GPS World articles from September 2007

GPS World archives from September 2007

Y'all come by, now.(OUT IN FRONT)(ION-GNSS conference)
September 1, 2007... Getting ready to head on down to Texas, to the ION corral in Fort Worth. For a GPS editor of any stripe, the ION-GNSS conference in September is the Mother Lode, prime digging ground for new ideas, new articles, new contacts, and just plain...

NDGPS gasping.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Given the improved WAAS coverage and the fact that the equipment needs are so much less, the number of beacon users I suspect will drop to a trickle if it hasn't already. I continue to be skeptical that the small additional gain in cases where...

GNSS for all: Sharafat Gadimova, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.(EXPERT ADVICE)
September 1, 2007... A new era of space cooperation is underway, as the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) prepares for its second meeting in Bangalore, India, on September 5-7, 2007. The ICG seeks to promote the greater use of...

AEP on the ground: advance to a new architecture.(THE SYSTEM)
September 1, 2007... The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) announced in late August that the long-planned upgrade of the GPS command and control system will occur during the second week of September, fulfilling a major program commitment for...

Galileo tests; Rescue role.(THE SYSTEM)
September 1, 2007... The test campaign using the large antenna at Chilbolton Observatory to analyze the navigation signals transmitted by GIOVE-A, the first Galileo satellite, has been success-fully completed, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced in...

DOT weighs NDGPS future, asks public input.(THE SYSTEM)
September 1, 2007... The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) is preparing an assessment on the inland component of the Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (NDGPS) that will determine its...

The robots of DARPA.(THE SYSTEM)
September 1, 2007... The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has named 36 teams as semifinalists for its Urban Challenge to take place later this year. The DARPA Urban Challenge will feature autonomous ground vehicles executing simulated...

TomTom seeks to buy map supplier Tele Atlas.(LOCATION-BASED SERVICES)
September 1, 2007... A navigation unit and its maps are a necessary combination for personal navigation devices, but the announcement in July that PND-maker TomTom seeks to buy mapmaker Tele Atlas for $2.5 billion ([euro]2 billion) has analysts and competing PND...

Garmin edges TomTom; Magellan shipments booming.(MASS MARKET OEM)
September 1, 2007... In terms of GPS navigation hardware shipments, Garmin edged TomTom to take the no. 1 spot in the market in the second quarter of 2007 (Q2), according to market research firm Canalys Ltd. Garmin moved 1,852,150 units in Q2, accounting for...

Strong growth in Q2.(THE BUSINESS)
September 1, 2007... GPS companies reported strong growth in the second calendar quarter of 2007 (Q2). Navigation device maker Garmin Ltd.'s revenues for Q2 rose 72 percent year over year, lead by sales in the North American automotive and mobile markets, the...

Trimble debuts GPS handheld PC.(SURVEY & CONSTRUCTION)
September 1, 2007... On July 17, Trimble introduced its Nomad series of rugged handheld computers, which come standard with Bluetooth technology and options such as an integrated GPS receiver, a bar-code scanner, a digital camera, and 802.11g (Wi-Fi). The...

Septentrio pursues North America market.(SYSTEM DESIGN & TEST)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... European GNSS receiver supplier Septentrio is opening a business development office in Los Angeles. The company has appointed former NavCom sales executive J. Christopher Litton as business development manager to start up and run its North...

Leica unveils receiver for specialty monitoring.(SURVEY & CONSTRUCTION)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Leica Geosystems has introduced the GMX902 GG, a high-performance GPS and GLONASS receiver developed to monitor sensitive structures such as bridges, mines, or high-rise buildings and crucial topographies such as landslides or volcanoes. It...

Iridium gains on GPS/data monitoring.(AVIONICS & TRANSPORTATION)
September 1, 2007... The demand for combination GPS/data monitoring for asset management in the machine-to-machine (M2M) market is helping to drive growth at satellite communications provider Iridium Satellite LLC. Iridium reported that it had 203,000 subscribers...

U.S. consumer GPS market largely untapped.(RESEARCH ROUNDUP)
September 1, 2007... Only one in six adults in the United States--about 17 percent--uses a GPS device or service, market research firm Harris Interactive said in a study released August 16. Despite the trend of increasing integration of multimedia functions in...

Consumer GPS apps on the rise.(BUSINESS OUTLOOK)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... GPS technology is poised to move beyond personal navigation devices (PNDs) and mobile phones within the consumer market to digital cameras, laptops, and personal media devices, market research firm IMS Research reported August 9. IMS...

Interest in telematics services high.(BUSINESS OUTLOOK)
September 1, 2007... A survey of U.S. commercial fleet operators on mobile resource management (MRM) systems and services found that those using GPS tracking systems are extremely pleased with them, and see it as critical technology, according to market research by...

PNT architecture from the top.(Leadership Talks)(interview with James B. Armor, Jr.)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... Major General James B. Armor, Jr. (MGA), director of the National Security Space Office and former GPS Joint Program Office (now GPS Wing) director, spoke with GPS World's contributing editor for military and government, Don Jewell (DJ),...

Bringing all GNSS in to line: new assistance standards embrace Galileo, GLONASS, QZSS, SBAS.(SYSTEM DESIGN & TEST)
September 1, 2007... Cellular networks have an in-built capability to assist integrated GPS receivers in mobile handsets. The introduction of new GNSSs requires updating the outdated AGPS-only solution to add support for new GPS bands, new GNSSs, and to enhance...

It's a robot life: using GPS and pseudolites for humanoid robot positioning.(UTILITIES & COMMUNICATIONS)(Reprint)
September 1, 2007... Robots helping with the housework may seem like science fiction, but Waseda University researchers are exploring ways that humanoid robots could live in harmony with humans. To enable robots to navigate household living spaces, the researchers...

Navigation in a Nugget: SPAWAR leverages new chip-scale atomic clock.(MILITARY & GOVERNMENT)
September 1, 2007... The Navigation Nugget, first GPS receiver in the world to incorporate a chip-scale atomic clock, will transform designs for the future, enabling warfighters and warfighting platforms to navigate in waters and terrains that can be unattainable...

Brainy positioning: processing GPS data with neural networks.(INNOVATION)
September 1, 2007... Modeling plays a fundamental role in geodesy and other scientific and engineering disciplines. Signal processing, functional modeling of physical phenomena, interpolation, forecasting, and stochastic modeling are a few examples of the...

Personal tracker and mobile phone.(LOCATION-BASED SERVICES)
September 1, 2007... The Mambo II personal tracker and mobile phone includes GPS height and heading indication, speed meter and mileometer, satellite view and metering, and route recording. In addition to standard mobile phone functions, the Quadband GSM/GPRS...

Single-die GPS/AGPS solution.(MASS MARKET OEM)(ACLYS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The ACLYS ultra-miniature, single-die GPS/AGPS solution is designed for mass-market mobile devices. ACLYS reportedly consumes less than 10 mW of power during 1 Hz tracking. It combines both an LI GPS RF front-end and GPS coprocessor on a single...

Nav and entertainment.(MASS MARKET OEM)(Amcor 3500 Advanced GPS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The Amcor 3500 Advanced GPS navigation and entertainment system has a 3.5-inch wide touchscreen and four buttons. The 2-pound device has a 300 MHz Samsung CPU, SiRFStar III receiver, and iGo software with Tele Atlas digital content. The Amcor...

Noise modules.(MILITARY & GOVERNMENT)(Noise Com NC1127A and NC1128A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Noise Com's noise modules are a source for jamming signal generators, as they are used for example to deflect missile guidance systems. The Noise Com NC1127A and NC1128A noise modules are designed for use when wide-bandwidth frequencies are...

GPS a big hit with rainforest pygmies.(GNSS technologies in the popular media)
September 1, 2007... GPS is no small thing for indigenous pygmies of the northwest region in the Republic of Congo. A Congolaise Industrielle des Bois logging company has provided GPS units to the Mbendjele pygmies, a semi-nomadic people living in the rainforests,...

China seeks safe food for Olympics.(GNSS technologies in the popular media)
September 1, 2007... China plans to use GPS tracking to ensure food safety at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which begin Aug. 8, 2008, reports the Associated Press. Food transportation vehicles will be tracked as they deliver products affixed with an Olympic food...

Surf's Up!(GNSS technologies in the popular media)(Surf Radio)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... A surfboard under development by Lenart Studios has built-in GPS and LCD, reports engadget.com. The Surf Radio board gives surfers up-to-date information on their location, rip currents, and building swells, and will also double as a...

Some squirrelly spies.(GNSS technologies in the popular media)
September 1, 2007... Fourteen squirrels--yes, squirrels, the furry rodents that gather nuts for the winter--were arrested for espionage by Iranian officials, some with embedded GPS devices, according to NBC News, which cited the official Islamic Republic News...