B: Applications

February 27, 2014

E-GNSS for Road Transport: On Galileo’s Home Field

Sabine Dannelke, GSA Administrative Board chairperson. Inside GNSS photo by Peter Gutierrez

Road transport has always been a key sector for European GNSS, but safety- and security-related applications bring special challenges along with the opportunities. European Union (EU) officials speaking at a conference in Brussels last week explained why.

“Road transport is largest GNSS market opportunity,” said Gian-Gherardo Calini, head of market development at the European GNSS Agency (GSA). “This is 46.2 percent of the current GNSS market. Road transport is the key market.”

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
February 14, 2014

House Committee Moves to Block Loran-C Teardowns

Lawmakers overseeing the Coast Guard approved language this week that would stop the agency from dismantling facilities needed for eLoran, a proposed system that has gained wide support as a backup in case GPS signals are jammed, blocked, spoofed, or otherwise rendered unusable.

In “markups” or adjustments to language in the FY 2015 Coast Guard authorization bill, a House transportation subcommittee proposes to halt the tearing down of stations in the Coast Guard’s old Loran-C navigation system, which was turned off in 2010.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
February 3, 2014

DoT Moves Ahead with V2V Plans for Smart Cars

Anthony Foxx, U.S. Secretary of Transportation

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DoT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today (February 3, 2014) that it will begin taking steps to enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology for light vehicles.

This technology would improve safety by allowing vehicles to "talk" to each other and ultimately avoid many crashes altogether by exchanging basic safety data, such as speed and position, 10 times per second.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
[uam_ad id="183541"]

FY14 Budget Pares GPS Appropriations

The GPS program sustained a cut of more than six percent from the levels in the president’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14), increasing the likelihood that the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) will be delayed and putting pressure on budgets in future years to make up for cuts to modernization efforts.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
January 23, 2014

ESA’s Dordain Unapologetic about Galileo at Wide-Ranging Press Conference

ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain during his annual press briefing. ESA photo by S. Corvaja

Speaking at his annual press conference in Paris last Friday (January 17, 2014), European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain was cool, collected and, importantly, positive, as he laid out plans and parried questions on a whole range of ESA issues. From the Rosetta mission to manned space flights, Swarm, Gaia, Sentinel and Copernicus, and of course Galileo, he set the stage for an ambitious 2014.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
January 22, 2014

Applanix Incorporates Trimble CenterPoint RTX GNSS Correction Service

Applanix Corporation announced that today (November 12, 2013) that the Trimble CenterPoint RTX correction service will be available across its entire airborne mapping portfolio. 

Trimble CenterPoint RTX correction service is a GPS-, GLONASS-, and QZSS-enabled correction service built on Trimble RTX technology that provides high-accuracy GNSS positioning without the use of traditional reference station-based differential RTK infrastructure.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
[uam_ad id="183541"]

Multi-GNSS Monitoring

Tim Springer, PosiTim UG

A common refrain in the world of GNSS is the desire for “interoperability,” the use of signals from multiple systems without a decline — and potentially even an improvement — in the quality of results.

Achieving this depends on large part in establishing comparable parameters — particularly the geodetic references and timing systems — among the GNSSs along with a dense network of ground reference stations that can provide continuous, precise monitoring of satellites’ orbital positions.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
January 19, 2014

Marc Weiss

Weiss at the helm during sailboat outing to San Juan Islands (top), Marc Weiss and wife, Pam (bottom)

SIDEBAR: Marc Weiss’ Compass Points

In a career spanning nearly the entire history of GNSS-enhanced metrology, Marc Weiss has been a key participant in projects that laid the foundation for accurate synchronization of atomic clocks around the world.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
January 16, 2014

Galileo Funding, Satellite Tests Move Program Back on Track

Approval by the European Parliament of the new 2014-2020 European Union (EU) budget last November was widely seen as a step in the right direction for the 28-nation union, after more than a year of sometimes bitter monetary wrangling.

The Parliament quickly followed the move by voting to approve the financing and governance of Europe’s satellite navigation program over the same period. The measure passed the Parliamentary ballot by an impressive margin, with 603 votes in favor, 29 against, and 59 abstentions.

Read More >

By Inside GNSS
IGM_e-news_subscribe