenna type used, ground tower,
insulated tower, valley span.
 Each stations transmit eight different frequency in 10
sec.

 Important features of the time / freq multiplex format

includes

1. Four common transmitted freq are 10.2, 11 1/3 13.6

and 11.05 KHz.
2. One unique signal frequency is transmitted by each
station
3. A separation interval of 0.2 sec bwt each of eight
transmission
4. Variable length transmission periods.
 If a user determines that a 10.2 KHz transmission
segment (repeated every 10 sec) is 1.2 sec in
duration, then according to fig the transmitting
station could be either station G or station D,

 By measuring the duration of succeeding

transmission, station is identified
 The Omega system, while it has the advantage
of giving world-wide coverage, has a relatively
low accuracy.

 This is partly due to the variations in

propagation conditions.

 But relative accuracy may still be good.

 Hence, if the omega fix is combined with an

accurate fix obtained by other means, the
accuracy of the system can be increased.

 The error in position fix obtained by the omega

system alone may be as high as 6 to 7 kms.
 King Air Loran-C Antennas
E-Field (II Morrow A-16) H-Field (King Radio KA-42A)
Integral coupler/pre-amp Custom coupler/pre-amp