Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
[Updated July 4] The world’s dominant mode of timekeeping, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), took on another leap second on Saturday, June 30 at 23:59:60 UTC.
And then the fun began: the addition caused software handling Internet services such as LinkedIn, Pinterest, Mozilla, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Yelp, FourSquare and Gawker to behave unpredictably or even crash over the weekend.
By Inside GNSS
[Updated July 2] Appropriators in both the U.S. House and Senate have slashed next year’s funding for support of the civil portion of the GPS program. Lawmakers halved the portion of the Federal Aviation Administration budget dedicated to supporting the civil signals as well as the ground network monitoring of those signals.
By Inside GNSS
Independent truck operators and a general fear of government surveillance led to passage of an amendment today (June 29, 2012) that would prohibit U.S. agencies from implementing any rule requiring GPS tracking or other devices to be installed in passenger or commercial vehicles.
In a voice vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, congressmen approved the amendment to H.R. 5972, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2013.
By Inside GNSS
Time is short — the European Satellite Navigation Competition, aka Galileo Masters — is seeking the best GPS and GNSS applications ideas for this year’s contest. The deadline has been extended one week to Sunday, July 8.
By Inside GNSS
Central area, Emperors Palace convention center and resortThe Geo-Information Society of South Africa will hold its 2012 conference and exhibition, GISSA Ukubuzana*, on October 2, 3 and 4 at the Emperors Palace Convention Centre, Jones Road, Kempton Park in Gauteng. A free shuttle bus is available every 20 minutes from Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo (ORTIA) airport to the convention center.
The theme is "An African Dialogue: Geomatics for Infrastructure Development and Service Delivery."The keynote speaker will be Dean Angelides, ESRI’s corporate director for international operations.
By Inside GNSS
Northern Jutland PeninsulaA seven day workshop on GNSS and Positioning for the Future will be held at a Jutland (North Sea) resort in Denmark from August 27 through September 2, 2012. It is open all those with an interest in satellite positioning and navigation but limited to the first 50 registered participants.
The workshop will cover GNSS basics, new satellite navigation systems, arctic navigation, intelligent transportation systems and environmental monitoring, with lectures by international experts in those fields. The program and full list of lecturers are available on the event website.
By Inside GNSS
Despite its formative role in supporting development of the Global Positioning System, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been hedging its positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technology bets for some years as emerging threat scenarios become more sophisticated and widespread.
By Inside GNSS
Spirent Communications has announced the launch of its new eight-channel GSS6300M Multi-GNSS simulator designed for integration, verification, and production testing where a quick and accurate functional test is needed.
The platform supports simulation of signals from individual or combined GPS/SBAS, GLONASS, and Galileo constellations with up to 24 channels are supported with 8 channels of simulation per constellation.
The organization formed to help protect GPS users from a proposed wireless broadband network likely to cause overwhelming interference to GPS devices will not disband. The Coalition to Save Our GPS not only plans to continue to operate but may expand the issues on which it works to incorporate additional topics, such as receiver standards, and perhaps even evolve into a full-fledged trade association.
By Inside GNSS
Four months after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) indicated its intention to backtrack on its conditional approval of LightSquared’s terrestrial wireless broadband network, a leading GNSS manufacturer is pressing the agency to finalize its decision.
By Inside GNSS
Dee Ann Divis, Washington View columnistDee Ann Divis, Inside GNSS’s Washington correspondent¸ was named the winner of the Society of Professional Journalists Washington, D.C., Professional Chapter’s highest journalistic award, the Robert D.G. Lewis Watchdog Award, for her work with the magazine.
By Dee Ann Divis
L-3 IEC Tru-Trak SIPL-3 Communications announced today (June 14, 2012) that its Interstate Electronics Corporation (L-3 IEC) business has successfully completed multiple test firings of its next-generation Military Code (M-code) GPS receiver technology.
This milestone represents a significant breakthrough in GPS receiver modernization and validates the unit’s survivability and performance in extreme, guided munitions environments, according to an L-3 IEC news release.
By Inside GNSS
Business School, University of Nottingham Jubilee CampusThe Royal Institute of Navigation will hold a new navigator seminar and networking opportunity at the University of Nottingham on June 14, 2012 for new navigators, engineers, scientists and surveyors who are seeking careers in the industry.
Masters and doctoral level students will present on navigation and positioning topics, advanced undergraduates and postdocs will be in attendance. A number of industry and government representatives will exhibit or attend to listen to new research and meet the new talent.
By Inside GNSS
