Feasibility assessment of MEMS oscillators for GNSS receivers

We analyze results from using a temperature-sensing MEMS oscillator as frequency source for the front end of a software-based GNSS receiver. Results show that although MEMS oscillators are highly sensitive to temperature, GNSS receivers can still make use of them even without any form of temperature information or compensation. Nevertheless, using a temperature sensor in close proximity to the resonator can significantly decrease acquisition time and improve tracking performance if the temperature measurements are properly filtered to remove noise. In this case, no negative effect on the measured carrier-to-noise density ratio was detected, and phase-locked tracking of strong signals was possible over a temperature range of ?40 to +85 °C.