Galileo commercial service on track

The results of early proof of concept tests (EPOC) carried out by the Authentication and Accurate Location Experimentation with the Commercial Service (AALECS) show that the EPOC team has successfully tracked the encrypted Galileo E6-B and E6-C signals broadcast by Galileo satellites. As a result, the commercial service loop has been closed using both encrypted and non-encrypted signals. The tests are the result of a collective effort involving teams and projects of AALECS, supported by the European Comm
August 1, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

The results of early proof of concept tests (EPOC) carried out by the Authentication and Accurate Location Experimentation with the Commercial Service (AALECS) show that the EPOC team has successfully tracked the encrypted Galileo E6-B and E6-C signals broadcast by Galileo satellites. As a result, the commercial service loop has been closed using both encrypted and non-encrypted signals.

The tests are the result of a collective effort involving teams and projects of AALECS, supported by the 1690 European Commission, the 5810 European GNSS Agency (GSA), 6780 the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Galileo operator, Spaceopal. The European Commission launched AALECS in January 2014 and it was awarded to a consortium led by GMV including CGI, Qascom, IFEN, Veripos and KU Leuven.  As part of the AALECS project, GMV and IFEN developed an early proof of concept platform aimed at testing external data transmission through offline means. The project will last for approximately two and a half years.

During a ten-day testing period, receivers located in Spain and Germany, showed the successful tracking and data demodulation of encrypted signals from the available Galileo satellites, with periods where all satellites transmitting E6 encrypted signals were tracked simultaneously. The tests verified the Galileo commercial service (CS) signal’s encryption functionalities, with the data received containing authentication and high accuracy information previously generated outside the Galileo system. This is an essential feature to ensuring Galileo’s high accuracy and authentication services – some of which may be commercial in nature.

The Galileo commercial service will deliver a range of added-value features, including positioning accurate to decimetre level and an authentication element, both of which allow for the development of innovative applications for professional or commercial use. The Galileo CS demonstrator began its proof of concept earlier this year, with early service expected to start in 2016.

Once operational, the CS will provide access to two additional encrypted signals on the E6 band, delivering a higher data throughput rate and increased accuracy. CS addresses the authentication and high-precision market segments and will deliver innovative services with improved performance and greater added value than those obtained through the open service.

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Commercial telematics consolidation
    April 18, 2012
    The long awaited and much needed commercial telematics consolidation movement is finally coming to fruition, according to ABI Research. With Trimble’s acquisition of PeopleNet and Masternaut and Cybit combining forces, the extremely fragmented commercial telematics industry, which consists of hundreds of locally active players, is consolidating to become more globally-minded. These changes will allow the fleet management industry to grow towards yearly global revenues of US$6.43 billion by 2016.
    Read More
  • C-ITS in the EU: ‘It has got a little tribal recently’
    April 16, 2019
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong
    Read More
  • Better websites build smarter transport participation
    March 17, 2017
    Transport initiatives are gaining traction through well-designed websites. Four European smart transport-oriented websites have gained honours in the 2016 .eu Web Awards, an online competition inaugurated in 2014 to recognise the most impressive sites within the .eu internet domain in terms of their design and content. The four were among 15 finalists across all five categories of the scheme, giving the transport sector a high profile for its proactive use of sites as communications tools for driving major
    Read More
  • EU triples funding for rail innovation
    December 18, 2013
    The European Commission has adopted Shift2Rail, a new public-private partnership to invest around US$1.3 billion in research and innovation to get more passengers and freight onto Europe's railways. Rail is amongst the most efficient and climate-friendly forms of transport, but currently it only carries about only 10 per cent of European cargo and 6 per cent of passengers each year. Shift2Rail is an ambitious public-private partnership which will manage a seven-year work programme of targeted research an
    Read More

Highlighted Content