A rubidium clock for GPS

The design objectives and approach; the more important design features; the signal parameters and error budget; and early test results in the development of a second-source rubidium frequency standard for use in the GPS navigation satellites are discussed. Tests of a breadboard version of the RFS show that the measured time-domain stability is within the goal specification. The results are uncorrected for the conribution of the reference and are probably limited by the reference stability in the medium term region. The Rb reference is bbetter in the medium term region, but the Cs reference is etter at 10,000 seconds and longer, probably because of the barometric sensitivity of the rubidium reference unit.