Acquisition of GPS L1 signals using Cooley-tukey FFT algorithm

The development of software based GNSS receivers is being rapidly revolutionized in satellite based navigation applications. In view of commencement of new satellite/ground based navigation systems such as Indian Regional Navigations Systems (IRNSS), GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN), China's COMPAS and pseduolites etc., the receiver technology is to be updated efficiently for high positional accuracy requirements under noisy environments. The main modules of software GPS receiver contain acquisition, tracking and position computations. Among them, acquisition is very important process for identifying satellites, which is based on spread spectrum technology. In this paper, Goertzel and Cooley-tukey FFT GPS acquisition algorithms are implemented for GPS L1 signals. The simulations results indicate that Cooley-tukey FFT GPS acquisition algorithm (Acquisition time: 18.32 seconds) is performed well as compared to the other algorithms.