Acquisition and tracking of Galileo IOV E5 signals: experimental results and performance evaluation

An assessment of the Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) signals on the E5 band is presented in this paper, investigating the signal features compared with the expected characteristics as described in the Galileo Interface Control Document (ICD) specifications. In detail, the results in terms of signal acquisition and tracking during multiple satellite passes are discussed, providing also a description of the experimental setup used in order to separately receive and process E5a and E5b signals. The analysis covers the received signal strength versus the satellite elevation, the modulation format, and the presence of navigation data and secondary code chips. Since at time of writing both the two Galileo IOV satellites (PFM and FM2) are broadcasting E5 signals, the results obtained processing their E5a and E5b signals are discussed. In addition, these signals are also compared with those currently transmitted by the two experimental Galileo satellites, GIOVE-A and GIOVE-B.