Novatel SMART ANTENNA 3.6.2Operational States, Chapter, Self-TestMode, Initialization Mode

Chapter 3 Operation

3.6.2Operational States

The receiver has 6 operating modes:

•Self-Test

•Initialization

•Acquisition

•Navigation

•Dead-Reckoning

•Fault

The receiver switches between modes automatically. The receiver reports the current operating and navigation modes on its host port.

1.Self-Test Mode

The receiver enters Self-Test mode upon request from an external source (please refer to Message ID# 51, Initiated BIT Request in the SUPERSTAR II Firmware Reference Manual). The time duration spent in the Self-Test mode is no more than 15 seconds. On self-test completion, the receiver reports the BIT results on its host port through Message ID# 51. Self-Test mode exits to either Initialization or Fault mode.

2.Initialization Mode

Upon power-up, the receiver enters Initialization mode. During this mode hardware is initialized prior to Acquisition mode entry. The Initialization mode is also initiated upon completion of the Self-Test mode, but always exits to the Acquisition mode.

The SMART ANTENNA retrieves data from both NVM and SRAM (warm start). Integrity checking is done on all data retrieved from the non-operating state.

During initialization, the receiver retrieves the last received valid almanac data and last user position from NVM, the current time from the low-power time source, and predicts which satellites are currently visible. This list of visible satellites is then used in Acquisition mode to program the 12 parallel correlator channels.

3.Acquisition Mode

The receiver is in Acquisition mode when insufficient satellite data is available to produce an initial navigation solution. Acquisition mode is entered from Initialization or Dead-Reckoning mode and exits to Navigation or Fault mode.

To acquire signals from the GPS satellites, the receiver uses:

•Almanac data which describes the satellite orbits

•Time, which in conjunction with almanac data is used to estimate the present position of satellites in their orbits

•The approximate location of the receiver so a prediction can be made as to which satellites are visible

The receiver then collects ephemeris data by decoding the satellite down-link data message. After each satellite in view is acquired, its measurement data set is produced. When a sufficient number of satellites are being tracked, position, velocity and time can be computed and Navigation mode entered.

If the receiver cannot perform an acquisition due to an absence of valid almanac data or user position and/or time, it initiates a "Search the Sky" acquisition. The receiver attempts to acquire all satellites in the GPS constellation. Once a satellite has been acquired, ephemeris data is decoded

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