GPS World

Tag: NEON Personnel Tracker

  • TRX Systems enhances military anti-jamming device

    TRX Systems enhances military anti-jamming device

    Image: TRX
    Image: TRX

    TRX Systems has added a jammer finder capability to its NEON PT-MIL. The new function and expanded threat-mapping features enable dismounted soldiers to proactively respond to navigational warfare attacks (NAVWAR).

    NEON PT-MIL helps warfighters carry out their missions even when operating in environments where GPS/GNSS signals are unreliable or intentionally denied. The device can detect and eliminate compromised GNSS data while providing an alternative source of positioning information by fusing inputs from inertial sensors, GNSS signals, ultra-wideband and more.

    NEON PT-MIL can also be equipped to detect and map jamming and spoofing attacks. This feature was developed through a United States Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office program designed to extend NAVWAR functionality. The device accepts assured GNSS data from external devices — such as the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver, or DAGR, and the Orolia Defense and Security Broadsense Nano — to deliver a fused position and a NAVWAR threat indication when detected.

    The device can also derive a line of bearing to an enemy jammer and display it within the warfighter’s Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) user interface, by using the GPS jamming indications available from a connected GNSS source.

    NEON PT-MIL with the jammer finding function is available in beta versions for field testing now and will be generally available in mid-2023.

  • TRX awarded NIST funding for NEON Personnel Tracker

    TRX awarded NIST funding for NEON Personnel Tracker

    TRX Systems was awarded funding through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program (PSIAP) to test, validate and harden the TRX NEON Personnel Tracker solution to support wide-scale public safety deployment. TRX is partnering with the Arlington County Fire Department (ACFD) to conduct extended testing during which the TRX 3D location technology will be used by all personnel at Station 5, serving Pentagon City and Crystal City, to validate usability and performance and to better align the solution with first responder needs.

    Through a previous NIST PSIAP award, TRX improved the accuracy and capabilities of its NEON Personnel Tracker solution. With this subsequent Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) award, TRX will take the next steps toward wide-scale deployment by validating and tuning the NEON solution in a challenging live environment. Combined, these projects aim to accelerate the availability of improved 3D location accuracy, easy to use 3D map data tools, and actionable 3D visualizations for first responder use cases.

    Over the course of this program, TRX will partner with ACFD to conduct an 8-month field trial that exercises the TRX NEON Personnel Tracker solution 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a fully operational environment. The key objectives of this extended deployment are to identify and close any gaps that could inhibit widescale deployment, validate usability and tracking accuracy, and demonstrate the operational feasibility and value of the solution.

    First responders typically operate in environments that are indoors, underground, or in other areas where reliable access to GPS signals is impeded. TRX’s NEON Personnel Tracker system delivers reliable and real-time 3D location in these GPS-denied environments by using patented mapping and tracking algorithms that fuse inertial sensor data to compute the user’s path and position. This solution lets on-scene and remote commanders track the real-time location of personnel during an incident, helping them to ensure the safety of their teams and improve the efficiency of their response.

  • TRX Systems delivers NAVWAR threat mapping for foot soldiers

    TRX Systems delivers NAVWAR threat mapping for foot soldiers

    Image: TDK/U.S. Army
    Image: TDK/U.S. Army

    Electronic Warfare Kit enables dismounted soldiers to detect, map and mitigate the impact of navigational warfare (NAVWAR) attacks

    TRX Systems, developer of NEON GPS-denied location solutions, has delivered the TRX Systems Dismount Electronic Warfare (EW) Kit prototype to the U.S. Army.

    Developed for U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), the TRX EW Kit is designed to extend EW and signal intelligence for the dismounted warfighter.

    The kit adds powerful new capabilities to the company’s NEON Personnel Tracker-MIL solution, expanding the integration between its NEON Location Service and ATAK application to better equip dismounted personnel for detection and mapping of jamming and spoofing attacks.

    New NEON functionality includes:

    • Robust Interference Detection. Rapidly detects and geo-references NAVWAR threats including GPS jamming, repeating and spoofing.
    • NAVWAR Threat Mapping. Increases situational awareness by geo-referencing and mapping detected threats through integration with ATAK and EW platforms.
    • Reliable Dismount Location Data. Mitigates the impact of NAVWAR attacks by eliminating erroneous GPS inputs while continuing to deliver reliable location data to dismounted users.
    • Integration with NAVWAR Devices. Integrates threat data from Orolia Defense & Security BroadSense Nano and other devices already carried by warfighters to provide a fused NAVWAR threat indication.

    The NEON Personnel Tracker Military (PT-MIL) uses a suite of patented algorithms that fuse GNSS, an inertial sensor, ultra-wideband (UWB) and other inputs to deliver reliable position data to dismounted personnel operating in the presence of compromised or intentionally denied GNSS signals.

    With the new EW Kit functionality, warfighters will receive real-time situational awareness into jamming or spoofing threats at their immediate location and from other dismount personnel sharing data over the TAK network.

    The EW Kit is integrated via soldier plug-ins, enabling threats discovered and mapped by dismounts to be fused into the overall NAVWAR threat picture.

    “In today’s conflict zones, it’s becoming increasingly easy for adversaries to launch electronic attacks against GNSS systems using low-cost jammers built with readily available commercial technology,” said Carol Politi, president and CEO of TRX Systems. “The EW Kit developed in the RCCTO program provides dismount soldiers with clear insight into their NAVWAR environment by rapidly detecting and characterizing these NAVWAR attacks, and it mitigates the impact by eliminating compromised data from their position solution.”

  • New speaker added for June 21 defense PNT webinar

    Carol Politi, CEO of TRX Systems, has just joined the panel of speakers who will address a range of defense and security issues with GPS and GPS denial during a free webinar this Thursday, June 21. Politi will discuss low SWaP sensor and RF technology for supporting continued operation within denied areas and dismount operation within a broader system of systems PNT context.

    She joins John Fischer and Jon Sinden of Orolia, who will focus on “Protecting GPS-Reliant Military Systems,” and Tim Erbes of Talen-X, an expert in GNSS simulation and threat mitigation technologies, for “Defense PNT in Challenged Environments.” Register for the webinar here.

    TRX Systems delivers mapping and location for dismount personnel location in areas without reliable GPS, including indoors, underground and where GPS is intentionally denied, for the defense, public safety and industrial markets. Politi holds multiple patents for innovations related to control of mobile devices and collaborative creation of indoor maps, received her M.S.E.E. from Johns Hopkins and B.S.E.E., MBA from the University of Maryland.

    The company recently showcased the latest updates to its NEON Personnel Tracker for the 10,000 defense industry professionals at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference. NEON is an enterprise-class 3D mapping and tracking Android application tightly integrated with a suite of algorithms fusing inertial sensor data, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi readings and inferred map and building data to deliver reliable 3D location. Personnel wearing a small, NEON Tracking Unit and carrying an Android device can now be tracked and located in real-time and for after action review.