Javier Fidalgo

The European Commission (EC) is taking steps towards the implementation of a Galileo Timing Service. This service is now formally part of the mission of the Galileo Second Generation, and it puts emphasis on serving critical infrastructure. Implementing a proper service implies putting all the necessary elements in place to be able to meet the defined level of performance. In order to ensure the correct processing of the service’s signals and a minimum level of performance of the user receiver, corresponding standards are needed. Therefore, a fundamental element in the Galileo Timing Service concept is the standardization of Galileo Timing Receivers. The STARLITE project (Preparation of Standards for Galileo Timing Receivers) funded by the EC is the first international initiative to develop standards for GNSS Timing Receivers. The target users for the standard are all Galileo Timing users, with a special focus on critical infrastructure within the telecommunications, finance and energy sectors. The standard leverages the specificities of the Galileo Timing Service. This will become fundamental in order to ensure the end-to-end performance for those users operating a receiver compliant with the standard. At the same time, the standard allows the use of other systems to further enhance the performance. The project helped to establish a formal Working Group (WG9) for the development of the standard under CEN/CENELEC JTC5.

Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (ARAIM) is an evolution of the currently used aviation-focused Global Navigation Satellite System integrity service, Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM). Where RAIM supports only lateral navigation, with its adaptations including multiple frequencies and constellations, and with the use of Integrity Support Messages (ISMs), ARAIM also supports vertical guidance. Although these techniques were designed to serve the aviation community, ARAIM could be used in a wide range of applications, especially safety-critical applications. With further evolutions, ARAIM could also be extended to cover more demanding applications in various sectors. This work reports the outcomes of the study of the applicability of ARAIM for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sector.