B: Applications

January 9, 2011

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

FIGURES 1, 2 & 3

For the complete story, including figures, graphs, and images, please download the PDF of the article, above.

In satellite navigation, a GNSS receiver must account for several sources of error such as relativistic effects, atmospheric propagation delay, offset of satellite clocks from system time and satellite ephemeris. In order to accurately compute user position, velocity, and time (PVT), these errors need to be predicted/estimated precisely.

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By Inside GNSS
January 4, 2011

GPS Programs Push Ahead

The GPS program continues progress on several fronts — in space and on the ground.

During fall 2010, the U.S. Air Force and the Raytheon Company team developing the GPS Advanced Control Segment (OCX) successfully carried out an integrated baseline review (IBR) for the next-generation system on schedule.

When completed in 2015 under the current schedule, GPS OCX will deliver control segment enhancements designed to provide secure, accurate and reliable navigation and timing information to military, commercial and civil users.

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By Inside GNSS
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December 31, 2010

Handicapping the GNSS Horse Race

Horses racing by Margret Hofheinz-Doering 1956

Return to "GNSS Year in Review"

We’ve come a long ways from the attitudes of the Cold War environment in which the Global Positioning System and GLONASS programs arose.

But that doesn’t mean that GNSS competition is a thing of the past. Indeed, the second most-read item on the Inside GNSS website during this year was a March 2009 article entired “GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Compass: What GNSS Race? What Competition?”

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By Inside GNSS
December 30, 2010

GPS Directorate Completes Annual AGER Review

Col. Bernard Gruber

The GPS Directorate completed its second Annual GPS Enterprise Review (AGER) on December 17, concluding that the program has achieved major milestones in developing and deploying modernized GPS capabilities.

Col. Bernard Gruber, GPS program director at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, led his team through a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) review chaired by Frank Kendall, deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and attended by other senior Department of Defense (DoD) officials.

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By Inside GNSS
December 22, 2010

GMV Will Launch Fully Hosted Software GPS Receiver at Mobile World Congress

GMV will launch the SRX-10, a software GPS receiver for mass-market applications, at this year’s GSMA Mobile World Congress, scheduled February 14–17 in Barcelona, Spain.

As a fully hosted solution, all SRX-10 receiver functions — even signal acquisition and tracking — can be hosted on a general purpose CPU with only the requirement of adding on a low cost RF front-end, according to the company.
The company cites other benefits offered by its new software receiver, particularly its substantial flexibility and upgradeability.

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By Inside GNSS
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December 2, 2010

Frank Czopek

Frank & Jeanine at the Wild Animal Park

SIDEBAR: Frank Czopek’s Compass Points

Frank Czopek and his brothers used to go to the 1970s Detroit version of Craigslist — Trading Times — to buy two or three non-functioning Chevrolet Corvairs (air-cooled rear engine-mounted) cars, at $25 apiece.

They hoped to turn the junkers into a single functioning automobile over a weekend. Unfortunately, the results did not last long; so, the process was repeated often. But they sure had fun!

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By Inside GNSS
November 30, 2010

United States Appeals Courts Disagree on GPS Technology and Privacy Rights

District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington D.C., USA

Secret tracking using GPS may be simple, undetectable and cheap — but appeals courts can’t decide if it’s constitutional.

In 1791, when the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, it certainly seemed specific enough for the needs of the time. The new Americans were tired of colonial powers freely searching and seizing, with general warrants that were as full of holes as Swiss cheese.

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By Inside GNSS
November 5, 2010

LMCO Ships GPS III Simulator to Aerospace Corporation, Maintains Program Schedule Lead

Artist’s illustration of GPS III. Lockheed Martin image

The Aerospace Corporation has completed acceptance testing on the GPS III Bus Real Time Simulator (BRTS) from the Lockheed Martin–led team developing the next-generation satellite program, keeping the initiative ahead of schedule.

The BRTS is a specialized piece of test equipment designed to reduce risk and ensure overall mission success for the lifecycle of the GPS III program. The simulator will enable Aerospace Corporation to independently validate GPS III bus flight software for the U.S. Air Force.

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By Inside GNSS
October 30, 2010

Asia Multi-GNSS Demonstration Project Schedules Second Workshop in November

Organizers of an ambitious project in the Asia/Oceania region demonstrating the benefits and opportunities for using multiple GNSS systems are moving ahead in their effort to design and implement a five-year campaign.

The 2nd Asia Oceania Regional Workshop on GNSS will be held in Melbourne, Australia, on November  21–22, in the two days before the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Form (APRSAF) annual meeting in the city.

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By Inside GNSS
October 25, 2010

Military PNT — The Way Ahead

FIGURE 1: The three foundations of C2 and how they are “changing the game” in an electronic battlespace: spectrum (communications media), yellow; computers (digital data), green; PNT (precise position and timing), blue.

With thanks to Yogi Berra, it’s “déjà vu all over again” for the Global Positioning System, but this time with a twist.

Twenty-five years ago, the question asked by U.S. military commanders and combat personnel in the field was, “Why should I go to the trouble to use this space-based system called GPS?” Today, the question being asked is, “GPS is vital to the success of my mission; so, why are you asking me to consider using something else?”

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By Inside GNSS
October 18, 2010

Topcon Adds Mapping System

Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS), Livermore, California, has announced the addition of the IP-S2 HD Mapping System to its line of mobile mapping solutions.

The IP-S2 HD is a vehicle-mounted surveying and mapping system featuring a high-definition LiDAR scanner from Velodyne Lidar, Inc. The system incorporates high-precision GNSS receivers, an inertial measurement unit, vehicle wheel encoder, 360-degree digital cameras and Velodyne’s HDL-64E S2.2 LiDAR scanner.

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By Inside GNSS
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