Ionosphere Dispersion Effects on Wideband GNSS Signal Performance

The ionosphere dispersion causes the distortions of wideband GNSS signals traversing the ionosphere, and thus impacts the signal performance. Its effects are comparatively analyzed and simulated in terms of time-domain waveform, correlation function, code loop lock point bias, and carrier phase tracking bias under different signal spectrum shapes, bandwidths and total electron content (TEC) conditions. The results show that the signals with split spectrum are more susceptible to ionosphere dispersions than concentrated spectrum, and the distortions and tracking biases increase with the increase of either the TEC or the signal bandwidth. The study provides a reference for the design and evaluation of wideband GNSS signals and the receiver compensation techniques.