Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The U.S. government is so unhappy about a British patent claim on the new civil GPS signal that, if things cannot be worked out, officals might consider abandoning the countries’ interoperable signal structure, sources told Inside GNSS.
By Inside GNSS
The British military establishment is seeking royalties from GPS receiver manufacturers, asserting it holds a patent on the technology at the heart of the new GPS and Galileo civil signals.
Should U.S. manufacturers have to pay royalties, American GPS users, who have already paid for the GPS constellation and made it available to the world free of charge, could find themselves spending more to use its location capabilities. Sources said the development could undermine relations between the U.S. and the European Union (EU), which have cooperated for years to develop a common signal at the L1/E1 frequency centered at 1575.42 MHz.
By Inside GNSS
Trimble announced plans today (April 26, 2012) to acquire SketchUp, a popular 3D modeling tools, from its Silicon Valley neighbor, Google, Inc.
Sunnyvale, California–based Trimble signed a definitive agreement with Google, headquartered in Mountain View, with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2012. Although the companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, a Trimble news release said the transaction “is not expected to be material to 2012 earnings per share.”
By Inside GNSS
Registration is open for the 2012 GPS Partnership Council meeting at the USAF Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, on Tuesday, May 1 and Wednesday, May 2. As always, participants can compete in a golf tournament on an optional third day of networking and camaraderie on Wednesday, May 3.
The registration deadline is April 27.
By Inside GNSS
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari told a congressional committee today (February 8, 2012) that the expenditure of “substantial federal resources” in assisting LightSquared to gain approval for its terrestrial wireless broadband system was “unusual” yet “merited,” but that “further investment cannot be justified at this time.”
By Inside GNSS
With more testing on the horizon and a potentially alarming homeland security report about to be released, LightSquared’s efforts to begin work on its proposed wireless broadband service are stuck in the procedural mud.
The delays, which are never good for a commercial company, are piling up just as the firm’s coffers are thinning and need to be replenished with a new round of fund raising.
By Dee Ann Divis
[Update November 9 2011] In an ex parte filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on November 8, a leading GPS advocacy group has asked that the agency “promptly rule” that LightSquared not be permitted to pursue high-powered terrestrial operations in the upper Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) band adjacent to the GPS L1 band.
By Inside GNSS
The 2011 USA Challenge will give ION GNSS participants a chance to pick their favorite satellite navigation application from this year’s contest using eVotz, a mobile voting platform that won the competition last year.
By Inside GNSS
Right now, six GNSS experts are poring over the GNSS spplications ideas and location-based services submitted to the 2011 USA Challenge, one of 23 regional contests in the European Satellite Navigation Competition.
By Inside GNSS
Do you use Topcon products in your daily life and work? If so, Topcon invites you to pick up your cell, your video camera or any other video recording device and show them what you do and how you do it.
Send in your two minute clip by October 1 – just point and shoot and upload, the company says.
By Inside GNSS
This officially sanctioned conference and equipment exhibtion addresses applications, technologies and trends for China’s satellite communications, broadcasting, remote sensing, navigation and positioning.It will be held at Hotel Nikko New Century in Beijing on October 26.28, 2011.
Subjects of most interest to Inside GNSS readers include:
By Inside GNSS
[Updated June 30] Lucky you – you have three extra days to submit your GNSS application idea to the USA Challenge! The extended deadline is midnight Sunday (Europe) or 3 P.M. (Pacific time) on July 3.
Right now, some team is hard at work in a basement, an office, a dorm room or a lab. They are about to come up with a new, useful and commercially viable idea for a satellite navigation application or location based service.
By Inside GNSS
