Category: Mobile

The latest tech fights for GNSS resilience

Architecture of the X-Survey antenna. (Image: Harxon)

Blocking interference

Interference can be blocked at the data-collection stage, using an advanced antenna.

Harxon’s X-Survey is a compact high-precision GNSS antenna. It provides superior navigation and communication performance in surveying applications. A frontal band-pass filter setting effectively rejects out-of-band signals before they enter the low-noise amplifier of the antenna for signal augmentation.

Meanwhile, the filter itself has insertion loss, making a low insertion loss filter a prerequisite for optimal system noise reduction. To avoid this situation, X-Survey employs ceramic filter with low signal loss and in-band flatness to significantly improve system anti-interference capability and ensure reliable signal receiving.

The mosaic module provides AIM+ mitigation technology. (Image: Septentrio)

See also:

How resilient PNT protects global networks from attack or failure

Is internet time good enough for cybersecurity?

Resilient receivers

Septentrio began to tackle the interference problem more than 20 years go, designing and manufacturing high-precision GNSS receiver technology with emphasis on reliability and robustness. The result is Advanced Interference Monitoring and Mitigation (AIM+) technology which secures the company’s GNSS receivers against jamming and spoofing interference. AIM+ has recently been upgraded with an extended anti-spoofing functionality.

Building on its existing spoofing detection, Septentrio has developed a new anti-spoofing algorithm for its commercial receivers. The algorithm leverages Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) for spoofing resistance. It was developed in the framework of the GSA FANTASTIC project with the goal of improving the security of timing in critical infrastructure.

Mobile devices and cloud applications increasingly rely on GNSS technology used by telecom companies. Having secure and robust GNSS receivers in telecom infrastructure is key to reliable mobile and positioning services.

Alternative signals

Prototype design of the PNT-5500. (Image: Jackson Labs)

A new reference receiver, Jackson Labs’ PNT-5500, includes a custom Satelles/Iridium (STL) and GPS receiver, and an optional Edge Grandmaster/PTP1588 capability.

Using STL signals received directly through a small antenna mounted on the device, the PNT-5500 provides nanosecond timing synchronization in GPS-challenged environments, including deep indoors (no rooftop antenna required). It provides secure timing during GPS jamming and spoofing events. The unit is designed for high-volume, low-cost telecom small-cell synchronization, and is optionally available with holdover oscillators such as DOCXO and CSAC atomic clocks.

While GPS is vulnerable to jamming and spoofing, the PNT-5500 uses the Iridium infrastructure to provide assured timing that is impervious to spoofing and provides 1,000X higher signal strength compared to GPS, producing jamming resilience and deep-indoor reception. The system is designed to be fully interoperable with legacy equipment, for a low-cost, fully-deployed Assured PNT capability alternative to GNSS today.

Assessing vulnerability

Image: Qascom

Qascom offers several robust PNT services and products, including vulnerability assessment, robust navigation and interference localization.

Vulnerability assessment is the key proactive measure, using cutting-edge signal generators to design and test tomorrow’s receivers. For example, Qascom’s QA707 GNSS simulator tests receivers against emerging jamming and spoofing threats, allowing OEMs to discover in advance any potential vulnerability that may affect the availability and the integrity of the signal.

Robust navigation is supported by advanced mitigation algorithms, equipped with pre and post-correlation algorithms, as well as the inclusion of sensor fusion and dead-reckoning features.

Qascom’s attack detection products include external monitoring networks that support GNSS receivers. These networks provide an accurate perception of the operational environment, allowing threat characterization, classification and forecast. For instance, Qascom’s QB100 enables the simultaneous threat detection and localization by means of a monitoring cluster that delivers 24/7 situational awareness to a set of target receivers within the protection area.

Reliable timing

Meinberg provides GNSS timing solutions for nearly every application type. Its reliable systems are based on firmware built from the ground up by an in-house team of expert engineers. All Meinberg firmware is constantly checked and updated to ensure it adapts to evolving industry standards.

The company’s synchronization systems use a built-in Meinberg GPS receiver or combined GPS/GLONASS clock. They also support a broad range of reference time sources, including 1 PPS, 10 MHz, inter-range instrumentation group time codes (both direct current level shift and amplitude modulated), or network time protocol (NTP) servers. This redundancy in synchronization sources means Meinberg’s systems are protected against a loss of signal. Furthermore, to ensure the correctness of the reference time and date, an intuitive Secure Hybrid System (SHS) feature includes an independent secondary clock for enhanced plausibility checks.

For superior holdover performance, the Meinberg XHERB (with one or two Rubidium modules from Stanford Research) can be added to the Meinberg Intelligent Modular Synchronization (IMS) time and frequency systems. If the reference clock loses its sync source, the XHE chassis will provide the sync reference for the IMS chassis based on its holdover performance.

June 24, 2019
Is internet time good enough for cybersecurity?

By Jeremy Onyan, Director, TIme Sensitive Networks, Orolia

Cybersecurity is critical to all facets of the internet. Companies spend millions on cybersecurity every year. Still, often-overlooked areas degrade security. A key example of this is time.

Time plays an essential role in synchronizing core business and network systems. It supports authentication protocols as well as accurate log files critical for an audit trail — necessary for any cyber forensics program. As such, synchronization is often a requirement for network security standards.

A deployment of network time protocol (NTP) synchronizes a local system to a time server. The time source can come from within the network or outside of it.

See also:

How resilient PNT protects global networks from attack or failure

The latest tech fights for GNSS resilience

NTP over the internet. NTP time servers are widely available on the internet. National authorities operate internet time servers based on extremely accurate atomic clocks, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or the U.S. Naval Observatory.

But even with these sources, many factors impact traceability. According to ntp.org, “If business, organization or human life depends on having correct time or can be harmed by it being wrong, you shouldn’t ‘just get it off the internet’.”

One problem with time synchronization is the variability of network conditions. Network load, variable path delays and firewall settings can impact time quality on the local system. To illustrate this effect, we can use the time-quality monitoring feature of a time server with a built-in GPS receiver as its reference that is accurate to tens of nanoseconds. NTP can be used to compare it to another GPS time server on a local area network. The offset is around 15-20 microseconds (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The comparison between two GPS time servers on the same LAN using NTP results in 15–20 microseconds offset. (Chart: Orolia)

We connected the SecureSync time server to some of the most popular internet time servers. The variation result, shown in Figure 2, is as high as tens of milliseconds — 1,000 times worse than NTP across a local area network. If we assume all the time servers are accurate, then the difference is solely due to greater path delay and other dynamic conditions. This variation is enough to question the traceability of time from the internet.

Figure 2. The comparison of internet time servers as measured by NTP on a local GPS time server. The scale is 1,000 times greater than in Figure 1. (Chart: Orolia)

The internet obscures time traceability. Perhaps more important for a security-critical network is the validity of the source used by the time server that distributes time to your network. Time from GPS/GNSS signals is recognized as the most accurate, available and traceable time source.

GPS/GNSS-based time servers are easy and simple appliances to add to the local network. Even when different GPS/GNSS time servers are deployed in different locations, they will provide the same time regardless of geography. What’s more, GPS/GNSS as a local time source can be monitored, so its logs can become part of the audit trail.

Of the seven internet time servers monitored over a 24-hour period, 20 different time sources were identified. Less than half of the sources could be identified as coming directly from GPS/GNSS. In one case, GPS/GNSS time was distributed through three different time servers.

The best practice of using NTP server pools is one reason why there are more sources than time servers. Server pools rotate among various internet time servers, each with their own source of time, to reduce the chance of one bad or unavailable time server catastrophically affecting the synchronization. But this is a problem for traceability. The source of time is not known, nor can it even be determined.

Indeterminate source identification, indeterminate accuracy variation and the inability to log the resulting time synchronization calls into question the efficacy of getting time from the internet. Internet time servers are also subject to being spoofed (bad NTP data sent from a faked IP address) and to direct attacks, including NTP poisoning, replay and denial of service.

When there is a business-critical need to trace time to an accurate source, a GPS/GNSS-based time server should be deployed on the local network.

June 24, 2019
Editorial Advisory Board PNT Q&A: Keeping data safe

What is the best way to protect data centers and mobile devices from spoofing and jamming?

Ellen Hall

“After speaking to our head of engineering, Roger Hart, he explained this as something akin to ‘What’s the best way to achieve world peace?’ As the strengths and vulnerabilities of static and mobile devices vary considerably, the best solution will be achieved through a tailored application of algorithms, antenna siting and design, multi-constellation, multi-frequency and non-GNSS inputs.”
Ellen Hall
Spirent Federal Systems

Allison Brown

“Spoofing and jamming presents a very credible threat today to users of GPS for navigation and perhaps the greatest threat is vulnerability within our national infrastructure to spoofing of GPS timing. Congress, recognizing this threat, has tasked the Department of Transportation (DOT) in the National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2017 to provide a backup for the timing component of the GPS. Specifically this backup is to ‘ensure the availability of uncorrupted and non-degraded timing signals for military and civilian users if GPS timing signals are corrupted or otherwise unavailable.’ Although the act directed the DOT that this system should be operational in two years (2019), little progress appears to have yet been made in deploying a backup timing system. This system not only would reduce vulnerability to spoofing for timing users, but could also be used by mobile users for detection of spoofing, allowing for national alerting when jamming or spoofing is detected. These alerts, tied with a quick response mechanism for law enforcement to take action, would provide an effective method for protecting all GPS users nationwide from jamming or spoofing.”
Alison Brown
NAVSYS Corporation

Jean-Marie Sleewaegen

“Take full benefit of multi-frequency multi-constellation redundancy. Perform signal monitoring and authentication using advanced receiver architectures and signal-based protection (e.g., Galileo’s Open Service Navigation Message Authentication). Foresee non-GNSS redundancy to bridge gaps, such as precise clocks for data centers or IMUs for mobile devices.”
Jean-Marie Sleewaegen
Septentrio

Members of the EAB

Tony Agresta
Nearmap

Miguel Amor
Hexagon Positioning Intelligence

Thibault Bonnevie
SBG Systems

Alison Brown
NAVSYS Corporation

Ismael Colomina
GeoNumerics

Clem Driscoll
C.J. Driscoll & Associates

John Fischer
Orolia

Ellen Hall
Spirent Federal Systems

Jules McNeff
Overlook Systems Technologies, Inc.

Terry Moore
University of Nottingham

Bradford W. Parkinson
Stanford Center for Position, Navigation and Time

Jean-Marie Sleewaegen
Septentrio

Michael Swiek
GPS Alliance

Julian Thomas
Racelogic Ltd.

Greg Turetzky
Consultant

June 21, 2019
GPS monitoring and crimes that shouldn’t have happened

Tracy Cozzens

Law enforcement agencies have been quick to adopt GPS monitoring of offenders on parole or awaiting trial. An estimated 300,000 people in the U.S. are wearing ankle bracelets. Proponents say the systems enhance public safety, reduce prison costs and provide social benefits.

However, technology is only as good as the people who use it, as a tragic case from Ohio illustrates. In February 2017, 21-year-old Reagan Tokes was kidnapped and murdered after leaving work in Columbus. The man convicted of killing her had been recently released from prison. Yes, he was wearing a GPS monitor, but no one was tracking his movements until after he robbed six people and killed Tokes.

In response, Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to improve real-time monitoring of parolees by shrinking the workload for parole officers, who now are responsible for 90 to 100 offenders at one time.

In cases in Florida and New York, the system worked as intended and alerts were sent, but authorities took no action. In the Florida case, no one was on duty, despite the suspect having triggered more than 100 alarms.

An offender in Syracuse, New York, was able to remove and reassemble his ankle bracelet in less than a minute, using techniques he learned when he watched the officers put the bracelet on him. Because of numerous false alarms, the monitoring company had set a five-minute limit before officers were notified, at the police department’s request. Having beat the monitoring system, the offender committed a murder.

A nationwide investigation by ABC’s “20/20” news magazine program found at least 50 murders allegedly committed since 2012 by people ordered to wear monitored ankle bracelets.

“Public safety is only as good as the supervising entity we provide our products to,” Jennifer White of monitoring company BI Analytics commented on “20/20.” Criminal justice experts say the monitoring system should not be used for anyone who is a risk to the public.

While policymakers and law-enforcement authorities determine the most effective use of such systems —and how to address issues of monitoring response, overtaxed officers and tight budgets — the monitoring industry continues to improve the “tamper-resistant” devices as well as the services offered.

After all, no one wants to live with a false sense of security.

June 21, 2019
Orolia’s new aircraft emergency beacon uses Galileo service
Orolia’s Kannad Ultima-S emergency locator uses the Galileo Return Link Service. (Photo: Orolia)

Orolia is introducing a new product for commercial aircraft safety, the Kannad Ultima-S emergency locator transmitter (ELT).

The Kannad Ultima-S is designed to be installed in the cabin of commercial aircraft or in its life raft. It is capable of notifying the crew about the launch of a search-and-rescue operation via Galileo Return Link Service (RLS).

For passengers, installation of the Kannad Ultima-S means their flight can located accurately, with rescue following if an aircraft evacuation is needed.

Orolia’s Kannad Ultima-S ELT was developed under a two-year contract through the European GNSS Agency’s Tauceti Project. Orolia says this is the first beacon to use the Galileo RLS.

Other key features include:
- Certified to the new lithium battery regulations to avoid the risk of battery fires.
- A multi-GNSS receiver to accept multiple signals such as GPS and Galileo to detect the aircraft’s
  location faster and deploy rescue teams sooner than before.
- Dual activation modes: manually or automatically upon contact with water.
- An RLS option to notify the crew that the distress signal has been received and help is on the way (available on Galileo).
- Multiple configurations available to install in aircraft cabins and life rafts. With a rugged, compact, and easy-to-install form factor, both versions can be installed through a carry-off bag or a mounting bracket and require little storage room.
Orolia’s Kannad Ultima-S meets new and evolving EASA/FAA requirements related to ELTs and non-rechargeable lithium batteries documented under the RTCA DO-227A standard.

“Orolia is dedicated to making air travel even safer than it is today with resilient positioning and aircraft location technology, featuring automatic, manual and remote activation modes to provide a complete ELT portfolio,” said Christian Belleux, Aviation Product Line director at Orolia. “We are excited to present aircraft operators with an affordable, reliable and state-of-the-art ELT solution for cabin modifications or linefit installations.”

The new ELT benefits from the proven Cospas Sarsat infrastructure, which is being upgraded to provide highly accurate location data and nearly real-time reporting to search-and-rescue operators through global coverage.

Kannad Ultima-S survival distress beacons complement Orolia’s Ultima family of next-generation ELTs, following the company announcement of the Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS)-compliant fixed Ultima-DT. Orolia provides aircraft manufacturers and operators with a complete solution for every ELT application.

Orolia will exhibit at the Paris Air Show June 17-20, Hall 2B booth E32, where both new ELTs will be displayed for the first time.
June 12, 2019
3D location platforms aids hotels, public safety indoors

Orion Labs has released Advanced Location Services, a high-accuracy, carrier-independent 3D location platform delivered via Polaris Wireless.

The service provides enterprises and public safety agencies with pinpoint location, indoors and in high-rise buildings, with floor-level and room-level accuracy, a difficult challenge in such GPS-denied environments.

Orion indoor location example (Screenshot: Orion Labs)

The system enables customers to locate team members on the vertical axis accurate to three meters’ distance, to keep teams better-informed and better-connected, enhance team performance and improve worker safety. It works via Orion Sync, a standalone smart walkie-talkie, or as device as a service, in a smartphone form factor.

“For our hospitality and retail customers, this offers the opportunity to greatly improve guest services and the experience they deliver. For public safety and healthcare customers, the integration has the potential to save lives,” said Jesse Robbins, founder and CEO.

According to co-founder and CTO Greg Albrecht, “With 3D location tracking, hospitality teams can easily pinpoint where their guest service workers are located and identify the right team member for faster guest response for tasks like bringing up clean towels to a guest, fixing a TV or lightbulb in a guestroom, or clearing trays and carts,” he said.

The system also protects lone workers. “When lone workers call for help, security teams can rapidly dispatch assistance without the lone worker needing to explain their location,” Albrecht said. “This is the same kind of technology that first responders are now adopting to accurately and rapidly locate 911 callers facing life-threatening situations.”

Hotel workers suffer work-related incidents at a nearly 50% higher rate than other industries. (Photo: Dean Drobot/Shutterstock.com)

Hotel workers suffer work-related incidents, encompassing physical injuries, medical emergencies, theft and sexual harassment, nearly 50 percent more than is the average across all other industries. Large metropolitan hotels can approximate small cities, with as many as 5,000 rooms, 12,000 guests, and 8,000 employees. Even a moderate-sized hotel can have hundreds of employees scattered across many floors, some remote from central operations. Locating employees quickly is key to preventing or minimizing incidents.

Need maps. A fundamental challenge in developing 3D location awareness indoors is the need for accurate, detailed 3D renderings of the physical buildings themselves.

“For most buildings, this has never been done before and is often an arduous task to accomplish,” Albrecht added. “However, there is a mapping process to allow for precise data points to be leveraged within the Orion platform. It’s a very simple task that can be completed even by the hotel staff at the time of setup. After that, it’s extremely simple to set up teams within the Orion System with a 3D view of their property that they can use.”

The latest integration is undergoing tests at locations in Las Vegas and San Francisco, with more than 50 locations actively using the set-up.

In March, Polaris Wireless, a provider of software-based 3D location solutions to wireless operators, law enforcement and government agencies, and location-based application companies, announced the commercial availability of its high-accuracy carrier-independent 3D location platform for application developers.

In early 2018, Polaris Wireless participated in the CTIA’s Test Bed LLC Stage Z independent vertical location testing in San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago, achieving floor-level accuracy.

June 10, 2019
More than 80 million BeiDou chips sold

Photo: Maridav/Shutterstock.com

When I was a kid, two of my hometown’s burger drive-ins attracted the hungry attention of my sister and myself, causing us to hound our parents to take us “out to dinner” upon the slightest pretext. Only one of them, however, boasted a sign claiming “400 million served.”

This was a staggering number to an eight-year-old. I hypothesized that everyone in the world must have consumed several by now — a very good argument for me to have one tonight.

The desire to provoke similar reasoning could form part of the motivation for the China Satellite Navigation Office to announce that sales of BeiDou-based chips have exceeded 80 million. Ran Chengqi, director of the CSNO, delivered the number in a report on the 10th China Satellite Navigation Conference held in Beijing on May 22.

“It would be stretching a point to say that satnav chips are the burgers of the future, but it’s not an exaggeration to assert that they are becoming a commodity on the world market.”

Now, 80 million falls short of 400 million, but that next hurdle is well within reach, considering the size, potential and explosive growth of the Chinese market, to say nothing of others along the Great Belt and Road, a global development area of infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and organizations in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The BeiDou number pales in comparison to the 3.15 billion units of total GNSS chips that global consumption is expected to hit in 2022. By a reasonable projection, BeiDou-enabled chips will by then constitute a major if not the lion’s share of that number.

Of course, GPS-enabled chips will form a greater majority, if not the totality. All chips will — unless the world radically changes — be GPS-enabled to start, and then have some combination of other GNSS in addition.

Big Numbers. Ran Chengqi further said that 22-nanometer dual-frequency BeiDou chips are ready for commercial applications.

According to the China Global Television Network, 116 new positioning-capable cellphone models applied to enter the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2019; 82 of them carry BeiDou-enabled chips. The latest government report on the scale of China’s satnav industry anticipates it will reach 400 billion yuan (US$ 57.8 billion) by 2020.

The news agency stated that more than six million vehicles in 36 cities use BeiDou; long-distance operations and precision farming help raise output by 5% while saving 10% of fuel costs; and more than 70,000 fishing vessels employ BeiDou’s short messaging service.

BeiDou’s rapid success in a relatively short term echoes that of GPS and GNSS in general. It would be stretching a point to say that satnav chips are the burgers of the future, but it’s not any exaggeration or distortion to assert that they are becoming — if they have not already become — a commodity on the world market.

By the way, those golden arches have since 1994 stopped counting and updating their published burger tally. All the signs simply say “billions and billions served.”

June 6, 2019
Autotalks and Marben join on live V2X demo

Graphic: Autotalks

Autotalks, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications company, has teamed up with Marben for a live V2X demo based on Marben V2X software running on Autotalks’ chipset.

The first live end-to-end global V2X demo will take place at the Autotalks booth (C198) at TU-Automotive Detroit, being held June 5-6 in Novi, Michigan.

The joint demonstration will show V2V applications running using both DSRC and C-V2X standards and leverages the ability of the Autotalks’ chipset to support both.

Autotalks has been cooperating for several years with Marben, a global leader in embedded software solutions for the telecommunication and automotive industries. The joint effort led to the successful integration of Marben’s stack and software application on Autotalks chipset using the C-V2X standard.

The Autotalks solution minimizes development, testing and certification efforts for a V2X system to be deployed anywhere, using a software toggle between V2X technologies. This translates into a huge advantage for OEMs and Tier 1 automakers who benefit from the shortest time to market for a global V2X platform.

The chipset isolates V2X from the non-safety domains, thus providing domain separation and security, scalability and ability to optimize the cost structure of telematic control units (TCUs). The isolation of V2X combined with Autotalks’ recognized cyber security technology enables a secure platform.

“Our agility in maturing the C-V2X solution simultaneously with leveraging our V2X ecosystem partners for this purpose has yielded fast results and offers a clear deployment path for OEMs and Tier 1s alike. We appreciate Marben’s long-standing cooperation and are pleased to demonstrate the first end-to-end dual-mode V2X demo with them,” said Yaniv Sulkes, Autotalks’ VP of business development and marketing in North America and Europe.

Global software communications company Marben has developed a complete ready-to-use V2X software solution including security and several applications that are deployed worldwide. The company’s solution significantly increases road safety, optimizes traffic and contributes to greener mobility.

“We are glad to partner with Autotalks, and showcase this first of a kind demonstration, after our straightforward and quick C-V2X integration,” said Devang Naik, director of software engineering.

The live demo can be seen at the Autotalks booth C198 at TU-Automotive Detroit.

June 3, 2019
Microsemi upgrades TimeProvider for 5G deployments

Photo: Microsemi

Microchip Technology Inc., via its Microsemi subsidiary, has added the TimeProvider 4100 Release 2.0 to its Precision Time Protocol (PTP) PackeTime portfolio.

TimeProvider keeps services operating through GNSS lapses due to vulnerabilities such as jamming, spoofing or loss of signal. It is also designed to meet one of the biggest 5G network deployment challenges —synchronizing higher volumes of more densely packed base stations.

Microchip is also introducing Release 3.0 to its Integrated GNSS Master (IGM) family.

TimeProvider 4100. Release 2.0 adds 10 Gigabit Ethernet support, a boundary clock operation mode that lowers operational costs, and other enhancements to improve how timing flows are distributed from multiple sources to a network’s base stations and other endpoints.

The 72-channel GNSS receiver coupled with Microsemi’s patented active thermal compensation technology provides excellent accuracy of <10 ns RMS to UTC (USNO). With the time source provided through GNSS satellite input, it is essential to provide flexible support for constellations of choice depending on the region. TimeProvider 4100 supports GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, and SBAS in its standard version.

TimeProvider 4100 2.0 with its 10 GE expansion module has been selected by SK Telecom in Korea for its delivery of 5G services in the Seoul metropolitan area and Chungcheong province.

IGM 3.0. For service providers that need to deploy more compact PTP 1588 v2 Grandmasters to fewer base stations closer to the network’s edge, Microchip is also introducing Release 3.0 to its Integrated GNSS Master (IGM) family.

IGM 3.0 combines an IEEE-1588v2 PTP grandmaster with a GNSS receiver and antenna to simplify indoor or outdoor installations. Each of the three IGM 3.0 additions deliver precise time and phase as well as new capabilities enabled by IGM Plus hardware models with enhanced oscillators and GNSS receivers.

The new oscillator options extend time-keeping holdover performance while the enhanced receiver speeds satellite signal acquisition and improves security by accessing more GNSS constellations simultaneously.

The receiver upgrade option supports GPS, Galileo, QZSS and GLONASS, and is Beidou-ready. The IGM 3.0 software includes higher PTP capacity to 60 clients along with IPv6 support for traffic and management flows.

TimeProvider’s Gateway Clock. Extending the TimeProvider 4100’s Gateway Clock operation mode with Microchip’s high-performance boundary clock (HP-BC) operation mode enables it to support the latest high-accuracy ITU-T Class C & D boundary clock standards. These standards dictate extremely accurate time transfer over optical networks so operators can use dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology rather than dedicated fiber.

Release 2.0 accommodates escalating bandwidth requirements of next-generation network devices through an optional expansion module that provides 10 GE interfaces. Expanded monitoring functions enable service providers to understand how time and phase performance is affected by network elements, the company added.

PTP client capacity has been increased to 790 to provide the scalability that is critical for deployments in mobile network aggregation layers and new DOCSIS 3.1 Remote-PHY cable architectures.

Both TimeProvider 4100 Release 2.0 and IGM Release 3.0 are managed with TimePictra, the centralized and unified management platform for the company’s family of precise timing systems.

May 16, 2019
Kolmostar releases low-power GNSS module JEDI-200
JEDI-200 reduces the energy of getting one position fix by up to 150 times, according to the company.

Photo: Kolmostar

Kolmostar, a positioning technology company, has launched an ultra-low-power GNSS module at IoT World, which took place May 13-16 in Santa Clara, California.

JEDI-200 reduces the energy for one position fix by up to 150x compared to traditional GNSS sensors, providing a positioning solution for location-based internet-of-things applications, the company said.

JEDI-200 specification highlights include:
- 10-mW ultra-low-power consumption (measured) @ 1 Hz navigation rate
- 1-second ultra-fast time to first fix from cold start
- 2-meter CEP high positioning accuracy
- Supports GPS and Beidou constellations
- 100-byte compressed ephemeris (EPH) to enable A-GPS with speedy download via LPWAN technologies such as LoRaWAN and NBIoT
- High-performance cloud computing based on 50-byte raw position files for optimized radio transmission efficiency and minimum endpoint power consumption
- Integrated SAW filter, stand-alone LNA and TCXO
- 12 x 16 millimeter form factor for easy RF integration
“JEDI-200 supports GPS as well as Beidou constellations,” said Tao Tong, co-founder and CEO of Kolmostar. “While achieving industry’s lowest power consumption, it helps our customers to achieve high accuracy even in dense urban canyon environment where existing GNSS modules on the market often drift due to multipath and other errors.”

The JEDI-200 is designed specifically for IoT applications such as human and asset trackers (for bikes, scooters, vehicles, cargo, livestock, pets and more), smart wearables, smart farming and infrastructures,.

Its reduced level of power consumption and its optimized efficiency with LPWAN technologies solve IoT endpoint deployment’s pain-point of needing frequent recharges or a large battery, enabling new possibilities in location-based IoT applications.
May 14, 2019
Qulsar software enables timing in GPS-challenged areas

Qulsar announces precision time protocol (PTP) software availability for Qualcomm FSM platform.

The QNgine-S precision time protocol (PTP) software by Qulsar is now available on the Qualcomm FSM9xxx platform, which is used in small-cell designs worldwide.

With QNgine-S, products based on the FSM9xxx platform have access to a precision timing solution that will enable indoor and urban canyon deployments of small cells, where GNSS signals are rather weak.

As operators continue to upgrade and modernize their networks, there is an increasing demand for a packet-based timing solution (such as 1588 PTP) to support LTE-TDD and LTE-A deployments.

The QNgine–S made available by Qulsar to use with the FSM9xxx platform is designed to enable operators to deploy small cells cost effectively and without a hardware upgrade to existing networks (such as on an existing timing unaware network), especially in locations where GNSS signals are unavailable or impeded.

Qulsar’s 1588 PTP slave technology already powers many eNodeBs and mobile backhaul infrastructure.

QNgine-S is a software-only solution that integrates with the baseband software of the FSM9xxx platform to provide an IEEE 1588-2008 PTP solution capable of recovering both time and frequency from a remote PTP grandmaster.

According to Minoo Mehta, Qulsar’s VP of Sales and Strategic Partnerships, “QNgine-S is optimized to operate in networks that haven’t implemented full on path PTP support. Qulsar’s advanced time recovery servo uses adaptive algorithms to allow time recovery to better than the required 1.1 μs for TDD applications, coupled with frequency alignment better than 15 ppb to meet the air interface requirements — a level of performance that typically cannot be achieved with unsophisticated servos and/or open source PTP solutions.”

“QNgine-S provides an increasingly important solution for synchronization of small cells and remote radio heads,” said Puneet Sethi, senior director, product management, Qualcomm Atheros, Inc. “We applaud Qulsar’s approach to delivering precise timing performance to customers using the FSM9xxx platform without new specialized hardware requirements, as this will help accelerate the global adoption of these platforms.”

Qulsar also provides design engineering services to tailor QNgine-S to variant architectures and platforms as needed and offers lab testing services to validate PTP performance.

May 1, 2019
Launchpad: GNSS receiver, graphing software, hexacopter, more

A roundup of recent products in the GNSS and inertial positioning industry from the April 2019 issue of GPS World magazine.

OEM

GNSS receiver

With embedded 9-DOF IMU

Photo: Rokubun

The Argonaut GNSS receiver is able to provide geo-location with real-time accuracy of 2 meters and off-line accuracy better than 0.4 meters using Argonaut PaaS. This is possible because GNSS raw measurements, together with inertial measurement unit (IMU) nine-degrees-of-freedom (9-DOF) measurements, are stored for offline GNSS processing (PPK, RTK, DGNSS). Argonaut will also register external events such as camera triggers within microsecond resolution and decimetric geo-location accuracy. The embedded IMU allows for an increased rate of navigation fixes as well as robust solutions in scenarios with impaired GNSS availability.
Rokubun, rokubun.cat

Galileo AltBOC addition

Plus atmospheric corrections

Photo: Skydel Solutions

SDX GNSS simulator update version 19.1 adds Galileo AltBOC signal generation, new atmospheric errors, SBAS improvements and SV antenna patterns. SDX users licensed with the Galileo E5 signal will be able to generate 8 Phase Shift Keying (8-PSK) constant envelope AltBOC after upgrading to SDX 19.1. Version 19.1 also adds a new error type to all SDX users: atmospheric delays. These errors can be compensated for with the SBAS option installed.
Skydel Solutions, skydelsolutions.com

Wavefront simulator

Added to software-defined platform

Photo: Skydel Solutions

The BroadSim Wavefront Simulator is a new addition to Skydel’s software-defined platform. The BroadSim Wavefront further extends the capabilities achieved by BroadSim Anechoic, incorporating support for controlled radiation pattern antenna (CRPA) and multi-element receiver testing. Powered by Skydel SDX, the simulator’s features include phase-coherent simulation, real-time automated phase calibration, scalability from 4 to 16 elements, and advanced jamming and spoofing scenarios.
Talen-X, www.talen-x.com

GNSS antenna

For high-precision and autonomous applications

Photo: Maxtena

The M7HCT-A-SMA is a high-accuracy, multi-frequency active quadrifilar helix GNSS antenna designed for high-precision and autonomous multi-frequency applications. The design offers concurrent GNSS reception on L1 (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou) and L2 (GPS L2C, Galileo E5B and GLONASS L3OC) in a rugged, compact and ultra lightweight form factor. The antenna is designed for GIS, RTK and other high-accuracy GNSS applications such as the drone and automotive markets. Helicore technology provides exceptional pattern control, polarization purity and high efficiency in a 25-gram form factor. The antenna offers up to 30-dB gain for GNSS applications in one radome housing with a single SMA connector.
Maxtena, maxtena.com

Portable simulation

Solution for field-test requirements

Photo: CAST Navigation

The CAST-1000 duplicates GPS RF signals and uses dual-frequency signal generation technology. This allows for duplicate testing in the laboratory or the field and real-time or configured control. The CAST-1000 is mobile and portable, which makes it the ideal solution for field test requirements. Producing GPS and GLONASS signals with up to 12 satellites in view, the CAST-1000 simulates signals for satellites of P code on L1 and L2 and C/A code on L1. The GPS RF signal is dual-frequency and has a 12-channel configuration for any combination of visible space vehicles. The system is highly programmable — operators can choose from an array of vehicle types and replicate dynamic motion for all kinds of vehicles, from terrestrial to aquatic, airborne to space-based. By utilizing 6-DOF dynamic profile data collected in the field and through profile configuration, a trajectory can be created. The CAST-1000 also features a performance evaluation module, allowing for comparisons between raw and filtered data.
CAST Navigation, www.castnav.com

Survey & Mapping

Graphing software

New plotting features

Photo: Golden Software

Version 14 of the Grapher scientific graphing package offers new plotting and customizing functionality based on user feedback. The Grapher software gives users deeper insights into their data by providing them with 80 flexible and easy-to-use 2D and 3D graphing tools for plotting, analyzing and displaying scientific data sets. The package is used extensively by scientists and engineers in oil & gas operations, hydrologic/geochemical studies, environmental consulting, mineral exploration and academic research. New or upgraded features include Enhanced Plotting (the ability to plot data in rows and columns, perform one-button Durov class plots, and easily generate multi-plot reports); and Improved Bar Charts (bar charts are more versatile, offering variable bar widths and differentiated fill colors for negative and positive).
Golden Software, www.goldensoftware.com

GIS software update

New lidar functionality

Photo: Blue Marble Geographics

Global Mapper version 20.1 offers new and updated geospatial tools, as well as performance improvements throughout the application. Enhancements to version 20.1 include a new zooming function in the path profile window, a digitizer tool for automatically closing gaps between features and, for lidar module users, a point proximity query function.
Blue Marble Geographics, www.bluemarblegeo.com

Survey application

For the geospatial industry

Photo: Global GNSS

The GNSS Surveyor mobile application provides location information and quality position data in real time with sub-meter to centimeter accuracy. It connects to any external GNSS receiver via Bluetooth. Features include a one-touch configured command to communicate directly with the GNSS Bluetooth device; location information and quality of the position data in real time with centimeter accuracy; GPS data such as position, height, satellites and velocity; and constellation information for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS and SBAS satellites. It also includes a direct IP feature for real-time kinematic (RTK) corrections data. An internal NTRIP client loads RTCM data from the internet. Location information is collected as latitude and longitude, altitude, speed or pace, bearing and UTC time. GNSS precision includes global coverage, centimeter-level accuracy, fast time to first fix, multi-constellation and multi-band, and highest security. Navigation uses include ground robotics navigation, lane-level navigation, heavy machine navigation, industrial navigation and tracking, and commercial UAV.
Global GNSS, globalgnss.com

Indoor mapping

Slam technology removes point cloud artifacts

Photo: NavVis

The SLAM-based NavVis M6 Indoor Mobile Mapping System (IMMS) now automatically detects and removes point cloud artifacts, including moving objects in static scenes. The latest IMMS release removes artifacts from point clouds during the post-processing of scan data (see before and after image above). Fringe points and dynamic objects are two common types of point cloud artifacts that affect all 3D laser scanning devices. The NavVis M6 IMMS uses laser scanners to capture a high volume of measurement points of an environment. With the latest software update, the algorithms applied during the post-processing of scan data uses the multiple observations to detect whether measurement points actually exist in the physical space. If it is determined that the point does not exist and is instead resulting from the laser beam hitting an edge or an object moving through the space, this point is automatically removed. The result is a much cleaner, crisper point cloud that requires less clean-up time in point-cloud editing software and that is easier to use for applications such as BIM modeling.
NavVis, www.navvis.com

Mobile & UAV

Adventure handhelds

Larger display, improved access to Satellite imagery

Photo: Garmin

Garmin has updated two premium adventure-oriented handhelds, the GPSMAP 66s and the GPSMAP 66st, with expanded wireless connectivity, direct-to-device access to BirdsEye satellite imagery, weather forecasting and a larger 3-inch sunlight-readable color display. The GPSMAP 66st offers preloaded topographic maps for U.S. and Canada, with detail of coastlines, rivers, summits, terrain contours and geographical points. Connectivity to the new Garmin Explore app and the BirdsEye Satellite Imagery (no annual subscription) bring high-resolution photo-realistic route views. Weather updates come via Bluetooth to a compatible mobile device. The Explore app includes features for outdoor navigation, trip planning, mapping and data sharing. Features include multi-GNSS satellite support and altimeter, barometer and compass sensor capabilities; 16 hours of battery life in full GPS mode; LED flashlight and SOS beacon; built to military standards for thermal, shock and water performance (MIL-STD-810G); RINEX data logging that enables sub-meter accuracy of GPS position after post processing.
Garmin, garmin.com

RTK Hexacopter

Integrated GNSS improves accuracy

Photo: Yuneec International

The H520 hexacopter is now available with a real-time kinematic (RTK) system. The fully integrated RTK satellite navigation enables extremely accurate recurring images and faster 3D mapping. It also makes automated inspection flights easier and more precise. The H520 RTK is suitable for commercial applications that require maximum precision. By using RTK technology, the H520 can now fly much closer to objects for inspection because the UAV positions itself precisely in the centimeter range (1 cm + ppm horizontal / 1.5 cm + ppm vertical) rather than in the meter range, which is standard for the H520.
Yuneec International, us.yuneec.com

Web-based data service

Enables sharing of UAV data sets

MAGNET Collage Web is a web-based service enabling the sharing and collaboration of UAV and scanning data sets. Version 1.3 allows operators to work with more types of data with greater flexibility, including the ability to import BIM models, as well as CAD and GIS data. It can be used to overlay as-built laser scans and design data to visualize proposed changes and detect construction issues. The software supports OBJ, FBX and 3DS formats. The upgrade also includes new direct publishing functionality for CAD and GIS data files through the browser.
Topcon, topconpositioning.com

April 25, 2019