Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Six months ago, the FCC unanimously granted Ligado’s amended license modification applications to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network in the L-Band. Petitions for reconsideration remain pending, interest groups continue to agitate for change, Congress awaits answers to conflict-of-interest questions—and Ligado presses forward as planned.
By Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)
A broad cross-industry coalition sent a strongly worded letter to the Senate Commerce Committee warning that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Ligado Order that impacts GPS, if left in place, “would upend decades of sound spectrum policy, negatively impact a significant cross-section of commercial, federal, and academic users who rely on the many different L-band satellite services, and threaten the safety of most Americans.”
By Inside GNSS
Low-noise MEMS inertial sensor and systems technology coupled with VELOX high-speed processing are integrated with a 72-channel GNSS receiver from Gladiator Technologies. The devices deliver position accuracy within 2 nautical miles per hour during GPS outages.
By Inside GNSS
MEMS has moved into the high-end market, and the latest disruptor to take into account is silicon MEMS. That’s micro-electromechanical systems based in silicon chips, for short. Accelerometers with up to 100g range and 70µg bias in a very small form factor — 6 cubic centimeters — are exploding the horizons for inertial applications.
By Inside GNSS
A new magnetic anomaly navigation technique (MAGNAV), researched by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), will get its wings tested aboard F-16 fightercraft this September. In an effort seeking alternatives to GPS and GNSS, MAGNAV sensors and software will be flown on Air Force Test Pilots School (AFTPS) F-16s over a test range adjacent to Edwards Air Force Base in Nevada.
By Inside GNSS
The European Space Agency (ESA) awarded two contracts to Thales Alenia Space concerning system evolution of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).
By Inside GNSS
Order-of-magnitude advances in inertial technology seem to take place roughly every 20 years, and the industry is poised at such a point now. New developments in photonic technology make high-performance inertial measurement accessible at lower size, weight and power. Many applications from driverless cars to UAVs can now take advantage of positioning that can independently bridge GPS outages from 2 minutes up to 10 minutes.
By Inside GNSS
Previously, controlled reception pattern antennas (CRPAs) were only in the military domain, and highly classified. The need to counter increasing GNSS signal jamming and spoofing in the civil realm has brought CRPAs into limited use there as well. How to test for their efficacy in product design and development?
A free webinar on Wednesday, March 25 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time addresses the topic “GNSS Vulnerability Testing and the Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA).” This technically rich, educational event is sponsored by Spirent Communications and Inside GNSS.
By Inside GNSS
“I’ve been a revolutionist for 47 years,” Brad Parkinson began a recent invited lecture at Google, “with this stealthy revolution. GPS is indeed a stealthy revolution.” In his lecture “GPS and Humanity” he described how GPS has “stealthily” crept into the fabric of global society and created dependencies that did not exist before.
By Inside GNSS
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) told two U.S. Senators in January that his agency could not complete a decision on Ligado Network’s license modification by the end of 2019 because of a late-in-the-year response from a key federal agency.
By Dee Ann Divis
Microchip Technology Inc. has released a smaller-footprint, higher-performance atomic clock to meet core telecomm, military and critical infrastructure requirements for wider thermal range, quicker lock and higher stability.
By Inside GNSS
By Inside GNSSIn lead position on a sleigh rising from the North Pole to a height of 200 meters — standard cruising altitude for global package delivery — at 2100 hours UTC on December 24 — the youngest will hopefully be asleep by then and there’s plenty of territory to cover before dawn breaks, time’s a-wasting — navigator Rudolph will see between 40 and 45 GNSS satellites glistening in the night sky.
Trimble has introduced a compact, high-precision GNSS board designed for unmanned aerial systems (UAS): the Trimble UAS1. The board’s simple connectivity and configuration allow UAS system integrators to easily add satellite-based positioning
By Inside GNSS
