Columns and Editorials Archives

Innovative Test System for GNSS Signal Performance Analysis in Real Environments Part 2

This article — Part 1 was published in the September/October 2018 issue — presents the authors’ experience in setting up an airborne pseudolite (UAVlite) with the needed ground-based infrastructure to perform code and phase ranging performance analysis. UAVlites transmit GNSS-like signals free from any local transmitter multipath (in contrast to ground-based transmitters) and can in principle be localized in real-time through a synchronized network of ground stations which may also broadcast the UAVlite positions in real-time.

By Günter W. Hein

December 4, 2018

GPS Investigations in Japan, and Privacy Concerns

The legal and privacy issues surrounding GPS investigations have come to the forefront around the globe in recent years. Recent court rulings in both Japan and the United States provide insights into the future. Here we summarize and examine a decision by the Japanese Supreme Court and relevant lower court’s decisions, as well compare the Japan decision and the mosaic theory from an earlier U.S. court decision.

By Ingo Baumann

December 3, 2018

Chris Hegarty – Never A Dull Moment

As anyone who’s been there knows, Boston is one of the best places in America for home-grown Italian cooking. And the city is also home to one of the world’s greatest St. Patrick’s Day parades. Another slightly lesser known but no less impressive product of the Boston melting pot is top-flight GNSS man Christopher Hegarty.

By Peter Gutierrez

October 9, 2018

Thinking Allowed — Satellite Navigation and New Space

At the ESA/JRC International Summer School on GNSS in Austria last month, one of the participants asked us during the evening panel — where they can address any kind of question to the lecturers and experts — What does satellite navigation look like in 50 and in 100 years from now?

By Günter W. Hein

September 26, 2018

DHS Taking a Risk-Based Look at PNT Resilience

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a new effort to ascertain the real-world risks posed by the loss of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service and how those risks might be reduced, said James Platt, director of DHS’s PNT Program Management Office. On the table is testing, best practices, partnerships, a new management approach and possibly standards and a backup system.

By Dee Ann Divis

September 25, 2018

Innovative Test System for GNSS Signal Performance Analysis in Real Environments | Part 1

This article presents the authors’ experience in setting up an airborne pseudolite (UAVlite) with the needed ground-based infrastructure to perform code and phase ranging performance analysis. UAVlites transmit GNSS-like signals free from any local transmitter multipath (in contrast to ground-based transmitters) and can in principle be localized in real-time through a synchronized network of ground stations which may also broadcast the UAVlite positions in real-time.

By Günter W. Hein

GNSS Spoofing and Aviation: An Evolving Relationship

One of the great engineering successes of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and its expert panels is the standardization of globally harmonized Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) systems. These standards, sometimes supported by more detailed industry standards, provide safe and interoperable services between aircraft and the ground and space systems supporting them.

By Gerhard (Gary) Berz

September 24, 2018

Change Is Coming:  The Space Force and SMC 2.0

While threats to American defense satellites were climbing sharply, the costs and schedules of U.S. military space programs were on the same unsustainable trajectory — prompting lawmakers last year to begin trying to reorganize Air Force’s military space programs by creating a Space Corps. A move that, so far, has failed.

By Dee Ann Divis

Are Reflected Signals Always Undesirable?

Rightfully, the GNSS community almost universally considers reflected signals to be problematic (the field GNSS reflectometry being an obvious exception). Reflected or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals combine with line-of-sight (LOS) signals to produce multipath effects, or if the LOS signal is absent NLOS signals can produce large ranging biases. Both phenomena increase measurement error and decrease positioning accuracy, especially in areas with lots of reflecting surfaces such as deep urban canyons.

By Mark Petovello

September 20, 2018

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Dr. Anna Jensen

From the Scandinavian farmlands to the hallowed halls of academia, Dr. Anna Jensen has traveled a remarkable road. She has now spent more than 20 years in GNSS research, development, teaching and consulting, focusing on GPS, Galileo, EGNOS, and GLONASS.

By Peter Gutierrez

An open source implementation of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) software receiver targeting the Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS)

September 14, 2018

Robustness Improvements for the PVT Solution via Consideration of GLONASS in a GNSS Software Defined Receiver

An open source implementation of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) software receiver targeting the Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) L1 C/A signal addition is presented.

By Günter W. Hein

September 13, 2018

How can we ensure GNSS receivers are robust to real-world interference threats?

GNSS technology plays an important role in an ever expanding range of safety, security, business and policy critical applications.

By Mark Petovello