Satellite based positioning system like Global Positioning System (GPS) is used for most of the commutation needs like flying from one place to another, transporting food and other commodities, car navigation, etc. Mobiles with low cost GPS based navigation utilities are in regular use to the extent of personal applications like health monitoring applications. All these are the results of satellite based navigation systems. Spreading sequences play an important role in ensuring a reliable and secure satellite navigation system. In this paper, a review of binary spreading sequence generation methods for use in satellite navigation systems is presented. Sequence generation methods for the existing GNSS like GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BEIDOU, IRNSS and QZSS are considered. Also, recently proposed binary sequences for satellite navigation systems are discussed. It is found that the sequences of different lengths which are multiple of fundamental on-board frequency are commonly used in GNSS. It is observed that even though the gold code possesses excellent correlation properties, due to the code length restrictions, they are not significantly used in GNSS, The truncation of sequences generated using LFSR’s is found to have poor correlation properties. This work is concluded by presenting the requirements for the design of spreading sequence generator for use in satellite navigation systems.

GNSS, GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BEIDOU, IRNSS, QZSS, spreading sequences, binary sequences, gold codes, CDMA.