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Enhanced Distance Measuring Equipment Carrier Phase

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2014, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Electrical Engineering (Engineering and Technology).
Next Generation aviation, in short “NextGen,” requires an Alternate Positioning Navigation and Timing (APNT) system to back up the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is a favorable APNT candidate but likely needs to be upgraded to enhanced Distance Measuring Equipment (eDME) to support the stringent NextGen aeronautical navigation requirements. This dissertation proposes, researches, and demonstrates eDME carrier phase, a key enabling technology that can dramatically improve the eDME system performance. eDME carrier phase provides line-of-sight displacement measurements with mm-level accuracy. After introducing the eDME carrier phase concept, this dissertation discusses the required changes for airborne and ground equipment. A novel flight test methodology is presented that allows evaluation of the eDME carrier phase performance without requiring changes to existing equipment. A spectrum-based carrier phase acquisition algorithm is presented next. Combined with several interference-mitigation techniques, this acquisition method demonstrates fault-free acquisition. Furthermore, a phase-locked loop (PLL) is designed for eDME carrier phase. A correction term is first proposed to modify the conventional PLL design to reduce the undesired loop stability and bandwidth changes when the loop noise equivalent bandwidth is close to the Nyquist frequency of the loop. This modified PLL is then further adapted to accommodate eDME’s random pulse timing. The carrier phase tracking results show dm-level errors for 110-km straight and level flights and for various banking maneuvers up to 60 degrees. These errors are further characterized and quantified. eDME carrier phase can be used in combination with the eDME pulse range to significantly improve the accuracy and integrity of the DME system. Several algorithms are introduced and the resulting improvement of the eDME accuracy and integrity performance are illustrated. Finally, DME-Next is proposed as a most feasible eDME architecture that fully utilizes the benefits of eDME carrier phase and demonstrates performance sufficient to meet the most stringent NextGen APNT navigation requirements.
Wouter Pelgrum, Dr. (Advisor)
Frank van Graas, Dr. (Committee Member)
Maarten Uijt de Haag, Dr. (Committee Member)
Sanjeev Gunawardena, Dr. (Committee Member)
208 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Li, K. (2014). Enhanced Distance Measuring Equipment Carrier Phase [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1416581585

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Li, Kuangmin. Enhanced Distance Measuring Equipment Carrier Phase. 2014. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1416581585.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Li, Kuangmin. "Enhanced Distance Measuring Equipment Carrier Phase." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1416581585

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)