GPS World articles from February 2005

GPS World archives from February 2005

To what ends, location?(THE VIEW FROM HERE)
February 1, 2005... We are at the dawning of the age of affordable--and, therefore, omnipresent--tracking, courtesy of GPS and wireless communications. Almost every person, place, and thing in the world is becoming available and accessible to being positioned,...

Definition of WGS 84.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2005... Since January 1994, the World Geodetic System (WGS) 1984, the coordinate system used in GPS, has been wrongly defined thrice. Instead of using the most accurate ITRFyy(nn.0), it has been defined to "different" reference frames. Due to...

ESA awards key Galileo contract.(European Space Agency)
February 1, 2005... The European Space Agency (ESA) and Galileo Industries (GaIn) have signed a [euro]150 million contract, as a first stage toward signing an approximately [euro]950 million euro (US$1.188 billion) contract covering the overall in-orbit-validation...

Alcatel Space wins GPS III work.(Compagnie Financiere Alcatel, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, global positioning system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... In what may be the first of its kind, a contract signed between Boeing Integrated Defense Systems and France's Alcatel Space will involve a European aerospace player in the GPS III program. The study contract falls within the framework of...

Germany launches GPS-aided toll system.(global positioning system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A much-maligned system that uses GPS positioning and GSM telephony to track distance traveled by commercial trucks on German toll roads began apparently trouble-free operations January 1 after an 18-month delay. Designed and built by Toll...

Boeing gains new IIF contracts.(Image Interpretation Facility, Boeing Air Force Space Systems, contract)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The GPS Joint Program Office (JPO) has awarded St. Louis, Missouri-based Boeing Air Force Space Systems contracts totaling more than $179 million to exercise two GPS Block IIF satellite options valued at $172.3 million. One award is a...

Friend or foe? FBCB2 enhances battle planning, reduces 'friendly fire'.(Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below, Arizona Cardinals)
February 1, 2005... There's nothing friendly about it. So-called "friendly fire" has caused the wounding or death of roughly 250,000 American soldiers in 20th-century conflicts alone. Lt. Gen. Lesley McNair, the commander of U.S. Army ground forces in World War...

Eyes on the road: study gauges growth prospects in freight tracking.(TRAILER TRACKING)
February 1, 2005... A survey of trucking companies shows that location-monitoring of trailers lags far behind that of the motorized "tractor" units, but that change is coming. Increased productivity realized by trailer-fleet monitoring can offset the cost of...

Up close and grizzly: GPS/camera collar captures bear doings.(global positioning system)
February 1, 2005... Integrating a GPS receiver with image processing and geographic information systems (GIS) helps researchers see "the other side of the mountain"--wherever a wild animal goes, and whatever it looks at. This can aid in understanding behavior,...

Steady growth projected for electronic container tracking: GPS top integrated technology, followed by cellular, Wi-Fi, RFID-UHF, and Bluetooth.(global positioning system, radio frequency identification)
February 1, 2005... An "Electronic Container Tracking Survey" published by Oyster Bay, New York-based ABI Research found GPS to be the No. 1 technology used by and/or compatible with today's electronic container tracking systems. According to ABI Research,...

Globalstar LBS.(Globalstar Quick Locate Service, location based service )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The new Globalstar Quick Locate Service is designed to enable businesses and individuals to track assets that are remotely located or are in areas not covered by traditional wireless services. Companies can choose between one of two...

Japanese cities subsidize GPS.(global positioning system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... In Murakami, Japan--a city where a junior high school girl was abducted in a car in September 2003--as well as in a few neighboring towns, local governments are offering subsidies ranging from 300 yen to 5,000 yen to families to buy...

Wal-Mart to sell Wherifone Locator.(TRACKING NEWS)(Wherify Wireless Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Wal-Mart has agreed to distribute Wherify Wireless Inc.'s new Wherifone GPS Locator Phone and related GPRS service packages at select locations throughout the U.S. and on www.walmart.com, beginning in the second quarter of 2005. The device...

Smart buses.(TRACKING NEWS)(Denmark. Greater Copenhagen Transit Authority, Tetra Tech Inc., Motorola Inc., contract)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Motorola and Danish TETRA operator TetraNet have finalized the first phase of a new radio and data communication solution for more than 1,200 buses operated by the Greater Copenhagen Transit Authority (CTA) in Denmark. The solution...

Boston battle.(TRACKING NEWS)(Boston School Bus Drivers Union fighting not to install tracking devices on public schools )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has pledged to install GPS tracking devices on all public school buses in the city as soon as feasible, but the Boston School Bus Drivers Union is fighting the move. Menino said safety and productivity issues...

Vehicle tracking.(new product from Trimble Navigation Ltd.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Trimble's new Trim Trac Locator integrates an Infineon 12-channel L1, CA-code GPS receiver and Trimble's FirstGPS technology to deliver automatic position reporting for personal vehicle monitoring, security, and theft protection and recovery....

GPS-enabled MRM.(Custom Air Trucking, mobile resource management, global positioning system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Custom Air Trucking has implemented Air-Trak's Cloudberry GPS-enabled mobile resource management solution. San Diego, California-based Air-Trak uses Cloudberry software, Nextel GPS-enabled cell phones and Internet-connected PCs to route...

Grayling deal.(Grayling Wireless USA Inc., insurance industry, contract)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Grayling Wireless USA Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, recently won a master contract from an African insurance brokerage for the installation and monitoring of 9,600 vehicle tracking devices in 2005. The deal, valued at $16 million, could be...

Aligo's WorkTrack.(Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., contract)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The ArcWeb Services platform of ESRI (Redlands, California) is helping mobile software developer Aligo Inc. deliver its WorkTrack hosted solution for monitoring and managing the time and productivity of mobile employees. WorkTrack leverages...

Networkcar GSA Contract.(United States. General Services Administration)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Networkcar, a San Diego, California-based provider of web-based fleet tracking and remote diagnostics products deploying a proprietary GPS, recently won a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule Contract for...

Argo Navigation fleet management.(agreement)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Argo Navigation Inc. of Anaheim, California, is in discussions with potential distributors for domestic-wide release of its fleet management technologies currently mass marketed in Brazil, China and Mexico. Argo's solutions suite includes...

Chicago Transit Authority deploys GPS devices on bus fleet.(global positioning system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), which provides nearly 1 million bus rides on an average weekday using a bus fleet that numbers about 2,000, is outfitting buses with a GPS-gyro-odometer tracking system to provide automated voice...

GPS World antenna survey 2005.(global positioning system)(Illustration)
February 1, 2005... After choosing the most appropriate receiver for your application from last month's survey, you may need an antenna, too. We have collected key specifications for 290 antennas from 37 manufacturers (including eight new participants). We have...

Calibrating antenna phase centers: a tale of two methods.(ANTENNA CALIBRATION)
February 1, 2005... The calibration of GPS antennas is of the utmost importance in GPS baseline determination, especially when millimeter precision is required for applications such as the monitoring of engineering structures or for GPS attitude determination. For...

Honeywell tests GPS-enabled Micro Air Vehicle.(global positioning system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Honeywell has begun flight testing a 13-inch autonomous surveillance aircraft that foot soldiers can carry on their backs. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) integrates a Rockwell Collins MPE-S GPS receiver and a government-furnished Ancon...

Blackberry 7520 integrates GPS.(LAUNCHES)(global positioning system, Nextel Communications Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Nextel Communications Inc. (Reston, Va.) and Research In Motion (RIM) of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, recently introduced the Blackberry 7520, a Bluetooth and GPS-enabled device with speaker phone and cross-border walkie-talkie capabilities. ...

@Road transpo solution suite.(LAUNCHES)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Fremont, California-based @Road Inc. has developed the @Road Solution Suite for Transportation and Distribution. The suite of software solutions and services leverage data obtained by third-party in-vehicle GPS locating systems for tracking...

Bluetooth GPS sensor.(LAUNCHES)(global positioning system, GARMIN International)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Garmin International introduced GPS 10, a Bluetooth GPS sensor for mobile devices. Measuring 1.8 X 3.5 X 0.8 inches and weighing 2.8 ounces. GPS 10 integrates a Garmin 12-parallel-channel WAAS-enabled GPS receiver and a Bluetooth...

NovAtel GPS/L-band CDGPS receiver.(LAUNCHES)(Canada-wide differential global positioning system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... NovAtel of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has released its latest ProPak-LB GPS/L-band receiver with Canada-wide differential GPS (CDGPS). Configured as a single receiver and antenna (no separate base station required), the ProPak-LB delivers...

Wireless data, IDA plan merger.(LAUNCHES)
February 1, 2005... Publicly traded Wireless Data Solutions of St. Cloud, Minnesota, has agreed to merge with IDA Corp., a privately held Fargo, North Dakota-based manufacturer of electronic products for wireless markets. The merger is contingent on Wireless...

Hirschmann GPS antennas.(LAUNCHES)(global positioning system, Hirschmann Electronics)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Hirschmann Electronics of Germantown, Maryland, introduced three new rooftop-mounted GPS antennas for vehicle tracking: The GPS 2400 CELLULAR (WLAN/Bluetooth, satellite navigation and mobile cellular telephony), and the GPS 400 and 900 V FLEX...

Hawkeye IVNS.(LAUNCHES)(in-vehicle navigation system, Fine Digital)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Fine Digital of San Jose, California, has developed the 5.7 X 4 X 1.6-inch Hawkeye in-vehicle navigation system (IVNS) with an optional Trimble GPS receiver, Ostia Navigation software, and TeleAtlas. Hawkeye offers a 1 PPS update rate via a...

GPS buoy.(global positioning system, OrbMap )(new product from Orbimage)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Dulles, Virginia-based Orbimage has introduced a GPS-based ocean-tracking buoy for its SeaStar Fisheries Information Service. Orbimage's OrbMap software allows fishermen to see and track each buoy's location on top of SeaStar ocean...

Trimble GPS timing receiver.(new product from Trimble Navigation Ltd., Global Positioning System )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Sunnvale, California-based Trimble has developed a software-based GPS timing receiver for easy, fast, cost efficient upgrading. The Resolution T receiver reportedly delivers automatic self survey, 1 PPS synchronized to within 15 nanoseconds...

WAAS receivers en route to FAA.(United States. Federal Aviation Administration, wide area augmentation system )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... NovAtel has received an additional order for its WAAS-GII receivers from Raytheon Co. in support of the U.S. WAAS Final Operational Capability (FOC) program. Shipments are expected to take place in the first half of 2005. The deal, valued...

GPS Industries, Jencess partner.(Jencess Software & Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... GPS Industries Inc., a provider of wireless and GPS-enabled communication and management solutions, has partnered with Jencess Software & Technologies Inc. (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) to introduce an integrated GPS-enabled wireless back-end...

Thales Australia ADS-B.(Airservices Australia, Thales Air Traffic Management, contract)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Thales Air Traffic Management (ATM), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Thales Group, has won a contract to provide Airservices Australia with 57 AS 680 ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance--Broadcast) ground stations to be deployed at 28...

White Air-Trak's president, CEO.(Greg White appointed)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Air-Trak Inc. of San Diego, California, has appointed Greg White as its president and CEO. White has served as the company's interim CEO since August.

GNSS 2005.(global navigation satellite system, meeting)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The 2005 International Symposium on GPS/GNSS (GNSS 2005), being held December 8-10 in Hong Kong, has placed a call for papers. Featuring a session of presentations from the Civil GPS Interface Committee (CGSIC), the symposium will cover all...

Erratum.(Correction Notice)
February 1, 2005... A communications problem caused outdated information for NordNav's GPS software receivers to appear in the January GPS Receiver Survey. The Lulea, Sweden company offers two GPS software receivers: the R-30, 24 parallel channels, L1 C/A, SBAS,...

Stock tracker.(GPS INSIDE)(Illustration)
February 1, 2005... DEC. 15, 2004 COMPANY STOCK MARKET SYMBOL ADJ. CLOSE CSI Wireless Inc. Toronto Stock Exchange CSY.TO 4.15 Garmin Ltd. NASDAQ ...

Automatic vehicle location.(TRACKING & WIRELESS)
February 1, 2005... Starfinder automatic vehicle location products connect over GSM/GPRS/CDMA and satellite networks and incorporate Laipac's TF-30 or UV-40 GPS receivers with a reported accuracy nine feet using WAAS or EGNOS corrections (12 meters otherwise)....

Emergency locator.(TRACKING & WIRELESS)
February 1, 2005... The Nemesis system from GMV Sistemas is designed to locate people in a variety of circumstances. Nemesis utilizes GPS, EGNOS, WAAS, GSM and Bluetooth technologies to notify the control center of a user's position in the event of an emergency....

Stealth vehicle tracking.(TRACKING & WIRELESS)
February 1, 2005... The GPS-Web from Covert GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems does not require a skyward pointing antenna because it integrates the GPS-Stealth Antenna that reportedly can be hidden up to 28 inches under a vehicle without sacrificing more than 10...

Mobile resource management.(TRACKING & WIRELESS)
February 1, 2005... CompassCom introduces its Compass Tracker mobile resource management (MRM) application that can be loaded on wireless communication devices to provide real-time asset tracking. Compass Tracker operates on numerous laptops. PDAs and...

Covert tracker.(TRACKING & WIRELESS)
February 1, 2005... The G-19B from San Jose Navigation is a compact GPS covert tracker for vehicle security and asset monitoring. Integrating a 16-channel GPS receiver that requires no external antenna, the 45 X 66 X 25-millimeter device weighs 87 grams and has...

Assisted GPS.(TRACKING & WIRELESS)
February 1, 2005... Stingray from Global Locate is an assisted GPS (A-GPS) systemin-package that incorporates the company's IndoorGPS baseband and RF technology with passive components in a 9 X 9-millimeter, 67-pin green bump grid array (BGA) single package....

Tracking GPS RF front-end.(TRACKING & WIRELESS)
February 1, 2005... MAX2745 from Maxim is a single-chip, RF front-end for GPS systems designed for general tracking and navigation systems, fleet management, location-based services, and other applications. With a 7 X 7-millimeter footprint, MAX2745 offers power...

Integrated wireless platform.(GPS-RELATED HARDWARE)
February 1, 2005... Centrality's Atlas-M Platform is an integrated GPS, MPEG-4, and camer a processor for wireless handheld devices. The Atlas-M utilizes proprietary hardware logic paired with dual-core ARM9/DSP architecture. Features include an adaptive...

GPS car navigator.(NAVIGATION & GUIDANCE)
February 1, 2005... The Geosat2 from Ogenet is a transferable 156 X 110 X 25-millimeter, 400-gram GPS navigator with a 5.6 inch, 320 X 240 resolution, LCD screen. The device uses an Arm9 200 MHz processor and a proprietary 12-channel high-sensitivity GPS receiver....

Assisted GPS chipset.(RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2005... NemeriX and CEVA Inc. have partnered to develop NemeriX NJ2020, a plug-and-play assisted GPS (A-GPS) chipset. Targeting mobile handheld device manufacturers, NJ2020 leverages CEVA's GPS 4000 technology. The chipset is 10 times more accurate...

GPS evaluation environment.(RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2005... The iTrax03 Receiver Evaluation Kit from Fastrax allows evaluation of an iTrax03 OEM GPS receiver in the lab or field to configure a GPS receiver with a customer's end product. The kit includes an evaluation unit with all electronic interfaces,...

Weak-signal acquisition.(RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2005... U-blox offers its TIM-LH GPS receiver module incorporating SuperSense weak-signal tracking technology. Based on the 16-channel ANTARIS positioning engine. TIM-LH supports WAAS/EGNOS. Measuring 25.4 X 25.4 millimeters, the OEM module is designed...

SAASM-Based module.(RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2005... The TruTrak GPS receiver module from Interstate Electronics Corporation (IEC), a subsidiary of L-3 Communications Corp., is designed to be integrated into a variety of platforms including handheld devices, weapons and projectiles. The...

GNSS software receiver.(RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2005... The NordNav-R30 is a 24-channel GNSS software receiver that supports GPS L1 and SBAS, Reported position accuracy is less than four meters CEP. The receiver has per-channel configurable acquisition parameters, variable code and carrier tracking...

GPS low noise amplifiers.(RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2005... Spectrum's DDX series of low noise amplifiers are designed to provide a complete solution for dual-band GPS applications. A pair of diplexed three-pole ceramic filters selects only desired GPS signals, and the low-noise gain stage maintains the...

Calendar 2005.(telecommunications equipment industry)(Calendar)
February 1, 2005... * FEBRUARY 1-3 ESRI Federal Users Meeting Washington, D.C. Covers geographic data, application tools, technologies, spatial initiatives, and partnerships. See www.esri.com/feduc. * FEBRUARY 7-9 Map India & Geomatics 2005 ...