The fundamental physics explorer: An ESA technology reference study

ESA technology reference studies are used as a process to identify key technologies and technical challenges of potential future missions not yet in the science programme. This paper reports on the study of the Fundamental Physics Explorer (FPE), a re-usable platform targeted to small missions testing fundamental laws of physics in space. The study addresses three specific areas of interest: special and general relativity tests based on atomic clocks, experiments on the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), and studies of Bose–Einstein condensates under microgravity conditions. Starting from preliminary science objectives and payload requirements, three reference missions in the small/medium class range are discussed, based on a re-adaptation of the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft. A 700/3600 km elliptic orbit has been selected to conduct clock tests of special and general relativity, a 700 km circular orbit to perform experiments on the Weak Equivalence Principle and to study Bose–Einstein condensates, each mission being based on a three-axis stabilised spacecraft. It was determined that adaptation of LISA Pathfinder would be required in order to meet the demands of the FPE missions. Moreover it was established that specific payload and spacecraft technology development would be required to realise such a programme.     

Atomic clocks for astrophysical measurements

Recently developed atomic hydrogen masers have achieved stability well into the 10^?16 domain for averaging time intervals beyond 1000 sec and future devices promise further improvements. These devices are very adaptable for space use in very high precision measurements of angle through Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and range and range-rate through Doppler techniques. Proposed space missions using these clocks will be discussed for the measurement of the sun's gravity field distribution and tests of gravitation and relativity including a search for pulsed low frequency (～0.001 Hz) gravitational waves, and orbiting VLBI stations. Estimates of system performance capability will be discussed and the accuracy capability of relativistic measurements evaluated in terms of results from the 1976 NASA/SAO spaceborne clock test of the Einstein Equivalence Principle.     

Monitoring atomic clocks on board GNSS satellites

A method for monitoring atomic clocks on board Global Navigation Satellites System (GNSS) satellites is described to address the issue of clock related signal integrity in safety–critical applications of GNSS. The carrier-phase time transfer is employed in the clock monitoring method which enables tight tracking of the satellite onboard clocks and thus improves detectability of clock anomalies. Detecting onboard clock anomalies requires the ability to monitor clocks in real time, and a Kalman filter can then be utilized to estimate the phase offsets between the satellite clocks and ground clocks. This study, using the difference between the measured and predicted phase offset as a test statistic, sets a threshold for clock anomalies based on the prediction interval approach. Finally the validity of the monitoring method is examined by processing a set of real GNSS data that includes two recent incidents of clock anomalies in GNSS satellites.     

Status of the T2L2/Jason2 Experiment

The T2L2 (Time Transfer by Laser Link) project, developed by CNES and OCA will permit the synchronization of remote ultra stable clocks and the determination of their performances over intercontinental distances. The principle of the experiment derives from Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technology with dedicated space equipment. T2L2 was accepted in 2005 to be on board the Jason2 altimetry satellite. The payload consists of both event timer and photo detection modules. The system uses the ultra-stable quartz oscillator of DORIS as on-board reference clock on one hand, and the Laser Reflector Array, making T2L2 a real two-way time transfer system on the other hand. The expected time stability of the T2L2 instrument (detection and timing), referenced by the DORIS oscillator and including all internal error sources should be at the level of 10–12 ps at 1 s and <1 ps at 1000 s. The metrological specifications of T2L2 should permit to maintain a precision of 1 to a few ps when measuring the phase of a clock during around 1000 seconds.     

Cavity clock experiments on space station

With the start of the Space Station era a new group of fundamental physics experiments is being developed to take advantage of the unique conditions available. Recently a microwave cavity clock experiment was selected to perform experiments in relativity. The project has four main goals: an improved test of Local Position Invariance, improved Kennedy–Thorndyke and Michelson–Morley type experiments, and an enhancement of the performance of atomic clocks being developed elsewhere for use in space. We describe the background and status of the project, which involves the development of superconducting microwave oscillators with high frequency stability. On the International Space Station unwanted cavity frequency variations are expected to be caused mainly by acceleration effects due to residual drag and vibration, temperature variations, and fluctuations in the energy stored in the cavity. At present, acceleration effects appear to be the predominant limit, and a new cavity support system has been fabricated to reduce the effect, and three assemblies are in test. Fractional frequency stabilities in the low 10⁻¹⁶ range are expected on time scales of minutes.     

Real-time clock comparison and monitoring with multi-GNSS precise point positioning: GPS,GLONASS and Galileo

The precise point positioning (PPP) technique is widely used in time and frequency applications. Because of the real-time service (RTS) project of the International GNSS Service, we can use the PPP technique for real-time clock comparison and monitoring. As a participant in the RTS, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) implements the PPPWIZARD (Precise Point Positioning with Integer and Zero-difference Ambiguity Resolution Demonstrator) project to validate carrier phase ambiguity resolution. Unlike the Integer-PPP (IPPP) of the CNES, fixing ambiguities in the post-processing mode, the PPPWIZARD operates in the real-time mode, which is also called real-time IPPP (RT-IPPP). This paper focuses on applying the RT-IPPP for real-time clock comparison and monitoring. We review the principle of real-time clock comparison and monitoring, and introduce the methodology of the RT-IPPP technique. The observations of GPS, GLONASS and Galileo were processed for the experiments. Five processing modes were provided in the experiment to analyze the benefits of ambiguity resolution and multi-GNSS. In the clock comparison experiment, the average reduction ratios of standard deviations with respect to the G PPP mode range from 9.7% to 35.0%. In the clock monitoring experiment, G PPP mode can detect clock jumps whose magnitudes are larger than 0.9 ns. The RT-IPPP technique with GRE PPP AR (G) mode allows for the detection of any clock jumps larger than 0.6 ns. For frequency monitoring, G PPP mode allows detection of frequency changes larger than 1.1 × 10⁻¹⁴. When the RT-IPPP technique is applied, monitoring with GRE PPP AR (G) mode can detect frequency changes larger than 6.1 × 10⁻¹⁵.     

导航卫星原子钟舱温度控制方法及其验证

原子钟是导航卫星的重要组成部分,可为卫星系统提供高准确及高稳定度的时间频率源.原子钟工作性能与环境温度变化密切相关,为保证其在轨连续、稳定运行,热控系统需为其提供良好的工作温度环境.本文以某导航卫星原子钟舱温度控制为研究内容,给出原子钟舱热控设计方案、控制算法,并进行仿真分析和试验验证.在轨遥测数据表明,卫星原子钟舱热控方案和控制算法设计合理,仿真分析及试验结果有效,各原子钟在轨工作温度满足要求,原子钟温度稳定度满足并优于设计指标近一个数量级.     

IEEE1588v2透明时钟研究与实现

主从时钟同步通过普通交换机时,时间同步精度降低且不稳定。为了解决该问题,引入IEEE1588v2中提出透明时钟模型。本文介绍了IEEE1588v2中透明时钟的相关内容,在研究透明时钟基本原理及模型的基础上,提出并实现了在商用交换机上的一种时钟同步扩展方案。为了验证透明时钟的性能,建立模拟真实环境测试平台。测试结果表明在不同的网络背景流量下,透明时钟都能很好地解决非对称延迟及延迟抖动问题,使主从时钟同步精度达到纳秒量级。     

The GFZ real-time GNSS precise positioning service system and its adaption for COMPASS

Motivated by the IGS real-time Pilot Project, GFZ has been developing its own real-time precise positioning service for various applications. An operational system at GFZ is now broadcasting real-time orbits, clocks, global ionospheric model, uncalibrated phase delays and regional atmospheric corrections for standard PPP, PPP with ambiguity fixing, single-frequency PPP and regional augmented PPP. To avoid developing various algorithms for different applications, we proposed a uniform algorithm and implemented it into our real-time software. In the new processing scheme, we employed un-differenced raw observations with atmospheric delays as parameters, which are properly constrained by real-time derived global ionospheric model or regional atmospheric corrections and by the empirical characteristics of the atmospheric delay variation in time and space. The positioning performance in terms of convergence time and ambiguity fixing depends mainly on the quality of the received atmospheric information and the spatial and temporal constraints. The un-differenced raw observation model can not only integrate PPP and NRTK into a seamless positioning service, but also syncretize these two techniques into a unique model and algorithm. Furthermore, it is suitable for both dual-frequency and sing-frequency receivers. Based on the real-time data streams from IGS, EUREF and SAPOS reference networks, we can provide services of global precise point positioning (PPP) with 5–10 cm accuracy, PPP with ambiguity-fixing of 2–5 cm accuracy, PPP using single-frequency receiver with accuracy of better than 50 cm and PPP with regional augmentation for instantaneous ambiguity resolution of 1–3 cm accuracy. We adapted the system for current COMPASS to provide PPP service. COMPASS observations from a regional network of nine stations are used for precise orbit determination and clock estimation in simulated real-time mode, the orbit and clock products are applied for real-time precise point positioning. The simulated real-time PPP service confirms that real-time positioning services of accuracy at dm-level and even cm-level is achievable with COMPASS only.     

Preparation of the Biochip experiment on the EXPOSE-R2 mission outside the International Space Station

Biochips might be suited for planetary exploration. Indeed, they present great potential for the search for biomarkers – molecules that are the sign of past or present life in space – thanks to their size (miniaturized devices) and sensitivity. Their detection principle is based on the recognition of a target molecule by affinity receptors fixed on a solid surface. Consequently, one of the main concerns when developing such a system is the behavior of the biological receptors in a space environment. In this paper, we describe the preparation of an experiment planned to be part of the EXPOSE-R2 mission, which will be conducted on the EXPOSE-R facility, outside the International Space Station (ISS), in order to study the resistance of biochip models to space constraints (especially cosmic radiation and thermal cycling). This experiment overcomes the limits of ground tests which do not reproduce exactly the space parameters. Indeed, contrary to ground experiments where constraints are applied individually and in a limited time, the biochip models on the ISS will be exposed to cumulated constraints during several months. Finally, this ISS experiment is a necessary step towards planetary exploration as it will help assessing whether a biochip can be used for future exploration missions.     

星载开关电源的电磁干扰抑制技术

电磁干扰（EMI）抑制技术是保证航天器各功能单元正常运行互不干扰的重要技术。开关电源是航天器内电磁干扰的主要来源。基于对星载开关电源DC/DC和负载点电源POL电磁干扰特性的测试结果,提出了一种星载二次电源系统的电磁干扰抑制方案,采用高稳晶振+控制器+时钟管理芯片硬件与软件设计结合的方法,利用高稳晶振为电源模块提供稳定时钟,通过控制器实现时钟管理芯片的分频和时钟分配。系统以非同步方式上电,软件控制时钟管理芯片输出电源模块同步时钟,然后软件打开时钟同步的使能,实现星载开关电源（DC/DC和POL）开关频率的外同步,最后通过测量输出电压频谱的方法验证了电磁干扰抑制方案的有效性。     

卫星铷钟自动控温系统仿真平台的设计与实现

卫星上的铷钟对环境温度要求非常苛刻,需要采用自动控温系统严格控制工作环境的温度,该系统上星前必须经过大量的试验和仿真,验证卫星上铷钟热控系统的软硬件功能和性能是否达到设计要求。基于CPCI(Compact Peripheral Component Interconnect)计算机的卫星铷钟自动控温系统仿真平台,是在不具备铷钟热控试验需要的真空、绝热条件下,模拟铷钟在卫星上工作时温度变化引起的参数变化,并检测卫星铷钟自动控温系统由于参数变化所引起的相应的控制量变化,从而验证系统的性能。     

Ambiguity resolution in precise point positioning with hourly data for global single receiver

Integer ambiguity resolution (IAR) can improve precise point positioning (PPP) performance significantly. IAR for PPP became a highlight topic in global positioning system (GPS) community in recent years. More and more researchers focus on this issue. Progress has been made in the latest years. In this paper, we aim at investigating and demonstrating the performance of a global zero-differenced (ZD) PPP IAR service for GPS users by providing routine ZD uncalibrated fractional offsets (UFOs) for wide-lane and narrow-lane. Data sets from all IGS stations collected on DOY 1, 100, 200 and 300 of 2010 are used to validate and demonstrate this global service. Static experiment results show that an accuracy better than 1 cm in horizontal and 1–2 cm in vertical could be achieved in ambiguity-fixed PPP solution with only hourly data. Compared with PPP float solution, an average improvement reaches 58.2% in east, 28.3% in north and 23.8% in vertical for all tested stations. Results of kinematic experiments show that the RMS of kinematic PPP solutions can be improved from 21.6, 16.6 and 37.7 mm to 12.2, 13.3 and 34.3 mm for the fixed solutions in the east, north and vertical components, respectively. Both static and kinematic experiments show that wide-lane and narrow-lane UFO products of all satellites can be generated and provided in a routine way accompanying satellite orbit and clock products for the PPP user anywhere around the world, to obtain accurate and reliable ambiguity-fixed PPP solutions.     

Low-cost precise measurement of oscillator frequency instability based on GNSS carrier observation

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receivers can be used in time and frequency metrology by exploiting stable GNSS time scales. This paper proposes a low-cost method for precise measurement of oscillator frequency instability using a single-frequency software GNSS receiver. The only required hardware is a common radio frequency (RF) data collection device driven by the oscillator under test (OUT). The receiver solves the oscillator frequency error in high time resolution using the carrier Doppler observation and the broadcast ephemeris from one of the available satellites employing the onboard reference atomic frequency standard that is more stable than the OUT. Considering the non-stable and non-Gaussian properties of the frequency error measurement, an unbiased finite impulse response (FIR) filter is employed to obtain robust estimation and filter out measurement noise. The effects of different filter orders and convolution lengths are further discussed. The frequency error of an oven controlled oscillator (OCXO) is measured using live Beidou-2/Compass signals. The results are compared with the synchronous measurement using a specialized phase comparator with the standard coordinated universal time (UTC) signal from the master clock H226 in the national time service center (NTSC) of China as its reference. The Allan deviation (ADEV) estimates using the two methods have a 99.9% correlation coefficient and a 0.6% mean relative difference over 1–1000 s intervals. The experiment demonstrates the effectiveness and high precision of the software receiver method.     

磁选态铯原子钟弱信号直接采样方法研究

磁选态铯原子钟的输出频率与铯束管输出的弱电流信号有关，影响其频率稳定度。为了提高其频率稳定度技术指标，在对磁选态铯原子钟主伺服电路弱信号压频转换（V-F）和模/数 (A/D)直接采样对比的基础上，设计了基于DSP28335芯片的A/D直接采样电路，利用CAN总线通信技术与主控CPU板进行通信，实现整钟闭环锁定的方案。通过试验与被测磁选态铯原子钟现有压频转换法进行对比，结果表明，所设计的A/D直接采样法较压频转换法减小了磁选态铯原子钟相对频率偏差范围，改善了短期频率稳定度，具有实用价值。     

Performance assessment of RTPPP positioning with SSR corrections and PPP-AR positioning with FCB for multi-GNSS from MADOCA products

The state-space representation (SSR) product of satellite orbit and clock is one of the most essential corrections for real-time precise point positioning (RTPPP). When it comes to PPP ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR), the fractional cycle bias (FCB) matters. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has developed a multi-GNSS (i.e., global navigation satellite system) advanced demonstration tool for orbit and clock analysis (MADOCA), providing free and precise orbit and clock products. Because of the shortage of relevant studies on performance evaluation, this paper focuses on the performance assessment of RTPPP and PPP-AR by real-time and offline MADOCA products. To begin with, the real-time MADOCA products are evaluated by comparing orbit and clock with JAXA final products, which gives an objective impression of the correction. Second, PPP tests in static and simulated kinematic mode are conducted to further verify the quality of real-time MADOCA products. Finally, the offline MADOCA products are assessed by PPP and PPP-AR comparisons. The results are as follows: (1) Orbit comparisons produced an average error of about 0.04–0.13 m for the global positioning system (GPS), 0.14–0.16 m for the global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), and 0.07–0.08 m for the quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS). The G15 satellite had the most accurate orbit, with a difference of 0.04 m between the JAXA orbit products and MADOCA’s counterpart, while the R07 satellite had the least accurate orbit with a difference of 0.16 m. Clock products had an accuracy of 0.4–1.3 ns for GPS, 1.4–1.6 ns for GLONASS, and 0.7–0.8 ns for QZSS in general. The G15 satellite had the most accurate clock with a difference of only 0.40 ns between the JAXA clock products and MADOCA products, and the R07 satellite had the least accurate clock with a difference of 1.55 ns. The orbit and clock products for GLONASS performed worse than those of GPS and QZSS. (2) After convergence, the positioning accuracy was 3.0–8.1 cm for static PPP and 8.1–13.7 cm for kinematic PPP when using multi-GNSS observations and precise orbit and clock products. The PFRR station performed the good performance both in static and kinematic mode with an accuracy of 2.99 cm and 8.08 cm, respectively, whereas the CPNM station produced the worst static performance with an error of 8.09 cm, and the ANMG station produced the worst kinematic performance with a counterpart of 13.69 cm. (3) The PPP-AR solution was superior to the PPP solution, given that, with respect to PPP, post-processing PPP-AR improved the positioning accuracy and convergence time by 13–32 % (3–89 %) in GPS-only mode by 2–15 % (5–60 %) in GPS/QZSS mode. Thus, we conclude that the current MADOCA products can provide SSR corrections and FCB products with positioning accuracy at the decimeter or even centimeter level, which could meet the demands of the RTPPP and PPP-AR solutions.     

广义回归神经网络在卫星钟差短期预报中的应用

近年来,神经网络(Neural Network,简称NN)在非线性系统的预测方面取得了广泛的应用。考虑到卫星钟差包含了复杂的非线性因素,所以将一种新型神经网络-广义回归神经网络(Generalized Regression Neural Network,GRNN)应用于钟差预报中。采用“滑动窗”方式构建样本数据以提高数据利用率,为提高网络的泛化能力,利用K重交叉验证法(K-fold Cross-Validation)对网络进行训练学习,并根据最小均方根误差(Root Mean Square Error,RMSE)确定最优平滑因子。利用国际GNSS服务(International GNSS Service,IGS)公布的精密GPS卫星钟差数据进行预报实验,并与传统二次多项式模型对比分析。结果表明：GRNN模型在24h的预报跨度内的误差可达ns级,并较多项式模型有更好的稳定性;对于线性钟差,GRNN模型要逊于多项式模型,而对于非线性钟差,GRNN模型则明显优于多项式模型,初步验证了GRNN用于钟差预报的可行性、有效性以及实用性。     

GPS授时校频方法研究与试验结果

为了解决多目标综合测量系统各测站之间时间同步和频率校准问题,提出了利用GPS(Global Positioning System)单星或多星共视方法进行站间时间同步与校频,给出了这两种方法的计算公式,分析了星历误差、星钟误差、电离层折射误差、对流层折射误差、多径效应和接收机硬件延迟对时间同步精度的影响.为了验证GPS授时校频精度,进行了相关试验.通过与铯原子钟比对,表明利用GPS可实现纳秒级时间同步,校频精度也优于5.0×10-11,多星共视具有更高的同步校频精度.      

An introduction to China FY3 radio occultation mission and its measurement simulation

GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) radio occultation mission for remote sensing of the Earth’s atmosphere will be performed by GNOS (GNSS Occultation Sounder) instrument on China FengYun-3 (FY3) 02 series satellites, the first of which FY3-C will be launched in the year 2013. This paper describes the FY3 GNOS mission and presents some results of measurement simulation. The key designed specifications of GNOS are also shown. The main objective of simulation is to provide scientific support for GNOS occultation mission on the FY3-C satellites. We used EGOPS software to simulate occultation measurements according to GNOS designed parameters. We analyzed the accuracy of retrieval profiles based on two typical occultation events occurring in China South–East area among total simulated events. Comparisons between the retrieval atmospheric profiles and background profiles show that GNOS occultation has high accuracy in the troposphere and lower stratosphere. The sensitivities of refractivity to three types of instrumental error, i.e. Doppler biases, clock stability and local multipath, were analyzed. The results indicated that the Doppler biases introduced by along-ray velocity error and GNOS clock error were the primary error sources for FY3-C occultation mission.     

测量时刻偏差对单星定轨误差的影响分析

为评估测量时刻偏差对单星定轨等效测量误差的影响,根据单星定轨处理策略分析了其理论模型,指出测站接收机的测量时刻偏差由测站时钟钟差以及测量时刻不准确度等组成。试验数据分析表明,测站钟差经一阶多项式拟合后的残差可近似为零均值的测量噪声;数值仿真结果表明,卫星信号发射时刻1ms误差导致GEO、IGSO、MEO三种卫星的等效测距误差分别为006cm、40cm、80cm。