[SatNews] This new offering enables volume testing in single freq. multi-GNSS apps...

WORK Microwave's joint venture with IFEN has produced a new model for the well-known NavX®-GNSS (global navigation satellite system) test solution product family. The new design, appropriately named the NavX®-NCS Essential, defines the new RF multi-GNSS signal generator technology for volume testing in single frequency multi-GNSS applications. With its flexible licensing capability, the new product is a future-proof investment for the coming multi-GNSS era. The key technology advancement in the NavX®-NCS Essential is driven by the powerful BLACK JACK simulation engine, which lies at the heart of the NavX®-NCS Essential. The engine allows simultaneous simulation of GPS, GLONASS, SBAS, and Galileo satellites covering all operating GNSS systems on the L1 RF frequency band all-in-one-box. The simulation engine is available as a plug-in module and up to two BLACK JACK modules can be added to the signal generator, providing the user with full flexibility and control over scenario generation during testing. With 42 simultaneous signal channels, the NavX®-NCS Essential is ready for today's GPS testing and forward-compatible with the next-generation GNSS systems of the future.

The NavX®-NCS Essential hardware is GNSS-system agnostic and can generate any known signal today, with the capability to cope with modulations and signal structures yet to be developed. The product is a leader in GPS, A-GPS, LBS, and new consumer vehicle navigation product testing, and provides unique capabilities like the emulation of various vehicle motion sensors for multi-sensor vehicle navigation systems. These capabilities make the NavX®-NCS Essential ideal for testing of products, such as GPS-only systems, or when used as a signal generator to reproduce identical test cases during final product tests. Other applications include simulation for system integration, research, and development of future multi-GNSS equipment and next-generation receiver chips. With its 1-RU chassis, the NavX®-NCS Essential fits well into any environment and can be upgraded simply with additional software licenses. The modular architecture of the product, in both hardware and software design, provides a future-proof GNSS investment. Additional features include remote control operation, an intuitive graphical user interface, data logging for simple analysis, and integration with Google Earth™. The new NavX®-NCS Essential will be on display November 29 to December 1 within the IFEN stand at ENC 2011, at the Royal Institute of Navigation in London.