Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Park rangers in Death Valley National Park have begun calling it “death by GPS.” Visitors faithfully following their navigation devices turn down the wrong road or hike away from help and die before rangers can reach them.
But it really isn’t the GPS, it’s the maps in their navigation system’s database.
By Dee Ann Divis
Because GPS and other GNSS are critical to the nation’s infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is testing an augmentation system and developing new requirements to protect it, a DHS official told the U.S. Department of Transportations’s Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC) meeting this week in Portland, Oregon.
How do you win when you are really losing?
Play a different game, move the goalposts, change the rules.
For several years now, a series of would-be wireless broadband service providers have been attempting to convince the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to repurpose radio frequency spectrum near the GPS L1 band.
Past efforts have failed because of the transmissions’ demonstrated harmful effects on GPS and other GNSS signals. Now a new contender is trying to gain FCC’s approval by changing the way that those effects are measured.
By Inside GNSS
Furuno GV-86Furuno’s GV-86 GPS receiver chip with its dead-reckoning DR/GNSS module will be integrated into Clarion’s NXR16 car navigation systems for the auto-leasing and car rental industries.
The GV-86 features a dead-reckoning-enabled GNSS receiver, which receives concurrent GPS, SBAS, and QZSS satellite signals. The dead-reckoning capability allows the unit to provide positioning while receiving multiple GNSS signals in such harsh environments as tunnels, urban canyons and underground parking, the company said.
By Inside GNSS
A cooperative network of government labs, funded by a hopeful broadband company, is now testing GPS receivers in a surprise program that will draw key federal agencies directly into an argument over GPS interference standards.
By Dee Ann Divis
Reasonable Expectations of Privacy and a discussion of privacy in the United States typically begins with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which provides that “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” In U.S. v Katz, the U.S. Supreme Court found that this Fourth Amendment protection created an individual’s constitutional right to privacy.
By Ingo Baumann
Already running out of money and facing a shut down, the program to develop a new GPS ground system could see its funding tied up for more than a month, perhaps closer to two months, due to wrinkles linked to the Nunn-McCurdy breach declared for the program at the end of June.
By Inside GNSS
A new rule that took effect yesterday (August 29, 2016) eases U.S. limits on the commercial drone flights, unleashing a surging industry that depends in large measure on GPS for success.
The rule’s provisions allow operators of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to proceed without having to obtain waivers or flight-by-flight permissions from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — a process that had caused long delays and lost business.
By Dee Ann Divis
More than 300 engineers, technicians, and support personnel have been working on the GPS III program, including successfully completing space vehicle (SV) 01 testing, at Lockheed Martin’s processing facility near Denver.
The Air Force recently exercised contract options for Lockheed Martin to complete development of eight GPS III space vehicles (GPS III SVs 01 to 08). The eight vehicles are in various stages of assembly, integration and testing, according to the prime contractor for the next-generation spacecraft.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week released a status update that calls for railroads to roll out Positive Train Control (PTC) technologies, which incorporates GNSS technology, as soon as possible. The update also underscores the Obama administration’s calls to provide more funding to assist commuter railroads in implementing PTC.
PTC uses GNSS, but mostly GPS, to prevent train-to-train collisions, high-speed derailments, and the unauthorized movement of trains into work zones.
By Inside GNSS
A lack of funds will force a shutdown in the development of the GPS new ground system on September 15 unless lawmakers act on a July request to redirect funds, according to the Air Force.
Although the doors likely would only be closed for a little over two weeks, a hiatus would add substantially to the total cost of the GPS Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) and further delay completion of the already behind-schedule program, the Pentagon has told lawmakers.
By Inside GNSS
With control of Congress increasingly up in the air and a new administration due to take the reins in six months, organizations around Washington, are working hard to get friendly provisions in place before sympathetic officials have to change jobs.
Public records show that would-be broadband provider Ligado Networks, which hopes to rezone frequencies neighboring those used by GPS despite a proven interference risk, is on track to double its lobbying expenditures this year.
By Dee Ann Divis
Dana Goward, President & Executive Director, Resilient Navigation & Timing FoundationThe U.S. Secretary of Defense has said “I hate GPS” and “I want to unplug the military from GPS.” Senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have called GPS “a single point of failure for critical infrastructure.”
GPS signals are used by virtually every technology. Their disruption for more than a brief period of time or over more than a small area could impact cell phone service, financial systems, computer networks, emergency radio systems, and every mode of transportation. It could be catastrophic for America.
By Inside GNSS
