GPS

GPS Satellite with L5 Payload Launches Successfully

GPS Satellite with L5 Payload Launches Successfully

Block IIR-20(M) launch from Cape Canaveral. Photo by Carleton Bailie, United Launch Alliance.

GPS program managers and users — especially the U.S. civil aviation community — can breathe a sign of relief following the successful launch Tuesday (March 24) of a satellite carrying a demonstration payload of the new L5 signal.

Built by the Lockheed Martin Company, the modernized Block II replenishment spacecraft, GPS IIR-20(M), is moving toward plane B, slot 2 to replace space vehicle number (SVN) 30. If all goes well, U.S. Air Force controllers expect to set the satellite healthy for navigation users worldwide next month.

Among other signals and capabilities, the IIR-20(M) will be the first to transmit the new GPS civil signal centered on 1176.45MHz (±12 MHz) within the protected aeronautical radionavigation service (ARNS) band. This so-called L5 signal will provide a second safety-of-life signal that meets the technical requirements for enabling aircraft to make precision landings in high multipath environments.

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By Inside GNSS
Hemisphere GPS Reports Record Revenues
March 19, 2009

Hemisphere GPS Reports Record Revenues

Steve Koles, Hemisphere GPS president & CEO

Hemisphere GPS has reported a 35 percent increase in revenues in 2008 — to a company record of US$72.7 million, versus $53.7 million the previous year. According to the company, 2008 growth was driven by strong market fundamentals in agriculture, including higher farm incomes.

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By Inside GNSS
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More Problems with GPS IIF; IIR-(20)M Is L5’s Plan B
March 18, 2009

More Problems with GPS IIF; IIR-(20)M Is L5’s Plan B

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . . .

Discovery of a power anomaly in signal generator of the first GPS Block IIF space vehicle (SV) has thrown a new wrinkle into the long-delayed follow-on generation of spacecraft.

Meanwhile, it’s all systems go (and all fingers crossed) for launch of a modernized Block IIR satellite IIR-20(M) with the demonstration L5 navigation payload designed to secure priority GPS access to the frequency.

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By Inside GNSS
International Conference on Precision Agriculture 2010
March 16, 2009

International Conference on Precision Agriculture 2010

The tenth International Conference on Precision Agriculture will take place July 18-21 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center in Denver, Colorado USA. It is cosponsored by Colorado State University, the International Plant Nutrition Institute, and the Foundation for Agronomic Research.

Papers include those on guidance, autosteer and GPS, modeling and geo-statistics and engineering technologies and advances.

For technical questions , contact conference chair Raj Khosia at the telephone number or email below.

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By Inside GNSS
Broadcom, SiRF Top GPS IC Vendor Ranking
March 13, 2009

Broadcom, SiRF Top GPS IC Vendor Ranking

A sophisticated vendor matrix that measures qualitative as well as quantitative factors ranks Broadcom as the leading supplier of GPS chips worldwide.

SiRF Technology and Texas Instruments came in second and third in the GPS Integrated Circuit Manufacturer Vendor Matrix, developed by ABI Research based in Oyster Bay, New York, with results announced today (March 12, 2009).

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By Inside GNSS
FY 2010 Budget Outline Proposes to End Loran
February 28, 2009

FY 2010 Budget Outline Proposes to End Loran

Ready for another round?

President Obama appears to have weighed in on the long-running Loran/eLoran debate — on the side of terminating the terrestrial radionavigation system and, apparently, its enhanced version that had been proposed as a backup to GPS.

In a February 26 message to U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) members, Vice-Admiral V. S. Crea, USCG Vice Commandant and Chief Operating Officer, said the Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget outlined in a document sent to Congress calls for termination of Loran-C in the coming year.

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By Glen Gibbons
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Federal Commission Backs Mileage Fees over Gas Taxes, Champions GPS Technology
February 26, 2009

Federal Commission Backs Mileage Fees over Gas Taxes, Champions GPS Technology

Maybe it was just poor timing.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s passing comment that systems for assessing fees based on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) rather than gasoline taxes was quickly shot down by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs in a February 20 news conference.

On February 26, however, the congressionally mandated National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission (NSTIFC) came out with a recommendation the United States should do exactly that — and pointed firmly to GNSS systems as a key enabling technology for accomplishing such a transition.

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By Glen Gibbons
CellGuide Announces the RAMON GPS Module
February 23, 2009

CellGuide Announces the RAMON GPS Module

CellGuide, a Rehovot, Israel–based fables semiconductor manufacturer of highly integrated host-based GPS/GNSS receivers, has introduced the RAMON GPS module.

Measuring 5.4 x 4.6 x 1.1 millimeters, the RAMON module includes both active and passive components in a single fully integrated package, meeting the demanding design and cost requirements of device manufacturers.

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By Glen Gibbons
GPS-Monitored Vehicle Fees: Change You Can’t Believe In
February 22, 2009

GPS-Monitored Vehicle Fees: Change You Can’t Believe In

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood

One change that apparently won’t happen under the Obama administration is replacing the federal gasoline tax with a GPS-monitored mileage fee.

In an interview with the Associated Press last week, U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) Secretary Ray LaHood had suggested that his agency should look at a “vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled.”

It was one of the shortest flights of a trial balloon so far this year.

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By Glen Gibbons
Rx Networks Launches SUPL Data Service, Announces Infineon Chipset Role
February 17, 2009

Rx Networks Launches SUPL Data Service, Announces Infineon Chipset Role

Rx Networks, Inc., a Vancouver, B.C., Canada–based provider of assisted-GPS (AGPS) technology has announced the availability of its GPStream Secure User Plane 1.0 Light Edition (SUPL 1.0 LE) data service. The company has also announced that Infineon Technologies AG uses an optimized version of the company’s GPStream Mobile Suite to work with Infineon’s next-generation XPOSYS GPS chipset technology.

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By Glen Gibbons
CSR-SiRF Merger Pairs Struggling Bluetooth and GPS Powerhouses - and Shows Handset Platform Dominance

CSR-SiRF Merger Pairs Struggling Bluetooth and GPS Powerhouses – and Shows Handset Platform Dominance

CSR image

Merger plans recently announced by CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) plc and SiRF Technology Inc. connote more than the evolving fortunes and common future of a Cambridge, UK–based Bluetooth and WiFi provider and a San Jose, California GPS manufacturer.

It reaffirms the emergence of mobile phone handsets as a dominant location platform, the convergence of wireless communications and positioning at the chip level, and the trend toward absorption by semiconductor manufacturers of independent GPS technology providers who offer only single-frequency solutions.

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By Glen Gibbons
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