A Novel Navigation-Communication Integrated Waveform for LEO Network

For the increasingly strong demand for low-orbit navigation enhancement, a novel navigation and communication integrated (NAVCOM) waveform for the LEO constellation is proposed, which can conduct communication and navigation simultaneously. Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence with controllable power is superimposed on the communication signal in the frequency domain as the positioning signal. Furthermore, positioning can be conducted with both time-domain correlation detection (TDCD) and frequency-domain phase estimation (FDPE) for higher ranging accuracy benefits from the Fourier invariance of ZC sequence. Interference between positioning and communication components is analyzed, and the Cramer-Rao low bound (CRLB) of ranging error is given. The performance evaluations show that the novel waveform can achieve high-precision positioning without signifilcantly affecting communication performance.