The global security, defense and aerospace company joins alliance dedicated to protecting, promoting and enhancing the use of GPS technology
The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) is welcoming BAE Systems Inc. as the newest member of the organization. BAE Systems, a global defense, security and aerospace company, joins member companies John Deere, Garmin, Trimble, Lockheed Martin and Collins Aerospace, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp., as well as 11 national organizations that make up GPSIA’s affiliates program.
As the newest member of the alliance and the third aerospace and defense corporation to join the organization in eight months, BAE Systems will work with GPSIA to support its goal of enhancing GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship — while advocating as the voice of the GPS industry in Washington.
“We are excited to welcome BAE Systems as the newest member of the Alliance — a monumental addition that marks the doubling of our membership in the past eight months,” said GPSIA Executive Director J. David Grossman. “The continued growth of GPSIA demonstrates the criticality of protecting GPS and the substantial value our organization delivers through advocacy, information sharing, and technical standards. We remain committed to ensuring the economic and societal benefits of GPS are fully realized.”
BAE Systems is a global leader in designing and implementing high-end technology to extend the reach and significance of GPS in defense. BAE Systems’ radiation-hardened electronics have been on board satellites and spacecraft for almost 30 years and are currently providing the high-performance onboard processing capability for the GPS III satellite mission. Promoting space resiliency for over 30 years, BAE Systems is a cornerstone of the growing importance of GPS technologies on the space frontier.
BAE Systems has not only pioneered critical technologies suitable for GPS applications in space, but has also developed, manufactured, integrated and supported GPS receivers and guidance systems for advanced military applications on land, sea or air.
The company was instrumental in the development of NAVWAR sensor technology, intended to meet growing challenges associated with maintaining military positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) advantage using satellite navigation, and has engineered top-tier jammers and navigation systems for decades. Their work has been critical in securing the safety and technological supremacy of our nation’s defenses.
“GPS is an essential part of our world — from our infrastructure and economy to the security of our nation,” said Frank Ruggiero, senior vice president, government relations, BAE Systems. “As a leading provider of defense electronics and communications systems, we are excited to join the GPS Innovation Alliance to expand the development of cutting-edge GPS technologies.”
The letter highlights what appears to be different characterizations of the engineering information in the FCC’s record, and suggests that these contrasting statements “support a careful re-examination of the bases of the Ligado Order and a stay of the decision while that occurs.”
“GPSIA appreciates your continued interest and efforts in this proceeding, and your willingness to consider whether a stay of the Ligado order may be appropriate,” the letter states. “As the record in this proceeding makes clear, sound technical analyses were conducted on Ligado’s network by DOT — a neutral third-party U.S. government expert on GPS. Further evaluation of those analyses should prompt the Commission to set aside the Ligado order so that its understanding of the DoT ABC Report can be better aligned with the authors of the report.”
Hold on Third FCC Chairmanship. In a related report, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) on July 28 placed a hold on the nomination of O’Rielly to another five-year term chairing the commission.
Inhofe said he would block O’Rielly until the nominee “publicly commits to vote to overturn the current Ligado order,” according to a report from Space News.
“Over the past few months, I have sent letters, held hearings and called countless officials to highlight what we all know to be true: the FCC’s Ligado order is flawed and will lead to significant harm to our military and the thousands of individuals and businesses that rely on GPS,” Inhofe said.
The five-member Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to approve an order to allow Ligado Networks to deploy a low-power nationwide 5G network.
The approval comes despite objections from the U.S. Defense Department (DOD), other federal agencies and major U.S. airlines, all of whom are concerned about near-band interference with GPS.
The FCC said the approval order included stringent conditions aimed at ensuring GPS would not experience harmful interference.
“After many years of consideration, it is time for the FCC to make a decision and bring this proceeding to a close,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in an April 16 news release. “We have compiled an extensive record, which confirms that it is in the public interest to grant Ligado’s application while imposing stringent conditions to prevent harmful interference.”
Ligado is seeking to repurpose a swath of L-band spectrum for a 5G network focused mainly on connecting smart devices and other internet-of-things services. According to the FCC, the order will “promote more efficient and effective use of our nation’s spectrum resources and ensure that adjacent band operations, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), are protected from harmful interference.”
In response, members of both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and other defense advocates are considering legislative action to overturn the order.
Two areas that rely heavily on the integrity of GPS signals include defense and transportation. The DOD issued a joint statement with the Department of Transportation (DOT) criticizing the FCC ruling.
“Americans rely on our Global Positioning System (GPS) each day for many things: to locate citizens in need of emergency assistance through our E-911 system, to secure our financial system, to order and receive shipments, to travel by car for work and leisure, to facilitate commercial trucking and construction work, and even to make a simple cellphone call. Our departments rely on GPS each day for all those reasons as well to coordinate tactical national security operations, launch spacecraft, track threats, and facilitate travel by air and sea. The proposed Ligado decision by the Federal Communications Commission will put all these uses of GPS at risk.”
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released a letter he sent to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai raising concerns about Ligado’s 5G network.
“While the United States must be a leader in the implementation of 5G networks, our creation of these networks must not hamper our military’s operational capacity in any way. China’s aggressive, global promotion of its 5G companies presents a considerable security challenge that must be addressed. However, Ligado’s proposal, which seeks a portion of spectrum adjacent to that used for Global Positioning Systems, poses an even larger security risk.
“The Department of Defense has been clear and direct: providing this license to Ligado would cause unacceptable operational impacts and adversely affect the military’s use of GPS. The military’s seamless use of GPS is vital to our national security. Our service members rely on GPS satellites for critical precision timing and navigation, and thousands of weapons systems are embedded with GPS signals.
“While I strongly support development of the world’s most robust, safe and secure network, using L-band spectrum in such close proximity to critical GPS, as Ligado’s proposal requires, carries an unacceptable risk that far outweighs the possibility of a 5G network.”
‘Risk of crippling’ GPS
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said via Twitter on Friday that the “Ligado proposal would needlessly imperil GPS-dependent national security capabilities. The Department continues to support domestic 5G options, but not at the risk of crippling our GPS networks. Nearly a dozen other federal agencies have joined us in opposing this proposal.”
“Although I appreciate the concerns that have been raised by certain Executive Branch agencies, it is the Commission’s duty to make an independent determination based on sound engineering. And based on the painstaking technical analysis done by our expert staff, I am convinced that the conditions outlined in this draft order would permit Ligado to move forward without causing harmful interference. For example, the draft order would authorize downlink operations at a power level that represents a greater than 99% reduction from what Ligado proposed in its 2015 application.”
Image: A-Digit/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images
The release also provided this background about the Ligado proposal, and the “conditions” under which the FCC decided to approve it.
In recent years, Ligado has amended its application to significantly reduce the power levels of its base stations from 32 dBW to 9.8 dBW (a reduction of 99.3%). Ligado has also committed to providing a significant (23 megahertz) guard-band using its own licensed spectrum to further separate its terrestrial base station transmissions from neighboring operations in the Radionavigation-Satellite Service allocation. As such, Ligado is now only seeking terrestrial use of the 1526-1536 MHz, 1627.5-1637.5 MHz, and 1646.5-1656.5 MHz bands. The Order is conditioned to reflect these technical requirements. It also requires Ligado to protect adjacent band incumbents by reporting its base station locations and technical operating parameters to potentially affected government and industry stakeholders prior to commencing operations, continuously monitoring the transmit power of its base station sites, and complying with procedures and actions for responding to credible reports of interference, including rapid shutdown of operations where warranted.
However, The decision “appears to ignore the well-documented views of the expert agencies charged with preserving the integrity of GPS, specifically on the critical issue of what constitutes harmful interference to users of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS),” said J. David Grossman, executive director of the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA). He continued,
J. David Grossman
“GPSIA has consistently advocated for adoption of the 1-dB Standard as the only reliable mechanism that provides the predictability and certainty to ensure the continuation of the GPS success story, with the support of the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation and numerous other federal agencies. The 1-dB Standard for radiofrequency-based services is critical for GNSS. The FCC’s press release refers to conditions placed on Ligado’s application to prevent harmful interference, and GPSIA and its members intend to carefully review the details of today’s order while continuing to vigorously advocate for promoting, protecting and enhancing GPS.”
Ligado Networks President and CEO Doug Smith issued this statement in reaction to the approval.
“Ligado thanks the Commissioners for moving promptly to approve the order regarding our applications. We greatly appreciate their unanimous support as well as the expert engineering analysis determining that a terrestrial network can be deployed in the L-band to advance our country’s economic and security interests while fully protecting GPS. Our spectrum can be very instrumental in the transition to 5G, and we look forward to utilizing satellite and terrestrial services to deploy customized private networks and deliver innovative, next-generation IoT solutions for the industrial sector.”
Positive reactions to the decision
On April 20, the FCC released a compilation of responses to the decision, all of them in support.
Attorney General Bill Barr: “I applaud FCC Chairman Pai’s proposal to make available L-band spectrum, to be used together with C-band spectrum, for deployment of advanced wireless services, including 5G. As I said in my speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, swift FCC action on spectrum is imperative to allow for the deployment of 5G. This is essential if we are to keep our economic and technological leadership and avoid forfeiting it to Communist China.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “I commend Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Pai’s draft order that would release the L-Band spectrum. Quick action on this order, in conjunction with the allocation of a portion of the C-Band for 5G, is vital to our national security and will help ensure that the United States is the global leader in advanced technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things, edge computing, and the next generation of telemedicine. Accelerating the deployment of 5G is essential to our country’s growth, and global economic security.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
Sen. Ron Johnson (WI): “In a time when connectivity is and will continue to be more important than ever, it’s great to see @AjitPaiFCC move forward with freeing up critical spectrum resources for #5G.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Sen. Mark Warner (VA): “As the U.S. works to lead the world in 5G innovation and promote wider high-speed internet coverage, it’s all the more important to put our valuable mid-band spectrum to use. I urge the @FCC to follow the Chairman’s lead and approve Virginia-based @LigadoInsights’s application.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Rep. Billy Long (MO): “I applaud @AjitPaiFCC and the @FCC for taking action to unlock vital L-band spectrum that has been held hostage by bureaucratic slow-walking for far too long. Jobs and 5G is a win-win for the country.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Rep. Doris Matsui (CA): “I called on the @FCC to move forward with new, innovative uses of L-band spectrum to advance 5G. Glad to see the Commission take action on this front today to encourage efficient use of our spectrum.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Former Rep. Bob Barr (GA): “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s decision to circulate a draft FCC Order would at long last move forward the process of opening up a segment of mid-band satellite spectrum for commercial use in 5G technology deserves praise. … If adopted by the five-member Commission headed by Pai, the draft Order would tangibly signal to the country and the world that the United States is committed to seize the leadership in deployment of 5G technology, a role China openly covets.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
American Action Forum: “More good news from the FCC! 5G is incredibly important and this is yet another example of actions that will enable innovation in 5G and support the growing number of connected devices.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Mark Jamison: “@FCC approval of Ligado petition should accelerate 5G, bring diversity to marketplace, and increase efficient spectrum use. … Good leadership and bipartisan effort!” (Tweet, 4/20/20)
American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Roslyn Layton: “Kudos @AjitPaiFCC for unlocking more vital mid-band spectrum for #5G. Record of 10 years shows @LigadoNetworks took many steps with agencies and firms to address potential issues with GPS. We must move quickly on 5G!” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Citizens Against Government Waste: “The FCC has the engineering expertise to determine the best use of this spectrum and whether alternative uses would cause undue interference. The adoption of the Chairman’s draft order will promote 5G and IoT development, while providing the necessary safeguards for services using adjacent bands, including GPS positioning. … The L-band would not be used at all for the foreseeable future unless the FCC takes action. Freeing up the spectrum requested by Ligado will not only expand the use of 5G, it will also help to prevent other countries, particularly China, from getting ahead of the U.S. in 5G deployment.” (Blog, 4/17/2020)
Competitive Carriers Association: “[We] commend Chairman Pai for circulating a draft order to approve Ligado’s applications, which will make much-needed mid-band spectrum, specifically L-band spectrum, available for terrestrial use. This long-awaited, positive progress comes at a critical time for all Americans, particularly those in rural areas, who are relying on mobile connections and services more than ever before. Mid-band spectrum provides real opportunities for deploying next-generation technologies, and competitive carriers are eager to access this valuable resource to expand and enhance their networks.” (Statement, 4/16/20)
Competitive Enterprise Institute: “Access to spectrum is crucial for our modern economy, connecting everything from radios, to cellphones, to satellites. But for too long, turf-wars between federal regulatory agencies have left spectrum bands largely unavailable for valuable commercial applications. Today’s FCC decision wrests spectrum away from bureaucratic waste and delivers it into the hands of people who will aide our economic recovery and resiliency in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
CTIA—The Wireless Association: “We’re pleased to see that the FCC has managed to cut through the red tape to make a decision on Ligado. This multi-year process reveals the challenges at play in our nation’s spectrum policy and the need for stronger support for new commercial wireless services. We need to all learn lessons from this process and ensure that decisions on key spectrum bands like lower 3 GHz occur in a more expedited and collaborative manner.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
FreedomWorks: “Freeing up broadband spectrum will make America a global technological leader and will lead to innovations and developments that will improve quality of life across the country. Chairman Pai and the FCC should be applauded for their work resolving these matters[.]” (Blog, 4/15/2020)
Free State Foundation: “Chairman @AjitPaiFCC has made a commendable decision to act on @LigadoNetworks’ proposal to put L-band spectrum into use for next-gen wireless services. This move takes seriously the @FCC’s responsibility and the urgent need for more commercial spectrum.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy Distinguished Fellow Gigi Sohn: “This decision was a long time coming, but it’s the right one. … Kudos to @AjitPaiFCC for having the fortitude to move this forward.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Information Technology & Innovation Foundation: “Great to see @FCC taking steps to finally approve @LigadoNetworks waiver for terrestrial use of their spectrum. This will be a boon to industrial IoT connectivity, bringing more productivity, safety, and resiliency for users of the network.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
International Center for Law & Economics: “Promoting deployment of 5G & next-gen IoT devices means finding new ways for incumbents to responsibly operate in ever-closer proximity. The @FCC’s Ligado order does that. Credit to @AjitPaiFCC for finding a way fwd that promotes innovation while limiting the risk of interference.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Lincoln Network: “Access to spectrum is an essential feature in any working 5G plan. Frankly, one key barrier in opening up this vital resource is government’s stronghold on ‘beachfront’ spectrum whether they own it or not. … This proceeding has been in regulatory limbo for several years due in large part to government stakeholders’ speculative interference claims regarding GPS-applications. … The FCC’s draft order in this proceeding provides enough protection for incumbents in adjacent bands, adds more competition into the 5G-IoT space, and allows consumers to have more access to broadband. Everybody wins.” (Blog, 4/16/2020)
Mercatus Center Senior Fellow Brent Skorup: “Too often new tech is stalled by FCC regulation and incumbents. Chairman Pai pledged to breathe new life into Sec. 7. It’s great to see Chairman Pai and the FCC act on that pledge, liberalize spectrum, and expedite the deployment of new wireless services.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
National Security Institute: “Big move by @FCC Chairman @AjitPaiFCC today to support US 5G availability. This is a key nat sec issue w/ threat posed by China + econ benefits of broad 5G deployment in US.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute: “Kudos to @AjitPaiFCC @FCC for again standing up to Fed agencies trying to hoard spectrum they are not using – or, in this case, which is licensed to @LigadoNetworks! A big plus for #5G wireless ecosystem if it’s built out.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
R Street Institute: “If you can change your business model to be more productive and profitable, without hurting anyone else, then regulations shouldn’t stand in your way. Well done, @FCC!” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Progressive Policy Institute: “We applaud the FCC’s ongoing efforts to accelerate the deployment of 5G. Repurposing this commercial spectrum for a mobile broadband network is another step in the right direction.” (Tweet, 4/16/2020)
Public Knowledge: “The Chairman’s proposed Order reveals how the FCC has worked to both protect incumbent GPS users while allowing for pro-competitive commercial licensing of spectrum. … Congress has entrusted the FCC to strike the proper balance between the needs of incumbents and the potential benefits to new entrants or new users, and here, the FCC gets it right. In approving Ligado’s license, the FCC has taken an important step forward in its role as the sole arbiter of spectrum disputes and, in this instance, has correctly sided on behalf of the public interest to help deliver the potential of 5G to more Americans.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
Technology Policy Institute: “Allowing the Ligado spectrum to lie fallow would represent a waste of valuable resources that could provide substantial benefits for consumers in the form of new Internet of Things and other uses. … Failure to approve the Ligado license modifications would have the opposite effect, transferring a large block of spectrum from the commercial sector back to the government. The Commission’s action today will avoid that outcome.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
Wireless Infrastructure Association: “WIA applauds Chairman Pai for circulating a draft order to approve Ligado’s plans to deploy a nationwide network that would primarily support 5G and IoT services. After years of diligence, study, and discussion, today’s action is further evidence that the FCC bases its decisions on science and engineering. Freeing up more spectrum, especially mid-band spectrum, is vital to 5G deployment. Ligado’s proposal offers an enormous opportunity for infrastructure investment, deployment, and connectivity for Americans across the country right when we need it most.” (Statement, 4/16/2020)
How do we ensure that GPS is protected from harmful interference?
By J. David Grossman, guest columnist
J. David Grossman
Debates in Washington over harmful interference and the coexistence of divergent services are raging. Nowhere are the differences more apparent than when comparing radio navigation services such as GPS to radio communications systems used in wireless communications networks.
How do we ensure that a satellite-based radionavigation service like GPS, which by design operates below the ambient noise floor, is protected from harmful interference? The International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) definition of harmful interference provides a starting point, by defining harmful interference as a level that “endangers the functioning of a radionavigation service.”
With this foundational definition, the internationally established criterion of a 1-decibel (dB) increase in the noise floor, otherwise known as the 1-dB standard, provides the answer, offering a readily identifiable, objective and predictable metric.
The 1-dB standard uses a 1-dB increase in the noise floor as the distinction between the onset of interference that can be detected by a GPS receiver and harmful interference. (This can be reliably measured by a 1-dB decrease in the carrier-to-noise ratio, C/N0, reported by the receiver). Thus, the 1-dB standard provides a definitive way to protect GPS receivers from harmful interference. Adherence to this standard helps ensure that systems operating in an adjacent spectrum band do not interfere with GPS.
Why use the 1-dB standard instead of other metrics? The 1-dB standard is based upon well-understood GNSS engineering considerations and is associated with quantifiable changes in the overall noise to which GNSS receivers are subject, with equally well-understood effects on receiver operation. (The 1-dB standard enables system designers and spectrum regulators to carefully assess interference from various sources and analyze their net effect on GNSS receivers).
It also has been adopted internationally and has a long and well-established proven history of protecting GPS operations from harmful interference in both international and domestic regulatory proceedings.
So-called “alternatives” to 1 dB, which may be appropriate in the context of radio communications systems, fail to recognize that the accuracy, integrity and reception (availability) of GPS signals used by a receiver can be degraded by interfering noise in ways not immediately apparent to an end user. This means that the effects of degraded service of GPS signals can still be detrimental well before the user loses position accuracy or experiences complete loss of position.
Additionally, C/N0 is computed at the entry point of a GPS receiver, such that a 1-dB decrease serves as an early warning of interference potentially becoming harmful. Other metrics, computed further downstream, may be indicative of harmful interference already occurring.
GPS has become a fundamental part of our lives and is an integral engine of the U.S. economy, creating new jobs, and unlocking innovation. Maintaining the 1-dB standard ensures that the GPS success story and American innovation will continue for decades to come.
Collins Aerospace is one of the world’s largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products, and joins founding-member companies John Deere, Garmin and Trimble as well as 11 national organizations who make up GPSIA’s affiliates program.
Collins will further bolster the Alliance’s goal of enhancing GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
“We are excited to welcome Collins Aerospace as the newest member of the GPS Innovation Alliance,” said GPSIA Executive Director J. David Grossman. “As one of the leading aerospace companies in the world, Collins has a long and deep history with GPS technology, beginning with the first GPS signal ever received from the roof of their facilities in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We look forward to working with Collins Aerospace as the newest member of GPSIA and are confident that they will be a valuable addition in our efforts to heighten awareness of the economic importance and societal benefits of GPS.”
“GPS technology is vital to Collins Aerospace, enabling us to achieve innovative solutions for the aerospace and defense industries,” said Frank Zane, associate director of Business Development, Position, Navigation, Timing (PNT), Collins Aerospace. “We are thrilled to join the GPS Innovation Alliance in their long-standing efforts to ensure the continuous availability, accuracy, reliability, and resiliency of the GPS constellation.”
The GPS Innovation Alliance was founded by Deere & Company, Garmin International, Inc. and Trimble Inc. The alliance recognizes the ever-increasing importance of GPS and other GNSS technologies to the global economy and infrastructure and is firmly committed to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
Four national organizations join alliance dedicated to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship
The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) has added four national organizations representing a variety of sectors. The organizations join GPSIA’s affiliates program by supporting the alliance’s goal of protecting, promoting and further enhancing GPS — one of the world’s most important enabling technologies.
The new affiliates are:
American Council of the Blind (ACB)
U.S. Geospatial Executives Organization (U.S. GEO)
NENA: The 9-1-1 Association
Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Association
“The Alliance has grown in both size and ambition since its inception over six years ago and with increased adoption of GPS-enabled technologies, our dependence on GPS will only continue to grow,” said GPS Innovation Alliance Executive Director J. David Grossman. “Building on the launch of the bipartisan and bicameral GPS Caucus this past March, we look forward to working with these new affiliates in bringing heightened awareness to the critical importance of GPS to our nation’s economy.”
These organizations join GPSIA’s existing affiliates including:
Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)
American Trucking Associations (ATA)
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)
Boat Owner’s Association of the United States (BoatUS)
General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA)
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS)
The following are comments from representatives of the newly announced affiliates:
Clark Rachfal, Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, American Council of the Blind (ACB)
“Precise GPS technology is enabling a world where people who are blind may navigate their surroundings with greater confidence and live more independently. The American Council of the Blind is pleased to partner with the GPS Innovation Alliance to ensure this vital technology is available and accessible to all people who are blind in order to increase their economic opportunity and quality of life.”
John M. Palatiello, Founder and President, U.S. Geospatial Executives Organization (U.S. GEO)
“The acquisition, processing, analysis, and application of geospatial data, and its use in geographic information systems (GIS) and other platforms, is greatly dependent on GPS and GNSS. U.S. GEO, representing executives of the nation’s geospatial firms, strongly supports our GPS system and is honored to be part of the GPS Innovation Alliance to assure its continued benefit to the U.S. economy and our quality of life.”
Dan Henry, Director of Government Affairs, NENA: The 9-1-1 Association:
“Locating a 9-1-1 caller used to be as simple as searching a database for the street address associated with the caller’s phone number, but with over 80% of all 9-1-1 calls now coming from mobile phones, tracking down a caller’s location is no longer so easy. When callers are unable to convey their location to 9-1-1, public safety telecommunicators turn to mobile phones’ sophisticated location-finding system; GPS is the foundation of this system. 9-1-1 saves millions of lives every year — many of these lives would not have been saved if not for GPS.”
John Berrettini, President, Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Association
“The SUE Association is comprised of firms, organizations and individuals engaged in the provision of subsurface utility engineering (SUE) services where the role of GPS/GNSS availability and utilization is vital to field data collection, analysis, and processing. Partnering with the GPS Innovation Alliance helps to meet our organizational charge to promote knowledge, best practices, and the exchange of information in the profession; ensure the protection of public health, welfare and safety; and educate clients and other stakeholders of the value and benefits of subsurface utility engineering services.”
The GPS Innovation Alliance was founded by Deere & Company, Garmin International, Inc. and Trimble Inc. The alliance recognizes the ever increasing importance of GPS and other GNSS technologies to the global economy and infrastructure and is firmly committed to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship by seeking to protect, promote and enhance the use of GPS.
Association recognizes key role the agency has played in furthering GPS.
The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA), an organization dedicated to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, commends NASA — the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration — on its momentous 60th anniversary. GPSIA celebrates the occasion by recognizing the vital role NASA has played in furthering and facilitating the growth of GPS around the world.
NASA has long been an integral supporter of GPS technologies, from its origins in the first space shuttle program, to the launch of the International Space Station (ISS), to the recent announcement of plans to develop an artificial intelligence-based GPS for space.
Throughout its history, NASA has played a critical role in the success of expanding GPS systems. NASA manages the Navigator GPS receiver, developed by its Goddard Space Flight Center, which has pushed GPS satellites out of lower earth orbit and beyond to enable high altitude applications and track weaker and more rural GPS signals with increased accuracy.
The Global Differential GPS System (GDGPS), a network of more than 350 GPS monitoring stations from 200 contributing organizations in 80 countries developed and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provides an unparalleled combination of real time positioning accuracy and availability and acts as the largest network providing global, multiply-redundant, real time coverage of all GPS satellites at all times.
“GPS contributes immeasurable value to our economy and is used in almost every industry sector,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “It is crucial for our way of life on Earth — the way we communicate, navigate, conduct banking transactions, and so much more rely on our GPS systems. As NASA looks to its future endeavors in exploration and discovery, GPS will remain a cornerstone of technology to accomplish its missions. NASA looks forward to its continued work with the GPS Alliance.”
With the establishment of the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing in 2004 and other governing bodies since, NASA has also acted as a thought leader on policy trends in the field, advising on and advocating for protections of GPS , one of the world’s most important and ubiquitous public resources.
“The alliance, on behalf of its members and the GNSS industry, congratulates NASA on six decades of cutting-edge innovation and wishes the agency continued success for many decades to come,” said J. David Grossman, executive director of the GPS Innovation Alliance. “As one of the most recognizable technologies in the world, GPS supports navigation, public safety, financial transactions and utilities and varied industries worldwide. We applaud NASA for its unwavering commitment to scientific innovation and to GPS around the globe, now and in the future.”
The GPS Innovation Alliance recognizes the ever increasing importance of GPS and other GNSS technologies to the global economy and infrastructure and is firmly committed to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The GPS Innovation Alliance seeks to protect, promote and enhance the use of GPS.
Satellite operator Iridium asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in April 2017 to modify its license to add a new class of ground stations called Certus for expanded terrestrial, maritime and aeronautical operations.
Iridium’s 66-satellite constellation provides, in addition to mobile communications signals, the Satelles time and location service: microsecond timing accuracy and 20- to 50-meter unaided position accuracy worldwide (see the “Innovation” column, July 2017 GPS World).
GPSIA. The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) commented in September, “GPSIA seeks to ensure that radio navigation satellite service (RNSS) receivers operating in the 1559–1610 MHz band are adequately protected from out-of-band emissions (OOBE) generated from the new Certus mobile Earth station (MES) terminals that will operate on the second-generation Iridium satellite system.
“GPSIA and Iridium are actively engaged in constructive discussions regarding the adequacy of that protection, but no final resolution has yet been reached. [….]
“In the unlikely event that GPSIA is unable to reach an agreement with Iridium, it asks the commission to impose limitations on the operation of Certus terminal devices to protect GPS/RNSS operations in the 1559–1610 MHz band at a level equivalent to what terrestrial terminals in the same and other frequency ranges provide at –95 dBW/MHz.”
Iridium Certus infographic.
Hexagon. Hexagon, the parent company of GPS manufacturer NovAtel, commented on Jan. 8, “Certain statements in the modification application regarding output power and amount of terminals to be deployed cause great concern regarding the unimpeded operation of radio navigation satellite service (RNSS) receivers. The application does not include enough information to simulate the impact properly.
“Hexagon politely requests that the FCC will exercise the same due diligence [as] during previous modification applications close to the RNSS bands (for example docket 11-109) and establish a technical working group or a similar testing process that ensures unimpeded coexistence of the modified Iridium terminals with the established RNSS systems.”
Documents related to the case can be found here, on the FCC International Bureau website.
WASHINGTON – On Friday, Oct. 16, the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) submitted two filings regarding federal spectrum policy. Comments were filed in response to a public notice in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility assessment, and testimony was submitted for the record to a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in response to its recent hearing, “Improving Federal Spectrum Systems.” Both filings stressed that the “1 dB standard” is the appropriate criterion for testing the compatibility of terrestrial broadband and GPS operations.
The GPS Innovation Alliance has consistently supported the more complete use of underused spectrum where technically feasible. In both filings, GPSIA expressed support for each government entity’s ongoing efforts and stressed the importance of protecting GPS, one of the country’s most important and ubiquitous national utilities.
Regarding the DOT effort, GPSIA offered suggestions relating to certain aspects of the proceeding and voiced support for the “1 dB standard” in testing — which would determine Adjacent Band Masks based on a measurement of received interference test signal power levels that cause a 1 decibel (dB) degradation in the receiver’s Carrier-to-Noise Density Ratio. As outlined in GPSIA’s comments, the organization’s support for the 1 dB standard is based on its long and well-established history in international and domestic regulatory proceedings and difficulties associated with other standards.
GPSIA wrote: “While DOT has proposed recording other performance metrics, such as loss of signal lock or degradation of pseudo-range or position accuracy, GPSIA believes these are inappropriate metrics for interference assessment since their inherent basis is an interference level that seriously degrades the RNSS spectrum environment and causes significant disruption to GPS receivers.”
Degradation of accuracy or otherwise attempting to determine effects on the “user experience” are not practicable interference metrics, and DOT should rely upon the 1 dB protection criteria in derivation of the Adjacent Band Masks. GPS receivers are used in a tremendous range of end user applications beyond simple navigation. It is unclear how it would be possible to determine whether there has been “material degradation” in the functioning of this wide range of GPS applications, much less what constitutes degradation that is “material.”
GPSIA also submitted testimony for the record in response to an Oct. 7 hearing by the House Subcommittee on Commerce and Technology, where the potential for repurposing spectrum currently reserved for use by satellite applications for terrestrial broadband was discussed, but without addressing the difficult technical challenges associated with repurposing satellite spectrum.
A key theme raised in the GPSIA testimony is support for allocating similar uses for spectrum in close proximity to each other. Doing so is an approach that is preferable to adopting receiver standards. GPSIA also explained the unique technical differences between communications and navigation spectrum use.
“A straightforward approach is to minimize the number of dissimilar spectrum applications in close spectral proximity to each other,” GPSIA said. “Put another way, similar spectrum uses should be grouped together to the greatest extent possible to minimize the number of band edges or ‘border areas’ where dissimilar uses in close proximity create serious interference challenges. This approach minimizes the need for the FCC to engage in extensive rule making to balance the interests of dissimilar spectrum uses in every spectrum ‘border’ area.”
GPSIA then noted that “attempts to attribute Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference issues mainly to poor receiver design are misguided. The FCC has long understood that receivers designed to receive one set of frequencies can be ‘overloaded’ by transmissions in adjacent frequencies.”
In fact, overload interference is not unique to GPS, whose receivers are typically designed to withstand adjacent band transmissions hundreds of millions of times stronger than GPS signals and compare favorably to other common types of mass market receivers.
GPSIA again voiced support for the 1 dB standard for testing, explaining that communications systems operate above the noise floor spectrum while GPS signals are below the thermal noise floor when they are received.
“Because GNSS operates below the noise floor, the most appropriate means by which to assess the potential of new adjacent band systems is whether the new service causes a 1 dB degradation in a receiver’s Carrier-to-Noise Ratio.” Other interference metrics, the GPSIA explained, “are based on interference levels that seriously degrade the GNSS spectrum environment and will cause devastating disruption to GPS receivers.”
“Use of a 1 dB standard is vastly superior to an approach that attempts to assess whether there is ‘actual’ harm to an incumbent service, which wrongly assumes that you can accurately predict the impact of a new service across a heterogeneous series of devices in adjacent spectrum. Defining harmful interference by reference to a level of degradation to a particular key performance indicator among a limited universe of devices and applications fails to account for and support future innovation, including known and currently unknown applications which could take advantage of ever increasing accuracy of the position, navigation and timing functions of GPS. Use of a defined change in the noise floor (1 dB) provides a readily identifiable and predictable metric that all interested parties can take into account now and in the future.”
GPSIA’s testimony concluded by urging policy makers to engage in “rational, long term spectrum planning,” noting that a focus solely on regulation of receiver characteristics is likely to have limited usefulness and may be inefficient and harmful to continued innovation in affected spectrum uses.
The GPS Innovation Alliance recognizes the ever increasing importance of Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies to the global economy and infrastructure and is firmly committed to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The GPS Innovation Alliance seeks to protect, promote and enhance the use of GPS. For more information, visit www.gpsalliance.org.
The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) is welcoming BAE Systems Inc. as the newest member of the organization. BAE Systems, a global defense, security and aerospace company, joins member companies John Deere, Garmin, Trimble, Lockheed Martin and Collins Aerospace, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp., as well as 11 national organizations that make up GPSIA’s affiliates program.
“We are excited to welcome BAE Systems as the newest member of the Alliance — a monumental addition that marks the doubling of our membership in the past eight months,” said GPSIA Executive Director J. David Grossman. “The continued growth of GPSIA demonstrates the criticality of protecting GPS and the substantial value our organization delivers through advocacy, information sharing, and technical standards. We remain committed to ensuring the economic and societal benefits of GPS are fully realized.”
