Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Iridium is asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to rescind rules essential to Ligado Networks’ proposal to use its satellite frequencies to support a ground-based network for applications like 5G wireless service and connectivity for driverless cars and drones.
By Dee Ann Divis
Positioning and mapping technologies are converging and integrating as never before, enabling developers to deliver innovative high added-value applications and services, according to participants in the 5th edition of Technology for All, a forum dedicated to technological innovation in support of the environment, cultural heritage and smart cities, which was held at Rome’s Higher Institute for Firefighting (Istituto Superiore Antincendi) in early October.
By Inside GNSS
Harris Corporation has provided Lockheed Martin with its sixth of 10 advanced navigation payloads contracted for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III satellite program, the company announced today.
The GPS III navigation payload features a Mission Data Unit (MDU) with a unique 70-percent digital design that links atomic clocks, radiation-hardened processors and powerful transmitters – enabling signals three times more accurate than those on current GPS satellites. The payload also boosts signal power, which increases jamming resistance by eight times and helps extend the satellite’s lifespan.
By Inside GNSS
The announcement of the White House’s new strategy to speed development of next-generation wireless networks is likely to create a new front in the years-long fight over a proposed project that could interfere with GPS spectrum.
By Dee Ann Divis
More than 40 drones performing in a professionally organized light show fell from the sky in Hong Kong Saturday after the GPS signal they were using was jammed. The incident, which caused some HK$1 million in damage (U.S. $127,500), is now under criminal investigation.
The firm Sky Magic, which uses a customized fleet of performance dronesto do indoor and outdoor light shows, confirmed the incident but declined to discuss details of what happened because the investigation was still underway. The company, which has offices in the UK and Singapore, said it would provide more information once the investigation was concluded.
The unmanned aircraft were part of a 100-drone show that was cancelled after an outside party interfered with their operation, Asian news outlets reported. The light show was being performed in conjunction with the annual Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival.The planned seven-minute show featured 100 rotorcraft with LED lights honoring the 10th anniversary of the festival by forming the outline of a birthday cake and the number 10.
The drones were lost during a show Saturday, October 27. Shows already had been done Thursday and Friday.
“After initial checks, the GPS signals for the drones were found to be interfered [with] by external parties and the board reported the issue to police immediately,” organizers said in a press release, according to the South China Morning Post.
“These are professional drones, which are already built with technologies that would direct them back to the takeoff origin,” Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Executive Director Anthony Lau told the Morning Post, “but the signals were so strong that many of them just dropped from the air.”
Lau said an initial police investigation ruled out the possibility that the machines had been hacked.
“They [the police] were here all night working with us, and our vendor, and looking into all sorts of possibilities, and have come to the conclusion that it is not computer hacking,” Lau said. “It is because someone jammed the GPS signal.”
By Inside GNSS
Spectrum Instrumentation recently added 12 new products to its family of LXI-based digitizerNETBOX data acquisition instruments. Designed specifically for situations where multiple signals need to be acquired, stored and analyzed, users can select from models that provide 24, 32, 40 or even 48 fully synchronized channels.
By Inside GNSS
With the aim to actively support and to accelerate the most widespread adoption of Galileo, Spaceopal today announces the launch of NAVCAST, its GNSS Precise Point Positioning (PPP) service featuring high accuracy positioning enhancement for end users worldwide.
By Inside GNSS
The Galileo satellite navigation system has been in the news a lot this week, and now comes word from the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) that Galileo Satellites GSAT0215, GSAT0216, GSAT0217, and GSAT0218, launched in December 2017, have been commissioned for operational use.
By Inside GNSS
After a four-year delay the Federal Communications Commission is set to vote on whether signals from Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system can officially be used in the United States.
By Dee Ann Divis
A proposed frequency change that could create interference with GPS receivers has picked up a new and powerful group of opponents. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents the country’s largest automobile makers and 70 percent of all the car and light truck sales in the U.S., filed a letter opposing a request by Ligado Networks (formerly LightSquared) to allow satellite-only frequencies near the satellite navigation band to also be used for terrestrial broadband services.
By Dee Ann Divis
By allowing the customer’s own equipment to power the RF over fiber receiver, ViaLite Communications’ new RF Connector is designed to further simplify the installation of ViaLiteHDRF over fiber links. Available on the Blue OEM for applications in the Broadcast and GPS/GNSS sectors, the connector removes the need to use a separate power supply unit (PSU).
By Inside GNSS
A recent General Accountability Office (GAO) report is highly critical of the cyber security, or lack thereof, in U.S. weapons systems. One of the examples of cyber-attacks it lists is GPS spoofing.
The report, published this month, goes on to say:
“…weapon systems are dependent on external systems, such as positioning and navigation systems and command and control systems in order to carry out their missions—and their missions can be compromised by attacks on those other systems. A successful attack on one of the systems the weapon depends on can potentially limit the weapon’s effectiveness, prevent it from achieving its mission, or even cause physical damage and loss of life.”
By Inside GNSS
In emergency situations, robotic systems play a key role in providing rescue teams with remote access to an emergency site. The European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency’s (GSA) ERL Emergency Local Tournament 2019 aims to foster advanced developments of autonomous capabilities and seamless navigation for emergency robotic systems. The deadline for the tourney has been extended to Oct. 29, 2018.
By Inside GNSS
