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Martian Positioning System Link
 
     
 

The Mars Positioning System (MPS) is a Mars Navigation Satellite System (MNSS) developed
by Kuato Engineering. It allows to find your location precisely wherever you are on Mars. It
uses a constellation of 15 Orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, which enable
MPS receivers to determine their current location on Mars, the time, and their velocity.

The MPS system uses a system that is very similar to that implemented on Earth. This system will utilize the same ranging equations to determine distance and will derive its accuracy from a CDMA scheme.which has been chosen for its high capability of allowing multiple users communicating at the same and at the same frequency.

  • 1023 bit long Gold Codes
  • Carrier frequency: 2.06GHz
  • OQPSK modulation
  • Clock-rate (chip-rate): 10.23MHz
  • Navigation Message: 1Kbit/second (20x Earth-based system)
  • Bandwidth: 20.5MHz
  • Transmit Power: 10W (10dBW)

The link budget was fine-tuned based on the following worst-case assumptions:

  • -5dB Receive Antenna Gain (4.3dB - best case)
  • -3dB Transmit Antenna Gain (4dB - best case)
  • -3dB adjustment for dust storms (0dB - best case)
  • Assumes 6 equally interfering satellites (4 satellites - best case)

The following worst-case results were achieved:

  • C/(N + I) ratio of approximately 6dB (19.8dB - best case) after de-spreading
  • Ranging Error of 4.74m (84.5cm - best case)

Note about worst-case calculation

The following geometry was used in determining the worst case scenario for this link. One key thing to note is that the satellite altitude was not used as the worst case communication path length. According to the geometry, the longest path length will occur when the satellite is located on the horizon (from the perspective of the GPS receiver). In this scenario, the GPS receiver will be located 15.6° off-axis at a distance of 12,189Km from the satellite.

Also, it is important to note that the worst case gain for the terrestrial antenna is obtained under the same conditions (satellite on horizon), where a gain of -5dB is expected.