AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

Navigation Systems
 Navigation by Pilotage – Visual Navigation.
 Celestial Navigation – Based on the position (azimuth and
elevation) of celestial bodies in space.
 Radio Navigation – Very High Frequency OmniRange (VOR),
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Automatic Direction Finding
(ADF), Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN), Long Range Navigation
(LORAN), VORTAC (Combined VOR and TACAN).
 Dead reckoning navigation – Inertial Navigation System (INS) and
Doppler Navigation.
 Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) – NAVSTAR GPS,
Russian GLONASS, European Union’s Galileo.
 Approach and Landing Aids – Instrument Landing System and
Microwave Landing System.
Magnetic bearing and Relative bearing
 Automatic Direction Finder
 It operates in Low Frequency and Medium Frequency band (190-
1799 KHz), thus it is based on ground wave propagation. Its range is
not limited to line-of sight distance.
 It can receive on both Amplitude Modulation radio stations and
NDB (non directional beacons). Its operation is similar to listening to
a transistor radio.
 ADF Ground station – transmit omnidirectional signals. They are
called nondirectional beacons (NDB). Stations have a vertical antenna
which emits vertically polarized signal.
 ADF Aircraft components – Antennas, Receiver, Control head,
Indicator.
 ADF antennas – Loop antenna (directional antenna), Sense
antenna (omnidirectional antenna).
Automatic Direction Finder

Radio wave transmission from NDB

 Automatic Direction Finder

Rectangular
loop antenna

Circular
loop
antenna
Automatic Direction Finder

Typical Radio Magnetic Indicator (RMI)

Automatic Direction Finder

Typical Radio Magnetic Indicator (RMI)

 VHF Omni Range (VOR)
 VOR enables a pilot to determine the direction of his aircraft from
any position to or from a VOR beacon – actually giving bearing
information – after that a ‘position fix’.

 VOR is a VHF navigation aid which operates in the 108 to 117.95

MHz frequency band. Because it is a VHF aid, its ground to air range
is limited to line of sight reception which is typical of VHF
transmission.

 An infinite number of bearings can be obtained and they may be

visualized as radiating from the beacon like spokes from the hub of a
wheel.

 The number of bearings can be considered to be limited to 360

degrees, one degree apart (like spokes in a wheel), and these 360
bearings are known as radials.
VHF Omni Range (VOR)

VOR – 360 radials

 VHF Omni Range (VOR)
 The VOR beacon transmits two different radio signals in VHF
carrier (108–118 MHz) from the same facility.
 One of these signals, called the reference signal, is omni-
directional and radiates from the station in a circular pattern. The
phase of this signal is constant through 360° of azimuth.
 The other signal is transmitted as a rotating field. This signal
pattern rotates uniformly at 1800 rpm (30 rps) through 360 degrees
(like the beam from the lighthouse), varies in phase with azimuth,
and is called the variable signal.
 The variable signal is 30 Hz amplitude modulated directly in VHF
carrier whereas the reference signal is 9960 Hz subcarrier which is
frequency modulated at 30 Hz which in turn amplitude modulated in
VHF carrier.
 Therefore, there is a different phase of the variable signal at each
separate point around the station.
VHF Omni Range (VOR)

VOR phase angle relationships

VHF Omni Range (VOR)

Components of VOR signals

VOR Ground antennas
VOR Ground antennas
VHF Omni Range (VOR)

VOR Indicator
 Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)
 DME is a secondary Radar and provides distance (slant range)
information.

 VOR/DME System – Frequency Pairing.

 Interrogator (aircraft) – frequency f1 and Transponder (ground
beacon) – frequency f2.
 Pulse repetition frequency (PRF) – here pulse pair, unique for an
aircraft.
 Range (nautical mile) = (t–d)/12.36 μs, d = 50 μs.
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)

DME – Principle of operation

 Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)
 Automatic gain control and constant duty cycle operation –
Squitters (noise pulses or ‘filler’ pulses).

 The DME interrogator operates in the band 1025–1150 MHz with

126 channels with 1 MHz spacing.

 The transponder operates in the band 962–1213 MHz.

 For each channel, pair of frequencies (f1 and f2) which differ by 63
MHz are allotted. The frequency of 63 MHz is used as the
intermediate frequency in the receivers.

 X and Y modes (channel) of transmissions.

 Both the interrogator and transponder operate with pulse pairs

consisting of two pulses 12 μs apart.
 Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)

DME – X mode (channel) DME – X mode (channel) reply

interrogation
 Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)

DME – Y mode (channel) DME – Y mode (channel) reply

interrogation
 Long Range Navigation (LORAN)
 It is an electronic system of land-based transmitters broadcasting
low frequency pulsed signals that enable ships and aircraft to
determine their position.
 Standard loran or Loran-A system operated in the frequency range
1850–1950 kHz with master and slave stations separated by up to
600 nmiles.
 Coverage of the system used ground waves at ranges from 600 to
900 nmiles over seawater by day, and between 1250 and 1500
nmiles via sky wave reception at night.
 Loran-A chains operate by measuring the difference in time arrival
of the pulses from the master and the slave stations.
 Every time difference produces a line of position (LOP) for a
master-slave pair and a positional fix is obtained by the intersection
of two such LOPs using two suitable master-slave pairs.
 Long Range Navigation (LORAN)
 Loran-A chains are identified by an alphanumeric which specifies
the transmission frequency and the pulse repetition rate
(determined by the number of pulses transmitted per second). The
pulse repetition rate differs between station pairs in the same chain.
 Loran-A was finally phased out in 1980 and replaced by Loran-C.
Loran-C operates in LF band of 90–110 kHz. Loran-A pulse width 40
s, Loran-C pulse width 250 s.
 Long Range Navigation (LORAN)

LOPs produced from two transmitter stations (separated by

1800 km) emitting pulses simultaneously
 Long Range Navigation (LORAN)

Modification of the LOPs – Station B is not allowed to transmit

 Long Range Navigation (LORAN)
 Coding delay and Emission delay (or Absolute delay).

Further Modification to the LOPs – Station B with Coding delay

(1000 s in this example)
Long Range Navigation (LORAN)

Position fixing using LOPs

from two pairs of master/secondary stations
Long Range Navigation (LORAN)

LORAN-C pulses
NAVigation Signal Timing
And Ranging GPS
 Global Positioning System
 The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation
system that was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
in the early 1970s.

 Initially, GPS was developed as a military system to fulfil U.S.

military needs. However, it was later made available to civilians, and
is now a dual-use system that can be accessed by both military and
civilian users.

 GPS provides continuous positioning and timing information,

anywhere in the world under any weather conditions.

 GPS is a one-way-ranging. That is, users can only receive the

satellite signals.
 GPS Orbits
 GPS consists, nominally, of a constellation of 24 operational
satellites around six orbits with four or more satellites each. The
satellite altitude is about 20,200 km above the Earth's surface.

 GPS satellite orbits are nearly circular (an elliptical shape with a
maximum eccentricity is about 0.01), with an inclination of about 55°
to the equator. The corresponding GPS satellite orbital period is
about 12 sidereal hours.
GPS Segments
 GPS Space Segment
 The space segment consists of the 24-satellite constellation.

 Each GPS satellite transmits a signal, which has a number of

components: two sine waves (also known as carrier frequencies),
two digital codes, and a navigation message. The codes and the
navigation message are added to the carriers as binary biphase
modulations.

 The carriers and the codes are used mainly to determine the
distance from the user's receiver to the GPS satellites. The navigation
message contains, along with other information, the coordinates (the
location) of the satellites as a function of time.

 The transmitted signals are controlled by highly accurate atomic

(cesium and/or rubidium) clocks onboard the satellites to provide
timing information for the satellite signals.
 GPS Space Segment
 GPS signals – L1 signal with carrier frequency of 1575.42 MHz and
L2 signal with carrier frequency of 1227.6 MHz.

 C/A (Coarse Acquisition) – PRN 1.023 MHz (SPS) and P (Precision) –

10.23 MHz (PPS) digital codes.
 GPS Control Segment
 The control segment of the GPS system consists of a worldwide
network of tracking stations, with a master control station (MCS)
located in the United States at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

 The monitor stations measure signals from the satellites which are
incorporated into orbital models for each satellite. The models
compute precise orbital data (ephemeris) and clock corrections for
each satellite.

 The Master Control station uploads ephemeris and clock data to

the satellites through the S-band link.

 The satellites then send subsets of the orbital ephemeris data to

GPS receivers over radio signals.
GPS Control Segment

GPS control sites

GPS Navigation Message
 GPS Position Determination
 3D-Trilateration

 Pseudorange
 Software based GPS Receiver

Architecture of Software-based GPS Receiver

GPS Receiver Block Diagram
 GPS Error Sources
 Satellite clock errors.
 Satellite ephemeris errors.
 Atmospheric errors – Ionosphere and Troposphere.
 Multipath errors.
 Receiver clock errors.
Differential GPS
 Inertial Navigation
 A form of Dead Reckoning navigation. Most commonly used in all
aerospace, land, sea and underwater vehicles.
 Rely on Inertial reference frame, Inertial sensors and Coordinate
systems (or reference frames).
 Inertial navigation principle
– Inertial properties
– Acceleration
– Mathematical integrations (provided the initial conditions)
 The inertial sensor which measures the acceleration (linear) is
known as an accelerometer (primary sensor in inertial navigation).

 Is accelerometer alone be used in inertial navigation???

 Inertial Navigation – Reference Frames

Inertial frame ECEF (XYZ) and NEU/NED

frame
 Inertial Navigation
 In order to navigate with respect to inertial reference frame, it is
necessary to keep track of the direction in which the accelerometers
are pointing.
 Rotational motion of the body with respect to the inertial
reference frame can be sensed by using an inertial sensor called
gyroscope (or gyro) and it is used to determine the orientation of the
accelerometers at all times.
 Given this information, it is possible to resolve the accelerations
into the reference frame before the integration process takes place.
 Inertial Navigation – Mechanization
 The main problem in INS is that the accelerometer cannot tell the
difference between vehicle acceleration and gravity.

 We therefore have to find a way of separating the effect of gravity

and the effect of acceleration. This problem is solved in one of the
two ways:

(1)Keep the accelerometers horizontal so that they do not sense the

gravity vector. This is the stable platform (Gimbal) mechanization.

(2)Somehow keep track of the angle between the accelerometer axis

and the gravity vector and subtract out the gravity component. This
is the strapdown mechanization.
Inertial Navigation – Mechanization

Stable platform (or gimbal) mechanization

Gimbal – Applications
 Inertial Navigation – Gimbal Mechanization
 Gimbal Lock and Gimbal error.
INS Strapdown Mechanization
 INS Strapdown Mechanization

 aN   ax   aN  vN  vN   xN 
 a   C n a   v   a   v   x  v   y 
 E b  y 0  E  E 0  E  E
 aD   az   aD   vD   vD   z D 
 Inertial Navigation – Corrections
 Local Gravity (including gravitational acceleration and centripetal
acceleration).

 Coriolis acceleration.

 Earth rotation rate.

 Transport wander.

 Inertial sensor errors

(static, dynamic and
temperature dependent).

 Schuler tuning.
Schuler Pendulum
 Inertial Sensor – Gyroscopes
 Gyroscopes are used in various applications to sense either the
angle turned through by a vehicle or structure (displacement
gyroscopes) or, more commonly, its angular rate of turn about some
defined axis (rate gyroscopes).

 The most basic and the original

form of gyroscopes makes use of
the inertial properties of a wheel
or rotor spinning at high speed
(Conventional or mechanical gyros).

 Optical gyros – Inertial properties

of light (FOGs, RLGs).

 Micro-machined electromechanical
system (MEMS) gyros.
 Conventional Gyros

 Gyroscopic inertia (rigidity) and precession.

 Conventional Gyros

A single-axis gyroscope A two-axis gyroscope

Conventional Gyros

Rate integrating gyroscope

Gyro Drifts (with conventional gyros)
 Optical Gyros
 Sagnac effect => =>

Laser gyro schematic Fiber Optic gyro schematic

Optical Gyros – Ring Laser Gyro images
Inertial Measurement Unit – Images

Fiber Optic Gyro (FOG) based IMU

(Courtesy of Northrop Grumman Corporation)
 Inertial Sensor – Accelerometers

f ag
a f g

A simple mass-spring accelerometer

Inertial Sensor – Accelerometers

Spring restrained pendulous accelerometer

 Inertial Sensor – Accelerometers

Torque balance pendulous accelerometer (Closed loop) schematic

 Inertial Navigation in Geodetic frame

Derivation of rates of change

of latitude and longitude
 Doppler Navigation
 Doppler effect.
 Ground speed (or) track speed and drift angle.
 Coordinate transformation or attitude stabilized antennas.
 Airborne Doppler Radar (Doppler Sonar for underwater vehicles).
2 vr
f D  f r  ft 


2V
fD  cos 

Doppler Radar – Beam configurations

VH , VD , VV
 VH2  VD2

 VD 
1
 tan  
 VH 
Doppler Radar – Antenna configuration
VVa VV
VH a
VH

 VH   VH a 
   
 VD   Cb  VDa 
n

V   
 V  VVa 
 Doppler Navigation Equations
VH
H
D 0
VD

VV

0 V
v
v1  VH cos  H  VD cos  D  VV cos  V
v2  VH cos  H  VD cos  D  VV cos  V cos  H  cos  0 cos  0
v3  VH cos  H  VD cos  D  VV cos  V cos  D  cos  0 sin  0
v4  VH cos  H  VD cos  D  VV cos  V cos  V  sin  0
 Doppler Navigation Equations

 v2  v3    v1  v4    f D2  f D3    f D1  f D4 
VH  
4 cos  H 8 cos  0 cos  0

 v1  v2    v3  v4    f D1  f D2    f D3  f D4 
VD  
4 cos  D 8 cos  0 sin  0

VV 

v1  v2  v3  v4  f D1  f D2  f D3  f D4


4 cos  V 8 sin  0
Inertial and Satellite Navigation – Comparison

Comparison of features of inertial and satellite navigation systems

 Hybrid/Integrated Navigation
 Modern navigation technique with accuracy and low cost.
 Integration of two or more navigation systems to get a better
position information than one provided by a single system.
 Examples – Terrain aided inertial navigation, integration of doppler
navigation and inertial navigation etc and the most commonly used
one now-a-days is GPS aided Inertial navigation system.

Basic principle of an integrated navigation system

 Reference(s)
(1) N S Nagaraja, Elements of Electronic Navigation, Second Edition,
Tata McGraw Hill, 1996.
(2) Laurie Tetley and David Calcutt, Electronic Navigation Systems,
Third Edition, 2001.

(3) Ahmed El-Rabbany, Introduction to GPS: The Global Positioning

System, Artech House Inc., 2002.
(4) A.D. King, “Inertial Navigation – Forty Years of Evolution”, GEC
Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1998.
(5) David H. Titterton and John L. Weston, Strapdown Inertial
Navigation Technology, IEEE Publications, Second Edition, 2004.
(6) R.P.G.Collinson, Introduction to Avionics Systems, Springer
Publications, Third Edition, 2011.