Performance results of the Galileo Precise Timing Facility

The Precise Timing Facility (PTF) is considered as a key element of the Ground Mission Segment (GMS) in the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The development of both PTFs, located in two GCCs (Galileo Control Center) in Germany and in Italy, are currently under responsibility of Tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	2016 IEEE Metrology for Aerospace (MetroAeroSpace) pp. 484 - 488
Main Authors:	Morante, Quirino, Cretoni, Daniele, Putorti, Giulia, Varriale, Enrico, Blanchi, Marco, Cantelmo, Claudio, Baig, Jordi Fontdecaba, Nogues, Jean Francois, Aouad, Anas Tajdine, Siccardi, Marco, Mudrack, Alexander, Schlarmann, Bernhard
Format:	Conference Proceeding
Language:	English
Published:	IEEE 01-06-2016
Subjects:	Algorithm design and analysis Cesium Clocks GALILEO Global Positioning System GNSS GST Masers Monitoring Navigation PTF timekeeping
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	The Precise Timing Facility (PTF) is considered as a key element of the Ground Mission Segment (GMS) in the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The development of both PTFs, located in two GCCs (Galileo Control Center) in Germany and in Italy, are currently under responsibility of Thales Alenia Space Italia S.p.A. The PTF major purpose is to generate the physical realization of the reference time scale of Galileo, the Galileo System Time (GST), which has two main functions: the provision of a very stable time reference for navigation purposes and the metrological timekeeping. The first one is critical for fulfilling the navigation mission and is needed for the accurate computation of the orbit and satellite clock information included in the Galileo Navigation Message. The second function is aimed at steering GST towards Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) (the steering is in frequency, no leap seconds introduced in GST) and to provide the UTC timing dissemination service to the Galileo users through the Galileo Signal-In-Space (SIS). Navigation timekeeping is the core task of the PTF, whereas the metrological timekeeping is performed by an external Time Service Provider (TSP). In addition to the above, PTF is also in charge of computing the Galileo-GPS Time Offset (GGTO) which contributes to GPS-Galileo interoperability. The paper will present a brief overview of the system and will report the performance test results achieved by the 2 PTFs.
DOI:	10.1109/MetroAeroSpace.2016.7573263