Spirent Communications, a world leader in global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) testing solutions, has announced the release of SimIQ, a new software that will allow for earlier and more efficient GNSS testing during product development. From software-in-the-loop through to final form testing, SimIQ enables developers to collaborate across the full design lifecycle through the creation, sharing, and replay of I/Q data files.
SimIQ has been developed to meet the growing need to test GNSS capabilities earlier to accelerate product development, while simultaneously reducing costs by identifying issues before the purchase of hardware components. For developers using Spirent’s market-leading GSS7000 and GSS9000 simulators, SimIQ extends multi-frequency, multi-constellation simulation capabilities to cover software-only testing needs through the capture and replay of high fidelity I/Q data files. Housed in a single system, SimIQ reads and generates I/Q data with two major components, SimIQ Capture and SimIQ Replay.
SimIQ Capture - Allows Spirent GNSS simulators to generate I/Q files containing all the GNSS signal data required to test the algorithms, conformance, and performance of software receivers. It enables the recording of GNSS I/Q data into files hosted in the simulator, helping development and testing teams to validate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) algorithms before expensive hardware designs.
SimIQ Replay - Enables the simulator to read any I/Q file containing GNSS data. Besides, it facilitates the generation of RF from pre-recorded interference signals and custom waveforms. The flexibility and unrivaled signal generation architecture of Spirent’s hardware enable the generation of these signals from I/Q files while maintaining fidelity and quality due to Spirent’s unrivalled signal generation architecture.
The new software will bring significant benefits to developers in the aerospace, automotive, and defense industries. SimIQ Capture enables developers to test their receiver algorithms in the earliest stages of design to minimize their costs. This provides designers with full assurance that they can move forward with confidence in the hardware design phase.
With SimIQ, test engineers will now be able to utilize our simulators to test GNSS throughout the full design lifecycle, ultimately saving time and resources, while accelerating technology development. SimIQ will be available to new and existing customers beginning in Q4 2020.
