The Compass system (also known as Beidou-2, BD2) is a project by China to develop an independent global satellite navigation system. [1] It became operational with coverage of China and surrounding areas in December 2011.[2] It is planned to offer services to customers in the Asia-Pacific region by 2012 and the global system should be finished by 2020.[3]
Compass is not an extension to the previously deployed Beidou-1, but a new global navigation satellite system (GNSS) similar in principle to GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo. The system is intended to be compatible and interoperable with these other systems.[3]
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The new system will be a constellation of 35 satellites, which include 5 geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites and 30 medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites, that will offer complete coverage of the globe. The ranging signals are based on the CDMA principle and have complex structure typical of Galileo or modernized GPS. Similar to the other GNSS, there will be two levels of positioning service: open and restricted (military). The public service shall be available globally to general users. When all the currently planned GNSS systems are deployed, the users will benefit from the use of a total constellation of 75+ satellites, which will significantly improve all the aspects of positioning, especially availability of the signals in so-called urban canyons.[4] The general designer of Compass navigation system is Sun Jiadong, who is also the general designer of its predecessor, Beidou navigation system.
Frequencies for Compass are allocated in four bands: E1, E2, E5B, and E6 and overlap with Galileo. The fact of overlapping could be convenient from the point of view of the receiver design, but on the other hand raises the issues of inter-system interference, especially within E1 and E2 bands, which are allocated for Galileo's publicly-regulated service.[5] However, under International Telecommunications Union (ITU) policies, the first nation to start broadcasting in a specific frequency will have priority to that frequency, and any subsequent users will be required to obtain permission prior to using that frequency, and otherwise ensure that their broadcasts do not interfere with the original nation's broadcasts. It now appears that Chinese Compass satellites will start transmitting in the E1, E2, E5B, and E6 bands before Europe's Galileo satellites and thus have primary rights to these frequency ranges.[6]
Although almost nothing has yet been officially announced by Chinese authorities about the signals of the new system, the launch of the first Compass satellite permitted independent researchers not only to study general characteristics of the signals but even to build a Compass receiver.
Compass-M1 is an experimental satellite launched for signal testing and validation and for the frequency filing on 14 April 2007. The role of Compass-M1 for Compass is similar to the role of GIOVE satellites for Galileo. The orbit of Compass-M1 is nearly circular, has an altitude of 21,150 km and an inclination of 55.5 degrees.
Compass-M1 is transmitting in 3 bands: E2, E5B, and E6. In each frequency band two coherent sub-signals have been detected with a phase shift of 90 degrees (in quadrature). These signal components are further referred to as "I" and "Q". The "I" components have shorter codes and are likely to be intended for the open service. The "Q" components have much longer codes, are more interference resistive, and are probably intended for the restricted service.
The investigation of the transmitted signals started immediately after the launch of Compass -M1 on 14 April 2007. Soon after in June 2007, engineers at CNES reported the spectrum and structure of the signals.[7] A month later, researchers from Stanford University reported the complete decoding of the “I” signals components.[8][9] The knowledge of the codes allowed a group of engineers at Septentrio to build the COMPASS receiver[10] and report tracking and multipath characteristics of the “I” signals on E2 and E5B.[11]
| Parameters | E2-I | E2-Q | E5B-I | E5B-Q | E6-I | E6-Q | GPS L1-CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native notation | B1 | B1 | B2 | B2 | B3 | B3 | --- |
| Code modulation | BPSK(2) | BPSK(2) | BPSK(2) | BPSK(10) | BPSK(10) | BPSK (10) | BPSK (1) |
| Carrier frequency, MHz | 1561.098 | 1561.098 | 1207.14 | 1207.14 | 1268.52 | 1268.52 | 1575.42 |
| Chip rate, Mchips/sec | 2.046 | 2.046 | 2.046 | 10.230 | 10.230 | 10.230 | 1.023 |
| Code period, chips | 2046 | ?? | 2046 | ?? | 10230 | ?? | 1023 |
| Code period, msec | 1.0 | >400 | 1.0 | >160 | 1.0 | >160 | 1.0 |
| Symbols/sec | 50 | ?? | 50 | ?? | 50 | ?? | 50 |
| Navigation frames, sec | 6 | ?? | 6 | ?? | ?? | ?? | 6 |
| Navigation sub-frames, sec | 30 | ?? | 30 | ?? | ?? | ?? | 30 |
| Navigation period, min | 12.0 | ?? | 12.0 | ?? | ?? | ?? | 12.5 |
Characteristics of the "I" signals on E2 and E5B are generally similar to the civilian codes of GPS (L1-CA and L2C), but Compass signals have somewhat greater power. The notation of Compass signals used in this page follows the naming of the frequency bands and agrees with the notation used in the American literature on the subject, but the notation used by the Chinese seems to be different and is quoted in the first row of the table.
| Mission | Date[12] | Name | Launch center | Launch vehicle | Bus | Orbit |
| 07-32 | 2007-04-13 | Compass-M1 | Xichang | CZ-3C | DFH-3 | MEO ~21,500 km |
| 07-37 | 2009-04-14 | Compass-G2 | Xichang | CZ-3C | DFH-3 | GEO drifting |
| 07–38 | 2010-01-16 | Compass-G1 | Xichang | CZ-3C | DFH-3 | GEO 144.5°E |
| 07-39 | 2010-06-02 | Compass-G3 | Xichang | CZ-3C | DFH-3 | GEO 84.0°E |
| 07-40 | 2010-07-31 | Compass-IGSO1 | Xichang | CZ-3A | DFH-3 | HEO ~36,000 km |
| 07-43 | 2010-10-31 | Compass-G4 | Xichang | CZ-3C | DFH-3 | GEO 160.0°E |
| 07-45 | 2010-12-17 | Compass-IGSO2 | Xichang | CZ-3A | DFH-3 | HEO ~36,000 km |
| 07-46 | 2011-04-10 | Compass-IGSO3 | Xichang | CZ-3A | DFH-3 | HEO ~36,000 km |
| 07-49 | 2011-07-27 | Compass-IGSO-4 | Xichang | CZ-3A | DFH-3 | HEO ~36,000 km |
| 07-51 | 2011-12-01 | Compass-IGSO-5 | Xichang | CZ-3A | DFH-3 | HEO ~36,000 km |
In December 2011, the system went into operation on a trial basis.[13] It has started providing navigation, positioning and timing data to China and the neighbouring area for free from 27 December. During this trial run, Compass will offer positioning accuracy to within 25 meters, but the precision will improve as more satellites are launched. When the system is officially launched next year, it pledges to offer general users positioning information accurate to the nearest 10 m, measure speeds within 0.2 m per second, and provide signals for clock synchronisation accurate to 0.02 microseconds.[3]
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