The GATE Test Infrastructure and its Use for Galileo Integrity Tests to Support ESA`s European GNSS Evolution Programme

Over the past years GATE has become well known for being an unequalled Galileo test and development range worldwide. It offers today – several years before the full operability of the Galileo system in space – possibilities for navigation with realistic Galileo signals on three frequencies simultaneously in an outdoor environment. Thanks to its additional sophisticated features for the intentional generation of “Feared Events” and functional alerts, the test infrastructure allows to perform various individual functional integrity test scenarios. This includes GPS and GATE/Galileo dual-constellation RAIM (Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring) as well as testing of receivers with user integrity advanced concept (ARAIM) functionalities implemented. These test scenarios support the European GNSS Evolution Programme (EGEP), which is an ESA programme to undertake research and development in and verification of technologies relating to regional space-based augmentation systems (SBAS) and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The implementation of EGEP is done, amongst others, by EGEP test beds providing operational support to experimentation and demonstration campaigns, like the “High Integrity Safety critical regional augmentation Test-Bed” (HISTB) and the “Multi-Constellation Regional System Land Users Test-Bed” (MLUTB). Distinctive test campaigns for HISTB and MLUTB in GATE are being performed in summer and autumn 2012. This paper provides an overview of the GATE infrastructure and its segment design, setup, its functionalities as well as the design and implementation of the upgrades done in the framework of HISTB and MLUTB. A description of the test set-up and execution will be given also considering the dedicated test cases that have been identified for the EGEP test campaigns. Furthermore, the paper will present preliminary results of ARAIM user integrity tests as well as dual-frequency / dual-constellation user experiments with SBAS-like augmentation done in-field in the upgraded GATE test range for HISTB. Finally the paper will provide an outlook on the corresponding upcoming integrity experimental activities, including aeronautical tests with a helicopter in the GATE area.