These scripts read GNSS-SDR dump files and save diagnostic plots. They are intended to be run from any directory; input and output locations are configurable through command-line options.

Every script accepts -h/--help (printing the full option list and exiting) and saves PNG figures to a --fig-path directory, creating it if needed. Pass --show to also display the figures interactively.

Common Options

The following options are shared by every script. The per-script tables below repeat them with the default value that applies to each tool.

-h, --help: print the option list and exit.
-i, --input-path: directory containing the dump files (default: current directory).
--conf: optional GNSS-SDR configuration file. When provided, scripts infer missing options such as --file-prefix, --channels, --first-channel, --sampling-frequency, --signal-type, and --nav-sol-period from the configuration. Explicit command-line options always take precedence over values inferred from --conf.
--file-prefix: the value of the block's dump_filename configuration parameter in GNSS-SDR. It may include a directory and an extension; each script reconstructs the actual dump filenames from it exactly the way GNSS-SDR does — the directory is split off, the basename extension is removed, and the block-specific suffix is appended:
- tracking / telemetry: <prefix><channel>.dat
- observables / PVT: <prefix>.dat
- acquisition: <prefix>_<system>_<signal>_ch_<channel>_<execution>_sat_<PRN>.mat
Any directory in --file-prefix is resolved relative to --input-path (an absolute --file-prefix path overrides it).

When --conf is provided to the generic tracking and acquisition plotters, a multi-signal configuration expands to every enabled signal. Pass --signal-type to restrict plots to one signal. Single-file modes and signal-specific scripts still require or prefer one signal. Channel ranges are computed using GNSS-SDR's receiver order: 1C, 2S, L5, 1B, 5X, E6, 1G, 2G, B1, B3, 7X, J1, J5.
-o, --fig-path: directory where plots are saved. Defaults to a per-script subdirectory under ./plots/.
--show: display plots interactively after saving them. By default, scripts save the PNG files and close the figures. When --show is given, all of a run's figures are kept open and displayed together with a single blocking plt.show() at the end; closing the windows lets the script exit.
--format: saved figure format, one of png (default), pdf, eps, svg, jpg. The vector formats (pdf, eps, svg) are written publication-ready with embedded fonts — PDF and EPS embed TrueType fonts (font type 42) instead of the default Type 3 fonts that many journals reject, so the output is suitable for camera-ready figures. Raster formats are saved at 300 DPI. This mirrors the --format option of utils/skyplot/skyplot.py.

Dependencies

The scripts use Python 3 plus:

numpy, matplotlib — all scripts.
scipy, h5py — acquisition grid (plot_acq_grid.py).
pyproj — PVT UTM coordinate conversion.
folium — PVT map generation (skipped with --no-position).

Acquisition Grid — `plot_acq_grid.py`

Reads acquisition .mat dumps and plots the 2D/3D acquisition grid (search space) of the test statistic.

Input pattern (per dump):

<input-path>/<file-prefix>_<system>_<signal>_ch_<channel>_<execution>_sat_<PRN>.mat

Output PNGs (_2D and _3D):

<fig-path>/<output-basename>_<system>_<signal>_ch_<channel>_<execution>_sat_<PRN>_2D.png
<fig-path>/<output-basename>_<system>_<signal>_ch_<channel>_<execution>_sat_<PRN>_3D.png

Each figure title uses a readable signal name and PRN, for example GPS L1 C/A PRN 3 (channel 0, execution 1).

Option	Default	Description
`-i`, `--input-path`	`.`	Directory containing the acquisition `.mat` dumps.
`--conf`	unset	GNSS-SDR configuration used to infer acquisition dump prefixes and signal selectors.
`--file-prefix`	`--conf` or `acquisition`	`Acquisition.dump_filename` value (may include a directory/extension).
`-o`, `--fig-path`	`plots/acquisition`	Output directory for PNGs.
`--output-basename`, `--output-prefix`	`--file-prefix` basename	Base name for the saved PNGs (directory and extension stripped).
`--all-files` / `--single-file`	`--all-files`	Plot every matching dump, or a single dump chosen by the selectors below.
`--positive-only` / `--include-negative`	`--positive-only`	Plot only positive acquisitions, or positive and negative.
`--lite-view` / `--full-view`	`--lite-view`	Interpolated light grid, or the raw acquisition grid.
`--sat`	`1` in single-file mode	Satellite PRN. Filters in all-files mode; selects the dump in single-file mode.
`--channel`	`0` in single-file mode	Acquisition channel number. Filter / selector.
`--execution`	`1` in single-file mode	Acquisition dump execution index. Filter / selector.
`--signal-type CODE`	`--conf` or `1C`	GNSS-SDR signal code (see table below); case-insensitive. Filters in all-files mode; selects in single-file mode.
`--samples-per-chip`	`3`	Samples per chip used by the light-grid interpolation.
`--samples-per-doppler-step`	`5`	Interpolated samples per Doppler step used by the light-grid interpolation.
`--surface-smoothing`	`2.0`	Gaussian smoothing sigma for the lite 3D surface; use `0` to disable.
`--samples-per-code`	`25000`	Samples per code used for the 2D normalization.
`--input-power`	`100.0`	Input power used for the 2D normalization.
`--show`	off	Display figures after saving.
`--format`	`png`	Saved figure format: `png` (default), `pdf`, `eps`, `svg`, `jpg`. Vector formats embed fonts (publication-ready).

Signal codes accepted by --signal-type, using the same nomenclature as the GNSS-SDR configuration and dump filenames (e.g. --signal-type=E6):

Code	System	Signal	Code length (chips)
`1C`	GPS	L1 C/A	1023
`2S`	GPS	L2C	10230
`L5`	GPS	L5	10230
`1B`	Galileo	E1B	4092
`5X`	Galileo	E5a	10230
`7X`	Galileo	E5b	10230
`E6`	Galileo	E6	5115
`1G`	GLONASS	L1	511
`2G`	GLONASS	L2	511
`B1`	BeiDou	B1I	2046
`B3`	BeiDou	B3I	10230
`J1`	QZSS	L1 C/A	1023
`J5`	QZSS	L5	10230

In all-files mode --sat, --channel, --execution, and --signal-type filter the matching dumps. If --conf enables several signals and --file-prefix is not set, all configured acquisition dump prefixes are scanned. If a --file-prefix matches no files, the available dump prefixes found in the directory are listed.

Examples:

python3 plot_acq_grid.py
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --input-path ./out --fig-path ./plots/acquisition
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --file-prefix hackrf_l1_acq_dump --channel 0
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --file-prefix hackrf_l1_acq_dump --sat 26
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --signal-type E6
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --conf gnss-sdr_BDS_B3I_byte.conf
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --single-file --signal-type J1 --sat 193 --channel 0 --execution 1
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --single-file --sat 3 --channel 0 --execution 1 --full-view
python3 plot_acq_grid.py --include-negative --output-basename my_run

DLL/PLL VEML Tracking — `dll_pll_veml_plot_sample.py`

Reads per-channel tracking .dat dumps and plots VEML tracking diagnostics (correlator outputs, discriminators, C/N0, ...), plus optional Doppler plots.

Input pattern: <input-path>/<file-prefix><channel>.dat.

Option	Default	Description
`-i`, `--input-path`	`.`	Directory containing the tracking `.dat` dumps.
`--conf`	unset	GNSS-SDR configuration used to infer tracking dump prefix, sampling frequency, and channel range.
`--file-prefix`	`--conf` or `track_ch`	`Tracking.dump_filename` value (may include a directory/extension).
`-o`, `--fig-path`	`plots/dll-pll-veml-tracking`	Output directory for PNGs.
`--sampling-frequency`	`--conf` or `3000000.0`	Signal sampling frequency in Hz (sets the RX-time axis).
`--channels`	`--conf` or `5`	Number of channels to read.
`--first-channel`	`--conf` or `0`	First channel number in the dump filenames.
`--signal-type CODE`	inferred if needed	GNSS-SDR signal code used to restrict channel ranges and dump filenames from `--conf`; omitted means all configured signals.
`--plot-last-outputs`	`0`	Only plot the last N outputs; `0` plots all of them.
`--no-doppler`	Doppler plots on	Skip the extra Doppler-only plots.
`--show`	off	Display figures after saving.
`--format`	`png`	Saved figure format: `png` (default), `pdf`, `eps`, `svg`, `jpg`. Vector formats embed fonts (publication-ready).

Examples:

python3 dll_pll_veml_plot_sample.py --input-path ./out
python3 dll_pll_veml_plot_sample.py --file-prefix tracking_ch_ --channels 8
python3 dll_pll_veml_plot_sample.py --conf conf/File_input/Galileo/gnss-sdr_Galileo_E1_nsr.conf --signal-type 1B --input-path ./out
python3 dll_pll_veml_plot_sample.py --plot-last-outputs 5000 --no-doppler

GPS L1 C/A KF Tracking — `gps_l1_ca_kf_plot_sample.py`

Reads per-channel Kalman-filter tracking .dat dumps produced by the GPS_L1_CA_KF_Tracking block and plots tracking plus Kalman-filter variables.

Input pattern: <input-path>/<file-prefix><channel>.dat.

Option	Default	Description
`-i`, `--input-path`	`.`	Directory containing the tracking `.dat` dumps.
`--conf`	unset	GNSS-SDR configuration used to infer tracking dump prefix, sampling frequency, and channel range.
`--file-prefix`	`--conf` or `track_ch`	`Tracking.dump_filename` value (may include a directory/extension).
`-o`, `--fig-path`	`plots/kf-tracking`	Output directory for PNGs.
`--sampling-frequency`	`--conf` or `4000000.0`	Signal sampling frequency in Hz.
`--channels`	`--conf` or `5`	Number of channels to read.
`--first-channel`	`--conf` or `0`	First channel number in the dump filenames.
`--signal-type CODE`	inferred if needed	GNSS-SDR signal code used to select channel ranges and dump filenames from `--conf`.
`--code-period`	`0.001`	Code period in seconds.
`--show`	off	Display figures after saving.
`--format`	`png`	Saved figure format: `png` (default), `pdf`, `eps`, `svg`, `jpg`. Vector formats embed fonts (publication-ready).

The dumps must come from the GPS_L1_CA_KF_Tracking block; standard DLL/PLL tracking dumps have a different record layout and will be misread.

Examples:

python3 gps_l1_ca_kf_plot_sample.py --input-path ./out
python3 gps_l1_ca_kf_plot_sample.py --file-prefix track_ch --channels 8
python3 gps_l1_ca_kf_plot_sample.py --conf conf/File_input/MultiCons/gnss-sdr_labsat_kf.conf --signal-type 1C --input-path ./out
python3 gps_l1_ca_kf_plot_sample.py --sampling-frequency 4000000 --code-period 0.001

Tracking Quality Indicators — `plot_tracking_quality_indicators.py`

Plots the carrier-lock test and C/N0 indicators of all channels on two shared figures.

Input pattern: <input-path>/<file-prefix><channel>.dat.

Option	Default	Description
`-i`, `--input-path`	`.`	Directory containing the tracking `.dat` dumps.
`--conf`	unset	GNSS-SDR configuration used to infer tracking dump prefix, sampling frequency, signal type, and channel range.
`--file-prefix`	`--conf` or `track_ch`	`Tracking.dump_filename` value (may include a directory/extension).
`-o`, `--fig-path`	`plots/tracking-quality`	Output directory for PNGs.
`--sampling-frequency`	`--conf` or `4000000.0`	Signal sampling frequency in Hz.
`--channels`	`--conf` or `5`	Number of channels to read.
`--first-channel`	`--conf` or `0`	First channel number in the dump filenames.
`--signal-type`	`--conf` or `1C`	GNSS-SDR signal code used to restrict channel ranges and label traces; omitted with multi-signal `--conf` means all configured signals.
`--show`	off	Display figures after saving.
`--format`	`png`	Saved figure format: `png` (default), `pdf`, `eps`, `svg`, `jpg`. Vector formats embed fonts (publication-ready).

The C/N0 legend labels each trace as <signal-type> PRN <PRN> (e.g. 1C PRN 9); the carrier-lock legend labels traces as SV <signal-type> PRN <PRN>.

Examples:

python3 plot_tracking_quality_indicators.py --input-path ./out
python3 plot_tracking_quality_indicators.py --file-prefix hackrf_l1_tracking_ch_ --channels 8
python3 plot_tracking_quality_indicators.py --conf conf/RealTime_input/gnss-sdr_GPS_L1_USRP_realtime.conf --input-path ./out
python3 plot_tracking_quality_indicators.py --file-prefix hackrf_l1_tracking_ch_ --channels 8 --signal-type 1C

Telemetry — `gps_l1_ca_telemetry_plot_sample.py`

Reads telemetry decoder .dat dumps and compares the TOW timing of two channels.

Input pattern: <input-path>/<file-prefix><channel>.dat.

Option	Default	Description
`-i`, `--input-path`	`.`	Directory containing the telemetry `.dat` dumps.
`--conf`	unset	GNSS-SDR configuration used to infer telemetry dump prefix and channel range.
`--file-prefix`	`--conf` or `telemetry`	`TelemetryDecoder.dump_filename` value (may include a directory/extension).
`-o`, `--fig-path`	`plots/telemetry`	Output directory for PNGs.
`--channels`	`--conf` or `18`	Number of channels to try reading; missing channels are skipped.
`--first-channel`	`--conf` or `0`	First channel number in the dump filenames.
`--signal-type CODE`	inferred if needed	GNSS-SDR signal code used to select channel ranges and dump filenames from `--conf`.
`--channel-a`	`--conf` or `0`	First channel number to plot.
`--channel-b`	`--conf` or `5`	Second channel number to plot.
`--show`	off	Display figures after saving.
`--format`	`png`	Saved figure format: `png` (default), `pdf`, `eps`, `svg`, `jpg`. Vector formats embed fonts (publication-ready).

Examples:

python3 gps_l1_ca_telemetry_plot_sample.py --input-path ./out
python3 gps_l1_ca_telemetry_plot_sample.py --conf conf/gnss-sdr.conf --input-path ./out
python3 gps_l1_ca_telemetry_plot_sample.py --file-prefix hackrf_l1_tlm_ch_ --channel-a 0 --channel-b 5

Hybrid Observables — `hybrid_observables_plot_sample.py`

Reads a single observables dump and plots pseudorange, accumulated carrier phase, Doppler frequency, and captured PRNs across channels.

Input pattern: <input-path>/<file-prefix>.dat (single file).

Option	Default	Description
`-i`, `--input-path`	`.`	Directory containing the observables dump.
`--conf`	unset	GNSS-SDR configuration used to infer observables dump filename and total channel count.
`--file-prefix`	`--conf` or `observables.dat`	`Observables.dump_filename` value (may include a directory/extension).
`-o`, `--fig-path`	`plots/hybrid-observables`	Output directory for PNGs.
`--channels`	`--conf` or `5`	Number of observable channels in the dump.
`--show`	off	Display figures after saving.
`--format`	`png`	Saved figure format: `png` (default), `pdf`, `eps`, `svg`, `jpg`. Vector formats embed fonts (publication-ready).

Examples:

python3 hybrid_observables_plot_sample.py
python3 hybrid_observables_plot_sample.py --input-path ./out --channels 8
python3 hybrid_observables_plot_sample.py --conf conf/gnss-sdr.conf --input-path ./out
python3 hybrid_observables_plot_sample.py --file-prefix hackrf_l1_observables.dat

PVT Raw Dump — `gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py`

Reads a single PVT raw dump and plots navigation/position diagnostics. It also generates folium HTML maps under <fig-path>/maps unless --no-position is given.

Input pattern: <input-path>/<file-prefix>.dat (single file).

Option	Default	Description
`-i`, `--input-path`	`.`	Directory containing the PVT dump.
`--conf`	unset	GNSS-SDR configuration used to infer PVT dump filename and navigation solution period.
`--file-prefix`	`--conf` or `PVT.dat`	`PVT.dump_filename` value (may include a directory/extension).
`-o`, `--fig-path`	`plots/pvt`	Output directory for PNGs and maps.
`--nav-sol-period`	`--conf` or `10.0`	Navigation solution period in milliseconds.
`--true-position E_UTM N_UTM U_UTM`	unset (NaN)	Reference receiver position in UTM, used for error plots.
`--plot-skyplot`	off	Try to generate the sky-plot panel.
`--no-position`	position plot on	Skip the position/map diagnostic (avoids the `folium` dependency).
`--one-vs-time NAME`	`X_vel`, `Tot_Vel`	`navSolutions` variable to plot versus time. Repeatable.
`--show`	off	Display figures after saving.
`--format`	`png`	Saved figure format: `png` (default), `pdf`, `eps`, `svg`, `jpg`. Vector formats embed fonts (publication-ready).
`--open-maps`	off	Open the generated folium map HTML files in a browser.

Examples:

python3 gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py
python3 gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py --input-path ./out --file-prefix PVT.dat
python3 gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py --conf conf/gnss-sdr.conf --input-path ./out
python3 gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py --true-position 431234.0 4587654.0 120.0
python3 gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py --one-vs-time X_vel --one-vs-time Y_vel
python3 gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py --no-position

README.md

GNSS-SDR Python Plot Utilities

Common Options

Dependencies

Acquisition Grid — plot_acq_grid.py

DLL/PLL VEML Tracking — dll_pll_veml_plot_sample.py

GPS L1 C/A KF Tracking — gps_l1_ca_kf_plot_sample.py

Tracking Quality Indicators — plot_tracking_quality_indicators.py

Telemetry — gps_l1_ca_telemetry_plot_sample.py

Hybrid Observables — hybrid_observables_plot_sample.py

PVT Raw Dump — gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py

Acquisition Grid — `plot_acq_grid.py`

DLL/PLL VEML Tracking — `dll_pll_veml_plot_sample.py`

GPS L1 C/A KF Tracking — `gps_l1_ca_kf_plot_sample.py`

Tracking Quality Indicators — `plot_tracking_quality_indicators.py`

Telemetry — `gps_l1_ca_telemetry_plot_sample.py`

Hybrid Observables — `hybrid_observables_plot_sample.py`

PVT Raw Dump — `gps_l1_ca_pvt_raw_plot_sample.py`