Testing a GNSS software receiver for end-user utilization

Software Defined Receivers(SDR) can be a very useful tools both for researchers and surveyors since it is capable of extreme customization allowing user to access, visualize and modify signal processing blocks. In this paper we test the single point performance of the GNSS-SDR software receiver coupled with Nuand BladeRF x40 front-end feeded by an active u-blox GNSS antenna powered by a bias-tee needful to provide external gain. Four different tests have been carried out in two different scenarios located in Naples (Italy) employing two different antennas: the first dataset was acquired in a site expected to be a low-multipath environment while the second in a strong multipath scenario in Centro Direzionale (CDN) site using the same instrumentation. Both tests were carried out with two different antennas. Results achieved show how SDR is a good candidate to represent an innovative low-cost and flexible platform which can be used to get intermediate frequency data useful in the field of GNSS reflectometry and ionospheric scintillation analysis.