Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
A Federal Register notice published yesterday (August 18, 2015) seeking comment on plans to shut down a large portion of the Nationwide Differential GPS (NDGPS) network marks the effective end of a program that spurred a hard-fought controversy in the era of Selective Availability (SA).
By Inside GNSS
ComNav M300 Pro GNSS reference station receiverComNav Technology Ltd. has won a competition to supply GNSS receivers for construction of China’s National Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) Network.
Rohde & Schwarz has launched a fast GNSS production tester for its R&S SMBV100A GNSS simulator. The production tester supports the GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo satellite systems and includes additional test functions for characterizing GNSS chipsets and modules.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is weighing a request to waive spectrum rules for a new ultra-wideband (UWB) device that would operate across a wide swath of frequencies including those used by satellite navigation. The proposal has prompted a call for a wider reconsideration of ultra-wideband limits, a suggestion opposed by the GPS community.
By Inside GNSS
The federal government is once again approaching the end of its fiscal year without the appropriations necessary to keep the doors open come October 1 — a reality that could undermine GPS modernization and related programs.
Congress, now in the midst of its August recess, will have just 12 days to sort things out when members return after Labor Day. Under the best of circumstances, lawmakers would almost certainly need to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to extend current spending levels and buy themselves time to hammer out budgetary deals.
By Inside GNSS
China’s two most recently launched BeiDou navigation spacecraft have begun operating and established inter-satellite links in the nation’s GNSS constellation, the state news agency Xinhua announced on Friday (August 14, 2015).
By Inside GNSS
Only a small percentage of railroads are expected to obtain system certification and complete implementation of GPS-aided positive train control (PTC) systems by the current deadline at the end of this year, according to a recent report to Congress by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force Global Positioning Systems Directorate is seeking public comment on proposed revisions to selected sections of the GPS Interface Specifications.
The GPS Directorate requests public comments on the following Proposed Interface Revision Notices (PIRNs) in preparation for a public meeting of the GPS Interface Control Working Group (ICWG) planned in December.
• PIRN-IS-705D-001 (L5 Phase Noise Plot)
• PIRN-IS-800D-001 (L1C Phase Noise Plot)
In the same week conflicting court filings underscored the intractability of the fight between LightSquared and GPS receiver manufacturers.
Meanwhile, a key technical group found that aviation likely would be hampered — yet not fully protected — by exclusion zones around wireless broadband transmission towers using, as LightSquared has proposed, frequencies adjacent to GPS bands.
By Inside GNSS
A “GPS market review” submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week diverges in methodology and results from a preliminary study of U.S. benefits of the Global Positioning System provided earlier this year to the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board.
By Inside GNSS
U.S. Representative John Garamendi. U.S. Publishing Office photoA quintet of well-placed lawmakers, tired of federal dawdling, are prepared to make the Pentagon responsible for building and maintaining eLoran as a backup system for GPS. The move could come by the end of the year, possibly through language attached to a must-pass bill.
Leading the bi-partisan charge are Duncan Hunter, R-California, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the subcommittee’s ranking member John Garamendi, D-California.
By Inside GNSS
China has launched two new satellites yesterday (July 25, 2015) for the nation’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).
The satellites were launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in southern China. They’re the 18th and 19th to join the satellite navigation system. The two satellites reached their target orbits three and a half hours after the launch, according to the Xinhua news agency.
By Inside GNSS
In sharp contrast to the strong support given to the military’s satellite navigation programs in the next fiscal year, Congress is considering cutting every GPS-related programs supported by the Department of Transportation (DoT).
By Inside GNSS
