GPS World

Category: GNSS

  • South Korea, Thales to develop SBAS for aviation

    South Korea and France’s Thales Group will jointly develop an advanced Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) for GPS by 2021.

    The country’s state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) will sign a $40 million deal with Thales Group on Oct. 26, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

    The new SBAS, dubbed KASS (Korean Augmentation Satellite System), especially will help reduce errors in aviation GPS, which currently occur at a rate of one in 5 million and by up to 16 meters horizontally and 20 meters vertically.

    “By reducing the error and providing more accurate location of aircraft by using satellites, the SBAS is expected to help set the shortest air route possible while also helping reduce the cost of fuel for flights and thus expanding their capacities,” the ministry said in a press release.

    A separate agreement will be signed with the European Aviation Safety Agency to jointly verify the new GPS augmentation system following its development.

    KASS will rely on EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System) developed by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the European Commission, with the European Space Agency (ESA) as contracting authority. The EGNOS system is operating in Europe since 2009 for Safety of Life services.

    South Korea will initially be using KASS to provide aeronautical applications, including Safety of Life services so that it can be used during different flight phases, especially landings. It will eventually extend these services to other applications, including maritime, road and rail.

    “Our first export success with this sophisticated and powerful navigation system is the upshot of Thales Alenia Space’s involvement with Europe’s satnav projects since the outset, in 1996,” said Jean Loïc Galle, president and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “We are drawing on 20 years of experience to help the Korean space agency, and allow government bodies in the country to develop applications that will improve its people’s comfort and safety for all types of transportation.”

    Thales Alenia Space’s contract with KARI concerns the supply of the ground infrastructure. It will initially operate via a relay provided by an existing geostationary satellite, and it will be interoperable with other SBAS worldwide, which guarantee air traffic safety when planes move between different zones. KARI and Thales Alenia Space will be applying an approach based on partnership, which means that an integrated French-Korean team will be in charge of the project.

  • 4 Galileos ‘topped off’ for November launch

    4 Galileos ‘topped off’ for November launch

    Fueling operations have begun with the four Galileo spacecraft to be launched Nov. 17 from French Guiana. This will be launch contractor Arianespace’s first launch using its Ariane 5 rocket to deploy Europe’s constellation of navigation satellites.

    Fueling operations of Galileo spacecraft. (Photo: Arianespace)
    Fueling operations of Galileo spacecraft. (Photo: Arianespace)

    The fueling activity is now underway in the Spaceport’s S3B payload preparation facility. One of the first to be processed is named “Antonianna,” after an Italian child who won a European Commission Galileo drawing competition — with one winner selected from each member state of the European Union.

    Weighing between 715 kg. and 717 kg. each, the quartet of Galileo satellites will have a combined liftoff mass of 2,865 kg., and they will be deployed by Ariane 5 into circular orbit during a mission lasting just under four hours.

    The Ariane 5 launch, designated Flight VA233 in Arianespace’s numbering system, is set for a morning departure from the Spaceport on Nov. 17 at an exact liftoff time of 10:06:48 a.m. in French Guiana (13:06:48 p.m. Universal Time — UTC).

    Flight VA233 will mark Arianespace’s first use of its heavy-lift Ariane 5 to loft Galileo satellites, following seven previous missions with the company’s medium-lift Soyuz. The Soyuz vehicles carried a pair of Galileo spacecraft on each flight, delivering a total of 14 navigation satellites into orbit since 2011.

    Galileo is an important infrastructure program for Europe, creating a civil global satellite navigation system that provides highly accurate positioning with great precision and reliability.

    Fueling operations of Galileo spacecraft. (Photo: Arianespace)
    Fueling operations of Galileo spacecraft. (Photo: Arianespace)

    This program is funded and owned by the European Union, with overall responsibility for management and implementation held by the European Commission. The European Space Agency has been assigned design and development of the new generation of systems and infrastructure for Galileo.

    OHB System in Bremen, Germany built the rectangular-shaped satellites, which are sized at 2.7 x 1.2 x 1.1 meters, with their navigation payloads provided by Surrey Satellite Technology in the United Kingdom.

     

  • How to dissolve funding logjams in Congress

    [Editor’s note: This is the Signals Leadership Award acceptance speech given by Clark Cohen at GPS World’s 2016 Leadership Dinner in September. The Award was recognized the development of alternates to GPS based on communication satellites: a method for adding high-accuracy ranging capability to Iridium by modifying the transmitted signal structure of an already flying, programmable constellation. ]

    Thank you GPS World, industry sponsors, and colleagues who engaged in the selection process. I appreciate the honor.

    The Advanced Waveform was the second and most ambitious broadcast that we developed for the DoD-sponsored iGPS program. It is a wide-bandwidth (10 MHz maximum spectrum allocation), near-white, high-power broadcast with independently resolvable code and carrier capable of illuminating regions of the world at any time. Yet Iridium was never designed for navigation.

    I am grateful to the Naval Research Lab, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Boeing, and Iridium for their support. Also, many capable people comprised our team. Completeness is impossible, but I’ll highlight the efforts of Dick Cervisi, Kamran Ghassemi, Ann Stevens, Robert Scholl, Tom Guffey, Bernie McCormick and Mark Psiaki.

    The commercial Iridium constellation is built on billions of dollars of private capital. Meanwhile, the iGPS overlay required Congressional appropriation. But if the technical part weren’t challenging enough, the politics were, in my view, a bit too hard.

    My topic is the future of public-private partnerships. Such partnerships include the GPS space and ground segments and most other government projects. Our broken, inflexible Congress is not helping. My answer here for the family dinner table is not political — it’s structural, non-partisan, systems engineering.

    We can do better than handicapped innovation, winner-take-all procurements, Nunn-McCurdy triggers, continuing resolutions, debt-limit brinksmanship and government shut-downs. This is not to judge people. Good people are operating under imperfect rules.

    House elections now resemble a stuck, one-bit, analog-to-digital converter. Hundreds of individual races, cumulate the equivalent of input noise and bias, rendering the House largely unresponsive to voters. Consent of the governed demands a healthy, moderating feedback loop from people to representatives to laws and back. Cutting this loop spells trouble.

    A major root cause of dysfunction is winner-take-all, single-member districts. Geographical voting made sense in the 18th century. But in an increasingly complex, connected world, where you live is no longer a stand-in for what you think.

    We need to start dissolving district boundaries themselves. An elegant approach is aggregating adjacent single-member districts into larger multi-winner “super districts” with three to five members each. A refinement called Ranked Choice Voting eliminates spoiler hazard and incentivizes positive campaigns. No change to the Constitution is needed — only passing a law.

    We should reset our expectations. Congress should be able to pass the nation’s budget on time every time. We don’t need drama around GPS modernization, backup terrestrial navigation, and spectrum protection. And America should boldly pioneer aspirational, cathedral-and-moonshot-scale, public-private initiatives.

    Working hard and playing by the rules implies a value-added, positive-sum relationship with society. But to the extent that the rules are imperfect, don’t vestiges of zero-sum exchange imply collateral damage somewhere in society? Voters are rebelling by the millions. We should pay attention. America’s defining Revolutionary War was fought over taxation without representation.

    Whether applied to sword or plowshare, precision feedback from GPS provides guidance to help minimize collateral damage. Updated voting rules will do the same for the nation. Everyone benefits from more efficient and effective execution. Yet perhaps our greatest harvest — should we choose to claim it for ourselves and our children — will follow from sowing new seeds of discovery and innovation through public-private partnerships on a vast and visionary scale.

     

  • Research: GNSS receiver fingerprinting

    The U.S. Department of Transportation booth at ITS America focused on the connected car.
    The U.S. Department of Transportation booth at ITS America focused on the connected car.

    GNSS Receiver Fingerprinting for Security-Enhanced Applications

     
    By Daniele Borio, Ciro Gioia, Gianmarco Baldini and Joaquim Fortuny, European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate E: Space, Security & Migration. Presented at ION GNSS+, September 2016.

    GNSS data faking is similar to node forgery in a wireless network: A simulator or another device can be used to impersonate an actual GNSS receiver in a system which uses GNSS services. In this way, misleading Position, Velocity and Time (PVT) information can be send to the final PVT user in the system. To mitigate the risk of GNSS data faking, GNSS receiver fingerprinting can be adopted in security-enhanced applications to verify, at least to a certain extent, the authenticity of GNSS data.

    For example, the injection of GNSS fake data in an Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) vehicle platform could be identified using GNSS receiver fingerprinting.

    This paper investigates the potential of receiver clock bias and drift as sources of features for fingerprinting. In particular, several features, including Allan Deviation (ADEV), maximum and Root Mean Square (RMS) Time Interval Error (TIE) and correlation of the clock time series, have been investigated. The potential of the different features has been empirically investigated. It shows that three features are sufficient to discriminate the different receiver types. In particular, the ADEV and the Maximum TIE (MTIE) at 1 second, and the correlation value at 20 seconds have been selected for fingerprinting. These features allow one to effectively cluster the different receiver types and to build a “white list” for receiver identification.

  • Raytheon, US Air Force complete GPS OCX test milestone

    Raytheon, US Air Force complete GPS OCX test milestone

    Raytheon has reached another milestone in its development of the U.S. Air Force’s Global Positioning System Next Generation Operational Control System, known as GPS OCX. This new system offers significant improvements to the GPS on which the U.S. military and millions of civilians rely, including enhanced availability, accuracy and security.

    OCX’s development is delivered in “blocks,” with Block 0 comprising the Launch and Checkout System to take GPS III satellites into early orbit. Block 1 is built on Block 0 and delivers the full OCX capability, which allows the Air Force to transition from its current GPS ground controls to the modernized and secure GPS OCX master control station.

    Testing demonstrates end-to-end functional checkout, integration of Block 1 capabilities.(Image: Raytheon)
    Testing demonstrates end-to-end functional checkout, integration of Block 1 capabilities.(Image: Raytheon)

    Raytheon recently completed a series of Risk Reduction functional checkouts of OCX Block 1 capabilities, with a focus on OCX software. This latest development activity integrated iteration 1.5 of the OCX Block 1 Master Control Station with the GPS System Simulator and ran operational scenarios, representing the first end-to-end integration of available Block 1 capabilities. The testing included GPS constellation management and sustainment, demonstrating OCX’s abilities for precision navigation and timing capabilities in a fully cyber-hardened environment.

    The test included running Kalman filters and generating GPS satellite navigation uploads. The completion of the Risk Reduction functional checkout informs and benefits future OCX development efforts. Future development will add to the existing capability and expand capability to include both the civil and military modernized signals.

    The U.S. Air Force-led GPS Modernization Program will yield new positioning, navigation and timing capabilities for both the U.S. military and civilian users across the globe. GPS OCX is being developed by Raytheon under contract to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, which is replacing the current GPS operational control system.

    GPS OCX provides a number of significant modernized capabilities for GPS users, including robust cybersecurity and deployment of jam-resistant, operational military code, or M-code. The OCX Launch and Checkout System provides an early delivery of much of the overall block 1 OCX capability, and will support the GPS III satellite launches.

  • Intergeo 2016 is buzzing

    Intergeo 2016 is buzzing

    Yes, there are drones everywhere. Drones of every size from mini electronic insects to a rather nice Zeppelin remake that is cruising around Hall 4 at the Hamburg Messe. Will Intergeo 2016 mark “peak drone?” I’m thinking not.

    The two main drivers of this year’s Intergeo conference are digitization and smart data, including Building Information Modelling (BIM). Hamburg itself is working at becoming a smart city, and the role of geodata and geospatial information is key to achieving the city planners dream of fast and efficient services for its “e-citizens.”

    Remarkably, this key role is not always initially appreciated by ‘smart city’ innovators. Nigel Clifford, CEO of the UK’s venerable Ordnance Survey pointed out in the plenary conference session that the perception of the value derived from geospatial data is changing as location data “uniquely unlocks value in others’ data.” He also coined the term Geovation – something we will be hearing more about in years to come I am sure.

    At the Trends in GNSS Positioning session, I was surprised to hear (or at least this how the translation came over) that both Herbert Landau of Trimble Terrasat GmbH and Bernhard Richter of Leica Geosystems were suggesting that if you bought their latest RTK/ PPP systems, you would never need to buy another one! Both had similar reasons: their systems had a “gazillion channels” for receiving positioning data, were equipped for multiple communication modes (terrestrial and satellite-based), had low power requirements but powerful computing on board, were easily portable, and the fact that in the near future some 120-140 GNSS satellites would be in the sky. This plethora of signals and multiple frequencies will allow a whole range of new possibilities.

    Along these lines, NavCom Technology announced the release of its Onyx multi-frequency GNSS OEM board. Offering integrated StarFire/RTK GNSS capabilities, Onyx features 255-channel tracking, including multi-constellation support for GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo.

    Galileo Coming On Strong. Talking of new signals in space, what is the news on Galileo Initial Services?  Reinhard Blasi of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) gave an update at the conference, and we can expect to see Initial Services by “the end of 2016.” Reinhard thinks that once services are established, Galileo will be in a leading position as GPS is between system upgrades and the E5 signal has some unique features.

    Figure 2.2: Normalized autocorrelation functions for different modulations: BPSK of GPS L1, BOC of Galileo E1 with simplified demodulation4, CBOC of Galileo E1 and AltBOC of Galileo E5 signals5. Source: [Silva et al., 2012]
    Figure 2.2: Normalized autocorrelation functions for different modulations: BPSK of GPS L1,
    BOC of Galileo E1 with simplified demodulation4, CBOC of Galileo E1 and AltBOC of Galileo E5
    signals5. Source: [Silva et al., 2012]
    Galileo for Mass Market. This belief was supported at the ceremony for the Young Surveyors competition organised by the Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (CLGE) at the end of the first day at Intergeo. In the Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus category the winner was Cecile Deprez from the University of Liege. She had looked at the possibilities for greater precision in mass market applications that might be possible by accessing the Galileo E5 AltBLOC. And the answer is yes it can. In fact she described the performance as “outstanding” compared to other GNSS signals. Which is probably fair comment.

    See what you think. Along with Desprez “Relative Positioning with Galileo E5 AltBOC Code Measurements,” you can find all the papers entered for the award on the CLGE website: http://www.clge.eu.

     

  • Riegl lidar sensors and systems unveiled

    Riegl lidar sensors and systems unveiled

    Riegl gave an overview and demos of its lidar sensors and systems product range at Intergeo, with recent developments and latest product unveilings:

    The VQ-1560i Dual Lidar Channel Airborne Laser Scanning SystemThe VQ-1560i Dual Lidar Channel Airborne Laser Scanning System, designed for airborne surveying missions from ultra-wide area, high-altitude mapping to mapping of complex urban environments and city modeling. This is the latest advancement of the ultra wide-area, high altitude airborne mapping system LMS-Q1560 that is in current operation at institutions, service providers, and research organizations worldwide.

    The VQ-1560i has a fully integrated high-performance Applanix IMU and GNSS receiver suited for a variety of airborne surveying missions from ultra-wide area, high altitude mapping to mapping of complex urban environments and city modeling.

    Two linear lidar channels, each enabling the recognition of several targets per laser pulse, provide an  laser pulse repetition rate of up to 2 MHz and deliver up to 1.33 million measurements per second on the ground. The system allows data acquisition at a  range of point densities from 2 pts/sqm up to more than 60 pts/sqm at operating flight altitudes of up to 15,500 ft AGL.

    The VQ-1560i provides online data processing as well as smart and full waveform recording similarly and enables multiple-time-around (MTA) processing of up to 20 pulses in the air simultaneously. The optional system configuration consists of a fully integrated, easy accessible Phase One medium format camera and is prepared for the integration of a secondary camera such as monochrome or infrared.

    The miniVUX-1UAV Lidar Sensor

    The miniVUX-1UAV Lidar Sensor, an entry-level addition to Riegl’s UAV-based lidar sensor portfolio. The miniVUX-1UAV is a very compact miniaturized 360 degrees field of view lidar sensor weighing 1.6 kilograms and especially developed for the implementation of emerging survey solutions by small UAS/UAV/RPAS. The new sensor offers multi-target capability and accuracy using echo digitization and online waveform processing for data acquisition.

    The sensor is capable of 100,000 measurements per second and offers an operating altitude of 100+ meters. Its small size and  low weight make it well suited for mounting under limited weight and space conditions, allowing UAV-based acquisition of survey-grade measurement data from agriculture & forestry, archaeology and cultural heritage documentation, to glacier and snowfield mapping and landslide monitoring.

    riegl_bathycopter_with_bdf-wThe BDF-1 Bathymetric Depth Finder, fully integrated to Riegl’s Bathycopter and designed for generating profiles of inland water bodies. The BDF-1 is a compact and lightweight bathymetric depth finder optimized for UAV-borne operation.  The topo-bathymetric depth finder comprises tilt compensation, an IMU/GNSS unit with antenna, a control unit, a data storage unit, and can be equipped with up to two external digital cameras. Riegl’s new hydrographic full waveform processing delivers highly accurate, reliable and informative data; pre-detection averaging allows essential performance improvement at adverse conditions.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Ariane 5 ready for first payload of Galileo satellites

    Ariane 5 ready for first payload of Galileo satellites

    The first Ariane 5 launcher to orbit Galileo navigation satellites has completed its initial build-up in French Guiana, continuing preparations for Arianespace’s Nov. 17 mission from the spaceport to deploy four more Galileo satellites, according to launch contractor.

    The Ariane 5 vehicle equipment bay is shown being lowered into position on the main cryogenic stage in preparation for Flight VA233, the launch of four Galileo satellites. (Photo: Arianespace)
    The Ariane 5 vehicle equipment bay is shown being lowered into position on the main cryogenic stage in preparation for Flight VA233, the launch of four Galileo satellites. (Photo: Arianespace)

    During activity in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building, the heavy-lift vehicle for Arianespace Flight VA233 underwent the assembly process that began by mating Ariane 5’s two solid propellant strap-on boosters with the main cryogenic stage.

    The next step was integration of the launcher’s vehicle equipment bay as well as the installation of Ariane 5’s EPS storable propellant stage.

    From launcher integration to final assembly

    After completion of verifications and systems checkout by production prime contractor Airbus Safran Launchers, the Ariane 5 will be moved to the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building — where Arianespace takes authority for payload integration and launch.

    Ariane 5’s vehicle equipment bay is hoisted for integration in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building, in preparation for Flight VA233, the launch of four Galileo satellites. (Photo: Arianespace)
    Ariane 5’s vehicle equipment bay is hoisted for integration in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building, in preparation for Flight VA233, the launch of four Galileo satellites. (Photo: Arianespace)

    The EPS storable propellant upper stage is powered by a re-ignitable engine that operates with MMH and N2O4 propellants. It differentiates Flight VA233’s launcher from the Ariane 5 ECA versions, which have a cryogenic upper stage and are typically used on Arianespace missions to geostationary transfer orbits with telecommunications satellites.

    For Flight VA233, the Ariane 5 ES will carry the quartet of Galileo satellites (weighing 738 kg. each) and their 447-kg. dispenser system to medium-Earth orbit, for deployment at an altitude of approximately 23,222 km.

    The upcoming Ariane 5 launch will mark the initial utilization of Ariane 5 in deploying Galileo constellation satellites. Flight VA233 will continue Arianespace’s support of the global positioning satellite system, following seven missions performed with the company’s medium-lift Soyuz that carries a pair of Galileo spacecraft on each flight. Seven Soyuz missions have delivered a total of 14 navigation satellites into orbit since 2011.

    Galileo is a key effort for Europe, offering highly accurate positioning with great precision and reliability via a civil global satellite navigation system. The program is funded and owned by the European Union, with overall responsibility for management and implementation held by the European Commission. Design and development of the new generation of systems and infrastructure has been assigned to the European Space Agency.

    The spacecraft to be launched on Flight VA233 were built by OHB System in Bremen, Germany, with their navigation payloads provided by Surrey Satellite Technology in the United Kingdom. Airbus Defence and Space developed the dispenser system that will carry and deploy the satellites from Ariane 5.

  • Geodata key to new business world, says Intergeo report

    Geodata key to new business world, says Intergeo report

    Geodata is key to the digital future and a 4.0 business world, according to a new report released at InterGeo in Hamburg, Germany. At the heart of this business vision is the networking of sensors that must have location data in order to fulfill their value.

    ausgabeThe 116-page Intergeo Report, in parallel German and English, includes sections on smart cities, public participation, autonomous driving with live mapping, and surveying on the open seas. An eight-page GNSS Update section features CEOs answering questions market focus of their GNSS products, the role of geo-referencing in the Internet of Things, the coming-of-age of precise point positioning (PPP), and the opportunities for GNSS opened up by autonomous driving.

    Access to company-specific geodata offers managers in the automotive industry a competitive ad- vantage. Apps show today’s motorists the way to the nearest electrical charging station. Soon, the same motorists will talk to their on-board computer to find a parking space. It will guide them instantly to the nearest free space. Geoinformation will then no longer just be found in the satnav but also in the integrated sensor in the road paving infrastructure and in the status reports of other road users.

    Networking Everything. The Internet of Things is taking shape and permeating all areas of life. At its center are the tiny pieces of information that assign coordinates to a parking space, a loading berth for a container ship, a screw in the shelves of a supplier’s warehouse, or the alarm system of a family home. Degrees, minutes and seconds show people the way, answer a range of questions and help make informed decisions. Geoinformation is both an asset and an essential source of information.

    Content Is King. Key companies in the geoinformation sector have naturally taken onboard the value of geoinformation. It forms the basis of their business activities. The use of geodata as added value for their products is still very new. Esri realized early in the sector that selling software is no longer sufficient on its own. Only data enables customers to harness the value of products. Cloud solutions store the mountains of data, while platforms deliver the answers.

    Such new business leading lights as AirBnB, Uber, Facebook and Google could not survive without geoinformation. It is part of increasingly intelligent systems that make users’ lives a little easier and more comfortable, optimizing processes and enabling people to operate and participate in ways that were previously impractical or impossible.

    The examples are myriad. Consider just a few. Digitally aided planning and construction in building information modeling not only streamlines processes and reduces costs, it enables public participation in planning procedures, using digital models of planned reality. Aerial surveys and data gathering by UAV, not only for traditional survey needs but for growing requirements in natural resource planning and management, infrastructure inspection and maintenance, surveillance and security, and more. Guidance systems for the blind.

    All require location data. GNSS (satnav) is the core supplier of this data, but must be augmented by other technologies in special environments.

    Releasing Geodata Pays Dividends. Managers of geodata realize they need to release it in order for it to lead them to “more” – more value, more benefits, more transparency, more importance. Geoinformation and digitization are inextricably interlinked, and this is just the beginning.

  • Are you experienced? Tell us about jamming, spoofing, RF interference encounters

    We talk a lot about — and publish a lot of technical articles about — GPS/GNSS jamming, spoofing and unintentional RF interference in GPS World magazine and on this website. Clearly it is an emerging and potentially huge problem. How much of it goes on right now?  Tell us very briefly (10 seconds it will take) if You are experienced with these incidents.

    One week only! Final results will be collected on October 18 and published in the November issue of the magazine.

    Answer now, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift card. Go to env-gpsworld-integration.kinsta.cloud/septpoll now!

  • Live from Intergeo 2016

    GPS World staff is reporting from Intergeo Oct. 11-13 in Hamburg, Germany. The massive trade show is considered the world’s leading conference trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation and land management. With more than 16,000 visitors from 80 countries, it is one of the key platforms for industry dialogue.

    NEWS

    NovAtel’s RTK Assist provides 20 minutes of accuracy

    Hemisphere GNSS offers Eclipse P328 OEM positioning board

    SenseFly introduces eBee Plus professional mapping drone

    TerraGo Edge and GeoPDF demonstrated at Intergeo

    BLOG: Intergeo 2016 is buzzing, by Tim Reynolds (10/12)

    REPORT: Sensor integration key at InterGeo, by Alan Cameron (10/12)

    Applanix announces POSPac MMS 8 for high-accuracy mobile mapping (10/12)

    Riegl lidar sensors and systems unveiled (10/12)

    Geodata key to new business world, says InterGeo report (10/11)

    New software upgradeable GNSS OEM board announced by NavCom (10/11)

    Firmware update for inertial Ekinox and Apogee sensors (10/11)

    Swift Navigation offers multi-band, multi-constellation receiver (10/10)

    VIDEO PLAYLIST

  • GSA releases first GNSS User Technology Report

    What lies ahead in the GNSS chipset and receiver domain, and what are the trends sure to transform the GNSS landscape of tomorrow? To answer those questions, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) has released its first GNSS User Technology Report.

    In recent years, GNSS technology has experienced a period of rapid development — both on the side of global constellations and user receivers. With this development, European systems such as EGNOS and Galileo are becoming increasingly present in GNSS receivers, providing enhanced performance to users both in Europe and worldwide. Even with the increased deployment of other positioning technologies, because it is the most widespread and cost-effective source of location information, GNSS will remain at the core of all positioning technology.

    “In view of the changing user needs in terms of expected positioning experiences, the appearance of new and modernized GNSS signals, and advances in semiconductor technologies, we felt the need to take a closer look at the impact these changes will have on user technology and GNSS’ role in the positioning solutions of the future,” said GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides.

    A closer look

    The outcome of this closer look is the GSA’s first GNSS User Technology Report. As a sister publication to the GNSS Market Report, the GNSS User Technology Report zeros in on the state-of-the-art GNSS receiver technology, along with analyzing the trends that are sure to change the entire GNSS landscape.

    The report provides an in-depth analysis of GNSS user technology as it pertains to:

    • mass-market solutions
    • transport safety and liability-critical solutions
    • high-precision, timing and asset management solutions.

    In addition, the report gives a general overview of the latest GNSS receiver technology, common to all application areas, along with a supplement on location technologies that looks beyond GNSS in the positioning landscape.

    Written with contributions from leading GNSS receiver and chipset manufacturers, the GNSS User Technology Report is meant to serve as a valuable tool to support planning and decision-making in regards to developing, purchasing and using GNSS user technology.

    “GNSS user technology is, now more than ever, experiencing a rapid and exciting evolution, answering the needs of ubiquity, automation and secure positioning,” said des Dorides. “This report explores in detail all of these new developments and how they will bring continuous location service, reliability and robustness to the main application domains.”

    Among the findings:

    • Nearly 65 percent of all chipsets and modules currently on the market support multiple constellations.
    • Within the next few years, it is expected that 100 percent of all new devices will be multi-constellation capable.
    • The leaders in multi-constellation capability are mass-market receivers and high-accuracy professional receivers, with nearly 30 percent already capable of using the four available global constellations.
    • Receivers targeting such safety-critical applications as aviation must wait for new technologies to be proven and new standards or regulations to become available before implementing them.
    • In terms of supported frequencies, 30% of all receivers implement more than one frequency, mostly in high precision.
    • With the increasing demand for better resilience across all applications, the need for higher accuracy and integrity that automation demands, adoption of dual-frequency solutions (E1/L1 + E5/L5) is expected to grow.
    • In the mass market, the chipset supply chain is extremely consolidated, with a few players worldwide driving innovation.
    • For liability and safety-critical transport solutions, a consolidated industry with an important European presence dominates innovation in automotive, maritime and aviation, while new players are expected to emerge in such new applications as autonomous vehicles.
    • In high precision, timing and asset management, the suppliers are specialized in various professional fields, although their products are based on a relatively low number of GNSS chipsets.

    The report is free and can be downloaded here.