While GNSS remains the backbone of positioning, its limitations can’t be ignored. GNSS signals are vulnerable to multipath interference, while spoofing and jamming attacks that render GNSS unreliable continue to grow in number and sophistication. Urban canyons, tunnels and indoor transitions also remain a challenge for GNSS and the users who require access to accurate positioning in these environments.

This reality, combined with the rise in autonomous solutions across various industries from agriculture to defense, makes closing the growing gaps in GNSS mission critical. Reliable, backup 
solutions are a must. Inertial navigation systems (INS) are a natural complement, providing continuous, high-rate propagation through GNSS outages. 

The push for autonomy has ushered in a new era of GNSS-INS integration, making this combined approach mainstream rather than exotic. Inside GNSS, along with Hexagon | NovAtel and Inertial Sense, explored this critical integration in a recent webinar. James Chan, business unit lead, INS, Aerospace & Defence Division, Hexagon, provided the system-level perspective, while Walt Johnson, founder and CTO of Inertial Sense, focused on low-SWaP-C tactical grade MEMS implementation.

IMU Fundamentals and the Cost–Accuracy Ladder

Chan gave us a look inside what makes up inertial measurement units (IMUs), the core of an INS. IMUs come in different options and grades, but all 
leverage various sensors to measure an object’s movement and orientation. Accelerometers measure linear acceleration, while gyroscopes measure rotational acceleration. Both typically operate on three axes, giving the IMU six degrees of freedom (DoF).

Many IMUs now also include magnetometers to measure magnetic fields, which can be translated into a heading, Chan said, and barometers to measure atmospheric pressure, which can be translated into an altitude. IMUs that include a three axis magnetometer have 9 DoF, while those that also have a barometer achieve 10 DoF. Magnetometers typically require calibration to account for local interference and magnetic declination. 

It’s important to note that every IMU has drift, Chan said, which leads to accumulating errors in the IMU data. These errors will continue to grow if there’s no external input to correct them. The drift rate is also dependent on sensor stability. 

“Nearly all inertial navigation systems will run some kind of filter, usually an Extended Kalman Filter or EKF, and that’ll have the INS solution running and take in GNSS updates to help compensate for any errors in the IMU measurements,” Chan said. “In between updates, the inertial solution will bridge the gap and continue to offer position, velocity and attitude at times when GNSS isn’t available.” 

An IMU’s accuracy, Chan said, is driven by the gyroscope, with three main types available: Ring laser gyroscope (RLG), fiber optic (FOG) gyroscope and Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS). The RLG, the oldest, features two counter-propogating lasers that travel within a closed space, using a system of mirrors to “effectively bounce those lasers.” When the system rotates, one beam travels a longer path than the other. The detector picks that up and calculates the rotation rate based on the time difference of when the two lasers arrive. 

The newer FOGs also measure two beams of light, but do so by traveling around a closed fiber optic coil and measuring the difference of when the beams arrive back. Increasing the coil length changes the resolution on what a FOG can measure. 

FOGs tend to be smaller and cheaper than RLGs, but typically aren’t as accurate, Chan said, though the technology continues to improve. 

These days, most people use MEMS gyroscopes. There’s different types of MEMS for various applications, but all basically look at how a silicon structure behaves after some sort of force is applied. Compact MEMS gyroscopes have the lowest SWaP-C and can be found on anything from cell phones to UAS. 

Regardless of type, IMUs come in different classification grades: consumer, industrial, tactical and navigation. Gyro in-run bias stability is how a gyroscope bias drifts over time during operation at a given temperature. It is also referred to as bias instability. The higher the value, the more unstable the bias drift will be, and the worse the results you’ll get. 

Angular Random Walk (ARW) is another key metric, measuring the signal noise to indicate what the angular error could look like as it accumulates over time. 

“These values are determined by doing an Allan Variance Plot, and it’s a critical metric for determining gyroscope accuracy,” Chan said. “Smaller values indicate the random noise associated with the signal will have less of an impact on your angular measurements.” 

Quantum IMUs are also on the horizon, Chan said. These next generation navigation sensors will use atom interferometry to measure acceleration and rotation, measuring how lasers interact with cooled down atoms. 

“These sensors can be nearly 1,000 times as accurate as standard MEMS sensors,” Chan said, “but it’s currently limited by a low output rate and a very high power draw with no real commercial products yet.”

From Satellite Fixes to Continuous Navigation

GNSS requires visibility of the sky, with accuracy dependent on the satellites’ track, Chan said, one of its limitations. Still, there is “no better system to provide an absolute position that has zero infrastructure requirements needed on the user side besides an antenna and receiver.” Tightly integrated GNSS-INS adds an important layer. GNSS is absolute but vulnerable and lower rate, while INS is relative, drifting but high-rate and immune to interference. 

Chan provided a real-world example of how IMUs make navigation more resilient, showing a NovAtel receiver moving through downtown Calgary. GNSS was pulled in multiple directions, leading to an inaccurate trajectory. When the team incorporated an IMU into the solution and ran NovAtel SPAN software, there was a “remarkable improvement” in the positioning domain due to the relative accuracy of INS while also taking in the absolute accuracy of GNSS, which helps constrain error growth.

Of course, the ranges of IMUs that can be incorporated into these systems offer varying levels of performance at different price points. There’s a fit for every application, whether mid-grade or high-grade performance is required. Key performance metrics for integrated systems include position accuracy under nominal conditions and through outages; attitude; and robustness to shock and vibration in real platforms. 

What customers are most interested in, Chan said, is position, velocity and attitude (PVA) requirements. 

“Customers will look at whether an IMU will be able to deliver in this department first,” Chan said. “On NovAtel SPAN products, we break this apart by outage duration. Customers have an easy way to understand what performance they can expect.” 

The next consideration is SWaP-C. Most want smaller IMUs that draw less power, Chan said. And as the technology matures, IMUs are naturally becoming smaller, lighter and more efficient. 

Detailed technical requirements include bias, stability, ARW and dynamic range. 

“The dynamic range for an accelerometer is measured in Gs, the gravitational unit,” Chan said. “This indicates the acceleration value the accelerometer is capable of handling and shouldn’t be confused with shock or survival ratings.” 

Then there’s velocity random walk (VRW), similar to ARW, which is a “very good indicator of how noisy the signals will be when you do integrate them.” 

There’s demand for accurate IMUs with small footprints and low weight that draw minimal power, have a wide dynamic range and a low ARW. The performance required is somewhere between industrial and tactical. 

Delivering Tactical-Grade Performance in MEMS Form Factors

Inertial Sense is focused on democratizing tactical grade GNSS-INS navigation, Johnson said, developing low SWaP-C solutions for autonomous platforms and defense applications. The company’s mission is to make effective tactical grade navigation technology accessible for platforms that are constrained by size, weight and power. 

“We deliver a multi-GNSS and MEMS IMU sensor fusion architecture that delivers tactical grade attitude, centimeter-level RTK positioning and modules that weigh less than one gram,” Johnson said. “Our systems emphasize low SWaP-C, high rate estimation and robust operation in GPS-denied environments.” 

That technology is leveraged across a range of applications, including UAS, robotic systems, maritime and precision stabilization platforms. These days, Inertial Sense is seeing increased demand driven by emerging applications like loitering munitions, engagement systems, commercial autonomous 
vehicles and humanoid robots. Such applications “require tactical grade navigation performance, but they also require mass market pricing.” Navigation grade or military grade IMUs that provide the highest performance typically cost $100,000 or more.

“The fundamental problem to the market today is tactical grade navigation systems are too expensive for large scale deployment,” Johnson said. “Our solution is to deliver industry leading navigation performance at a disruptive price performance point. This enables our customers to deploy navigation autonomy at whatever scale they require.”

The Inertial Sense product portfolio consists of compact IMX tactical grade IMUs and INS navigation modules, and the GPX series of multi-GNSS receivers. The receivers support several configurations, raw measurement output, centimeter-level positioning and dual antenna heading. Both product families are available in OEM surface modules and rugged, enclosed systems. 

Cost optimization is a key differentiator for the IMX line, Johnson said. Inertial Sense focuses on keeping tactical grade sensors to between $5,000 and $25,000, targeting low cost hardware and sensors and selecting the optimal algorithms to deliver tactical rate performance on that hardware.

“Our systems are built using off-the- shelf components,” Johnson said, “but combined with proprietary design and calibration processes that enable us to create high precision performance.”

The navigation systems also run on single precision floating point unit microcontrollers; Inertial Sense doesn’t use double precision hardware. 

“Part of what we do to maintain numerical stability is use a square root extended Kalman filter that uses UD factorization,” Johnson said. “And this approach enables stable estimation high rate updates and then efficient computation on low cost processors.” 

To maintain accuracy during high dynamic motions, Inertial Sense implemented coning and sculling compensation. The algorithm prevents systematic integration of errors, such as attitude errors caused by oscillatory rotations between gyro samples and velocity errors caused by simultaneous rotation and linear acceleration. These techniques prevent motion and oscillation vibrations from degrading the tightly integrated solution. 

Inertial Sense also offers a lightweight, multi-band RTK engine that’s optimized for low SWaP GNSS receivers and processors. A modular GNSS architecture makes it easy to integrate the IMUs with multiple receivers, including the u-blox F9 and X20. There are also plans to release firmware that supports integration with the Septentrio mosaic-G5. 

Johnson shared real-world examples of the IMU in use, with one demonstrating IMX in ground vehicle dead reckoning mode. The vehicle overcame a 105 second GNSS outage in a parking structure, driving about 350 meters and experiencing about 6% drift. In ground vehicle mode drift is “more of a function of distance traveled than time.” 

Other tests compared IMX against established systems like NovAtel SPAN, with the IMUs achieving comparable results. 

Roadmap: Pushing GNSS-INS Further for Autonomy

The latest IMX model, the IMX-6, is scheduled for release this year and represents a 30% improvement in attitude and accuracy over the IMX-5. It will support a 500 Hz output rate and will feature enhanced roll and pitch accuracy, improved heading accuracy, reduced gyro bias stability, lower ARW and lower acceleration bias instability. It also has an increased sensing range and improved sensory redundancy. 

IMX-6 will be able to handle higher acceleration ranges, with proprietary processes allowing high volume precision calibration across temperature.

As vibration performance is critical, the sensor is undergoing shock and vibration testing as well as dynamic frequency response characterization. 

“Each IMX is fully calibrated during manufacturing across a temperature range of negative 40 to 85 degrees Celsius,” Johnson said. “This includes bias calibration, cross axis alignment and scale factor calibration.” 

There are also plans to add temperature compensation for scale factor modeling.

In-field calibration procedures and guidance are also available for IMX sensors. Customers with smaller devices can place them on a precision level surface and, depending on the level of alignment needed, calibrate in a few seconds. 

“It may be that they tip it on multiple sides, or it may be that they just level it in the normal operating direction, and then they inform the system that it needs to be calibrated in what mode,” Johnson said. “There’s different modes to put it in, and it doesn’t require much space at all.”

Customers with large vehicles can use GPS to similarly inform the system of sensor alignment. Inertial Sense can guide customers through both processes. 

Enhancements to the IMX-6 allow for easier drop-in upgrades, enhanced dynamic behavior, more predictable performance across temperature, broader GNSS ecosystem coverage and smoother field maintenance for end users.

Real-World Programs and What Buyers Should Ask 

IMX sensors are making an impact across various industries. Customer case studies include: 

• A global satellite communication provider. This ongoing customer needed an INS system that could deliver a fraction of a degree of orientation accuracy for satellite tracking on moving vessels. Existing solutions were too expensive for the market they were targeting. Inertial Sense delivered a solution that integrated tactical inertial grade navigation with low SWaP GNSS receivers. They also adapted manufacturing process to support the customer’s delivery schedule. 

• A defense technology company. The unmanned systems developer needed a lower ARW and bias instability than the IMX-5 could provide. In response, Inertial Sense collaborated with the customer to develop the IMX-6, which meets both their performance and SWaP-C requirements. This opened up other opportunities with the customer. 

• An autonomous landscaping developer. This customer required high precision navigation compatible with the commercial mower equipment market. Inertial Sense worked closely with the engineering team to integrate an IMX into their autonomous platform. 

With every case study, peformance for low SWaP applications was a key consideration. Inertial Sense was able to deliver tactical-grade metrics without navigation-grade prices. The company also offers integration, support and environmental robustness. 

Before investing in a GNSS-INS solution, it’s important to know what to ask. Manufacturer data sheets differ, making it critical to understand the most important metrics and how they could impact your solution. Key areas to consider include: 

• Performance 

• Real-world testing results 

• Outage behavior 

• Calibration 

• The product roadmap and expected future updates 

GNSS-INS as Autonomy Infrastructure

Autonomy needs more than GNSS. To meet that need, GNSS-INS integration has evolved from niche, high-end avionics to a foundational technology for mainstream autonomous systems. Advances in MEMS IMUs, fusion algorithms and integration ecosystems are making tactical-grade performance accessible at scale. 

Visit insidegnss.com to access the webinar, data sheets and white papers from Hexagon | NovAtel and Inertial Sense.

The post Integrating GNSS and Inertial: Tactical Grade Performance for Modern Autonomous Applications appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

Low Earth orbit (LEO) represents a new architecture for satellite navigation, one that can complement legacy GNSS satellites and serve as a backup when they’re denied. Many consider LEO satellites a key part of the layered approach to PNT that’s become such a focus of late, as the industry recognizes growing GNSS vulnerabilities and the critical need to add resiliency. 

LEO’s untapped potential, with its closer proximity to Earth and fast moving satellites, provides inherent advantages over middle Earth orbit (MEO) and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites, and that’s generating excitement and investment from companies developing complementary PNT (CPNT) solutions. Xona Space Systems is among those setting their sights on LEO, and recently launched its first production-class LEO satellite, Pulsar-0, into orbit.

This significant step forward comes three years after Xona’s first satellite, Huggin, was launched. As the first commercial navigation satellite in LEO, Huggin proved that a new model for PNT was possible. 

That set the stage for the recent Pulsar-0 mission, where the goal is to validate core technology designed to offer more accurate and robust PNT services in degraded or contested 
environments. Pulsar-0 is the first in a series of satellites that will make up Xona’s commercial LEO-based PNT constellation. 

“We initially want to test, is this signal able to be received by a receiver? That’s step one. That’s what’s happening now and what’s been happening for a little while internally,” said Bryan Chan, co-founder and VP of Strategy at Xona Space Systems. “Step two is getting into those higher level value props, things like ranging, things like encryption, authentication, corrections, faster convergence times, multipath error rejection, even reduced device power consumption.”

With this launch, Xona is primed to bring forth a technology that will enable a new category of innovation, providing a different way to localize hardware in the physical world and delivering high accuracy and resiliency to various industries.

Reaching Milestones

Pulsar-0 is a dedicated satellite, meaning its sole purpose is to “demonstrate dedicated PNT for the masses,” Chan said. Xona developed the satellite’s only payload, which is broadcasting Xona’s production frequencies, X1 and X5, both in the L band. Broadcasting at these frequencies is made possible by an FCC authorization the team sought as part of launch preparations.

The authorization, Chan said, represents a huge step forward, and is an acknowledgment of the importance of Xona’s signals and service offerings. Both Xona and the FCC are focused on ensuring Pulsar signals don’t interfere with GNSS signals, but rather serve as a complement to them. 

Xona is also gearing up for demonstrations both in and outside the U.S., Chan said, including government run tests and Jammertest in Norway. Various commercial focused tests tailored toward specific customer requirements are also in the works. 

“We’re completing check out of the signal and all the infrastructure behind it,” Chan said, “and from there, once it’s ready for partner and customer consumption, we’ll start doing structured tests where we’re broadcasting signals.” 

A lot went into the design, build and testing of Xona’s LEO payload, Chan said, from signal to hardware generation to RF broadcasting to the simulating software that had to be developed around it. All that work created an ecosystem partners could rally around to make Xona Pulsar a reality. Now, most of the legal challenges (particularly with that milestone FCC authorization) and technical hurdles have been overcome; now it’s nearing time to use the signal in real world applications across various domains via live sky testing.

A New Era of Innovation 

GPS has become an ubiquitous signal that’s unlocked many innovations and still powers modern life 50 years after its development. But the system has really only seen incremental progress over the years, while the technologies that rely on it have evolved quickly. Xona sees Pulsar as the next step, and the key to unlocking a new era of innovation. 

“It’s an enabling technology that people are thinking about using not just from a dedicated perspective, but also as an extra tool in their toolbox they can apply to problems they’re solving today,” Chan said. “We’re past simulation mode. We’re past analysis mode. We’re broadcasting a real signal that people can ultimately characterize and see how it might fit with the technology they’re developing.” 

While LEO satellites offer many benefits over MEO, including stronger signal strengths and less susceptibility to spoofing and jamming, Xona Pulsar can be adopted using equipment that’s already familiar to GNSS users, Chan said. A firmware update to existing GNSS receivers is all that’s needed to access the signal, making Pulsar “a scalable solution that can be adopted by all markets GNSS currently serves.” 

The Users

Pulsar will operate in a way that’s similar to GNSS, Chan said, and it’s up to users how they want to integrate on the new signal. They can use one or both frequencies, for example, or add constellations. Xona sees their technology as an additional constellation to GNSS, but one with a number of different features and novel characteristics that other constellations don’t have—features that are must-haves for some of the more challenging applications. 

“There are cases where a high signal power matters a lot, like when you’re trying to get a positioning or timing solution indoors, when there’s heavy tree cover or you’re in a GPS denied environment,” Chan said, noting Pulsar’s flexibility. “So, in these scenarios, maybe a receiver will be multi GNSS to start, but if you lose GPS, that’s when you fall back to Xona Pulsar.” 

When developing Pulsar, Xona used GPS, the “ultimate dual use technology,” as a model. Like GPS, Xona Pulsar can be leveraged by government and commercial users, and Chan sees defense, heavy industry and consumer IoT among the early adopters who will be able take advantage of the commercial service right away. As the number of satellites grows to hundreds, other markets, like automotive, will be able to rely on the signal as well. 

“We don’t take that charge lightly. We understand it’s a tough road and we can’t do it alone,” Chan said. “That’s really why we’ve taken this approach of partnering with a number of really key simulator vendors as well as receiver manufacturers. We understand we need to grow the ecosystem from the ground up to ultimately cater to all sorts of folks operating in all sorts of different conditions.”

Hexagon | NovAtel is among Xona partners, integrating the Pulsar signal into its GNSS receivers. A more recent partnership, just announced earlier this year, involves Trimble. Xona will work with Trimble to broadcast their RTX corrections service through Pulsar signals.

That corrections stream, delivered over satellite, will be receiver agnostic, meaning users can choose any receiver they’d like as long as it has the firmware baked in to decode and use those corrections. 

“We see that as a big accelerator and opening the door to many more applications,” Chan said. “For example, consumer IoT applications, even smartphones, where oftentimes they’ve been locked out of traditional satnav corrections.”

In the beginning, Xona Pulsar will provide a one satellite view, persistently, over mid latitudes, Chan said. That will enable precision timing, GNSS corrections and augmentation to GNSS. 

GNSS corrections are important to heavy industry, especially satellite derived corrections, Chan said. Providing that, and taking an agnostic receiver approach to doing it, will open up many new opportunities for this market. 

“We can provide a nanosecond timing level service with the highest signal power,” Chan said. “That signal can be accessed in traditionally impossible environments, like indoors or under canopy.” 

The defense market is interested in signals that provide anti jam and anti-spoofing capabilities, Chan said. Xona Pulsar offers that, along with encryption and authentication, making the signal an attractive option for military applications. 

For consumer IoT, Chan said, it’s more about satellite availability. In cities where there isn’t much of a sky view, any number of satellites will help with positioning. 

Regardless of the application, LEO satellites offer many advantages over GNSS, Chan said, including faster convergence times, elimination of multipath errors from signals bouncing off buildings, and, ultimately, reduction in receiver power consumption. 

“That’s a huge selling feature, something people really care about,” Chan said of the reduced power consumption. “So, if you’re able to get these fast moving LEO satellites in addition to the stronger signal power, which is much more available, that starts to get really exciting for a lot of these folks.” 

Moving Forward 

Recently, Xona received $92 million in new funding, including a Series B round led by Craft Ventures and $20 million in non-dilutive funding through a Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) award from SpaceWERX—investments that have moved up Xona’s timeline to launch and deploy a commercial service, which is now expected in 2027. They are shifting from the research and development stage into delivery at scale, moving from a single satellite to hundreds in orbit in the coming years. 

With the funding, Xona has put in commitments toward launch vehicles and future satellites builds, Chan said. And though he couldn’t go into specifics, Chan confirmed a number of satellites are scheduled to be launched next year. 

Of course, Xona will continue to innovate moving forward. Industry can expect a “continued cadence of satellite launches and more features being rolled out,” in the coming years. And the features added will be based on lessons learned from previous launches as well as feedback from those who are using the system. 

“We’ve been listening for years now about what people want, how they want it, what they prioritize and how they intend to use it,” Chan said. “Just being a commercially focused company, that’s a big difference from what traditional GNSS has typically operated on.” 

The GPS we rely on today was built for a different era, Xona co-founder and CEO Brian Manning wrote in a recent blog post. While today’s GPS satellites are “masterpieces of engineering,” they have lengthy contracting, design and build cycles—and that means it can take decades for new capabilities to reach users. That simply isn’t fast enough to meet the growing threats that are “evolving on the scale of years, months or even weeks in recent conflict zones, leaving a critical gap between what’s needed and what’s available.”

This reality calls for new solutions to complement PNT in both defense and commercial applications, to provide a backup when GNSS is denied. Xona Pulsar represents one of those solutions, bringing new capabilities, much shorter design cycles and a reliable signal that adds much needed resiliency. 

“Our vision is straightforward,” Manning wrote. “Make satellite navigation dramatically more accurate, secure and available. That means rebuilding it from the ground up in low Earth orbit.”

The post Beyond GNSS: Leveraging LEO for More Robust PNT appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

For years, GPS was enough. It just worked, and that allowed us to become complacent. Now, while still a remarkable system, we can clearly see GPS has vulnerabilities. Spoofing and jamming have become more common and more sophisticated, putting our warfighters and critical infrastructure at risk.

Now is the time to develop and field technologies that strengthen PNT, adding much needed layers of resiliency. There is no silver bullet that will fix this problem; we need multiple solutions to fall back on when GPS is denied or simply unavailable. Manufacturers are working to answer the call, developing technologies designed to make PNT more robust. Many of these solutions were on display at ION’s Joint Navigation Conference (JNC), held in the Greater Cincinnati area in June.

Ideal Aerosmith was among exhibitors at this year’s show. The company has seen a renewed interest in testing in its Inertial Test Lab, Chief Growth and Technology Officer Jim Richtsmeier said, as more in the industry realize how inertial sensors can be leveraged and how they’ve advanced. A lot of work is being done to reduce drift, for example, while inertial sensors are also being integrated with technologies like visual navigation. 

Ideal Aerosmith’s motion tables can repeatedly test various solutions, Richtsmeier said, so users can better understand how technologies might perform in real-world scenarios. The company takes a mission-first approach and is committed to helping customers achieve success. 

There’s a big push for sensor integration, Richtsmeier said, because of the current “GPS denied situation.” 

“We’ve gotten behind,” Richtsmeier said, “ because we weren’t leveraging the capabilities we had with sensor fusion and processing power because GPS was there, and we didn’t need it.”

Now, that is changing, with the industry feeling a sense of urgency to develop solutions that build the resiliency required to protect PNT and those who depend on it.

Visual Navigation Becoming a Focus

Visual navigation is one of the areas gaining momentum, Richtsmeier said.

AEVEX Aerospace, for example, recently acquired Veth Research Associates (VRA), a company known for advancements in navigation and autonomous systems. VRA’s LYNC vision-based navigation (VBN) system enables navigation independent of external GPS signals. The modular system can be integrated on both manned and unmanned platforms and will be used to upgrade capabilities in future AEVEX solutions. 

“This system allows us to offer assured PNT without GPS,” Senior Director of Business Development Mark Glover said. “It’s very reliable in most conditions, day and night.” 

LYNX-VBN combines image processing, nonlinear sensor fusion and machine learning techniques. The open architecture makes it adaptable to various mission needs. 

AEVEX highlighted a variety of other solutions at the show, including Geo-iNAV, a fully-integrated GPS-aided inertial navigation system that supports a wide range of IMU grades; Geo-APNT, a GPS-aided inertial navigation solution available with M-Code, SAASM or commercial GPS receivers; and Geo- hNAV, a hybrid dual-GPS/INS navigation system. 

Navigation Over Water

Navigating over bodies of water is a challenge, Richtsmeier said, and is the “next exciting thing to get solved.”

Kearfott’s celestial navigation, in combination with other sensors, is a possible solution JNC attendees had the opportunity to learn about. 

The company’s short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensors, meant to improve performance in adverse conditions, enable round-the-clock use on various vehicles in remote environments, where traditional star trackers may struggle during the day or in cloudy nighttime skies. SWIR offers greater atmospheric penetration and lower susceptibility to light scattering, with early testing demonstrating reliable detection of stars up to magnitude 1.25 (See more on Kearfott page 64). 

Sandbox’s AQNav is another promising solution for ocean navigation. AQNav leverages magnetic navigation, Solutions Architect Jonathan Montague said, and can neutralize the effects of electronic attack on positioning. The airborne system, he said, can’t be jammed or spoofed and solves the “over ocean” challenge “better than any other system.” It also pairs well with vision navigation for even more resiliency. 

How does it work? AQNav leverages sensitive quantum magnetometers to acquire data from the Earth’s crustal magnetic field. Proprietary AI algorithms then compare this data against known magnetic maps, enabling the system to quickly and accurately find its position. AI algorithms are applied to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, removing mechanical, electrical and other forms of interference.

At the 2024 JNC, talks with attendees about this approach to navigation were more theoretical, Montague said. This year, discussions were more application driven. That’s partly because various groups have been working on developing this technology for the last year, and that includes two Department of Defense (DoD) projects. 

“Magnetic navigation has come out of the shadows and is being applied to real world scenarios,” Montague said. “You can test and evaluate to prove the technology out to move toward operational capability.” 

New Solutions 

This year’s JNC attendees had the opportunity to learn about many new PNT technology releases designed for military use, including Safran Federal Systems’ BroadSim Genesis, the latest in the company’s BroadSim product line. BroadSim Genesis advanced NAVWAR simulator, purpose built for the U.S. defense community, features advancements in signal capacity, operational flexibility and the user experience. 

The simulation tool, which Safran demonstrated in an unclassified setting for the first time during the meeting, offers flexibility and performance, and can be leveraged to validate mission equipment, training in NAVWAR scenarios and assessing new PNT architectures. It is multi-signal and multi-antenna. 

“It’s been an eye opener, being able to have the demo based on live sky information, in a closed loop environment and being able to manipulate any signal,” NAVWAR Business Development Manager Adam Corner said of the JNC demos. “It adapts to any mission set. Anyone can use it.” 

The simulation tool has an enhanced GPU, Corner said, features six front facing RF outputs, and has a 1,000 HZ simulation iteration rate. 

Safran offers navigation solutions for virtually all domains, Director of Business Development, Navigation Systems Tony Full said, in two forms: inertial measurement units and inertial navigation systems. Geonyx M-Code, which integrates the company’s Hemispherical Resonator Gyro (HRG) Crystal, is among the solutions the company highlighted at JNC. 

HRG offers the ultimate gyro capability, Full said. It’s navigation grade and built into almost all of Safran’s IMU and INS solutions. 

HRG has a lower size, weight and power (SWAP) capability than traditional options like fiber optic gyros (FOGs) and ring laser gyros (RLGs). Unlike these solutions, HRG boxes don’t need to increase in size to achieve better performance. 

Safran also announced the company has, in close partnership with Anduril, played a role in rapidly delivering advanced capabilities to support U.S. Special Operations Forces. The companies collaborated to accelerate a critical enhancement, advancing the deployment timeline. Safran was the primary software integrator, working with Anduril to “bring cutting-edge technologies into operational readiness under tight logistical constraints,” according to a news release about the partnership. 

“Mission first is really key and never under question,” Corner said. “Real world work is happening right now, and there’s more to come.” 

Calian GNSS launched its next-generation GNSS anti-jamming Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA) at JNC. The advanced dual band (L1/L2, E1/E5b) CR8894SXF+, supports low-power, is lightweight and compact, and provides strong mitigation of in and out of band interference. 

The antenna has a single RF output and two serial outputs (RS232 and RS422) that stream proprietary NMEA messages. These messages provide the user with the state of the antenna: nominal (no jamming detected); jamming detected and mitigated; and strong jamming detected and cannot be mitigated, and the antenna is turned off to protect the receiver. 

CR8894SXF+ also reports the power, azimuth and elevation angle of the interference or jammer relative to the antennas north point, Product Line Manager Ken MacLeod said. 

The four-element dual band CRPA can be used on lightweight aerial vehicles, land and marine vehicles. It also can be used to detect and mitigate interference at critical infrastructure, such as airports, marine ports and military bases, Senior RF Engineer Mohamed Emara said. 

One of the main features of the CR8894SXF+, he said, is its low SWaP. It can be powered directly from most commercial off the shelf (COTS) GNSS receivers that output 150 mA at 5 volts to the antenna. 

The CRPA achieves interference mitigation in several ways, Emara said. One method employs Calian’s eXtended Filtering + (XF+) technology. XF+ can achieve out of band mitigation up to 80 dB (from 400 to 2,500 MHz). The + feature splits the signal amplification into two independent frequency channels (upper and lower bands). 

“If one channel is jammed,” Emara said, “the other can pass through a good signal to the receiver.” 

CR8894SXF+ also employes active null forming and can generate up to three nulls per band, he said, for a total of six nulls, with a null depth between 20 and 40 dB.

BAE Systems introduced a diverse line of M-Code GPS receiver solutions at JNC, rounding out an extensive line of products developed to ensure U.S. warfighters have the most dependable GPS systems available across domains. 

The security-certified Common GPS Modules (CGMs) leverage the robust M-Code signal across an all-inclusive GPS receiver line. The portfolio scales from the world’s smallest and lowest-power M-Code GPS for size weight, and power (SWaP)-challenged applications, to highly robust receivers with integrated anti-jam (AJ) antenna electronics (See more on BAE Systems on page 62). 

Adtran launched lower cost versions of its Oscilloquartz optical cesium clocks, the OSA 3200 SP and OSA 3250 ePRC, at JNC. Like the OSA 3300 and 3350 cesium clocks, the new options leverage optical pumping technology. 

Optical pumping enhances precision and performance, making these cesium clocks well suited to safeguard critical infrastructure if GNSS is unavailable or denied. 

These clocks replace the magnetic cesium clocks from the 1950s, Assistant Vice President Business Development for the Americas Daniel Burch said, describing Adtran as “the only company in the world that has this technology.” 

The devices address industry demand for alternatives to magnetic cesium clocks that are more difficult to manage and, with the lower price point, make the technology more accessible. 

“We had cesium clocks before, but we stopped using them when we got GPS,” Burch said. “With jamming and spoofing, we need something with holdover. We started with 14 days, then it was 40, and now it’s 100 days with 100 nanoseconds or less.”

Part of the SOLAR MEMS Technologies team was also at the conference discussing the technology they’re ready to bring into the defense market. Their goal was to learn more about market needs and how their technology, due out at the end of the year, can fit in, Business Development Specialist Ana Blanco Esteve said. 

The company offers star trackers and sun sensors to enhance satellites with precision and reliability.

“The sensor we’re developing is a complement to what’s already in the market,” PMO Manager and Project Manager Javier Gonzalez Moreno said. “There are a lot of potential collaborations.” 

The idea behind the technology, he said, is to look up to navigate instead of looking down. 

The solution can be used for various applications, including marine and ground vehicles, and can be tailored to fit customer needs and the platform it’s being integrated onto, Esteve said. 

Fibernetics plans to release an IMU by the end of the summer, President Ralph Bergh said. The Triton Series IMU is based on fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) and quartz flexture accelerometer (Q-Flex) technology. The IMU is very effective at taking light from the laser diode through the fiber source, making it more efficient optically. The quiet, low power IMU also features vibration isolated sensors and can handle vibration and temperatures. 

The company will start out with small production, Bergh said, and is also looking for partners. 

Keeping Attendees Busy

While attendees learned about new innovations during this year’s JNC, there were also plenty of legacy solutions to get to know better. KBR’s Global Positioning System Interference and Navigation Tool (GIANT) was among them. The simulation tool can be used to model GNSS and is something the PNT community has relied on since 1996. 

KBR does update the tool every year, Senior Manager PNT Portfolio Christine Denissen said, based on feedback they receive during user groups. 

The GIANT 5.9.0, set to be released in September, will feature various enhancements including external antenna receiver model support to protect proprietary information; updated GPS III antenna patterns; updated BeiDou, GLONASS and Galileo models; player event import; and added satellite tracking lines to 3D globe visualization. 

Exhibitor Frequency Electronics talked to attendees about the company’s solutions, which provide precise time and frequency synchronization for various applications, including defense. 

They also presented a paper on the company’s Timing Unit Rubidium Oscillator (TURBO), Vice President, Business Development Betsy Varghese said, which features timing requirements that can’t be met with quartz oscillator technology alone. The company leverages quantum atomic sensing for mission critical rubidium atomic clocks. High-Precision Quartz Oscillators for space, land, sea and air applications in assured position navigation and timing (APNT), electronic warfare (EW) and time distribution are among other solutions. 

TRX Systems, a company that has partnered with the U.S. Army as part of the Dismounted Assured, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing System (DAPS) II Program of Record, was also at the show. The solution TRX is developing will replace the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR), TRX Marketing Manager Nicholas Boushell said, and will feature a more accurate M-Code receiver that is much more difficult to jam or spoof. The navigation system also leverages other technology to offer a more layered approach to PNT resiliency and deliver APNT information to warfighters when GPS is denied or compromised.

Hexagon/NovAtel/Antcom, CAST Navigation, GPS Networking, Advanced Navigation, Epson, Honeywell, Inertial Labs, JAVAD GNSS, Microchip, Septentrio, Tualcom, VectorNav, and VIAVI Solutions were among the other leading companies at this year’s JNC. Attendees also had the chance to sit in on sessions that covered various topics, including integrity and assurance, sensing technologies, platform integration, field testing, and magnetic anomaly based navigation. Attendees also participated in social events or took time to enjoy all Greater Cincinnati has to offer. 

Protecting PNT 

Many of the manufacturers leading the charge toward more resilient PNT were at this year’s JNC, talking with attendees and each other about the current problems the industry faces and how to solve them. They are focused on making PNT more robust to protect it and, ultimately, the warfighter. Companies like Ideal Aerosmith are mission focused and customer driven, and it shows in the innovations that have recently been released and those still in development. 

“This is a unique community,” Richtsmeier said. “The people working in this community want to be successful together.

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The advanced NAVWAR simulator is purpose-built for the U.S. defense community and features enhancements in signal capacity, operational flexibility and user experience. 

Safran demonstrated the simulation tool in an unclassified setting for the first time during this year’s JNC, Safran Federal Systems NAVWAR Business Development Manager Adam Corner said during an interview on the show floor.

“It’s been an eye opener, being able to have the demo based on live sky information, in a closed loop environment and being able to manipulate any signal,” he said. “It adapts to any mission set. Anyone can use it.” 

The simulator offers flexibility and performance, and can be leveraged to validate mission equipment, training in NAVWAR scenarios and assessing new PNT architectures. It also has an enhanced GPU, Corner said, features six front facing RF outputs, and has a 1,000 HZ simulation iteration rate.

The tool supports multi-antenna and multi-vehicle configurations and can generate up to 2,000 signals—enabling  advanced multi-constellation simulation across middle Earth orbit (MEO), low Earth orbit (LEO) and alternative PNT sources. BroadSim Genesis supports M-Code and features integrated jamming and spoofing capabilities to test against sophisticated signal threats. 

The new simulator also has a user friendly design, with an intuitive UI, integrated front panel with N-type connectors, extractable drives, and onboard timing card. 

“BroadSim Genesis is built for operators who demand flexibility, fidelity and performance in their GNSS simulation tools,” Safran Federal Systems Vice President of Sales Trevor Dougherty said, according to a news release about the launch. “Whether validating mission equipment, training for NAVWAR scenarios, or assessing new PNT architectures, BroadSim Genesis gives defense users the edge they need.”

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Reliable PNT is central to American military operations, whether mounted or dismounted, making GPS a popular target for adversaries. As the spoofing and jamming threat continues to grow, backup solutions that enable multi-domain operations—even when GPS is disrupted or denied—are clearly needed.

To that end, the U.S. Army is focused on PNT Modernization and fielding Assured PNT solutions. Program Executive Office, Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S), which is made up of seven project managers dedicated to advancing technology for warfighters, is the organization responsible for fielding the Army’s Assured PNT systems. 

The goal, Project Manager (PM) Positioning, Navigation & Timing (PNT) Mike Trzeciak said, is to develop solutions for both mounted and dismounted operations that don’t rely solely on GNSS signals. 

Such solutions deploy additional sensors to validate the integrity of any signal received and provide necessary positioning data even when GPS isn’t available, Trzeciak said. These sensors include inertial measurement units (IMUs), wheel speed odometers and chip-scale atomic clocks. 

“When you pull multiple sensors together in a fusion engine,” Trzeciak said, “you have a powerful PNT device that can cut through significant spoofing and jamming and continue to navigate.”

Along with the sensor integration, ALTNAV, a specific system that provides U.S. Army hardened signals, is also being added to receivers for improved resiliency, Trzeciak said. This layered approach is critical and is the driving force behind two Programs of Record: Dismounted Assured PNT System (DAPS) and Mounted Assured PNT System (MAPS). 

Trzeciak and the respective product managers provide an update on both programs, as well as a new initiative known as NorthStar.

Building Resiliency for Dismounted Systems 

DAPS GEN II, which received Full-Rate Production (FRP) approval last August, offers dismounted soldiers assured PNT through integrity checks and access to multiple integrated sensors, Product Manager Dismounted Assured PNT, Lt. Col. Zach Denton said. The solution fuses inputs from M-Code, 
inertial sensors and other PNT sources, including ALTNAV, allowing soldiers to freely shoot, move and communicate even when GPS is denied. DAPS will replace the legacy Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR).

DAPS operates with the Nett Warrior system, Denton said, which is the soldier’s main interface and where they access visual PNT data. The DAPS GEN II handheld can also be used in standalone configuration and screen-cast PNT data to a tactical watch.

“DAPS provides a resilient system of systems so you can fight through an EW [electronic warfare] environment,” Denton said. “We need to build these resilient systems that don’t have single points of failure.”

Because DAPS, now in its second generation, focuses on devices that are hand carried, size, weight and power (SWaP) is paramount, Denton said. The DAPS GEN II uses a fused solution containing RF and non-RF sources of PNT to enable an assured solution to fight through those GPS jamming events. 

“We are excited about DAPS GEN II,” Denton said, “but are still looking at other opportunities. Our goal is to provide dismounted soldiers with the best capability possible at the best value.” 

MAPS: Trusted PNT Through Layered Sources 

MAPS provides reliable PNT to mounted Army platforms, including ground vehicles, watercraft and munition systems, even when GPS is denied. Like DAPS, PNT is assured through integrity checks and access to multiple layers. The device fuses many different sources to ensure soldiers have access to assured PNT in GPS denied environments, Product Manager Mounted Assured PNT, Lt. Col. Damian Dixon said. 

MAPS GEN II is made up of two main components: a robust seven-element anti-jam antenna and a navigation 
receiver. It recently received FRP approval, so Mounted PNT, along with vendor Collins Aerospace, can move toward fielding initial operating capability. 

The first Army brigade is expected to field MAPS this summer. The Marine Corps is also slated to field MAPS GEN II in the near future. 

“We are on the precipice of providing a system to the warfighter,” Dixon said. “And much like with DAPS, we are constantly looking at and evaluating cutting edge technology to assure we are staying ahead of any threats and enabling the warfighter to have trusted PNT on their mounted platform.” 

One highlight of MAPS GEN II, Dixon said, is it distributes assured PNT data to multiple clients, such as radio command systems and the Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P), the Army’s friendly force tracking system that provides a faster satellite network, secure data encryption and advanced logistics. This reduces the need for “redundant GPS receivers and antennas that are on our legacy system,” Dixon said. 

Critical Solutions 

Both mounted and dismounted warfighters need assured PNT for precise targeting and firing, Trzeciak said. They’re making decisions based on the coordinates their GPS gives them and need to know they can accurately target and fire munitions.

“To do that, you have to know what the error is,” Trzeciak said. “The GPS device is telling me I’m here, but what is my potential error based on the EW environment? So, it’s really critical to make sure their position has integrity and accuracy.” 

The other critical element, Trzeciak said, is timing, which MAPS and DAPS both provide to radio networks, mission command as well as decision support hardware to help calculate a firing mission, for example. Timing information is communicated on Nett Warrior, which delivers situational awareness to dismounted leaders. 

“When you take away time, that situational awareness goes away,” Trzeciak said. “From a MAPS perspective, there are several dozen vehicle systems, from the fire control system in an M1 Abrams tank to UAV flight control in the back of a Stryker, and the MAPS GEN II system provides the timing needed to make sure everything stays connected and accurate.” 

What’s Next 

While DAPS already has been fielded, Trzeciak expects the first brigade to be fielded with MAPS this summer. He also expects M-Code to fully replace legacy devices and said the M-Code Increment 2 capability will provide even more advanced signal processing into DAPS and MAPS. 

“SAASM [Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module] was developed in the 90s, and it’s no longer as resilient as it once was,” Trzeciak said. “M-Code is the next generation of military-only use GPS and has significant anti-jam and anti-spoofing capabilities.” 

M-Code is iterative and will allow for software enhancements and “major increment upgrades.” This approach will make it possible to continually evolve and advance M-Code’s capabilities as needed, which is critical in today’s evolving threat environment. 

A solution with a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) is also in the works. Known as NorthStar, Trzeciak said industry white papers are actively being evaluated for what will be a modular capability, low cost mounted system. 

“It will be a modular, open system that will be able to incorporate sensors and software and drive low integration complexity,” he said. “The environment, as the Army looks at it, has multiple tiers of threat. We expect NorthStar to be easily upgradeable to meet the different challenges in the threat environment.” 

For any assured PNT solution, anti-jam performance and low cost remain paramount, Trzeciak said. Many of these technologies, still in their infancy, are not yet in high rate production, making them more expensive. PM PNT remains on the lookout for low cost solutions that are also low SWaP so they can be put in smaller cases and draw less power off the soldier and vehicle, but still provide the same performance as other options. 

Developing and fielding such solutions is going to take strong partnerships with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the PNT community, Trzeciak said. Those partnerships have already begun to form, with everyone working to efficiently get more resilient PNT solutions into the hands of the warfighter. 

“The ground domain has multiple different requirements associated with the dismounted and mounted environments while munitions have to handle the g-forces of being fired out of a gun and the associated vibrations,” Trzeciak said. “And the aviation domain has to meet the strict flight safety regulations. There’s no one solution that fits the bill across the Army’s portfolio or the DoD’s portfolio…We will continue to look at what the community has that can build increased resiliency into our assured PNT capabilities.”

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In a rapidly evolving landscape where precise navigation and resilient timing are critical across defense, aerospace, and commercial markets, VIAVI Solutions has taken another bold step forward. With its acquisition of Inertial Labs in 2025, VIAVI is significantly expanding its capabilities in the positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) sector—adding powerful inertial measurement and navigation technologies to an already growing portfolio. The move strengthens VIAVI’s offering in assured PNT, enabling the delivery of robust, integrated solutions capable of operating even in GPS-denied environments.

This marks VIAVI’s second major PNT acquisition, following its 2022 purchase of Jackson Labs Technologies. That acquisition brought key technologies such as front-end GNSS receivers, transcoders, and retrofit solutions—along with a strong military customer base—into the VIAVI ecosystem. The strategy was clear: build a resilient, modular, and future-ready PNT platform to serve emerging needs in defense and commercial autonomy.

“After acquiring Jackson Labs, we quickly realized there was a strong opportunity to enhance the resiliency of our PNT solutions by adding inertial capabilities,” said Doug Russell, VIAVI’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Aerospace & Defense. “We began evaluating potential partners in the inertial space and found an ideal match in Inertial Labs.”

A Strategic Match

The relationship between VIAVI and Inertial Labs began with a technical collaboration—integrating VIAVI’s PNT receiver with Inertial Labs’ inertial navigation system (INS). The success of that integration ultimately led to the full acquisition, creating what Russell describes as a “great combination” that opens doors in new markets, especially within aerospace and defense.

The acquisition also brings geographical advantages. Inertial Labs has a strong European footprint, complementing VIAVI’s established North American presence. “We can now offer current and prospective customers a broader, more integrated solution set,” Russell said. “The synergy between our two companies allows us to meet customer needs more comprehensively, from hardware to software to integration.”

From Inertial Labs’ perspective, the acquisition represents a major growth opportunity. “Being part of VIAVI, a public company with a deep presence in North America, gives us added credibility and reach—especially with major U.S. defense primes,” said Jamie Marraccini, President and CEO of Inertial Labs. “These primes are defining the next generation of aerial systems, and they need trusted IMU and INS providers.”

The First Integration: A Turnkey APNT Solution

Inertial Labs is well-known for developing IMUs used in stabilization systems such as weapon stations and gimbaled cameras. About a year ago, the company began exploring the alternative PNT (APNT) space—adding computer vision and other sensors to augment traditional navigation systems.

The first integrated product with VIAVI combines a multi-source PNT receiver, a precision clock from Jackson Labs, and an INS from Inertial Labs. The solution is designed to be plug-and-play: users simply replace the antenna connection and insert the new unit, which outputs GPS L1 signals for compatibility with existing systems—no teardown required.

“This setup adds much-needed resiliency,” Marraccini said. “When GNSS is denied, the INS continues to provide reliable position, orientation, and velocity updates, which are then processed through the transcoder to maintain GPS L1 output.”

The INS fuses multiple data streams—including GNSS, LEO satellite signals, and clock timing—using advanced algorithms. This sensor fusion enables robust positioning in challenging environments. “It’s a natural fit and meets a very real market demand,” Marraccini said. “The interest has been immediate.”

Prototypes are already being tested, particularly on land vehicles, with early data showing strong performance. “You’re getting a high-end INS at a price point that opens up new markets,” Marraccini said. “Now, even lower-cost vehicles can benefit from a precision navigation system.”

Looking Ahead: Expanding the Ecosystem

The collaboration between VIAVI and Inertial Labs is just getting started. In addition to building integrated solutions, both companies are committed to expanding their standalone technologies. For Inertial Labs, that means developing next-generation IMUs—including fiber-optic gyro-based systems—and designing an open INS platform capable of ingesting any aiding data, from visual odometry to time-of-flight sensors.

“We’re working with partners across visual positioning, RF signals of opportunity, and other alternative navigation technologies,” Marraccini said. “On the VIAVI side, we’re also advancing antenna design and synchronization technologies to pair with these resilient solutions.”

This open, modular strategy is especially relevant for commercial markets. “Redundancy is just as critical in commercial autonomy,” Marraccini said.

“Whether it’s unmanned delivery vehicles, drones, industrial machinery, or precision agriculture, all these applications demand assured navigation even when GNSS is unavailable.”

Sensor Fusion for a Resilient Future

With the combined strengths of Jackson Labs and Inertial Labs, VIAVI now has the sensor fusion expertise and product depth to lead the charge in resilient PNT. The first integrated solution is already in customer hands—but it’s only the beginning.

“From here, we’ll continue building on sensor integration, layering in more inputs, and developing new product innovations,” Russell said. “We’re also extending these capabilities into timing and synchronization—areas where VIAVI has deep heritage.”

The strategy is clear: scalable innovation, market-focused integration, and resilient solutions for an increasingly contested navigation environment.

“It’s an extremely exciting time for us,” Russell said. “There are very few companies with the breadth and depth to do what we’re doing. And we’re just getting started.”

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MICHAEL L. O’CONNOR, Ph.D., became Executive Vice President, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Division when Iridium acquired Satelles. He served as CEO of Satelles since it was founded in 2013 and led the charge to bring the STL service to customers worldwide. Before Satelles, he co-founded IntegriNautics (later renamed Novariant and acquired by AgJunction) and served as chief technical officer, vice president of business development and CEO. He received his BS in avionics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and his MS and Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.

The rest of the world is starting to see what the PNT community has known for years: We must protect and augment GNSS.

There’s a growing awareness of the threats spoofing and jamming pose to GNSS, and what would happen if the system so many rely on went down. People from outside the industry want complementary solutions designed to enhance GNSS resiliency and protect critical infrastructure, driving the push to create a more layered approach. 

The industry is working to develop solutions that help mitigate ever-evolving threats, with manufacturers creating and testing complementary PNT (CPNT) solutions that can backup GNSS. Some, like Iridium Satellite Time and Location (STL), are already making a difference today. 

Michael O’Connor co-founded Satelles, the company behind STL, more than a decade ago to address society’s overreliance on GNSS, an impressive, accomplished system but one that is susceptible to degradation, interference and cyberattacks. STL was developed to provide a separate service that’s impervious to the types of attacks GNSS is vulnerable to. Last year, longtime partner Iridium acquired Satelles, with the plan to drive adoption in markets Satelles already had a strong presence in, like the wireless industry and data centers, and to expand the STL service into core Iridium markets like maritime and aviation. 

The service, now Iridium STL, was already using Iridium’s cross-linked L-band network before the acquisition, leveraging the strong broadcast paging channels of the Iridium satellite constellation to deliver precise timing information.

STL has been in service since 2016, with the mission to secure PNT-dependent applications—particularly critical infrastructure—against disruption. The service is available globally and is becoming a critical layer for those who must protect PNT. 

“After a decade of industry working and trying to solve this critical problem, the world has become aware that it’s a critical problem,” said O’Connor, who is now Iridium’s executive vice president of the PNT division. “Fortunately, the industry is lined up through foresight to solve the problem. Iridium STL is one solution, and there are others.” 

While the threat to GNSS and all who rely on it has grown in recent years, “We can take heart in the fact there are alternatives out there, we just need to make sure those alternatives are being adopted to provide the resiliency needed. With layers you do get resilience. There’s no question about it.”

Complementing GNSS

Iridium STL provides an independent signal that is not designed to replace GNSS; rather, it’s designed to complement it, O’Connor said. It can be accessed from the same receivers as GNSS and GPS, making it easy to incorporate as part of a layered approach.

What makes STL different? First, it uses Iridium’s low Earth orbit (LEO)satellite network. GNSS satellites are almost entirely in middle Earth orbit (MEO). That makes STL signals about 25 times closer to the Earth. They’re also 1,000 times stronger. Because of that high power, STL can reach indoors and cut through interference. 

“STL has 30 db more ability to penetrate jamming,” O’Connor said. “It takes about 1,000 times more power to fully jam an STL signal, so if you have a jammer the effective radius that jammer can cover is 30 times less.” 

Iridium STL has spoofing resilience as well, with a cryptographic key built into the signal. This enables users to validate that the signal received came from a satellite and not from a spoofer, O’Connor said. 

“It’s easy to replicate a GPS or GNSS signal,” he said. “It’s extremely difficult to replicate an STL signal because we’ve included cryptography tags in the data from the satellite.” 

While Iridium STL is not at the same frequency as GNSS and GPS, it is on L-band, which has its advantages. For example, STL signals don’t suffer from power loss as they travel through the atmosphere, an even bigger problem for other signals if there’s any kind of moisture, O’Connor said. Users also don’t need to invest in the larger antennas required for bands that are at higher frequencies, like Ka and Ku—which is key for mobile users like maritime and defense. And because STL is in the same spectrum as GNSS, it’s an easy add on. 

“Users can leverage existing GNSS and GPS antennas,” O’Connor said, “making it a cost effective upgrade.” 

A Global Solution for Various Markets 

Iridium focuses on markets that “care a lot about resilience,” O’Connor said. For example, there are many fixed station or static timing STL users who leverage the service to protect the critical infrastructure around data centers, telecom, financial markets and stock exchanges. Mobile users who need the precise PNT capabilities STL provides include maritime, aviation and defense. Iridium STL users typically require accuracy in the 10 to 20 meter range, which is sufficient for most GNSS use cases. 

Iridium’s cross-linked network makes it possible to deliver a global service to all its users through a limited number of fixed ground stations, O’Connor said. Users don’t need to be located near one to take advantage of it. 

“Many users really require a global capability, and that’s Iridium STL,” O’Connor said. “Not all proposed or available systems offer that. And it’s available today.” 

Integrating into the GNSS Ecosystem 

Any solution designed to improve GNSS resilience must be integrated into the GNSS ecosystem of equipment and service providers. Iridium STL partners with companies that offer GNSS equipment, including VIAVI, Adtran and Safran. Customers can easily purchase an STL upgrade to add that extra layer of resiliency into their solution. 

“These are some of the companies known for providing resilient GNSS into the market,” he said. “As partners they offer products with STL options. They can replace a GPS only or GNSS only box with a GNSS Plus STL solution that drops right into place.” 

And many of these vendors are finding innovative ways to use Iridium STL, O’Connor said. 

“Our partners are taking STL and integrating it into other solutions and different types of oscillators, gyros and other sensors to provide a range of options for users,” he said. “A lot of time, performance enhancements come from our manufacturing customers who are innovating in the market to meet the needs of specific users. We’re always amazed at the innovative spirit of our partners who really understand the needs of the customers they serve and take STL and adapt it in ways that are meaningful.” 

A Focus on Adoption 

Complementary solutions that make GNSS more resilient exist today, but they can’t do much to help society unless they’re adopted, O’Connor said. That’s where the focus is now, evidenced by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) recent efforts to advance CPNT solutions. 

Last year, DOT put out a CPNT Request for Quote (RFQ), which came about five months after the initial Request for Information (RFI) that sought feedback on the availability of operationally ready (Technical Readiness Level or TRL ≥ 8) CPNT technologies to meet critical infrastructure needs when GPS service is not available, degraded or disrupted. Multiple contracts were awarded with solutions now in the texting phase. 

O’Connor regarded the Volpe Center’s industry-wide field demonstration of CPNT technologies that took place in 2021 as a significant step forward as well. Eleven companies, including Satelles, participated in the demonstrations, where the goal was to gather information on PNT technologies that are ready to back up GNSS. 

The work continues for the PNT community, and while there is no silver bullet, there are solutions available today that address the growing threats to GNSS. With 2024 likely to “go down in history as the year we all woke up and said, ‘Oh wow, GPS resiliency really is a problem,’” now is the time to push for adoption, O’Connor said. There’s no need to wait. 

“Everyone recognizes this as a problem now. We need to encourage and drive adoption. No one should be picking winners,” O’Connor said. “It’s a layered solution and each industry needs different layers. Wireless operators shouldn’t be waiting for the federal government to choose the technology. They should be adopting technology now to suit their needs and solve their problems.” 

Ultimately, adoption will be driven by economics and policy, O’Connor said. 

On the policy side, the government now has the opportunity to show leadership, he said, and that began with Volpe testing and DOT’s funding that will help “prime the pump for these solutions.” The FAA also has taken steps to protect critical infrastructure by leveraging CPNT, announcing last year that Iridium STL will provide resilient timing synchronization to FAA data center facilities across the U.S., made possible by a five-year contract with L3Harris Technologies. The service will be available to more than three dozen L3Harris-operated communications network backbone nodes and a similar number of FAA facilities. 

There’s also the economics to consider. While there is cost associated with adding resiliency to GNSS, it’s not a lot, O’Connor said, with more industries seeing it as a worthy investment. 

“You have to think about what is the cost of the network going down for an hour, or a day,” he said. “Those are the kinds of questions the industry will be asking itself. That’s where the economics will come in.” 

Institutions like Volpe and DOT are helping to create the path toward adoption, while companies like Iridium are developing and offering the solutions needed to create that layered approach to toughen and augment GNSS. 

“What’s most important to the future is adoption,” O’Connor said. “It’s not new technology or enhancement or improvement. It’s driving adoption. When you drive adoption, innovation will happen more quickly. And that creates an ecosystem that can re-invest in those technologies.” 

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CRPAs for PNT will instead fall under the less restrictive Export Administration Regulations (EAR) list that’s under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce, what GNSS/GPS expert Logan Scott describes as a significant change and a huge step in the right direction. Items on the ITAR list include defense articles, services and technical data, while EAR covers dual-use commercial items, what CRPAs for PNT are now considered.

The Department of State announced amendments to the ITAR list last week. The rule, in part, removes items from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) “that no longer warrant inclusion.” According to the amendment, “certain anti-jam antennas no longer provide a critical military advantage, with increasing commercial utilization applicable to civil GPS resiliency.”  By removing CRPAs for PNT, “the Department intends to facilitate civil global navigation system resiliency.”

“The first key is it makes them available,” Scott said of the rule change. “You’re not going to be able to buy them at Walmart or on Amazon, they’ll still be export controlled, but not on the munitions list.” 

Scott described CRPAs as “the single most capable anti-jam technique available for ensuring reception of GNSS signals” that provide “orders of magnitude more capability than any other technique.” CRPAs not only can detect jamming and mitigate it, they can geolocate spoofing and jamming attacks as well. 

CRPAs attack the problem directly, Scott said, creating a very dep null in the direction of the jamming and providing a “40, 50 dbs kind of advantage.” That reduces the jammer’s effective range by a factor of 100. 

“These are the big guns of anti-jam,” Scott said. “As long as GNSS satellites are up, these allow you to continue to operate, so a lot of the nonsense going on in the Middle East and Ukraine will go away.” 

Airlines are going to be the early beneficiaries of this change, Scott said. Before, putting a CRPA on an airplane made the entire airplane an ITAR item that required an export license. That won’t be an issue anymore, though there are other challenges to using CRPAs, such as their size and power consumption.

Autonomous vehicles and UAVs will also benefit, Scott said, with CRPAs allowing them to rely on GPS even in conflict adjacent areas. 

“Any safety of life application can benefit from adaptable phased arrays,” Scott said. “Basically, anyone concerned about being interfered with or spoofed, so any critical infrastructure application can benefit.” 

Cost is another challenge, Scott said, but he expects that to come down “very rapidly.” 

“The key impact this is going to have, is the U.S. will now get into this business,” Scott said. “The barrier to entry before was huge, so adaptive arrays were typically made in places like Canada and Turkey. This will open up the industry and the application to the U.S. industry base, and we know how to do this stuff pretty well.” 

You can find the full rule here. 

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GEODNET has democratized RTK and is now the largest provider, with survey, precision agriculture, robotic lawn mowers, industrial robotics, drones and telematics among the applications benefiting from the ever growing network. 

Founder Mike Horton and the GEODNET team will display various technologies leveraging GEODNET RTK corrections at CES 2025, slated for January 7 to 10 in Las Vegas, and will be available to talk to attendees about how GEODNET is changing the game. The booth location is LVCC, North Hall 10571 in the IoT pavilion along with both consumer and enterprise partners. 

What makes GEODNET different 

Low-cost RTK had a bit of a rough start, with reliable performance a barrier to adoption, particularly for enterprise users. At first, companies tried to offer RTK with a single band GNSS receiver. The early products that came out with L1 only, while low cost, had technical difficulties, Horton said. Why? Carrier phase ambiguity resolution, the technical process that makes centimeter level accuracy possible, isn’t very robust if you’re only using a single band receiver.

“People tried to make it work, and it did work in some cases, but it led to a lot of very unreliable experiences,” Horton said. “GEODNET, by contrast, is set up for the triple frequency, quad constellation. We’re taking advantage of all the signals that are out there now, which includes L1, L2, L5 and all the international equivalents.” 

The flakiness RTK was initially known for has now been resolved, Horton said, and “GEODNET has been a huge part of that.” 

The GEODNET network’s base stations track all the satellites and all the signals, Horton said, and companies have developed silicon to support them in a cost effective format. 

“That changes the whole game of RTK,” Horton said, “to make it very resilient and reliable.”

Growing interest on the consumer side

Because of the availability and ubiquity of RTK coverage that GEODNET offers, that coverage is now being integrated more into new consumer products and new consumer experiences, Horton said, whether it’s via apps, robots or custom devices. 

“We’re seeing a big trend toward RTK capabilities being introduced into more and more chipsets and more and more consumer facing products,” Horton said. “The cost has come down really exponentially, and that’s not an exaggeration, from just two or three years ago to where it’s at today. Even mobile handsets are shipping with dual band, L1, L5, four constellation plus GNSS receivers that really have the guts and measurement capability to support high precision applications.” 

GEO-PULSE, introduced in November, is among the consumer facing products GEODNET will feature at CES. The device taps into GEODNET’s RTK network to deliver a level of positioning accuracy that drivers never have been able to achieve before.  

Users can put the Garmin like GPS receiver on the roof of their car. It connects to the network via a mobile app, giving drivers centimeter level accuracy for traditional Google Maps and Apple Maps directions, Horton said. GEODNET is developing a software development kit (SDK), so users can also build new app experiences. GEO-PULSE can replace phone location, so it can be used with traditional apps like Uber as well. And it’s only $149. 

“The benefit of it is better driving directions,” Horton said. “It can navigate through parking garages. It can handle downtown urban environments. It can get you lane level accuracy. It can tell you which door you’re at if you’re making a delivery. It’s really that precise location that enables a better user experience for typical driving missions.” 

Horton sees the device really taking off for rideshare and mobility type services. Navigation errors can cause delivery delays for companies like DoorDash, for example, leading to cancellations and unhappy customers. GEO-PULSE provides precise navigation so drivers get exactly where they need to go, for a smaller investment than a new phone with better navigation capabilities or adding a navigation system to a car. 

“If your income depends on driving every day,” Horton said, “…this is a great solution.”

The device will also make it easier for rideshare drivers to find their customers and for customers to track driver progress, alleviating the stress of wondering where your driver might be—especially as you wait in an airport parking garage where there’s multipath interference. GEO-PULSE has been tested in such environments and offers a “really nice improvement” over what a phone provides, and will also help improve time calculations on when the Uber or Lyft driver will arrive. 

The dual band RTK engine offers 10 centimeter level accuracy in about half a minute, Horton said, with even better accuracy in clear skies. 

“You’re actually getting centimeter level accuracy and that’s really new for customers, to have access to RTK level accuracy for their own personal car,” Horton said. “It’s not a device we would recommend to a surveyor or somebody that’s really trying to get the very best accuracy, but it’s a huge step up from what a phone or in-dash GPS does. It’s at least a factor of 10, if not a factor of 100, better in a lot of cases than what you’re going to see from your phone or car GPS. It’s next level for consumers.”

GEO-PULSE features a built-in GPS repeater capability, Horton said. Signals taken from its antenna go through a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and are repeated into the vehicle. This makes GPS more accurate on every device in the car, another benefit.

Verde.ai will also be at the CES booth, showing off its small consumer lawn mower that relies on GEODNET’s RTK corrections. 

“One of the things that really gets us excited is small robots,” Horton said. “It [the lawn mower] is available for under $1,000 and it connects directly to the GEODNET network. It can map and mow your yard autonomously, all controlled by a simple iOS and Android app.” 

GEODNET is also getting into the digital gaming world, starting with an Animoca Brands partnership. The large Web 3 gaming company is interested in location based gaming, Horton said, where trusted location is paramount. The partnership will advance mixed-reality gaming and immersive experiences. Animoca Brands also invested in GEODNET to support its growth within the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) community. 

RTK for Enterprise Customers

While the consumer space is growing rapidly, GEODNET’s RTK network also has an important place for enterprise users. For example, the company just announced a partnership with Burro, a leader in agricultural robotics. GEODNET’s RTK GPS technology will be integrated into Burro’s robots, designed for autonomous material transport across agricultural environments like nurseries, fields and farms. 

The robots leverage advanced AI, computer vision and LiDAR technology to execute tasks with precision. GEODNET will provide RTK corrections and base stations for greater navigation accuracy and operational efficiency in regions without GPS coverage. Being able to quickly deploy base stations is also a benefit, allowing Burro’s customers to quickly scale. 

“By integrating GEODNET’s RTK technology, we’re not only ensuring precision and reliability for Burro’s robots but also advancing the accessibility of high-performance GPS for the agricultural sector,” Horton said. “This partnership underscores our commitment to enabling transformative applications of GPS technology.”

WISPR, a U.S. based drone manufacturer, also uses GEODNET RTK corrections, and will be at the company’s CES booth in January. The company focuses on drone survey, inspections, photogrammetry and drone LiDAR, among other applications. RTK corrections just make sense for drones, allowing the systems to quickly and accurately collect data while also helping them better understand the environment around them for obstacle avoidance. 

RTK for everyone

GEODNET is now the largest RTK corrections provider, and will only continue to grow as its technology is integrated into both consumer and enterprise solutions. RTK is no longer bespoke; anyone can access centimeter level accuracy via the GEODNET network. 

To learn more about GEODNET, stop by the booth during CES. You’ll find the booth at LVCC, North Hall 10571 in the IoT pavilion. 

The post Leading RTK Corrections Provider GEODNET Highlighting GEO-PULSE, Other Tech at CES 2025  appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

Every new level of accuracy reached brings benefits to society, Di Federico said, deriving a “further level of truth.” And it’s only getting better. Over the course of his two decades with Topcon, Di Federico has seen many industry advancements, from RTK to sensor fusion to today’s focus on making GPS more resilient and precise. The strategic acquisitions and partnerships Di Federico has driven positions Topcon to serve as the foundation for that industry shift toward enhanced precision and increased automation.

It’s not lost on Di Federico just how powerful Topcon’s role and influence is in this “incredible transformation,” and what a critical point we’ve come to in the industry. And at the heart of it all, he said, is the “extreme need for a reliable fix.” 

“That is what drives everything,” Di Federico said. “Once you have x, y, z and t in your control, you can rely on that. You can build fabulous things around that. This is essentially what we do. We are making it possible. We are making it reliable. We are making it fast to converge. All these objectives the industry has is attached to that simple x, y, z, t concept to make it always available, always reliable, always safe. Once we do that, the world will really change, and we are part of this.” 

Precision enables us to better understand our surroundings, to see things we haven’t seen before, Di Federico said. For example, Topcon develops antennas to monitor ground movement that show how the ground constantly changes. When doing this kind of work, you realize there’s really no such thing as solid ground. It’s liquid, and always changing. 

“You see the same point goes up and down, it twists, it does all sorts of things with the sun, with the troposphere, with everything,” Di Federico said. “So you see now, because of that level of control on a position in time, you now know something new. What can be done with that information? It really opens up the opportunity for work and for research. That’s the beautiful part of this business.” 

Topcon has a “vision to automate to the best possible degree,” Di Federico said, through 3D machine control on construction sites and in precision agriculture. He sees a future where you simply push a button to 3D print any infrastructure you want, with the solution working exactly as intended and eliminating the need for the plastic “toys” that take a day to build. Inside Unmanned Systems recently sat down with Di Federico to talk about this vision, what it will take to get there and how Topcon is leading the way in the PNT industry’s remarkable transformation. 

ADVANCING PNT 

Topcon’s first goal, Di Federico said, is to “automate the surfacing of the world.” 

Robotics streamlined how cars are manufactured, Di Federico said, leading to increased productivity. But, so far, that has stayed within four walls; the level of automation achieved on those lines has not yet been realized in the outside world for construction and infrastructure projects. 

“It’s our responsibility to bring that same level of efficiency outside,” he said, “and that’s why machine control is the first step. Then you drive to autonomy and eventually make a swarm of autonomous vehicles that can operate without being monitored at all. They can make decisions. You leave them to do the work, and the work is finished when you arrive. That’s the way it should be, and that’s our inspiration.” 

Getting to the point where you push a button like a printer today and the machinery in the field delivers the work, whether on a construction site or a farm, will require adding technology to vehicles as well as in the environment. The vehicles will need to be linked in a “safe and reliable way,” Di Federico said, so there are no accidents. The work will also need to be done in the shortest amount of time possible, consuming the least amount of energy and delivering a precise result. That, Di Federico said, is the end goal of machine control and is what Topcon “lives for through our innovation.”

It all comes back to having x, y, z, t under your control every time, Di Federico said. 

“PNT is at the core of the evolution of society because it can achieve these goals,” he said. “If you make any correlation graph in history, our lives become better every time we get the measurement of something under better control. You measure better time and better position, the world evolves. That’s how important we are.” 

Topcon is “responsible for this” evolution, Di Federico said, and not just in a lab. The team is focused on “doing this for the mass, for the democracy of all the people to change their lives, because now this information is achievable.”

It’s a long journey, but Di Federico estimates we’re about halfway there. Topcon’s latest acquisitions, which include Satel, a leading innovator in wireless technology, partnerships with companies like u-blox to expand into new markets such as automotive and robotics, along with product innovation from Topcon are paving the way, adding the layers of resilience needed to reach that ultimate end goal. 

OVERCOMING EARLY BARRIERS TO ADOPTION 

At the beginning of Di Federico’s career, adoption of machine control was slow, and developing and integrating the technology difficult. 

“It was very complicated to create a system to do decent work in 3D machine control and to make it simple,” he said. “You had to know a lot about GPS, a lot about base stations, a lot about satellites.” 

The person responsible for the technology was typically a machine operator or job supervisor who had limited, if any, experience with GPS, a barrier to adoption early on. Then there was the high cost associated with equipping each vehicle with machine control technology. 

What changed that? The iPhone. The development of this technology led to a great evolution in hardware between 2007 and 2010, with the cost per gigabyte of memory chip going down “absolutely dramatically.” Millions of chips were now being made for a computer, not a radio, and that marked a huge change for machine control as well. 

“The intuition of Apple is the cell phone is not a phone, it’s a computer that has a phone inside,” Di Federico said. “So, the fact you need a computer in your pocket changed everything.” 

The cost per gigabyte was the first significant change, Di Federico said, and the second was intuitive user interfaces. Even with development costs going way down, machine control still came with many moving parts and remained difficult to set up and manage. The touchscreen made things much easier for users, and that helped accelerate adoption. 

“Engineers could see the map, their dozer inside the map. They could see the dozer’s blade as opposed to the map and see if they were on grade or not on grade,” he said. “It was impossible before. We didn’t have fast refresh, we didn’t have a touchscreen. And this isn’t just convenience or beautiful colors. Absolutely not. It’s interfacing with the technology that has become easy.” 

Not long after these significant advancements, Topcon introduced, with Komatsu, the first factory fit control system in 2013. For the first time, a machine control solution was available that made the complex simple, democratizing the technology and focusing on the user experience. 

“Inside the system is still the GPS information, that control loop, there’s Kalman filters, there’s everything, but the operator doesn’t need to know that,” Di Federico said. “All he needs to focus on is the map.”

And the system came fully integrated into the machine, which was quite the shift, Di Federico said. That decision from Komatsu leadership “intimately changed the industry,” and everyone else had to align to compete. 

“Before, we were doing aftermarket. You had to go to the dealer after you bought the machine. Now, with this, you buy it from the manufacturer so it’s fully integrated, ingrained with other functions you cannot get aftermarket,” Di Federico said. “This showed to other manufacturers that yes, you can do factory fit, and you will attract much more market share in this way than in the aftermarket solution.” 

Of course, the aftermarket business continues as well; there are plenty of vehicles in the construction and agriculture industries that need updated. Equipment dealers continue to thrive, and “have a great business in machine control” because one large manufacturer decided to take that first big step and embed GPS into a dozer a decade ago. 

GETTING TO THE END GOAL 

While there’s been a lot of progress over the years, there are still steps that must be taken to “print the Earth” with a push of a button. The machines are essentially ready today, Di Federico said, but there are two areas that still need some work. The first? Communication, the motivation behind Topcon’s acquisition of Satel. 

A more modern radio will make it possible to create a network of data on a jobsite that’s uninterruptible no matter what happens. That’s key, Di Federico said, because “it’s the flow of data that generates what we want to achieve.” 

If you look at radio technology from 20 years ago, it’s basically the same as today’s, with the older versions a little bigger and more expensive. They also have the same protocols. That must change, and Topcon plans to lead the way. 

“We are working on the next generation, which has to be uninterruptible and to transfer much more information than it does today, and doesn’t need to rely on cell phone providers or anything,” Di Federico said. “It needs to do it on its own, because we want to be sure that when I push that printer button, it prints.” 

Vehicles must be able to securely communicate with each and to the jobsite management control unit, similarly to how it’s done in the military, Di Federico said. The second step is figuring out how to connect the cloud to the vehicle, dividing what’s in the cloud with what’s on the edge with what’s to be discovered. 

“Every vehicle will know all the other vehicles, the experience of all the other vehicles, and will know what they need to decide with their own ego, which is what they need to do on that jobsite,” Di Federico said. “In that very moment, when we copy this mechanism of our brain into our vehicles, we will have accomplished the goal of, I make a nice drawing, I study it, I like it, I push it, I print it, I get it and it’s done.” 

Topcon is focused on finding that balance between the cloud and the edge, Di Federico said, and is “working on it with the best in class, to completely change the radio environment in which a jobsite operates.”

Topcon calls this mission critical communication, Di Federico said, because without it the machines don’t know what to do next. And preserving that x, y, z, t information is what drives it all. 

“Once these elements are solved from a theoretical standpoint, then it’s easy to drive down what the products are, what the costs are to do that. Then you make a complete change in the industry because it’s an industry that doesn’t need an operator or any vehicle that can react to changes in the schedule, to changes in the parameters,” Di Federico said. “Even if a vehicle is down, the others will take over the job for that vehicle automatically. They will talk to each other and generate the end result, no matter what, with precision. And that’s how PNT is so important.” 

Satel will run independently of Topcon, Di Federico said, and the technology developed will be available to everyone because “we all need to grow together.”

“Today, to design something and print it, you need a lot of work, a lot of things to arrive,” Di Federico said. “Imagine that we can organize this in a much more efficient way because of the technology we’re developing. And that’s the end goal, to expand the industry for everybody to enjoy these new standards of communication. People think the radio is just to transmit corrections. Well no, it’s the core, it’s the nervous system at any jobsite.” 

IMPROVING SAFETY 

Resiliency also needs to evolve, Di Federico said, and is part of the motivation behind Topcon’s partnerships with companies like u-blox. It’s critical to go to a chip level to make sure certain fundamentals of GPS are changed to improve safety. 

“We need to have new protocols to make sure we are much more resilient to attacks,” Di Federico said. “This is another area where we want to invest, are investing, and where we also expect governments to change their protocols and make more mature systems for GPS for civilian use to have certain features that militaries enjoy, like M-Code.” 

You can have all these systems and technologies in place, Di Federico said, but somebody can come along and spoof you, which is “simply not acceptable.” Spoofing and jamming are no longer small risks; they’ve become much bigger concerns. Because of that, cybersecurity needs to “come to the PNT world as quickly as possible.” Di Federico describes this as needing to be a joint effort between industry and government. 

“It should be put in at the chip level,” Di Federico said. “Not as an afterthought but as the essential piece of what we do in terms of the new ASICs. But at the same time, constellations need to update and give us the tools to make this safe. Otherwise, the industry will just slow down because this is a major failure that wasn’t designed for.”

BRINGING THE INDUSTRY TOGETHER

For too many years, the PNT industry has been a niche, with scientists primarily just talking to each other. That’s not how you make improvements to society, and Topcon wants to improve society. To get to that 3D printing goal, you have to collaborate. You have to democratize technology developed and make it available to all. That’s the mission at Topcon.

“If we don’t do it, who else is going to do it? We have to do it right. We have to live this path, “ Di Federico said. “We are committed to that as Topcon, but we are also committed to that as an industry. We are open to talk to anybody who shares the vision to create an alliance to speed up standards of adoption, for example. We can work together as an industry to get this done for humanity, for everyone.” 

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