Python program for ionospheric scintillation signal generation

Abstract

Equatorial ionospheric scintillation can cause intense fluctuations in the magnitude and phase of trans-ionospheric signals, especially when communication links are placed in regions close to the magneticequator. This phenomenon has a crucial impact on the functioning of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. There is great interest in investigating new GNSS receiver architectures that are more robust to scintillation. The CSM model (Cornell Scintillation Model) was developed by Cornell University, using MATLAB scripts, to simulate the effects of equatorial scintillation on signals received by the GNSS system. This tool is widely used in studies on new receptor architectures subjected to scintillation. In this article, we present a Python program called Scintillation Data Generator (SDG),
which, similar to CSM, generates and stores a signal that simulates the effects of scintillation. Furthermore, the program is capable of plotting graphs that help in the evaluation of statistics related to the generated signal and an interactive graph that makes it easier for the user to understand how the S_4 flicker factor and the decorrelation time associated with the signal's autocorrelation function, change the shape of the flicker signal. In addition to detailing the operation of the Python program, this work revisits the statistical model of a communication channel subjected to flickering. It evaluates the performance of the proposed program in terms of the quality of the signals generated.