Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Japan’s regional and augmentation positioning system, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), is a project yet to be developed. While it will become a constellation of seven satellites covering the western Pacific area, only “Michibiki,” the first satellite launched in 2010 for technological validation , is now in orbit.
By Ingo Baumann
Q: How does one compute the noise power to simulate real and complex GNSS signals?
By Inside GNSSSo, if everything had gone as planned, we would have a new ground control segment (OCX) operating a new generation of satellites (GPS III) as they launch into an expanded constellation in support of modernized military GPS user equipment (MGUE).
But then the best-laid plans. . . .
By Inside GNSSAnyone who has sat through several iterations of a slide presentation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a better way to do things.
As speakers flip through an exhaustively vetted series of PowerPoint slides, squeezing out a new bullet point or two from one version to the next six months later, watching paint dry seems like a more productive — and briefer — use of one’s time. The agency sometimes brings a whole new meaning to the concept of geological time.
By Dee Ann Divis
The legal and regulatory framework of the Russian Federation covers not only the GLONASS system, but the country’s overall positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system as well.
The term PNT is a synonym for navigation activities as defined in the Federal Law on Navigation Activities. The PNT system in the Russian Federation is defined as the combination of administrative and technical means that provide spatial and time data to all user groups, with GLONASS as a key element.
By Ingo Baumann
Working Papers explore the technical and scientific themes that underpin GNSS programs and applications. This regular column is coordinated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Hein, head of Europe’s Galileo Operations and Evolution.
Q. What are the fundamentals of an effective GNSS test plan?
A. One aspect of GNSS development that engineers often find challenging is the lack of common testing standards and procedures. This can make life difficult for the engineer tasked with constructing a test plan for a new GNSS-enabled system. How much testing is proportionate, at which stages of development? What are the key performance parameters to measure? What apparatus is best suited to the application, and what are the appropriate pass/fail criteria?
By Inside GNSS
SBAS and RNSS: The Unsung Heroes of GNSS
Okay, if I had wanted to pander to GNSS fans, I might have called this, “Making Great Greater.”
But there are only so many superlatives that can be lathered on this remarkable technology before simple praise turns into hagiography.
So, it’s time once more to give a little love to those unsung heroes of GNSS: the augmentations and regional navigation satellite systems.
By Inside GNSS
Europe’s space community rang in the New Year with two of its brightest annual fixtures: the European Union (EU) Space Policy conference in Brussels and the European Space Agency (ESA) media briefing in Paris.
The events brought out all of the relevant voices and served to illustrate not only the disposition of materiel and troops but also their intent and even the level of morale.
By Peter Gutierrez
Figure 1, 3, 4 & 5Q: What is Doppler collision and is it a problem in GNSS?
A: Doppler collision is a physical effect in code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems where code measurement errors are observed due to cross-correlation effects. Doppler collision may occur when the Doppler frequency between signals from two different transmitters is smaller than the code lock loop bandwidth.
By Inside GNSS
Small GPS jammers, particularly the “personal privacy devices” readily available on the Internet, pose one of the greatest risks to the nation’s critical infrastructure, according to a now-public Homeland Security assessment.
By Dee Ann DivisFor an organization with its name, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a remarkably opaque public entity.
Such is the case with the agency’s inaction on requests by foreign GNSS services to waive the so-called FCC Part 25 rules that require licensing of non-Federal receive-only Earth stations (e.g., GNSS receivers) operating with non-U.S. licensed space stations (i.e., satellites).
Although at least one such request has reportedly been submitted, the FCC has not even acknowledged it, let alone moved to render a decision on the request.
By Inside GNSS
Equations 1 – 10The constant growth and evolution of the positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) market generate demands for more and more added-value applications and services relying on GNSS signals, with expectations for improved accuracy and availability. Some services may also rely on added-value content other than navigation messages, for example, higher data volume with less latency, such as the data carried by satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) services and the Galileo Commercial Service.
By Günter W. Hein
