With more than 70 percent of calls to emergency services coming from mobile phones, getting necessary help — fast — to the caller can be challenging if they don’t know where they are or can’t communicate for any number or reasons related to the emergency. Current emergency solutions rely on cell-tower location, with a location radius of up to several kilometers, or assisted GPS, subject to errors indoors and unable to establish a floor level in tall buildings.
The U.S Federal Communications Commission estimates “improved location accuracy which results in reducing wireless E911 response time by one minute can result in saving over 10,000 lives annually.”
Google has created and rolled out in two European countries the Emergency Location Service in Android, with other regions to follow. The feature, when supported by the caller’s network, sends location from phone to emergency services when an emergency number is dialed. The feature is solely for the use of emergency service providers, and the caller’s precise location is never seen or handled by phone apps, integrating Wi-Fi, GPS, and cell towers to produce a more reliable emergency location indoors and outdoors.
Emergency Location Service is supported by more than 99 percent of existing Android devices (version 2.3 out and upwards) through Google Play services. The service activates when supported by the mobile network operator or emergency infrastructure provider.
The new geographical location system can identify the source of a mobile phone emergency call to typically within 0.003 square kilometers (less than half the size of a football field) instead of an average of around 12 square kilometers.
According to a British telecomm communiqué, “We see 84 percent being less than 50 m radius, with 16 percent up to 9 meters, 27 percent between 10 and 19 meters’ radius and 41 percent with 20–49 meter radius.”
When an emergency call is made with an enabled Android smartphone, the phone automatically activates its location service and sends its position by text message to the 999 service. This usually takes less than 20 seconds. This text message is not visible on the handset and is not charged for.
The text is automatically matched to the voice call and compared to the network’s cell-based information to ensure it is valid. The location is then made available to the appropriate emergency service, supplementing the cell-based information.
Because Google has tweaked its core Android Play Services software, it no longer needs each handset manufacturer to modify their handsets. Instead they can all be enabled as part of Google’s regular updates to its Android mobile operating system. This means the service will reach more handsets much more quickly.
NovAtel has introduced its new VEXXIS series of GNSS antennas. NovAtel made the announcement at ION GNSS+, which is being held this week in Portland, Oregon.
The VEXXIS series includes two lines of antennas, the new GNSS-800 series and the GNSS-500 series introduced earlier this year. The series offers the latest advancements in GNSS antenna technology for multi-constellation and multifrequency GNSS applications.
The VEXXIS GNSS-800 series of antennas provide exceptional tracking performance previously unachievable in such a small form factor. Patented multi-point feeding network and radiation pattern optimization technology provides stable phase center and enhanced multipath rejection as well as exceptional low elevation satellite tracking while achieving high peak zenith gain.
The new technology enables the antenna to track the maximum number of satellites in any environment for an enhanced positioning solution. The GNSS-800 family of antennas are the toughest high precision antennas NovAtel has designed to date, ensuring their survivability in even the harshest operating environments.
The VEXXIS GNSS-500 series of antennas were designed with a low profile, aerodynamic enclosure, useful for ground vehicles in applications such as agriculture, machine control and mobile mapping.
Featuring the same multi-point feeding network as the GNSS-800 family, GNSS-500 antennas offer excellent multipath rejection and stable phase center. Signal reception is unaffected by the rotation of the antenna or satellite elevation, simplifying placement and installation. Vehicle mounting is easy with the antennas’ magnetic or screw mounting options.
VEXXIS GNSS-500 antennas are available for immediate ordering. GNSS-800 antennas will be available in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Lockheed Martin has pushed back the delivery of the first GPS III satellite by four months after discovering that a subcontractor failed to conduct testing on a ceramic capacitor, part of the navigation payload, according to Bloomberg.
Delivery of the satellite was expected in August, but will now be delayed four more months and won’t be shipped until at least December. The satellite is already 28 months late.
While the Air Force has said the satellite would launch no earlier than 2017, some industry officials expect that a 2018 launch is more likely especially as the Pentagon absorbs delays with the next-generation GPS ground system known as the Operational Control Segment, Bloomberg reports.
Read more about the federal budget’s impact on GPS in Contributing Editor Don Jewell’s latest Defense PNT column.
Testing of the part, a ceramic capacitor, should have been completed as long as five years ago, including evaluating how long it will operate without failing, Colonel Steve Whitney, program manager for the GSP program, told the website. About 600 of the capacitors are on the initial satellite, which cost approximately $529 million.
The capacitor is part of a series of circuit cards that take higher voltage power from the satellite’s power system and reduce it to a voltage required for a particular subsystem.
Halloween may occur in October for the civil and commercial population, but for the U.S. government (USG) all the craziness of the spooky season starts in earnest in September. The end of the USG’s fiscal year (FY) ends the last day of September, and Oct. 1 is a whole new ballgame from a monetary and budgeting perspective.
All the machinations begin: balancing budgets, ensuring monies have been fully allocated and spent, determining surplus funds and figuring out what programs need additional year-end funds.
Certainly the process begins far in advance of September, but the last 30 days of the FY are historically a circus. Anyone who has ever been through it, especially as a budgeteer or program director, knows the anguish and anxious moments involved. If you think this all sounds a bit more dramatic than necessary for simple funding and budgeting issues, then think again.
Budgeteers inside and outside the USG (prime contractors and small companies as well) are all vying for what is known as fallout money. These are funds that “fall out” because a program has failed to meet timelines, specifications or certifications; funds that fall out because a program came in early and under budget (a rarity); or funds that fall out just because of over-confidence in flying hours or lack of equipment availability. Regardless of the reason, the fact is that fallout funds at the end of the FY have significant impacts on all USG programs.
For example, as a PM or program manager, if your program is doing well and maybe even ahead of schedule, and the customer is chomping at the bit to put your hardware or software in place, then you might be allocated additional fallout funds as a sign of confidence and support from the government. This is what Program of Record (POR) PMs love to see happen, because it means there is faith in their program and in their ability to manage it and bring it home; this can include promotions and more responsibility on the horizon.
Conversely, if your program is in trouble, over budget and behind schedule, and the USG lacks faith in your ability to complete the POM (Program Objective Memorandum), then your funds may well be cannibalized to support other programs. This is something no PM likes to see happen. It is a downer for the USG, the POR and the career of the PM. Yes, for PMs, every September is a report card, and the grades are rarely ambiguous or subtle.
Of course, the organization that allocates and authorizes USG funding at the beginning of the FY, better known as the U.S. Congress, plays a role here as well; many take a vacation or flee to the hinterlands during this time of bureaucratic chaos and get out of town. For 2016 and the 114th Congress, the Senate is in session just 14 days of the month and the House of Representatives convenes for about 10 days on average.
As the former Legislative Director (LD) for Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), I actually had the honor to serve as the first LD for AFSPC. This worried me a great deal until I discovered that, fortunately, while a few congressional members were in recess or at home backslapping and politicking with constituents, the congressional staffs remained in D.C. and were hard at work. This is important because, during the craziness and bargaining of September fallouts, critical decisions are often made that determine the future of PORs and many smaller but critical efforts by small businesses as well. If you are a government contractor, small or large, prime or sub, September is not a time to take a vacation or lay on the beach, rather you need to be an active player in the fall flurry of hyperactivity.
This year Senator John McCain from Arizona and the SECDEF (Secretary of Defense) the honorable Ash Carter both have plans and are pushing for new acquisition strategies as well as separate schemes to revamp Department of Defense (DoD) Command and Control systems. Unfortunately, neither plan has a support system for small businesses.
Space Systems
SpaceX launch of an OrbComm satellite in December 2015. (Photo: SpaceX)
For space programs this coming year, obviously current and future launch activities are at the forefront. Congress must decide to either fund Russian engine procurement or say no to future Russian engine purchases, determine whether the United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a survivor and competitor, and decide where SpaceX plays in the whole scenario now that they have thrown a monkey wrench into the mix by experiencing another Falcon 9 failure on Sept. 9 after so many successes.
Interestingly, SpaceX actions in the main seem to be the right decisions. They are at the forefront of commercial launch and recovery technology, and other than Blue Origin, they are the only company recovering the initial stages of their launch vehicles for reuse. Of course that reuse can only occur if the launch is successful in the first place.
While SpaceX certainly cannot afford more launch failures, the conundrum concerning the latest Falcon 9 catastrophe is that it was not actually a launch failure; rather, it was an accident that occurred on the launch pad. Who knows? Future investigations, performed primarily by SpaceX and the FAA, may show SpaceX was not at fault.
The fueling explosion could easily have been caused by a ruptured refueling hose, a stray spark or ungrounded support equipment, we just don’t know. It is entirely too early to rush to judgment and blame it all on SpaceX. We should and, indeed, must take a wait and see attitude.
However, just so you know for comparison, ULA has performed more than 100 successful launches without a single failure. Many of those used the infamous Russian RD-180 engine as a core. So, to say that launch is a topic of national and Congressional concern during the September chaos is putting it mildly.
SV 01 in testing at Lockheed Martin’s Denver facility. (Photo: LMCO)
According to my sources, an omitted qualification test of a tiny capacitor in the GPS III payload will move the GPS III program’s availability for launch (AFL) from August to December 2016. My sources and my experience as a space operator tell me the qualification test — which over-stresses the capacitor’s integrity to survive multiple mission lives — is really not an issue. The satellite should be delivered before the end of the year, well ahead of the Air Force’s planned first GPS III launch date of March 2018.
My experience also tells me that it is much more likely that, rather than a tiny capacitor issue, the launch schedule for the first GPS III will be affected by the as-yet-unresolved SpaceX explosion on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral; the damage to the launchpad and nearby facilities; the launch slips due to the ripple effect of the subsequent accident investigations, along with new safety and fueling procedures that may need to be implemented and tested; the rescheduling of other missions, handled in the military by the USAF Current Launch Schedule Review Board or CLSRB; and the lack of an available MEO (Medium Earth Orbit)-capable launch vehicle.
And, of course, you need a ground control system (which I go into more below).
Position, navigation and timing (PNT) programs
Concerning PNT, Congress is debating when to award Lockheed Martin GPS III satellites 9 and 10, which by the way, will not carry an NDS (Nuclear Detonation Detection System) payload, a first for GPS space vehicles (SV) since the first NDS was launched on the sixth Block I SV on April 26, 1980. At the time, the NDS payload was known by the ungainly moniker IONDS, or the Integrated Operational Nuclear Detonation Detection System.
The new, redesigned NDS payload is simply not ready for prime time, and hence LMCO will delete that portion of the payload from GPS III SVs 9 and 10. So, although the GPS III family of GPS vehicles will be as similar as possible, in fact the last two, currently scheduled (which we hear may be awarded to LMCO this month), will be radically different in some respects, and in others be exactly the same.
This leads us to the question concerning exactly when the real competition for GPS III SV 11+ will truly get underway. Right now, the competition is in the formative and PowerPoint stages for some competitors, although a couple have bent hardware and are writing some software support programs. The USG has awarded each team, including LMCO, a few million dollars to keep them interested and to defray early non-recurring costs, but the competition has yet to truly heat up. Might some year-end fallout money be made available for the competitors? We shall have to wait and see.
OCX
OCX, the future ground control segment of GPS, is so far over budget and schedule that the end-point is not even visible on the event horizon. Most pundits put the completion date, if it is continued as the POR, at 2023 and beyond, seven years late and $3.5 billion over budget.
Certainly no fallout funds can cover such a Nunn-McCurdy breach, but fallout funds might become available for alternative courses of action (COA). There’s a thought to keep USG budgeteers and small company CEOs and CFOs awake at night.
What might the future hold? Large primes not withstanding, small businesses are a major player in all major USG programs. Karen Mills, former head of the Small Business Administration (SBA), wrote in the Harvard Business Review recently, “Half the people who work in this country [USA] either own or are employed by businesses with fewer than 500 employees.”
At the same time, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that SBA statistics show these same small companies produce 46 percent of private economic output and 33 percent of the value of U.S. exports. Even so (paraphrasing the report), the [USG] is sometimes guilty of not paying sufficient attention to small firms. Is it time for the USG to look at proven small-company capabilities where OCX is concerned?
Just a thought, whose time may well be long overdue. As Nitin Nohria, dean of the Harvard Business School, wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “I do hope that the question of how to create policies that support small companies gets more attention during the coming debates and the final few weeks of this presidential campaign.”
Research and development (R&D)
We could go on and on considering PNT or GPS military user equipment (MUE), the advantages of GNSS considerations and the R&D being conducted at AFRL (USAF Research Laboratories) and the other service labs where PNT is concerned. (Read my In defense of PNT: Multi-GNSS to the rescue, May 11, 2016, Defense PNT column)
Of course, let’s not forget DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). As experienced PMs know, you neglect DARPA at your program’s peril. DARPA waxes and wanes on the publicity scale, but they are always on the cutting edge where R&D is concerned. Many of our nation’s most noted scientific accomplishments began life as DARPA hard projects, way too many to mention. DARPA, like all R&D laboratories, have their hands out and are just hoping for and are ready to commit any fallout monies that become available in scary September.
If you are wondering why no one in Washington, D.C., is returning your calls and emails, or why they seem distracted or preoccupied when you are able to connect, just blame it on the most chaotic month of the USG budget year, September. It’s feast or famine, or you could say, early trick or treat.
ION GNSS+
Prevailing health issues prevent me from traveling to ION GNSS+ 2016, which takes place Sept. 12-16, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. ION bills this event as “the world’s largest technical meeting and showcase of GNSS technology, products and services. This year’s conference brings together international leaders in GNSS and related positioning, navigation and timing fields to present new research, introduce new technologies, discuss current policy, demonstrate products and exchange ideas.”
This is a great event, which I normally look forward to every year. Not to worry, GPS World is well represented by editors, writers and contributors. Be sure and stop by the GPS World booth — chat, pick-up a magazine while you’re there, and subscribe to the free print and/or digital editions.
Until next time, happy navigating and remember: GPS is brought to you free of charge by the United States Air Force.
A new market report focuses military GPS and GNSS devices. The “Global and Chinese Military GPS/GNSS Devices Industry, 2011-2021 Market Research Report” is an in-depth study on the current state of the industry, with a focus on the Chinese market.
The report provides key statistics on the market status of device manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry, according to publisher Wise Guy Reports.
The report provides a basic overview including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure and development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.
The report states the global market size (volume and value), and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies are also discussed.
Market analysis is provided for major regions including the United States, Europe, China and Japan, and other regions can be added. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.
The report also focuses on global leading industry players with company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.
Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.
In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is incentivizing general aviation aircraft owners to equip their aircraft with required NextGen avionics technology before the Jan. 1, 2020, deadline.
On Sept. 19, the FAA’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) rebate website will go live, and general aviation aircraft owners will have the opportunity to apply for a $500 rebate to help offset the cost to equip eligible aircraft in a timely manner, rather than waiting to meet the mandatory equipage date.
“NextGen has played and will continue to play an important role in ensuring that our airspace is safe and efficient for the American people, and we are focused on achieving its full potential,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This incentive program is an innovative solution that addresses stakeholder concerns about meeting the 2020 deadline, and will make a huge difference in helping the general aviation community equip.”
ADS-B is a foundational NextGen technology that transforms aircraft surveillance using satellite-based positioning. ADS-B Out, which is required by Jan. 1, 2020, transmits information about a plane’s altitude, speed, and location to air traffic control and other nearby aircraft.
ADS-B In allows aircraft to receive traffic and weather information from ground stations and to see nearby aircraft that are broadcasting their positions through ADS-B Out. Owners can choose to install only ADS-B Out equipment to meet the 2020 requirement, or they can purchase an integrated system that also includes ADS-B In.
On June 6, Secretary Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced that the rebates would be available starting this fall, and that only installations performed after the program launched would be eligible for the rebate. Previously equipped aircraft will not be eligible.
The $500 rebate will help offset the cost of purchasing required avionics equipment, which is available for prices as low as $2,000.
Beginning this month, the FAA will issue 20,000 rebates on a first-come, first-served basis for one year or until all 20,000 rebates are claimed — whichever comes first. The rebate is available only to owners of U.S.-registered, fixed-wing, single-engine piston aircraft that were first registered before Jan. 1, 2016.
The FAA will not provide rebates for software upgrades on already equipped aircraft, or for aircraft for which the FAA has paid or committed to upgrade. The FAA estimates that 160,000 aircraft need to be equipped by the deadline.
“We promised that we would help aircraft owners equip with ADS-B, and I am pleased to say that today we are honoring that commitment and we are delivering on our target date,” said Huerta. “We are encouraging aircraft owners to start equipping now. Do not wait until the last minute, because you may not be able to get an appointment with a certified installer.”
Aircraft owners who have a standard airworthiness aircraft may have a repair station or an appropriately-licensed A&P mechanic install the ADS-B equipment. Owners of aircraft certificated as experimental or light sport must adhere to applicable regulations and established standards when installing ADS-B equipment.
Owners are only eligible for the rebate if they install the avionics after September 19, 2016 and within 90 days of the rebate reservation date. Aircraft owners will have 60 days after the scheduled installation date to validate their equipage by flying their aircraft, and will then be able to claim the rebate.
The reservation system will require an N number, installation date, and the planned ADS-B equipment being installed. The reservation system will be available at the ADS-B Rebate website.
The FAA published a final rule in May 2010 mandating that aircraft flying in certain controlled airspace be equipped with ADS-B Out by January 1, 2020. That airspace is generally the same busy airspace where transponders are required today. Aircraft that fly only in uncontrolled airspace where no transponders are required, and aircraft without electrical systems, such as balloons and gliders, are exempt from the mandate.
The FAA has been working with stakeholders, including the Aircraft Electronics Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Experimental Aircraft Association, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, and others to inform and educate the aviation community about the ADS-B requirements.
This year’s CTIA Super Mobility show, held Sept. 7-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada, shone the spotlight most brightly on 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT). The killer app use case for 5G is IoT and, symbiotically, IoT cannot be fully realized without the higher capacity of 5G.
IoT is the world of interconnected devices and includes smart cities, connected vehicles, smart homes, wearables, enterprise and healthcare solutions. The magnitude of growth forecast in connected devices is staggering; 23 billion in 2020 and increasing to 75 billion five years later, and will dwarf the number of smartphones, say analysts at Frost & Sullivan.
“Keep America Great Again” could have been the title of many talks with the patriotic rallying call to keep the United States at the forefront of wireless innovation. The U.S. has more than 99 percent of the population covered by LTE, more than any other country. We rule on apps, too, with 74 percent being based here. Whether this a good sign or not, Americans have more apps on their phones than anyone else —37 for each of us.
And we’ve led in the development of 3G and LTE. So the cry to arms from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and carriers alike is that we can and will lead 5G. Verizon is getting ahead of the pack and recently announced it launched LTE Advanced technology to bring 50 percent faster peak wireless data speeds to more than 288 million people in 561 cities who are using one of Verizon’s 39 LTE Advanced equipped devices.
Keynote speakers at the conference swooned about the truly revolutionary capabilities of speed and improved latency 5G brings, forecast to be in full deployment in 2020. More high spectrum is needed and an FCC auction underway.
Obtaining the small cell sites needed for required antennas was on many minds. “There are just over 200,000 cell towers in the U.S., but there may be millions of small cell sites in the 5G future,” worried Wheeler. “If siting for a small cell takes as long and costs as much as siting for a cell tower, few communities will ever have the benefits of 5G.”
Dana Tardelli, Mobilitie, stands in front of a model of Churchill Downs, a DAS (distributed antenna system) installation. (Photo: Janice Partyka)
5G requires denser cell sites and every city has different rules and processes. The challenge, says Dana Tardelli of Mobilitie, is to get the cities to see the benefits. For instance, the city of Palo Alto, the epicenter of Silicon Valley, has poor cell service because the citizens and town resist having antennas installed. Reportedly, Steve Jobs had to go out in his yard to make a call. The future is smaller cells with distributed antennas, but unlimited data plans are on their way back and will create a large infrastructure load.
For Telit and other enablers of IoT, the sweet spot of the market is enterprise, an industry sector that is making money and can easily quantify savings from technology investments. “In five years, half of the show will be IoT, and it isn’t about technology, but about things that will be connected,” predicted Jack Indekeu of Telit. “There is also a strong market for devices that allow people to connect socially around issues of personal health and fitness.” Telit was highlighting its bundled platform, services and solutions, including data plans.
Jack Indekeu of Telit gives a presentation at the Telit booth. (Photo: Janice Partyka)
Comtech Telecommunications announced the availability of Location Studio, a developer’s platform to build cloud-based embedded and hybrid applications using location-based tools. Location Studio connects assets using AGPS and sensor positioning for location and integrates with a host of geolocation applications, taking advantage of the previous acquisition of Networks in Motion capabilities for mapping, messaging and navigation.
“There is great advantage of our approach over Google or Apple in which free access is bartered for data,” said Sameer Vuyyuru of Comtech. “Our approach eases clients’ concerns about security of data.” Last year, TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) was acquired by Comtech. Perhaps in the future, Comtech’s satellite products will be added to TCS’ public safety and LBS offerings.
CalAmp announced the availability of the MDT-7P, an Android-based tablet suited to deliver and support value-added applications for industries such as long-haul trucking, fleet management, asset delivery and mobile workforce management. The MDT-7P leverages CalAmp’s management and maintenance system, PULS, for autonomous over-the-air installation of applications and firmware directly to the tablet while in service.
U-blox announced plans to launch modules supporting Category M1 LTE networks. The first SARA R4 module developed by u-blox will be available later this year and targets mobile network operators in the U.S. market. With the recently launched SARA N2, a cellular NB IoT module, the new LTE Cat M1 complements u-blox’s product offering for the IoT.
Qualcomm Technologies and Verizon announced Verizon will pre-integrate its ThingSpace IoT platform-as-a-service within Qualcomm Technologies’ MDM9206 Category M LTE modem. The initiative also utilizes Verizon’s 4G LTE network as the gateway for simplifying the process of building, deploying and managing IoT applications customized for a wide-range of use cases.
The Teradata team at the Ford Developers Hackathon. (Photo: Janice Partyka)
Quite different from years ago when CTIA was chock full of carmakers, Ford was the only participant, and hosted the Ford Developer Hackathon on the exhibit floor. The event presented a two-way street for developers to learn how to use car data to build apps, and for Ford to see what interests the developer community. SmartDeviceLink is an open-source platform that enables creation of brought-in applications that appear integrated onto a car’s head unit.
I spoke to a team from Teradata who was working on creating an app that would compare fuel usage on the same route over time. For instance, I could compare my gas usage over each day of my commute and also compete against my co-workers who drive the same route. This team stayed until 3 a.m. at the convention center and were there the following morning to resume work. If they win the hackathon competition, team Teradata will take home all-expenses-paid trips to CES or share a Mustang car lease.
The Car Connectivity Consortium with its MirrorLink platform has a different approach to in-vehicle apps. The Ford platform requires that developers use templates for the interface. With MirrorLink, developers encounter more complexity but added freedom as they create the user interface. Alan Ewing of the Car Connectivity Consortium provided perspective on the industry’s current focus.
“We are polishing technology and working to refine the user experience,” Ewing said. “There will be wireless connectivity with no cabling and in the future, we may be able to distinguish among the phones in the car as to which belongs to driver.” He reports there is quite a bit of interest in in-vehicle streaming video.
Iridium showed an early sample of Edge, an M2M/IoT rugged transceiver scheduled to launch later this year. The Edge can be added onto existing products to enable satellite communications and used for tracking mobile or fixed assets. Many will use it alongside terrestrial communication. “IoT has opened up M2M markets and created standards and integration,” reported Tim Last of Iridium. ”We are also looking at consumer products, working with Garmin, wearables and handheld devices.”
InterDrone, an international drone show concurrently held in Las Vegas and partnered with CTIA, featured both low and high-end commercial products. The low-end (less than $1,200) serves advanced hobbyist and some professional uses.
Janice in KITT, the talking car from “Knight Rider”. (Photo: Janice Partyka)
“The high-end commercial markets include precision agriculture, construction and infrastructure inspection, mining, surveying and mapping, and top-shelf drone cinematography,” said Ted Bahr of BZ Media and InterDrone. “This segment gets all of the attention of U.S. drone makers, and the innovation and competition is intense.”
The CTIA show has changed through the years in an attempt to recapture its former luster and has come to an end. Most recently, CTIA consolidated its two shows per year into one. Next year, look for a replacement event, GSMA Mobile World Congress Americas, in partnership with CTIA, which will debut in San Francisco Sept. 12-14, 2017. The CTIA show is gone, but I’ll see you next September in San Francisco.
CalAmp — a provider of wireless products, services and solutions — has launched the MDT-7P Android-based tablet designed to integrate with CalAmp’s family of aftermarket telematics devices.
It features wired, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a rugged 7-inch touchscreen display, and is suited to deliver and support applications for industries such as long-haul trucking, fleet management, asset delivery and mobile workforce management.
“The MDT-7P is designed at its core to support the development and deployment of telematics applications for the mobile workforce,” said Justin Schmid, senior vice president and general manager of the Telematics Systems business at CalAmp. “Seamlessly integrated with CalAmp’s leading telematics devices, the MDT-7P provides a powerful platform to support, monitor and maintain applications such as those designed to support compliance mandates for hours of service, rests, vehicle inspections and other state and federal regulations.”
The MDT-7P leverages CalAmp’s management and maintenance system, PULS (Provisioning/Programming, Update and Logistical System) for autonomous over-the-air installation of applications and firmware directly to the tablet from trusted sources such as CalAmp’s Appstore while in service.
In addition, the CalAmp Mobile Framework (CMF) software provides the interface to CalAmp’s programmable event generator (PEG). PEG enables the MDT-7P to communicate with an installed telematics device to continuously monitor the operating environment and respond instantly to pre-defined and configurable threshold conditions such as time, date, motion, location, geo-zone crossings and other parameters.
The MDT-7P offers a comprehensive and versatile set of features and capabilities including:
Easy-to-use Android Lollipop OS for application development
Support for CalAmp’s Appstore providing a secure environment to manage and distribute applications content and services
High quality built-in front and rear facing cameras to support streaming video applications
Integrated GPS receiver for high precision mapping, navigation, dispatch and routing
Secure 802.11 b/g/n protocols for persistent Wi-Fi connectivity
Taoglas, a provider of IoT (Internet of Things) and M2M (Machine to Machine) antenna solutions, has launched a new series of high-performance LTE + GNSS or Wi-Fi antennas. The announcement was made at CTIA Super Mobility, held Sept. 7-9 in Las Vegas.
The Taoglas Guardian X 11-in-1 antenna.
The Guardian series includes 4, 5, 6 and even 11-in-1 antenna options for 4G LTE cellular applications that also require GNSS or Wi-Fi or satellite options.
“Drilling holes in assets and doing long coaxial cable runs is a thing of the past for many IoT applications, particularly in the transportation industry,” said Dermot O’Shea, joint CEO at Taoglas. “Most vehicles and assets are no longer made from metal, but of a carbon fiber or composite material. This means the antenna does not need to be outside the asset but can be mounted internally.”
One example is in the trucking industry, where antennas are mounted under the roof and above the headliner, eliminating the need for holes to be drilled. “This saves huge amounts of time and cost for the installation as well as increasing device performance due to the cable runs being shorter,” O’Shea said. “It also decreases the likelihood of antenna damage due to impact or vandalism.”
The Guardian series antennas are delivered in a gloss-finished, compact square-shaped enclosure (146 x 134 x 20 mm). In the series are these options:
MA931 – 6 in 1 (2 x Cellular, 3 x Wi-Fi, 1 x GNSS)
MA930 – 6 in 1 (2 x Cellular, 2 x Wi-Fi, 1 x GNSS, 1 x Satellite)
MA950 – 5 in 1 (2 x Cellular, 2 x Wi-Fi, 1 x GNSS)
MA961 – 4 in 1 (2 x Cellular, 2 x Wi-Fi)
Also, an extension to the line is the Guardian X series, with the first product being MA4000, an 11-in-1 antenna (six cellular, four Wi-Fi, one GNSS).
The Guardian X dimensions are 540 x 183.1 x 35.4 millimeters. Despite its small size, the MA4000 antenna eliminates the requirement for multiple holes to be drilled in a valuable asset. The enclosure material is flame retardant, as is the CFD-200-FR low-loss cable. This means the antenna is compliant for airline, bus and rail passenger applications and complies with UNECE regulation R 118.
“Every QGIS user now has access to the vast volumes of mobile mapping data,” said Peter Bonne, CEO of Orbit GT. By connecting to Publisher, the QGIS user has access to spherical imagery and point-cloud data of unlimited volume and size onto their desktop.
With the Orbit GT plugin for QGIS, the use of native Mobile Mapping content becomes easy, the company said. Any challenge of volume and performance is tackled by the Orbit Publisher. Users can measure, copy any measurement into QGIS, and overlay QGIS features on the Mobile Mapping imagery.
u‑blox, a global leader in wireless and positioning modules and chips, today announced plans to launch modules supporting Category M1 (Cat M1) LTE networks, which will allow a larger number of devices to connect to the Internet of Things (IoT).
The first SARA‑R4 module developed by u‑blox will be available in Q4 2016 targeting mobile network operators in the United States market. With the recently launched SARA‑N2, the world’s first cellular NB‑IoT module, the new LTE Cat M1 complements u‑blox’s extensive product offering for the IoT.
Along with NB‑IoT, LTE Cat M1 is part of the new 3GPP Release 13 standard supporting low power wide area (LPWA) technologies in the licensed spectrum and is designed for IoT applications with low to medium data throughput rates, as well as devices that require long battery lifetimes.
Additionally, M1’s vehicular handover capability delivers the technology necessary to support vehicle, asset and people tracking. It also supports lower latency applications and a data rate of 375 kbps in half duplex mode and 1 mbps in full duplex mode.
The market focus for the LTE Cat M1 technology is extensive and will cover applications in many areas, such as the smart home, security systems, industrial monitoring and control, asset tracking, telematics, connected health, smart metering, smart cities, and wearables.
“u‑blox is a global leader in developing cellular modules designed for IoT applications,“ said Moti Tabulo, product manager of cellular at u‑blox. “We are excited to add LTE Cat M1 modules to our LPWA product portfolio. We will now be able to offer our customers both LTE Cat M1 and NB‑IoT modules.”
The SARA‑R4 modules follow u‑blox’s “nested design” philosophy to maintain form factor and software continuity. This allows customers to easily upgrade their products with each new generation of u‑blox wireless modules without having to change their PCB designs. Such easy migration maximizes investment return, simplifies logistics and drastically reduces time‑to‑market, u-blox said.
The first module out of the SARA‑R4 series will be available in Q4 2016.
Emergency preparedness company McMurdo has launched a new family of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) that will accelerate the search-and-rescue process by combining multiple frequencies — including GNSS — into a single EPIRB product.
The McMurdo SmartFind and Kannad SafePro EPIRBs are distress beacons that can support each of the four frequencies used in the search-and-rescue process: GNSS for location positioning, 406 MHz and 121.5 MHz for beacon transmission, and Automatic Identification System (AIS) for localized connectivity.
The multiple-frequency capability will ensure faster detection, superior positioning accuracy, greater signal reliability and, ultimately, accelerated rescue of people or vessels in distress, the company said.
Expanded satellite connectivity. McMurdo SmartFind and Kannad SafePro EPIRBs have a multiple GNSS satellite constellation receiver supporting Galileo (once the constellation is fully operational), GPS and GLONASS — from a single beacon. Advanced GNSS data processing results in faster detection of positioning coordinates and enhances the accuracy of the emergency location.
Most of today’s EPIRBs use 406 MHz and 121.5 MHz frequencies via satellite communication to provide location and positioning data to global search and rescue personnel who may be several hundred miles away.
The additional AIS channels on the new McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS and Kannad SafePro AIS EPIRBs will send position signal information to standard AIS electronic equipment on nearby vessels for complementary, local tracking and rescue capabilities. This global and local rescue capability will result in quicker signal detection and faster response times.
The McMurdo SmartFind and Kannad SafePro EPIRBs are part of McMurdo’s comprehensive search and rescue ecosystem. As the world’s provider of an end-to-end search and rescue ecosystem — including distress beacons, satellite ground stations, mission control and rescue coordination systems, and rescue response products — McMurdo builds, integrates and tests products as part of a live search and rescue system. This ensures greater cohesion between distress signal transmission and reception so that beacon owners can feel confident that their signals will get to search and rescue authorities quickly.
MEOSAR compatibility. The McMurdo SmartFind and Kannad SafePro EPIRBs are designed to be fully compatible with MEOSAR, the next generation of the Cospas-Sarsat international search-and-rescue satellite system that has helped to save over 40,000 lives since 1982. MEOSAR will increase the speed and accuracy of beacon signal detection and location with new MEOSAR ground network infrastructure and additional MEOSAR satellites.
When fully deployed, a MEOSAR-compatible beacon can be located with an accuracy of location within 100 meters (328 feet), 95 percent of the time — and within five minutes of distress signal activation, all without reliance on GNSS.
McMurdo manufactures approximately 50 percent of the world’s MEOSAR infrastructure and is also leading the design of additional MEOSAR-capable beacons under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program’s HELIOS project.
“McMurdo’s new EPIRB announcement is a major step towards achieving a unified search-and-rescue vision,” said Bruce Reid, CEO of the International Maritime Rescue Federation. “The convergence of products and systems whether AIS and 406 MHz or maritime domain awareness and search and rescue, respectively, will require a comprehensive understanding of the entire search and rescue ecosystem. I look forward to seeing more McMurdo solutions and innovations that will shape the search and rescue industry for years to come.”
The McMurdo SmartFind and Kannad SafePro distress beacons support beacon transmission, GNSS for location positioning, and AIS for localized connectivity.
