front-end-cal

NAME

front-end-cal - RF front-end center frequency and sampling rate calibration tool.

SYNOPSIS

front-end-cal -config_file=<path-to-configuration-file> [OPTION]...

DESCRIPTION

front-end-cal is a calibration tool for some DVB-T receivers based on the Taiwan’s Realtek RTL2832U chipset, sold in form of USB dongles that allow users to watch over-the-air DVB-T European broadcast television on their personal computers, to be used as GNSS front-ends.
Normally, those devices send partially-decoded MPEG transport frames over
the USB, but exploiting an undocumented mode of operation of the
demodulator chip, the user is able to obtain raw I&Q samples, stream them
through USB to a personal computer and then use gnss-sdr, turning the DVB-T
receiver into a GNSS receiver and delivering position in real-time.
The crystal oscillator that ships with the RTL2832U family devices exhibits
limited accuracy to be used as a GNSS receiver front-end without previous
calibration. front-end-cal implements the algorithm proposed in [1], and it
requires Internet access since it retrieves Assisted GPS data from SUPL
servers.
front-end-cal is able to work with raw data files or, if there is
computational power enough, in real time with suitable radio frequency
front-ends. The whole receiver is defined in a single configuration file,
and therefore users can define theirs.

OPTIONS

front-end-cal takes the following options:
-config_file=<path-to-configuration-file> Set the configuration file.
-signal_source=<path-to-raw-signal-file> If defined, path to the file
containing the signal samples (overrides the data file specified in the
configuration file).
-log_dir=<path-to-directory> If defined, overrides the default directory
where logs are saved.
-version Print program version and exit.
-help Print all the available commandline flags and exit.

SEE ALSO

gnss-sdr(1),volk_gnsssdr_profile(1)
Example of configuration file available at:
${prefix}/share/gnss-sdr/conf/front-end-cal.conf, where ${prefix}$ uses to
be /usr or /usr/local. This will be the configuration file used by default
if the -config_file option is not set.
[1] C. Fernandez-Prades, J. Arribas, P. Closas, Turning a Television into a
GNSS Receiver, in Proceedings of ION GNSS+, 15-16 September 2013,
Nashville, Tennessee (USA). A draft copy is freely available at
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257137427_Turning_a_Television_into_a_GNSS_Receiver
Check https://gnss-sdr.org for more information.

BUGS

No known bugs.

AUTHOR

Javier Arribas (javier.arribas@cttc.es)
This software has been developed at CTTC (Centre Tecnologic de
Telecomunicacions de Catalunya, https://www.cttc.cat) with contributions
from around the world.