Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
u-blox AG has selected the NavX-NCS, a multi-constellation and multi-frequency GNSS RF navigation constellation simulator from IFEN GmbH, as the Galileo reference for its receiver development and testing.
By Glen Gibbons
The 746th Test Squadron (746 TS) will conduct its sixth JAMFEST, an innovative GPS jamming exercise at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), New Mexico, in mid-January, 2009 — a rescheduling of the event that had been planned to take place next month.
JAMFEST programs are aimed at providing low-cost, realistic, GPS jamming scenarios for testing GPS-based navigation systems, as well as training personnel in unique GPS denied environments.
By Glen Gibbons
After a series of rescheduled launch dates, U.S. Air Force (USAF) officials have placed the final two GPS Block IIR-M satellites on “indefinite” status, pending the replacement of ordnance timers used in the Delta II launcher.
In a response to inquiries from Inside GNSS, spokespersons for the GPS Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, and Launch and Range Space Wing said that “based on the parts production and qualification schedule, we project the GPS IIR launches will occur in Spring and Summer 2009.”
By Glen Gibbons
Spirent Communications plc has announced that its UMTS Location Test System (ULTS) is now able to validate all assisted-GPS (AGPS) test standards by providing a single test platform that runs all the validated A-GPS test cases required by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and the PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB).
By Glen Gibbons
Atheros Communications, Inc., has announced the appointment of Amir Faintuch as vice-president and general manager of the company’s Mobile Wireless Business Unit.
By Glen Gibbons
Applanix has introduced a major new release of POSPac MMS (Mobile Mapping Suite), its GNSS-aided inertial postprocessing software for mobile mapping and surveying applications.
The new release adds features and functionality for land-based mapping and surveying to the existing suite, making it fully equipped for processing mobile mapping data from the air, sea, and land platforms.
By Glen Gibbons
Phi Ward with ION 2008 Kepler AwardPhillip W. Ward, a pioneer designer and developer of GPS receivers, received the lifetime achievement award from the Institute of Navigation at its annual GNSS conference on September 19 in Savannah, Georgia USA.
Ward was senior technical staff member at Texas Instruments Defense Systems and Electronics Group for more than 20 years, where he developed five generations of GPS receivers including, in 1982, the first to enter the commercial market: the TI 4100 NAVSTAR Navigator.
By Inside GNSS
Quellan Inc., of Santa Clara, California, offers the QHx220 active RF noise canceller for GPS applications.
Like noise cancelling headphones, the QHx220 senses unwanted internal noise and applies an opposite signal to the receive path, using sophisticated high-speed analog techniques integrated on a single one square millimeter, low-power integrated circuit.
According to the company, the canceller provides up to 25dB of cancellation, 360º of phase coverage, and operates on a single 1.8V supply voltage.
By Glen Gibbons
Wi-Sys Communications Inc., based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has launched the WS1551QF L-band + GPS (L1) Quadrifilar Helical Antenna.
An active right-hand circularly polarized, quadrifilar helical antenna, the WS1551QF provides an omni-directional, cardoid radiation pattern, with peak gain optimized at elevation angles between 0° and 40°. The wideband antenna covers both the L-band downlink frequency band (1525 to 1560 MHz) and the GPS (L1) frequency band (1574 to 1576 MHz).
By Glen Gibbons
After nearly a year of silence, Magellan has returned to the OEM GNSS space with the MB 500 GPS/GLONASS/SBAS dual-frequency board — reportedly the first of a series of new products by the long-standing brand.
By Glen Gibbons
Trimble has announced its new GNSS reference receiver — the Trimble NetR8 — for precise scientific and network infrastructure applications. The NetR8 reference receiver has 76 channels and supports GPS L1, L2, L2C and L5 signals as well as GLONASS L1/L2 signals.
Four additional channels are dedicated to tracking space-based augmentation systems
(SBAS), including Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in North
America, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) in
Europe, Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) in Japan,
Omnistar services and others.
The U.S. government has committed itself to maintaining the signals characteristic needed for semi-codeless GPS applications until December 31, 2020.
By Glen Gibbons
The Raytheon Company has been awarded a $232.8 million contract for the system development and demonstration phase of the GPS-based Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) program for shipboard applications.
JPALS provides all-weather shipboard landing capability to assist the Navy with pinpoint landing accuracy on aircraft carriers. The team, led by Raytheon Network Centric Systems, includes Rockwell Collins, Northrop Grumman, and SAIC.
By Glen Gibbons
