Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R.2219) on June 14, cutting funds from the next-generation GPS space (GPS III) and operational control (OCX) segments, while adding money to the current GPS IIF satellite allocation.
By Inside GNSS
LightSquared’s proposed broadband service may cause trouble for GNSS receivers, such as this one, that use commercial satellite augmentation services. The Senate is considering establishment of receiver standards as part of a wide-ranging effort to find more frequencies for wireless broadband services, a move that could ultimately result in expensive new requirements for the GPS community.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee today (June 23, 2011) approved action that would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from expending any funds related to a conditional waiver it granted a company called LightSquared until all concerns have been resolved about interference with Global Positioning System (GPS).
By Inside GNSS
The report concerns economic effects on high precision commercial uses of GPS, such as precision agriculture. (U Calif. photo)Research released yesterday (June 22, 2011) indicates that interference from LightSquared cellular broadband transmitters could cost manufacturers and users of commercial GPS technology up to $96 billion in annual losses.
By Inside GNSS
Results of John Deere test of LightSquared’s effect on high-precision GPS receiversIn what looks like a pre-emptive strike in the wake of extensive evidence that its proposed terrestrial wireless broadband transmissions will interfere with GPS receivers, LightSquared today (June 20, 2011) proposed to solve the problem by cut the power of its base stations in half and temporarily use a bandwidth further away from GPS.
By Inside GNSS
LightSquared graphicWith test results and congressional sentiment running against it, LightSquared has received a two-week extension for filing its report and recommendations, due to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday (June 15, 2011), on likely interference to the GPS L1 band.
Meanwhile, a congressional critic of LightSquared’s effort to roll out a 4G/LTE broadband cellular service adjacent to the GPS frequency has called on the agency to rescind its waiver of limits on the company’s plans to build a high-powered national network of terrestrial transmitters.
By Inside GNSS
Successful completion today (June 15, 2011) of the rephrasing of the GPS constellation known as “Expandable 24,” has produced the most optimal geometry in the system’s 42-year history, maximizing GPS coverage for all users worldwide.
The 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) of the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, successfully executed the two-phase expansion and repositioning of satellites, which improves global GPS coverage and provides a more robust signal and higher probability of signal acquisition in terrain-challenged environments.
By Inside GNSS
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, which is developing the GPS IIIA generation of satellites,
announced today (June 14, 2011) a 7.5 percent reduction in its
workforce designed to “address affordability” and improve the company’s
“competitive posture.”
Accord Software and Systems Pvt. Ltd., of Bangalore, India, has announced two new GNSS chips, a system-on-a-chip (SOC) with GPS and integrated peripherals and a GPS/Galileo-comopatible RF front-end chip.
By Inside GNSS
Hemisphere GPS LX-2Hemisphere GPS has introduced its LX-2, a second-generation L-band differential GPS OEM receiver board.
By Inside GNSS
Bliley GMX1001Bliley Technologies, Inc., has unveiled two GPS frequency and timing modules at the 2011 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium taking place this week (June 5–10, 2011) in Baltimore, Maryland.
The company’s GMX1001 and GMM1002 modules launch a new product line for the company — introducing the first in a series of next-generation technologies for the Erie, Pennsylvania–based company.
By Inside GNSS
The Space-Based PNT National Coordination Office is located in the Dept. of Commerce Hoover BuildingRepresentatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), LightSquared, and Trimble will weigh in on the GPS vs. LightSquared interference at the afternoon session of a National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board meeting tomorrow (June 9, 2011).
By Dee Ann Divis
A belated response from Julius Genachowski, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman to Republican Senator Charles Grassley’s request for documents surrounding the LightSquared effort to broadcast near the GPS L1 band appears unlike to satisfy either Grassley or the GPS community.
By Inside GNSS
