Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Figures 1 & 2On April 28, 2015, the European Parliament voted in favor of an eCall regulation, which requires all new models of passenger cars and light vans that will be certified for the European market to be equipped with the automated emergency-call technology beginning in April 2018. The measure applies to all such vehicles regardless of selling price. In the future, a similar service may be implemented for trucks as well.
By Inside GNSS
Sergey RevnivykhSpeakers at the recent International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) conference in Prague threw into stark relief some of the big GNSS programs and even bigger GNSS questions.
Prof.-Dr. Günter Hein, former head of the European Space Agency (ESA) EGNOS and GNSS Evolution Program Department and Emeritus of Excellence at University FAF Munich, delivered a fact-filled and level-headed presentation on the status of Galileo, the European Union’s civil-owned and non-military GNSS, with slides and information provided by ESA.
When the President signed a three-week extension — until Friday (November 20, 2015) — of federal transportation funding, he also gave railroads another three years to install positive train control or PTC on their locomotives and rail networks.
Rail operators now have until 2018 to upgrade their systems — plus another two years to actually get them working.
By Inside GNSS
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) send-off of the 12th GPS Block IIF satellite scheduled for next February 3 may turn out to be the last GPS launch for the Boeing/Lockheed Martin joint venture — at least for a while. ULA did not submit a bid to launch the next generation of GPS satellites (GPS III).
By Inside GNSS
Global navigation satellite systems have become core elements of the global economy. Essential for many civilian applications and innovations, GNSS brings rapidly growing economic benefits due to convergence of GNSS with smartphones, geospatial data, unmanned aerial vehicles, automated driving systems and other commercial technologies.
By Ingo Baumann
A group of American and British companies is coalescing around a plan to provide Europe with a commercial, eLoran-based backup for the timing information now provided by GNSS signals.
The Earth Star consortium is made up of American and British companies and a few interested individuals, said Dana Goward, the president of the RNT Foundation. Goward, who is familiar with the group. He told Inside GNSS the consortium has yet to file formal organizational paperwork but would soon do so, most likely in Great Britain.
By Inside GNSS
The new GPS ground control system’s cascading delays and ballooning budget have the Department of Defense (DoD) looking at other options, including shifting to an enhanced version of an existing control system, Inside GNSS has learned.
The Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX), which already has more than doubled in cost, will be the focus of a second “Deep Dive” review before the DOD’s top acquisition official on December 4.
By Inside GNSS
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) yesterday (October 27, 2015) announced the evaluation results of its second Horizon 2020 call for Galileo applications. Some 13 projects made the main list to be funded, receiving grants totaling nearly €24.9 million (US$27.5 million).
By Inside GNSS
Some 15 years ago, Bob Denaro predicted the disappearance of GPS into its various applications.
That prediction by the former Trimble/Motorola/Navteq executive has largely been validated. Although GPS has survived in the popular consciousness as a global brand, connoting an almost magical source of location and tracking, general recognition and understanding of GNSS as a core technology within products and services has, indeed, remained murky.
By Inside GNSS
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has extended its timeline, until November 20, for submission of proposals to develop two specialized European GNSS (E-GNSS) “engines” for ITS applications.
Autoliv, Inc., an automotive safety–focused company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, announced the availability of its Electronic Horizon module, which provides beyond-line-of-sight road context and information to enhance safety and efficiency systems, at the 22nd Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) World Congress being held this week in Bordeaux, France.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force GPS Directorate released a final request for proposal (RFP) for Global Positioning System (GPS) III Launch Services today (September 30, 2015).
Launch services include launch vehicle production, mission integration, and launch operations for a GPS III mission scheduled to launch in 2018. Proposals are due back to the Air Force no later than Nov. 16 in accordance with the solicitation instructions.
[SIGNALS exclusive] With customers demanding greater security against hackers and jamming, GNSS receiver manufacturers are incorporating a widening array of techniques to thwart interference both natural and nefarious.
But sometimes security-related innovations take a while to catch on.
By Inside GNSS
