OAPP - Osmania University Feature Story

Orolia’s Academic Partnership Program Introduces Skydel to Osmania University to Drive GNSSGlobal navigation satellite system (GNSS): A general term describing any satellite constellation that provides positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services on a global or regional basis. See also Education and Research Initiatives in India

Whether the goal is to develop consumer devices, sophisticated hardware or integrated software, India’s tech innovators are progressively embracing all aspects of positioning and navigation simulation technology to meet the challenges of regional, national and international socio-economic advancements.

Osmania University, located in the city of Hyderabad (population 10+ million), is the first institution of higher learning in India to join Orolia’s Academic Partnership Program (OAPP). Since 2021, researchers and students have been fully leveraging the power of the Skydel global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) simulation engine to advance their research projects.

After introducing the Skydel platform, Professor Laxminarayana Parayitam, Principal Scientist/Professor and Director for the Navigational Electronics Research and Training Unit, said Osmania University has structured a highly sophisticated GNSS simulation education program aimed at creating future opportunities for engineering students. He said students are now capable of working on any design, development, or research project related to GNSS signals.

“A simulator is required to understand the signal structure, development of new and customized signals, and the thorough evaluation of a receiver or newly designed signals under different environmental conditions,” said Prof. Laxminarayana. “GNSS simulation will not only help us understand the signal structure of GNSS systems, but it will also teach us the basics of CDMA, FDMA communication, advanced modulation techniques like BOC, CBOC, MOBC, data encoding, decoding, computation of range and vehicle dynamics modeling.”

Prof. Laxminarayana noted that students who are using Skydel for their Ph.D. work published and presented three papers at two recent conferences:

• Evaluation of Positional performance of NavIC Software Receiver with Inertial Sensor Measurements – presented at the 29th Saint Petersburg International Conference on Integrated Navigation Systems in May 2022.
• Robust Navigation with NavIC Software Receiver using Vector Delay Lock Loop – presented at International Conference on Theoretical, Applied, Computational and Experimental Mechanics ICTACEM 2021 in December 2021.

The third student paper, “Performance of GNSS SDR for IRNSSIRNSS is the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System. Similar to the concept of GNSS - or Global Navigation Satellite System, the IRNSS is a group of satellites that provides location services for a smaller region of the world, around India and 930 miles outside of India. L5 Signals using a low-cost RF-Front End,” is in review with Navigation Journal (published by the Institute of Navigation, USA).

While OAPP strives to expand its partnership with Osmania University to drive future PNTPosition, Navigation, and Timing: PNT and map data combine to create the GPS service. research, Orolia’s new parent company, the Safran Group, recently announced several transformational investments in India. In July 2022, Safran dedicated three new production sites in India and announced the construction of a new modern facility in 2025, bolstering its strategic partnership with the country. Safran has operated in India for 65 years and has ten facilities and more than 750 employees. These initiatives represent more than $200 million of investment over seven years and reflect the Group’s commitment to long-term development in the country.

“OAPP supports Safran’s commitment to long-term development in India,” said Rob Burke. “We anticipate our international collaboration will create a vast talent pool of future engineers who can fill growing tech jobs advance throughout South Asia.

As Osmania University emerges from the historic COVID pandemic, Prof. Laxminarayana said he hopes to propel the institution’s education and research goals and to create opportunities for the students to contribute to national and regional development.

“During COVID, we couldn’t conduct short training courses for working engineers in the classroom or the lab,” he said. “We are planning new courses demonstrating the capabilities of GNSS receivers and how to evaluate algorithms thoroughly using simulated data.”

Osmania University prides itself on producing talented engineers who have distinguished themselves nationally and worldwide. Orolia is committed to providing Skydel access under the OAPP to inspire future academic research and economic development at Osmania University, which plays an essential role in India’s emerging tech transformation.