Receiver measured time in the VDL Mode 4 system

This paper details an investigation into the receiver measured time (RMT) concept of VDL Mode 4, basically the ability to derive estimates of time from the transmission of the VDL Mode 4 signals themselves. The RMT concept is based on determining the accurate time of transmission by measuring the time of arrival (TOA) of a received signal. The reverse aspect, or that of user position, can also be computed in the same manner and all computed simulations hold for errors in position. If synchronized time is available, or can be derived, then the user position can be computed based on signals from known transmitter locations. A complete, end-to-end RMT simulation model for the Gaussian filtered frequency shift keying (GFSK) and differential 8-phase shift keying (D8PSK) modulation techniques has been developed in which various transmitters, channels and receiver models as well as an RMT measurement system have been included. The timing results, which are included, are described in terms of two-sigma errors as a function of signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). The performance varies for the different receiver structures over the typical operation region and for a 1-bit differential GFSK detector the two-sigma error is as low as 0.40 microseconds, corresponding to a ranging error of approximately 120 meters. When incorporating co-channel interference (CCI), multipath and Doppler frequency shifts the RMT performance has been shown to decrease in terms of higher two-sigma errors