A: System Categories Archives - Page 183 of 199 - Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design

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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
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
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
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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
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 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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February 13, 2009

New Russian GLONASS Satellites in Operation

The last of three GLONASS satellites launched December 25 began broadcasting a healthy navigation signal today (February 12), according to the Russian Space Agency’s Information-Analytical Center, bringing Russia’s operational GNSS constellation to 20 spacecraft.

One satellite, space vehicle number (SVN) 701 launched more than five years ago, has been off-line and in “maintenance” status for the last month. Another spacecraft, SVN 722, is transmitting only in the GLONASS L1 band.

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By Glen Gibbons
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