System and Service Volume Simulation Environment S²VSE

Kurzfassung

The System and Service Volume Simulation Environment (S²VSE), developed at the DLR Galileo Competence Center, supports the analysis regarding the performance and capabilities of existing and future Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and their impact on various end users. S²VSE enables the testing and validation of new system designs and technologies by simulating their function and architecture. The simulation environment encompasses a system simulator (constellation and orbit generation, system error analysis, coverage analysis, etc.) and a service volume simulator (e.g. user segment analysis, navigation performance, environment and receiver simulation). In both cases, the software environment allows the rapid determination and visualisation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for navigation (Accuracy, Integrity, Continuity and Availability). Although the primary focus lies on the European GNSS, the simulation can be adapted to any regional or global constellation. Recent developments include on the system side the ability to effortlessly create constellations consisting of either a single layer or multiple layers based on common constellation frameworks such as Walker Delta and Star. This feature is currently being extended to include machine learning based optimisation using genetic algorithms to better match the created constellation to a specific region or use case. After the creation of a constellation the next step is the propagation of orbits and the analysis of the satellites behaviour responding to external factors like space weather and the resulting impact on the system and the performance. On the user side, S²VSE has the capacity to model the user environment to estimate the performance in correspondence to a constellation in space. These digital environments can be either be based on real data, either for natural environments or cities, as well as handcrafted scenarios. The impact of the environment is then analysed regarding performance parameters such as Accuracy, Continuity and Availability.