An acquisition and tracking apparatus is provided for tracking digitized spread spectrum navigation signals modulated with a spreading code according to any of a set of modulation types including Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) with and without Frequency Domain Multiplexing Access (FDMA), time multiplexed BPSK, Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), sine and cosine Binary Offset Carrier (BOC), modified, complex, and time multiplexed BOC (TMBOC), the apparatus comprising a plurality of universal tracking channels, each coupled to an interrupt module. The universal tracking channel includes a carrier demodulation module, a code generation module, a correlator module, a code frequencies generation module, and a subcarrier combining module for efficiently using the correlator resources in the correlation of the data and the pilot components of the signal within a single universal tracking channel. A corresponding method of operation is also provided.