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President’s 2009 Budget Proposal Directs DHS to Implement eLORAN

Antiquated LORAN vacuum tube

The Bush administration appears to have finally made a long-delayed decision to complete implementation of an enhanced LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) system to serve, in part, as a back-up to GPS.

Late in the drafting process of the Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) budget proposal that went to Congress earlier this week (February 4), officials added language “migrating” the LORAN-C system from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to the Department of Homeland Security’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD). A $34.5-million budget and 294 positions would take part in the migration.

By Glen Gibbons

February 6, 2008

GSA Seeks Proposals for Galileo Signal Study

The European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) has invited bids on an estimated €500,000 ($732,000), 18-month contract to evaluate and propose refinements in the Galileo signals to optimize the system’s prospects in a multi-system GNSS world.

By Glen Gibbons

February 5, 2008

NovAtel to Build Galileo Monitoring Sites

NovAtel Inc. will establish grounds sites in Canada to monitor the GIOVE (Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element) test satellites under a CDN$667,861 (US$671,568) contract recently awarded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

The work includes a parallel cooperative effort to integrate the NovAtel Galileo Test Receiver (GTR), developed for the CSA, into the GIOVE-A Galileo Experimental Sensor Station (GESS), to upgrade the GTR capabilities and to field these GESS stations in Canada.

By Glen Gibbons

NXP Semiconductors Announces Assisted-GPS Chip

NXP Semiconductors launched its first assisted-GPS (A-GPS) chip, the GNS7560, targeting mobile phones and standalone personal navigation devices (PNDs) with the product’s package size of less than nine square millimeters.

By Glen Gibbons

February 4, 2008

CSR, Motorola Launch Enhanced GPS Forum

CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) and Motorola have announced launch of an industry group that seeks to promote the integration of GPS and other location technologies to create more robust, continuous positioning capabilities by mobile device users.

By Glen Gibbons

February 3, 2008

Parliamentary Committee Proposal Would Abolish GNSS Supervisory Authority

A proposal before the European Parliament’s Industry Committee would abolish the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), turn responsibility for ensuring the Galileo system’s security requirements over to a new Committee on European GNSS Programs, and establish an Interinstitutional Monitoring Group (IMG) consisting of representatives of the parliament, the European Council’s Presidency, and the European Commission (EC).

By Glen Gibbons

February 2, 2008

New Companies Focus on Emerging Digital Camera Market

Swindon, UK–based start-up company Air Semiconductor is aiming its first OEM GPS product at what it hopes is a sweet spot in the market: geotagging digital camera photos.

And it may be pointing in the right direction, according to a new IMS Research report that predicts a 200 percent cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) for GNSS-aided digital cameras over the next five years.

By Glen Gibbons

February 1, 2008

Pole Star Launches Navigation Overlay Products

NAO Campus schematic

The French engineering consultancy Pole Star SARL has expanded the firm’s development activities with the launch of its first products — NAO City and NAO Campus, designed to improve the robustness of GNSS positioning in urban and indoor environments with a focus on location-based services.

By Glen Gibbons

January 30, 2008

Nokia Eyes GLONASS signals for AGNSS Handsets

AGNSS Technique. Nokia graphic

Finland’s Nokia, the world’s leading manufacturer of mobile phones, is investigating use of GLONASS signals in new products that could reach the market in the near future.

By Inside GNSS

January 25, 2008

Fastrax Launches Two New OEM GPS Units

IT321

Fastrax Ltd. has launched two new GPS OEM receivers, including one with an integrated chip antenna, aimed at designers of mass-market automotive and portable devices.

The Fastrax UC322 incorporates an on-board chip antenna (five millimeters thick) designed to reduce the size from that of typical patch antennas and large separate ground planes, according to the company. Instead, the end device’s printed circuit board functions as part of the antenna.

By Glen Gibbons

Repositioned Hemisphere GPS, in expansion mode, appoints new engineering VP

Calgary, Alberta-based Hemisphere GPS has appointed Jim Chinnick as its new vice president of engineering.

Chinnick has depth of experience in the wireless and telecommunications industries. He was responsible for technology development at Wave Wireless and was engineering vice president at Wave Rider.

By Inside GNSS

Strategy-level GNSS leadership to participate in 2008 Munich Summit

The Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, site of the 2008 Munich Summit plenary

As it prepares for its sixth annual conference, the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit continues to hone its identity as a genuine "summit," the place for high-level political, military, and corporate leaders to discuss all of the GNSS systems from a strategic perspective.

By Inside GNSS

January 24, 2008

GPS Block IIF Satellite to Enter New Round of SMC Tests

Block IIF satellite undergoing tests at Space & Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California

Having successfully passed its initial phase of tests at the Space & Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, the first GPS Block IIF (follow-on generation) satellite is expected to enter the second round of thermal vacuum testing in late March, according to the GPS Wing.

On December 24, the GPS IIF program completed the first of two phases of thermal vacuum testing on the first IIF space vehicle (SV-1) built by The Boeing Company. This was "a major success for the program," in the words of GPS Wing officials. Thermal-vac tests exposed the spacecraft to extreme hot and cold temperatures under vacuum conditions to verify system performance and correlate the thermal models, according to the GPS Wing.

By Glen Gibbons

Main Categories

CSR Announces GPS/Bluetooth Chip, eGPS Demo...

Spirent Enhances A-GPS Conformance Testing Product...

President’s 2009 Budget Proposal Directs DHS to Implement eLORAN

GSA Seeks Proposals for Galileo Signal Study

NovAtel to Build Galileo Monitoring Sites

NXP Semiconductors Announces Assisted-GPS Chip

CSR, Motorola Launch Enhanced GPS Forum

Parliamentary Committee Proposal Would Abolish GNSS Supervisory Authority

New Companies Focus on Emerging Digital Camera Market

Pole Star Launches Navigation Overlay Products

Nokia Eyes GLONASS signals for AGNSS Handsets

Fastrax Launches Two New OEM GPS Units

Repositioned Hemisphere GPS, in expansion mode, appoints new engineering VP

Strategy-level GNSS leadership to participate in 2008 Munich Summit

GPS Block IIF Satellite to Enter New Round of SMC Tests