GPS World articles from April 2009

GPS World archives from April 2009

Talking heads.(OUT IN FRONT)
April 1, 2009... We now feel ourselves dragged into the second decade of the 21st century--some of us kicking and screaming. An edict has arrived from on high: explore the use of new media to further our mission and increase our numbers, whether they count...

Indoor message system evaluated.(EXPERT ADVICE)
April 1, 2009... Public and commercial services such as search-and-rescue, firefighting, and location-based services (LBS) require accurate indoor position determination. Users face the fundamental problem of knowing location at the room level, requiring...

Big four race called from Munich.(THE SYSTEM)
April 1, 2009... A debate on the viability of Galileo's Public Regulated Service (PRS) simmered just under the surface, and twice bubbled to the top, at the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit addressing "The Worldwide Race in GNSS," March 3-5. Europe-China...

DAGR extended.
April 1, 2009... From a Space & Missile Systems Center media release, March 17: "The GPS Wing awarded a sole-source follow-on production contract for Defense Advanced GPS Receiver with a ceiling of $450 million to Rockwell Collins Inc. of Cedar Rapids,...

Jamming trial confirms vulnerabilities; Coast Guard, Executive branch Kill eLoran nonetheless.(THE SYSTEM)
April 1, 2009... The General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland conducted a GPS jamming exercise in 2008 to investigate the effect of GPS service denial on maritime navigation and DGPS monitoring operations, as well as evaluate the...

Glonass.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... GLONASS authorities changed the operating frequency channels of two pairs of antipodal satellites on March 11, with no apparent advance notice or explanation. GLONASS 717 in orbit slot 10 was changed from channel 4 to channel -7; 715 in orbit...

The Lockheed Martin.(develops GPS III)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... The Lockheed Martin team developing GPS III (Lockheed Martin Space Systems, ITT, General Dynamics) successfully completed 19 of 71 PDRs for key GPS III spacecraft subsystems and assemblies as part of the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) phase...

The GPS Wing.(2009 GPS Partnership Council meeting)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... The GPS Wing has scheduled its 2009 GPS Partnership Council meeting at the Space and Missle Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base for May 5-6. The Wing, federal agencies, and industry partners will discuss "Leading Space-Based PNT...

Security paramount strengthened by location.(MILITARY & GOVERNMENT)
April 1, 2009... Two new products, from Qascom in Italy and White Electronics in the United States, demonstrate ways to protect and secure sensitive data, augmenting other encryption and protection with location technology in scalable security solutions. ...

Broadcom, SiRF top ABI's GPS chip vendor ranking.(MASS MARKET OEM)
April 1, 2009... Broadcom has been ranked at the top of the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research. SiRF and Texas Instruments claimed the second and third spots in the company's most recent evaluation of worldwide GPS chip vendors. "Recent...

Getac GPS comes with camera, altimeter, E-compass.(SURVEY & UTILITIES)
April 1, 2009... Rugged GPS maker MiTAC Technology Corporation of Telford, England, is introducing the Getac PS535F, a GPS personal digital assistant with an autofocus camera, altimeter, and E-compass. Its features are designed so field-based employees can...

Raytheon to produce anti-jamming Antenna.(MILITARY)
April 1, 2009... Raytheon Systems Limited (RSL) has received a U.S. Air Force contract for initial production of the GPS Advanced Digital Antenna Production system. The ADAP system protects GPS-based navigation and precise timing systems from deliberate jamming...

ITT awards Symmetricom timing contract for GPS III.(SYSTEM DESIGN & TEST)
April 1, 2009... Symmetricom, Inc. has been awarded a contract from ITT Corporation Space Systems Division valued at a minimum of $4 million, part of the building of GPS IIIA, the next-generation GPS Space System program. Under the award, Symmetricom will...

Rugged notebook.(MILITARY & GOVERNMENT)
April 1, 2009... The new GD8000 note book computer by General Dynamics Itronix is now available for military personnel, field service workers, and first responders who require high-performance computing while working in extreme temperatures, humidity, dust, and...

Navteq reports continued growth for in-vehicle Nav.(TRANSPORTATION)
April 1, 2009... 2008 was a year of continued growth for the in-vehicle navigation industry, with the introduction of navigation as a new option on 26 North American car models across 15 automotive brands, according to map provider Navteq. Brands included...

Value of GPS networks, services predicted to rise.(PROFESSIONAL OEM)
April 1, 2009... The worldwide value of GPS networks and services is forecast to rise from US $263 million in 2009 to US $504 million by 2013, according to a new report by Position One Consulting. The report is authored by Eric Gakstatter, who is also GPS...

GPS-wireless 2009.(EVENTS)(Calendar)
April 1, 2009... www.gps-wireless.com San Francisco, California: April 28-29, 2009 This annual event brings executives together to discuss important and converging navigation, location-based services, fleet and asset management for enterprise markets,...

European navigation conference--GNSS 2009.(EVENTS)(Calendar)
April 1, 2009... www.enc-gnss09.it Naples, Italy: May 3-6, 2009 Exchange news and information about progress in the radio-navigation sector, with emphasis on satellite, ground segment, and user segment technologies in the frame of the Global Navigation...

How the stimulus plan benefits our industry.
April 1, 2009... The plan is in place. How will the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 affect our industry? Is it good news or bad? The answer is, you have to dig for bright spots, but they're there. The economic plan that has been signed into...

Positioning for driver assistance: communication on the road.(TRANSPORTATION)
April 1, 2009... A low-cost GPS-based positioning architecture for V2V and V21 systems uses a scalable, flexible system with over-the-air messaging and an onboard design to enable a range of in-vehicle safety features. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)...

SBAS interference: some applications using data from fixed or low relative dynamic WAAS or other SBAS receivers may encounter a tracking error due to C/A code cross-correlation.(Worst-Case Scenario)
April 1, 2009... GPS C/A codes present cross-correlation peaks that can potentially cause false acquisitions. They can also create tracking errors and C/[N.sub.0] degradation, not in traditional GPS tracking situations, but for applications where signals are...

Precise point positioning: a powerful technique with a promising future.(INNOVATION)
April 1, 2009... The main goal of this article is to describe the current performance of what has become known as the precise point positioning (PPP) technique, and to discuss the future potential of the technique, along with its technical limitations. We begin...