Design and implementation of an adaptive code discriminator in a DSP/FPGA-based Galileo receiver

In the design of a global navigation satellite system receiver, the tracking performance depends on the code tracking loop and the associated discriminator. An adaptive code discriminator under a multi-correlator architecture has been designed based on a multi-objective principle to achieve a balance among various, sometimes conflicting, design objectives. With the proposed optimization approach and adaptive logic, concerns of large pull-in region and small steady-state error can be addressed. The proposed scheme is implemented in a digital signal processor/field programmable gate array board and an experiment is conducted to process GIOVE-A signals. The test results reveal the advantages of the proposed code tracking architecture and discriminator design.