EMAG - Feasibility Study for an Experimental Platform for Multi-modal Applications of Galileo

For the improvement of the added value introduced into satellite navigation by Galileo, it is necessary, that interested companies and research institutes can get familiar with the elements and services of Galileo. This can be realized by the use of newly developed test equipment in constant touch with a dedicated test environment. Therefore, the DLR (German Aerospace Center Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) in Germany authorized a consortium to develop the test environment GATE (Galileo Test Environment). GATE shall be made available to all international interested parties. The content of the EMAG project study includes technical and economical basic research and analysis regarding the feasibility to develop an experimental platform based on a software receiver for multi-modal applications of Galileo. Thus, it is the aim to develop a detailed concept for a future realization. In a next step, the proper development of the experimental platform shall be carried out. The platform will be made available for interested companies, organizations and research institutes in Austria to provide the opportunity to deepen the knowledge regarding Galileo. The interested parties will be able to use the platform for extensive investigations in the combination with GATE. Additionally, a functional demonstrator which will be based on an integration of AIS (Automatic Identification System), GPS (Global Positioning System), and EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) will be developed. Therefore, a combined GPS/EGNOS receiver will be used and integrated into a transponder of ACR Electronics Europe GmbH. The combined position solutions (GPS+EGNOS) and integrity messages will be fed into the transponder in real-time. Thus, the transponder will be capable to broadcast the position of the ship including a quality indicator (integrity flag) for the position solution to other ships and to the control facilities on shore.