Integrated method for measuring distance and time difference between small satellites

doi:10.23919/JSEE.2021.000051

Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics ›› 2021, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (3): 596-606.doi: 10.23919/JSEE.2021.000051

• SYSTEMS ENGINEERING • Previous Articles Next Articles

Integrated method for measuring distance and time difference between small satellites

Yaowei ZHU¹(), Zhaobin XU^1,*(), Xiaojun JIN²(), Xiaoxu GUO¹(), Zhonghe JIN²()

¹ Micro-Satellite Research Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
² School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Received:2020-03-22 Online:2021-06-18 Published:2021-07-26
Contact: Zhaobin XU E-mail:zhuyaowei@zju.edu.cn;zjuxzb@zju.edu.cn;axemaster@zju.edu.cn;guoxx@zju.edu.cn;jinzh@zju.edu.cn
About author:|ZHU Yaowei was born in 1993. He received his B.E. degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2016. Now, he is a Ph.D. candidate of the Micro-Satellite Research Center, Zhejiang University. His research interests include inter-satellite ranging, time synchronization and communication, as well as constellation networking. E-mail: zhuyaowei@zju.edu.cn||XU Zhaobin was born in 1984. He received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Zhejiang University in 2008 and 2013, respectively. Now he is an associate researcher of Zhejiang University. He has joined in the Micro-satellite Research Center since he was a graduate student. His research interests include micro-satellite transponder technology, inter-satellite ranging, time synchronization and communication, navigation of micro-satellite formation flying, and constellation networking. E-mail: zjuxzb@zju.edu.cn||JIN Xiaojun was born in 1977. He received his B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Zhejiang University in 2001, 2004 and 2007, respectively. He joined the faculty of Zhejiang University in 2009 and has been an associate professor since 2010. Now he is also a Ph.D. supervisor. His research interests include micro-satellite transponder technology, inter-satellite ranging, time synchronization and communication, and navigation of micro-satellite formation flying. E-mail: axemaster@zju.edu.cn||GUO Xiaoxu was born in 1997. He received his B.E. degree from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2019. Now he is a Ph.D. candidate of the Mirco-Satellite Research Center, Zhejiang University. His research interests include inter-satellite communication, spread spectrum measurement and control, as well as transponder. E-mail: guoxx@zju.edu.cn||JIN Zhonghe was born in 1970. He received his Ph.D. degree from Zhejiang University in 1998. Now he is a professor with the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University. His research interests include micro-satellite and formation technology, MEMS, inter-satellite communication and measurement technology. E-mail: jinzh@zju.edu.cn
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61401389)

Abstract

Abstract:

The advancement of small satellites is promoting the development of distributed satellite systems, and for the latter, it is essential to coordinate the spatial and temporal relations between mutually visible satellites. By now, dual one-way ranging (DOWR) and two-way time transfer (TWTT) are generally integrated in the same software and hardware system to meet the limitations of small satellites in terms of size, weight and power (SWaP) consumption. However, studies show that pseudo-noise regenerative ranging (PNRR) performs better than DOWR if some advanced implementation technologies are employed. Besides, PNRR has no requirement on time synchronization. To apply PNRR to small satellites, and meanwhile, meet the demand for time difference measurement, we propose the round-way time difference measurement, which can be combined with PNRR to form a new integrated system without exceeding the limits of SWaP. The new integrated system can provide distributed small satellite systems with on-orbit high-accuracy and high-precision distance measurement and time difference measurement in real time. Experimental results show that the precision of ranging is about 1.94 cm, and that of time difference measurement is about 78.4 ps, at the signal to noise ratio of 80 dBHz.

Key words: time difference measurement, time synchronization, inter-satellite ranging, satellite formation autonomous flying

Yaowei ZHU, Zhaobin XU, Xiaojun JIN, Xiaoxu GUO, Zhonghe JIN. Integrated method for measuring distance and time difference between small satellites[J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2021, 32(3): 596-606.

Figures/Tables 16

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4

Fig 5

Fig 6

Fig 7

Fig 8

Fig 9

Fig 10

Table 1

Fig 11

Fig 12

Fig 13

Fig 14

Table 2

References 36

1	POGHOSYAN A, GOLKAR A CubeSat evolution: analyzing CubeSat capabilities for conducting science missions. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 2017, 88, 59- 83. doi: 10.1016/j.paerosci.2016.11.002
2	DAVOLI F, KOUROGIORGAS C, MARCHESE M, et al Small satellites and CubeSats: survey of structures, architectures, and protocols. International Journal of Satellite Communications and Networking, 2019, 37 (4): 343- 359. doi: 10.1002/sat.1277
3	RADHAKRISHNAN R, EDMONSON W W, AFGHAH F, et al Survey of inter-satellite communication for small satellite systems: physical layer to network layer view. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 2016, 18 (4): 2442- 2473. doi: 10.1109/COMST.2016.2564990
4	BANDYOPADHYAY S, SUBRAMANIAN G P, FOUST R, et al. A review of impending small satellite formation flying missions. Proc. of the 53rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 2015: 1−17.
5	ZHANG H, GURFIL P Distributed control for satellite cluster flight under different communication topologies. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2016, 39 (3): 617- 627. doi: 10.2514/1.G001355
6	RUIZ-DE-AZUA J A, CALVERAS A, GOLKAR A, et al. Proof-of-concept of a federated satellite system between two 6-unit CubeSats for distributed earth observation satellite systems. Proc. of the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2019: 8871–8874.
7	BOUWMEESTER J, GUO J Survey of worldwide pico- and nanosatellite missions, distributions and subsystem technology. Acta Astronautica, 2010, 67 (7): 854- 862.
8	WANG D W, WU B L, POH E K. Satellite formation flying. Singapore: Springer, 2017.
9	NARYTNIK T, RASSAMAKIN B, PRISYAZHNY V, et al. Coverage area formation for a low-orbit broadband access system with distributed satellites. Proc. of the International Conference on Information and Telecommunication Technologies and Radio Electronics, 2018: 1–4.
10	WAN B, CHEN H, WANG W Y, et al. Collision avoidance engineering design for satellite formation flying. Proc. of the IEEE CSAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference, 2018: 1–6.
11	XU M, HE Y C, YU K A software architecture design for autonomous formation flying control. IEEE Trans. on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 2017, 53 (6): 2950- 2962. doi: 10.1109/TAES.2017.2721658
12	MOREIRA A, KRIEGER G, FIEDLER H, et al. TanDEM-X: a satellite formation for high resolution radar interferometry. Proc. of the 57th International Astronautical Congress, 2006: 1−8.
13	ARDAENS J S, KAHLE R, SCHULZE D In-flight performance validation of the TanDEM-X autonomous formation flying system. International Journal of Space Science and Engineering, 2014, 2 (2): 1- 11.
14	TAPLEY B D, BETTADPUR S, WATKINS M, et al The gravity recovery and climate experiment: mission overview and early results. Geophysical Research Letters, 2004, 31 (9): 1- 4.
15	KIM J, TAPLEY B D Simulation of dual one-way ranging measurements. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2003, 40 (3): 419- 425. doi: 10.2514/2.3962
16	HOFFMAN T L. GRAIL: gravity mapping the moon. Proc. of the IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2009: 1–8.
17	ENZER D G, WANG R T, OUDRHIRI K, et al. In situ measurements of USO performance in space using the twin GRAIL spacecraft. Proc. of the IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium, 2012: 1–5.
18	KIRCHNER D Two-way time transfer via communication satellites. Proceedings of the IEEE, 1991, 79 (7): 983- 990. doi: 10.1109/5.84975
19	PAN L J, JIANG T, ZHOU L Y, et al. A research on high-precision time-synchronization and ranging system between satellites. Proc. of the International Conference on Microwave and Millimeter Wave Technology, 2008: 926–929.
20	MA H J, WU H B, WU J F, et al. Design and implementation of dual one-way precise ranging and time synchronization system. Proc. of the Joint European Frequency and Time Forum & International Frequency Control Symposium, 2013: 831–834.
21	XU J L, ZHANG C J, WANG C H, et al Approach to inter-satellite time synchronization for micro-satellite cluster. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2018, 29 (4): 805- 815. doi: 10.21629/JSEE.2018.04.15
22	BERTIGER W, DUNN C, HARRIS I, et al. Relative time and frequency alignment between two low earth orbiters, GRACE. Proc. of the IEEE International Frequency Control Sympposium and PDA Exhibition Jointly with the 17th European Frequency and Time Forum, 2003: 273–279.
23	KIM J. Measurement time synchronization for a satellite-to-satellite ranging system. Proc. of the International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems, 2007: 190–194.
24	ZHANG V, PARKER T E, ACHKAR J, et al. Two-way satellite time and frequency transfer using 1 MChips/s codes. Proc. of the 41st Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Meeting, 2009: 371−381.
25	KRUIZINGA G L H, BERTIGER W I, HARVEY N Timing of science data for the GRAIL mission, JPL D-75620. Pasadena: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2013.
26	CCSDS 414.0-G-2. Pseudo-noise (PN) ranging systems. Washington, DC: Management Council of Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems, 2014: 1−92.
27	JIN X J, ZHANG W, MO S M, et al Optimal regenerative PN code tracking based on non-commensurate sampling and double-loop structure. Electronics Letters, 2019, 55 (23): 1254- 1255. doi: 10.1049/el.2019.2397
28	MA H J, YAN F F, HOU Z J. Application of algorithm of smoothing pseudo-range with carrier phase to DRTS system. Proc. of the International Conference on Computer Networks and Communication Technology, 2016: 209–213.
29	WANG B The application of residues theorem in the complex pseudorandom code range detection system. Radio Eegineering of China, 2004, 34 (8): 23- 24.
30	JIN X J. Study on regenerative pseudo noise ranging and its implementation. Hangzhou, China: Zhejiang University, 2007. (in Chinese)
31	MENG Z M, XU Z B, JIN X J, et al On-orbit delay calibration of inter-satellite ranging system and its application for micro-satellite. Journal of Astronautics, 2016, 37 (10): 1239- 1245.
32	MERCK P, ACHKAR J Design of a Ku band delay difference calibration device for TWSTFT station. IEEE Trans. on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2005, 54 (2): 814- 818. doi: 10.1109/TIM.2004.843328
33	HAHN J, BEDRICH S. Ultra-precise clock synchronization of remote atomic clocks with PRARE onboard ERS-2. Proc. of the International Symposium on Spread Spectrum Techniques and Applications, 1996, 2: 867–871.
34	ALBASHIR A, SAMI K A, AHMEDELTIGANI M. Enhancing the accuracy of GPS point positioning by modeling the ionospheric propagation delay. Proc. of the International Conference on Computer, Control, Electrical, and Electronics Engineering, 2018: 1–7.
35	MALLIKA I L, RATNAM D V, RAMAN S, et al A new ionospheric model for single frequency GNSS user applications using Klobuchar model driven by auto regressive moving average (SAKARMA) method over Indian region. IEEE Access, 2020, 8, 54535- 54553. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2981365
36	LI D D, XU L X, LI B, et al. Analysis of ionospheric delay correction methods for BeiDou navigation satellite system. Proc. of the 13th IEEE International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments, 2017: 603–608.

SNR/dBHz	STD of frequency offset/Hz
SNR/dBHz	$\tau = 9{T_i}$	$\tau = 10{T_i}$
60	0.690	0.578
65	0.620	0.645
70	0.451	0.820
75	0.438	0.834
80	0.302	1.008

SNR/dBHz	Precision of RWTDM/ps		Precision of TWTT/ps
SNR/dBHz	Theory	Experiment	Theory	Experiment
65	502.7	629.4	446.1	770.7
70	282.5	302.9	262.2	487.5
75	159.0	145.4	150.6	305.9
80	89.4	78.4	90.07	186.1

[1]	Jiajun HUANG, Chaojie ZHANG, Xiaojun JIN. Approach to MAI cancellation for micro-satellite clusters [J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2019, 30(5): 823-830.
[2]	Jiuling XU, Chaojie ZHANG, Chunhui WANG, Xiaojun JIN. Approach to inter-satellite time synchronization for micro-satellite cluster [J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2018, 29(4): 805-815.
[3]	Huang Yulin, Yang Jianyu, Wu Junjie & Xiong Jintao. Precise time frequency synchronization technology for bistatic radar [J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2008, 19(5): 929-933.

Integrated method for measuring distance and time difference between small satellites

RichHTML

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

Share this article

Figures/Tables 16

References 36

Related Articles 3

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments