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Broadband Systems Group

A conventional receiver - the DLL with narrow correlator

Research Topics

The Group “Broadband Systems” is addressing topics in the area of navigation signal processing on the one hand, and also new platforms and applications for location and context aware systems. Much of the work in the areas of navigation is at the signal processing level with the goal of assessing and improving the performance of future navigation systems in all kinds of challenging environmental scenarios. At the platform and application levels we are addressing important domains such as systems to support personnel in disaster relief operations, traffic applications and cooperative driver assistance, as well as platforms for context-aware mobile computing in mass market applications.

WayWatch

The following list describes our current topics and research activities:

• Channel and interference measurement for wideband satellite navigation systems in different scenarios; channel modelling.
• Research, development and prototyping of indoor navigation systems for pedestrians, based on INS, compass, GNSS and RFID, human motion models and maps.
• Sensor fusion with Bayesian filtering (in particular particle filtering).
• Development of platforms supporting context aware mobile systems (software architectures, Bayesian context inference, personalisation, intelligent pre-fetching and network selection).
• Development of a collision avoidance system for railways.
• Development of novel co-operative driver assistance systems based on vehicle to vehicle communications and information exchange
• Simulation of navigation systems in critical channel environments, at signal level.
• Dynamic multipath mitigation for navigation receivers using efficient quasi-optimal algorithms

UV-Check

Current Projects and Activities:

• ANASTASIA: European Project (IP) in the framework of FP6. Work in this project is towards novel navigation receiver algorithms for aircraft and the execution of flight tests.
• GITEWS: A national project towards the establishment of a sensor-based Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean.
• GIRASOLE - Galileo Safety of Life Receivers Development: A GJU funded project. Our contributions are extensive simulations and interference measurements
• Galileo ADAP (ADvanced APplications): DLR-Project on satellite navigation (our contributions: indoor positioning, sensor fusion, channel measurement, modelling, and receiver design).
• DAIDALOS Phase II: Continuation of the European Project (IP) in the framework of FP6: Development of an architecture which integrates a broad range of heterogeneous network and mobile computing and sensor technologies for mass market applications. Our contributions lie in the area of algorithms for advanced context awareness.
• Car2Car and Driver Assistance: Work within the Car2Car communications consortium and also a DLR-Project towards new communications networks and driver assistance technologies.
• RCAS (Rail Collision Avoidance System): We are co-ordinating this DLR-Project with the aim of developing a wireless communications based, autonomous collision avoidance system for railways.
• ESA Promote: An ESA project providing an operational, Europe-wide service for location dependent personalised UV information (sunburn time).

Selection of Former Funded Projects:

• Heywow: A regionally funded project. Development and demonstration of an architecture and distributed platform for mobile information systems over heterogeneous networks.
• ESA-Study "Navigation Signal Measurement Campaign for Critical Environments": Aeronautical and Indoor Propagation measurement campaign for satellite navigation systems. 
• MCP (Multimedia Car Platform): This EU IST Project defined the mobile platform, heterogeneous network structure, privacy and security framework and operator interfaces for mobile applications and terminals. DLR led the Workpackage "Mobile Terminal". The project successfully demonstrated the terminals and network ineroperation (including mobile DVB-T) at trade shows, including IFA in Berlin.
• Multimedia over Integrated Networks and Terminals (Nationally funded project).  DLR's main contributions were the study of transmission schemes and source coding schemes for multimedia contents transmitted via wireless systems (e.g. DAB, DVB-T) as well the specification and verification of a broadband and decentralised indoor wireless network. 
• Signal Design Study for GNSS-2 (ESA funded project). In this project different signal formats and parameters were studied for the future European GNSS-2 navigation system. The signal aspects were verified and analysed with the help of extensive simulations. 
• Digital Video Broadcasting Integrated Receiver and Decoder (DVBird, a EU project funded within ACTS). Simulation and analysis of the DVB-T standard; hardware-close simulation, specification and optimisation of receiver algorithms  for the first chip-set for a fully DVB-T compliant receiver. 
• Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (dTTb, EU project funded within RACE) and Hierarchical Digital Television Transmission (HDTVT, a nationally funded project): Design and verification of the system concept for the DVB-T air interface. Special focus on OFDM frame structure, (hierarchical) channel coding and modulation techniques, as well as investigations on error concealment for MPEG-2 encoded video signals.