Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Members of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board covered some old ground but gained some new insights today (October 30, 2015) during its meeting at the University Consortium for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, Colorado.
By Inside GNSS
The 11th Block IIF GPS satellite was launched successfully today (October 31, 2015) following a 24-hour delay caused by a glitch in ground equipment on Friday.
Lift-off took place at 12:13 p.m. (EDT) at the opening of a 19-minute launch window.The U.S. Air Force has achieved the first successful command and control of the spacecraft.
By Inside GNSS
NovAtel Inc. has announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NovAtel have exercised a bi-lateral option to produce a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) G-III – Galileo prototype receiver to advance research on multi-GNSS constellation operation.
By Inside GNSS
A group of American and British companies is coalescing around a plan to provide Europe with a commercial, eLoran-based backup for the timing information now provided by GNSS signals.
The Earth Star consortium is made up of American and British companies and a few interested individuals, said Dana Goward, the president of the RNT Foundation. Goward, who is familiar with the group. He told Inside GNSS the consortium has yet to file formal organizational paperwork but would soon do so, most likely in Great Britain.
By Inside GNSS
The new GPS ground control system’s cascading delays and ballooning budget have the Department of Defense (DoD) looking at other options, including shifting to an enhanced version of an existing control system, Inside GNSS has learned.
The Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX), which already has more than doubled in cost, will be the focus of a second “Deep Dive” review before the DOD’s top acquisition official on December 4.
By Inside GNSS
OriginGPS announced the launch of a new family of products yesterday (October 27, 2015), the first of which is the Multi Micro Hornet ORG1510-MK, an integrated multi-GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou) module based on the MediaTek MT3333 chip.
According to the Israel-based company, the 10x10x6.1 millimeter low-power architecture supports an update rate of up to 10 hertz and contains onboard flash, supporting devices that require full-featured components with small footprints, such as UAVs designed to follow action sports and other fast-moving activities or wearables.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) is finalizing its blueprint for long-awaited tests to determine the power limits needed to protect GPS receivers.
The Adjacent-Band Compatibility Assessment (or ABC Assessment) is part of a plan to develop masks — a set of power limits by frequency — for the bands near the GPS L1 signal. Eventually covering all GPS civil receivers present and future, the masks are a way to give potential users of frequencies neighboring the GPS frequencies clear limits against which to measure their plans and proposals.
By Inside GNSS
The Pentagon is poised to decide next month whether to stick with the ongoing accelerated development of military-code (M-code) GPS receiver cards or reset to a slower pace to permit more review and testing.
The new Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) cards are supposed to be one-for-one replacements for the Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Modules (SAASM) in military equipment across the services. MGUE satellite navigation receivers would be capable of utilizing the more powerful M-code, a new GPS signal that is not only jam-resistant but more flexible and secure.
By Inside GNSS
Some 15 years ago, Bob Denaro predicted the disappearance of GPS into its various applications.
That prediction by the former Trimble/Motorola/Navteq executive has largely been validated. Although GPS has survived in the popular consciousness as a global brand, connoting an almost magical source of location and tracking, general recognition and understanding of GNSS as a core technology within products and services has, indeed, remained murky.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS Directorate will host a 2015 Interface Control Working Group (ICWG) and Open Forum on December 9 and 10 to update the public on GPS public document revisions and gather comments for future possible changes in GPS signal specifications.
Under consideration are the following Interface Specification (IS) documents concerning the Global Positioning System: IS-GPS-200 (Navigation User Interfaces), IS-GPS-705 (User Segment L5 Interfaces), and IS-GPS-800 (User Segment L1C Interface).
By Inside GNSS
Autoliv, Inc., an automotive safety–focused company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, announced the availability of its Electronic Horizon module, which provides beyond-line-of-sight road context and information to enhance safety and efficiency systems, at the 22nd Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) World Congress being held this week in Bordeaux, France.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force GPS Directorate released a final request for proposal (RFP) for Global Positioning System (GPS) III Launch Services today (September 30, 2015).
Launch services include launch vehicle production, mission integration, and launch operations for a GPS III mission scheduled to launch in 2018. Proposals are due back to the Air Force no later than Nov. 16 in accordance with the solicitation instructions.
The average person with a smart phone has their location revealed every three minutes, according to a recent study, information that can be determined even if GNSS capabilities are turned off, experts said.
Research published last year by Carnegie Mellon, showed that, overall, “somebody or something was trying to get your location” every three minutes, said Logan Scott, an expert in GPS, cellular and wireless technologies. “Over a space of two weeks the average is about 6,200 position reports coming out of that (phone).”
