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  • Russia, India Join Global Satnav Augmentation Meeting

    Experts ensuring that aircraft can safely rely on satellite navigation across Europe and other parts of the globe met last week to share future plans, welcoming Russian and Indian representatives for the first time, reports the European Space Agency. More and more aircraft around the globe are using satnav augmentation, with special infrastructure sharpening signal accuracy and reliability across given geographical regions.

    More than 50 specialists who oversee the world’s five regional satnav augmentation systems met in Toulouse, France, January 24-25 for the latest meeting of the Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Interoperability Working Group (IWG). The gathering was the first to be attended by Russia’s space agency and the Indian Bureau of Civil Aviation, to discuss their own SBAS systems.

    The meeting was jointly hosted by ESA’s European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) and SBAS Division with the French space agency, CNES.

    Satellite augmentation systems provide ground monitoring stations and satellite transponders to sharpen satnav accuracy and reliability across geographical regions. The resulting accuracy improvements, together with information on integrity, renders satnav suitable for the vertical (as well as horizontal) guidance of aircraft and a range of other precision applications.

    Today, there are three certified SBAS operational worldwide: Europe has EGNOS, designed and developed by ESA, operated by the European Satellite Service Provider and owned by the European Commission. EGNOS was made available for general users in 2009 and for aircraft landing approaches since March 2011.

    The U.S. has the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), developed and operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with an extension over Canada called CWAAS (Canadian WAAS). Japan has the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), developed and operated by Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau.

    Two more systems are being developed for future certification by the International Civil Aviation Authority: Russia’s System of Differential Correction and Monitoring (SDCM), under development by Roscosmos, and India’s GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system, under development by Indian Civil Aviation and India’s ISRO space agency.

    Representatives of these five systems were joined at this 24th IWG meeting by international organisations including Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation.

    Current_combined_SBAS_coverage_node_full_image
    Current combined SBAS coverage.

  • Symmetricom Delivers Precise Time to Next-Generation Smart Grid

    Symmetricom, Inc., a precision time and frequency technologies company, today announced a new timing solution that meets the stringent microsecond accuracy requirements of Smart Grid substations. Specifically designed for substation operations, such as wide area measurement systems, traveling wave fault locators and sampled values, the Symmetricom SyncServer SGC-1500 Smart Grid Clock offers power utility companies accurate, secure and reliable timing and synchronization for their mission-critical operations. This means companies like Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) will be able to mitigate outages with real-time monitoring for grid stress, frequency instability, voltage instability and reliability margins.

    The Smart Grid has brought about power technology advancements that fundamentally change substation operations. Power equipment and their data networks are shifting from simple, reactive control and reporting to proactive, real-time management and operations control, making advanced synchronization and timing more critical than ever, according to Symmetricom. The SGC-1500 Smart Grid Clock is designed to address this need, enabling power equipment to operate more efficiently and closer to its operational limits. For example, one microsecond accuracy is required by the phasor measurement unit (PMU) for real-time network situational awareness and overall operational efficiency. Without accurate time stamps, PMU data has limited value. For power utility companies, that translates into enhanced network utilization rates as well as smarter management and mixing of renewable and traditional power sources.

    “Power and utility companies are increasingly looking to source the latest technology innovations in order to modernize their infrastructure,” said Greg Neichin, executive vice president, Cleantech Group. “Over the past three years, we have tracked more than $700 million in venture investment committed to companies developing smart grid products. These are all data-intensive applications that will rely heavily on precise timing and synchronization, as well as more advanced analytics to process these vast streams of new information.”

    “The Smart Grid architecture and related standards require a new approach to timing distribution across the overall network,” said Manish Gupta, vice president of marketing and business development for Symmetricom. “Symmetricom brings extensive experience in delivering precise time to the communications, government, and enterprise markets. Serving the power utility telecom network over the past 10 years, Symmetricom is ideally positioned to meet the emerging timing requirements of the Smart Grid.”

    The SyncServer SGC-1500 meets key requirements of Smart Grid substations, including:

    • Microsecond accuracy and resiliency — referencing GPS satellite signals, the Symmetricom Smart Grid Clock distributes timing with microsecond accuracy over the local area network (LAN) using the IEEE 1588 v2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) Power Profile or IRIG-B time code.
    • IEC 61850 — the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) standards for the design of electrical substation automation, which requires microsecond timing to identify and mitigate a potential fault condition in real time. This standard also identifies important electrical hardening requirements for substation environments.
    • NERC CIP ― the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability and security standards for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), which calls for high strength security protocols.

    The SyncServer SGC-1500 comes with additional industry leading capabilities such as a built-in IEEE 1588 v2 Telecom Profile input option. This enables the Smart Grid Clock to derive time from the communications wide area network (WAN), thus eliminating the need to have GPS at every substation and PMU. The Rubidium atomic clock option offers holdover capability in the event of GPS disruption. These options result in a highly cost effective and resilient solution for power utilities.

  • MediaTek Announces Multi-GNSS Receiver SoC Solutions Supporting Beidou

    MediaTek Inc., a fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced the availability of its MT3332/MT3333, a 5-in-1 multi-GNSS receiver system-on-chip (SoC) that support the Beidou Satellite Navigation System. The Beidou system has been commercially operational since the end of 2012, and can identify a user’s location to 10 meters (33 feet), their velocity to within 0.2 meters per second, and clock synchronization signals (one-way) to within 10 nanoseconds.

    The MediaTek MT3332/MT3333 can discover GPS, Beidou, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS constellations. Featuring a multi-GNSS receiver design, the MT3332/MT3333 can reduce the cumulative distance and positioning error accumulated over time/multiple hops, and significantly improve navigation/positioning accuracy, MediaTek said. The MT3332/MT3333 also comes with excellent signal acquisition and tracking sensitivity, which efficiently enhances signal quality within dense cities, tunnels and multi-storey car-parks, while delivering a better user experience, the company said. Moreover, because of its highly integrated, low-cost and ultra-compact system architecture, the MT3332/MT3333 enables multi-GNSS receivers with the same reference board for mobile, industrial and automotive navigation applications.

    “The proliferation of LBS (location-based services) using mobile applications over wireless networks such as social check-in or nearby service recommending is driving demand for greater satellite navigation performance and coverage beyond existing technologies. This will also lead to the rapid adoption of multi-GNSS receiver solutions in smartphones, tablets and automotive vehicles because LBS is now an indispensable way for people to interact/communicate with each other on a daily basis,” said SR Tsai, general manager of the Wireless Connectivity and Networking Business Unit at MediaTek. “We believe the market for Beidou-compatible multi-GNSS receivers in China will accelerate in the coming years. MediaTek will deliver new products that offer high value and are capable of meeting the evolving needs of our customers in the Beidou navigation system market through continuous product innovation. The MT3332/MT3333 [models] are designed to accelerate the realization of satellite navigation services anytime, anywhere, in a seamless fashion.”

    The MT3332/MT3333 also incorporates MediaTek’s unique “AlwaysLocate” technology that can identify the state in which the user is (regardless of on-the-go or sleeping) and automatically adjust the satellite signal receiving modes for more accurate and reliable navigation services, and to save the battery power of the navigation system.

    The MediaTek MT3332/MT3333 is now in mass production stage and being designed into major satellite navigation systems and mobile communication platforms worldwide.

  • GPS Vibrating Belt Guides Cyclists

    A new vibrating navigator belt guides cyclists by tickling them with buzzes and with directional nudges, according to a report by NDTV Gadgets.

    The “vibrobelt,” proven successful in early tests, uses vibrating actuators that indicate left, right, backward and forward turn directions. Developed by Haska Steltenpohl of the Intelligent Systems Lab at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the system aims to give cyclists a “heads-up” navigator, allowing them to keep their eyes on the road after they have chosen their destination on a GPS smartphone.

    The researchers plan to reveal their system and research results at the annual Intelligent User Interfaces conference in Santa Monica, California, in March.

  • Topcon Precision Agriculture Announces Receiver/Steering Controller

    Topcon Precision Agriculture,  a business unit of Topcon Positioning Systems, announces the AGI-4, an integrated steering solution that can interface with many manufacturer’s virtual terminals.

    The AGI-4 features multiple-constellation GNSS satellite reception, inertial sensors for full terrain compensation, and Topcon’s line acquisition and on-line steering functionality. It will be released at AgConnect Expo in Kansas City, Missouri, January 29-31.

    The AGI-4’s modular design includes antenna, multi-constellation GNSS satellite receiver and steering controller, with optional high-accuracy inertial sensors snap-in module offering unmatched upgradability, Cobb said. It comes standard with WAAS and EGNOS steering functionality. An RTK communication module is also an option.  It is easily upgradeable to 2-centimeters accuracy with RTK radio options.

    NTRIP capability allows a user to tap into existing reference networks via mobile phone connection (dependent on local availability) and uses existing data plans and infrastructure to minimize costs.

    AGI-4 features include ISO11783 compatibility with virtual terminals, allowing the addition of Topcon’s auto-steering performance to virtually any steer-ready vehicle via a single component installation, according to Kevin Cobb, TPA director of product management. “Being compatible with the displays of many other manufacturers lets the AGI-4 steering controller give true Drop-in and Drive convenience,” Cobb said.

  • Galileo’s Search and Rescue System Passes First Space Test

    The first switch-on of a Galileo search and rescue package shows it to be working well, according to the European Space Agency. Its activation begins a major expansion of the space-based Cospas–Sarsat network, which brings help to air and sea vessels in distress.

    The second pair of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites — launched together on October 12 last year — are the first of the constellation to host SAR search and rescue repeaters. These can pick up UHF signals from emergency beacons aboard ships and aircraft or carried by individuals, then pass them on to local authorities for rescue.

    First_Galileo_search_and_rescue_signal_node_full_image
    Galileo search and rescue repeater signal.

    Once the satellites reached their 23,222 km-altitude orbits, a rigorous test campaign began. The turn of the SAR repeater aboard the third Galileo satellite came on January 17.

    “At this stage, our main objective is to check the repeater has not been damaged by launch,” explained ESA’s Galileo SAR engineer Igor Stojkovic. “The first day was a matter of turning the repeater on and checking its temperature and power profiles were as predicted. The following day involved sending a signal to the repeater using the UHF antenna at ESA’s Redu Centre in Belgium, then picking up the reply from our L-band antenna.”

    Redu’s antenna is 20 meters in diameter, so the shape of the relayed signal was captured in great detail, out of all proportion to surrounding noise.

    “We can precisely measure its power, the time the relay took and so on,” added Igor.

    More detailed system testing will follow, to completely prove this new type of SAR payload in orbit.

    Cospas–Sarsat system.
    Cospas–Sarsat system.

    The international system has been in use for more than three decades, saving some 31,000 lives. Cospas is a Russian acronym for “Space System for the Search of Vessels in Distress,” with Cospas standing for “Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking.” Ground stations — known as Local User Terminals — pinpoint the source of distress calls using signals relayed by participating satellites, then alert local authorities.

    The GPS satellites will also provide a medium-Earth-orbit Sarsat capability and testing is underway. All nine Block IIR satellites carry experimental payloads and all IIF satellites are scheduled to. See “The Distress Alerting Satellite System” for more details.

  • Exelis Wins Air Force Contract to Research Low-Cost GPS Alternatives

    ITT Exelis has been awarded a $2.15 million contract by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to research the development of a small satellite navigation payload to augment the current GPS program. The GPS NAVSAT (Navigation Satellite) program seeks to provide affordable capabilities to aid end-users located in tough-to-reach environments.

    “The development of smaller satellites — in terms of size, weight, power and cost — will yield greater affordability for our customers,” said Mark Pisani, vice president and general manager, Precision Instruments and Positioning, Navigation and Timing Systems, ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems. “A smaller satellite size will allow for improved launch vehicle selection flexibility.”

    The goal of the 18-month initial study is to identify innovative ways to increase affordability and sustainment of the GPS program through payload weight reduction, size and power. The GPS NAVSAT will maintain similar performance capability to the existing GPS system, but will aid GPS end-users in signal-constrained environments, located in urban or mountainous terrain.

    Work on GPS NAVSAT is performed in Clifton and Bloomfield, New Jersey.

    For nearly 40 years, Exelis payloads and payload components have been on board every GPS satellite with more than 500 years of on-orbit life without a single mission-related failure due to Exelis equipment.

  • Esri Announces 24 Organizations to Receive $2 Million in GIS Imagery Grants

    Esri and PCI Geomatics announced they have selected 24 organizations to develop and apply innovative methods for using GIS to analyze imagery for land-use management. Through the Esri Natural Resources Imagery Grant Program, Esri, the world leader in GIS, and PCI Geomatics, the world leader in geoimaging, provide each grant recipient with software and data valued at $100,000.

    “Esri is committed to the development of tools and processes that advance the use of imagery for geospatial analysis,” said Lawrie Jordan, Esri’s imagery solutions director. “The applications that participants design will offer proof-of-concept models useful to imagery analysts worldwide.”

    According to the announcement, participants are required to improve efficiency, productivity, or accuracy for detecting and analyzing land-cover change using MDA synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from RADARSAT-2 and 5 m multispectral imagery from RapidEye. They will use Esri and PCI software to process and analyze imagery. Grant participants, project titles, and organizations are listed on the Esri Natural Resources Imagery Grant Program web page.

    “Imagery provides a cost-efficient means to monitor and measure what is happening on the ground and can be integrated with GIS to make better decisions,” said Terry Moloney, president and CEO of PCI Geomatics. “Our partnership with Esri on this program will significantly change the GIS approach participants will apply to land-use management, planning, and policy making.

  • Hexagon to Acquire Russia’s NAVGEOCOM

    Hexagon has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares in Russia-based Navgeocom. The company is the largest distributor for Leica Geosystems, a Hexagon brand, in the Russian Federation.

    Founded in 1997, Navgeocom has grown into one of the top-tier distributors of surveying and mapping products in Russia. The acquisition marks another step in Hexagon’s global distribution strategy, which aims to establish a strong direct presence in all key markets.

    “Strategically, the acquisition of Navgeocom is a great fit for Hexagon and yet another step toward expanding our presence in Russia and Central Asia. Furthermore, Russia is entering into a phase of significant investment in transport infrastructure,” said Hexagon AB President and CEO Ola Rollén. “In addition to Russian highways, it includes significantly increasing the size of Moscow and surrounding its perimeter with a motorway, an expressway and high-speed rail system between Moscow and St. Petersburg, and an international transport passage programme between Europe and West China. Coupled with the acquisition, these projects provide substantial growth opportunities across Hexagon and improve our ability to serve customers in the Russian Federation.”

    The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close as of end of February 2013 and will contribute to Hexagon’s earnings. Excluding intercompany revenue, the company’s turnover for 2012 amounted to approximately 10 MEUR.

  • From LightSquared to Narrowbanding: What’s Coming in 2013

    After a four-month sabbatical and the GPS World servers back in order, I’m back writing on a regular basis. I’ve been super busy on different GPS/GNSS-related products, conferences and various GPS/GNSS applications.

    Let’s take a look at some of the technologies and events that were significant in 2012 and some that will be significant in 2013 for high-precision GNSS users.

    LightSquared

    House Representative Anna Eshoo, ranking member on the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, who in September 2011 wrote to the NTIA’s Larry Strickland asking Strickland to find a way for LightSquared and GPS to coexist, said it best a year later (November 2012):

    “What happened to LightSquared is disappointing, but unfortunately that ship has sailed.”

    Now all that’s left are negotiations regarding GNSS receiver standards and/or a frequency guard band around GPS L1, both of which are moving at a snail’s pace. Regardless, you can bet that GNSS receiver designers are taking this experience to heart and tightening up their filtering as much as possible. The more difficult problem to solve is the augmentation services offered in the MSS band (such as Trimble’s OmniSTAR, Deere’s Starfire and just-introduced Terrastar), all of which broadcast their correction signals in the MSS band at low-power satcom power levels (as opposed to high-power terrestrial power levels).

    You can pretty much dismiss the LightSquared-proposed spectrum sharing proposal from last fall. It’s just another desperate move from a desperate company. If you have a few minutes, you can listen to the NSPS (formerly ASCM) Radio Hour show I participated in on October 8, 2012, where we discuss this issue.

    FCC UHF/VHF Narrowbanding Rule

    Hidden behind the LightSquared issue over the past two years has been the FCC narrow-banding ruling that took effect on January 1, 2013. Initially adopted in 1995, the narrowbanding ruling has been around for a number of years. In fact, equipment suppliers have been required to offer narrowbanded (12.5kHz vs. 25kHz spacing) radios since 1997. In 2004, the FCC set the January 1, 2013 deadline for users to comply.

    The FCC’s webpage on the narrowbanding ruling shed some light on the rationale behind it, but narrowbanding doesn’t specifically target RTK users so there’s not any RTK-specific information contained in the FCC documents. The bottom line is that the FCC is trying to allow more users in the same spectrum, similar to trying to fit more cars on a highway by splitting lanes in two. The problem with this, from a user standpoint, is that some vehicles won’t fit in the new, narrower lanes and therefore aren’t legal to use any longer. That’s the case with most UHF/VHF RTK base stations.

    To be clear, the narrowbanding ruling doesn’t affect UHF/VHF radios on your rover (receiving radio) GPS/GNSS receiver. I’m talking about the base station UHF/VHF radio. The ruling states that your UHF/VHF base station radio must be able to broadcast at 12.5kHz vs. 25kHz, essentially utilizing half the spectrum. Your UHF/VHF base radio can still broadcast at 25kHz if it broadcasts at 19,200 baud. Since January 1, 2013, it is illegal to broadcast at 4,800 or 9,600 using 25kHz spacing. The reality is that it becomes complicated when trying to broadcast at 19,200 baud at 25kHz spacing. Radio range is reduced and communication protocols (compatibility) become an issue. The reality is that you’ll likely need to replace your UHF/VHF base radio in order to stay compliant with the FCC rules.

    Just a few weeks ago (January 7, 2013), I was a guest on the NSPS Radio Hour to discuss the FCC narrowbanding rule. I invited Charlie Branch from Pacific Crest Corporation, a major supplier of VHF/UHF radios for RTK users, and Mark Silver from IGAGE Corp, a Pacific Crest dealer, to discuss their thoughts on the FCC narrowbanding rule and their experience with equipment compatibility. It is a great discussion on the subject and well worth listening to if you’re interested in learning more about the narrowbanding rule and how it affects RTK users.

    Lastly, you might also be interested in this presentation from Charlie Branch on the FCC narrowbanding rule.

    S-20203-P-Navigating-the-FCC's-Narrowbanding-Requirement-1-W

    Low-Cost RTK Receivers

    At the GPS World dinner during the Institute of Navigation GNSS conference last September, Dr. Todd Humphreys predicted that RTK GNSS would be available in mobile phones by the year 2020. As I’ve written before, the challenge with this is not really the quality of the GPS receiver used in mobile phones (some of the key engineers at Broadcomm, who supply the GNSS chip to Apple, used to design RTK receivers at Ashtech), but rather the poor quality antennas that mobile phone designers choose to use. Instead of RTK inside the mobile phone, I think small RTK “pucks,” a few inches in diameter, are more practical and realistic and will become common and easily interfaced to mobile phones (or other mobile devices) via Bluetooth. I think you will start seeing these within the next three years.

    Galileo

    With four Galileo IOV (in-orbit validation) test satellites in orbit that will be converted to operational satellites, Europe’s Galileo is on its way to becoming a viable satellite navigation system for high-precision apps. Launch of production satellites is scheduled to begin later this year and scheduled to occur every three months, launching in pairs. With an aggressive launch schedule, 18 satellites are predicted to be in orbit by the end of 2015, a little more than two years from now.

    I’m very bullish on Galileo because, like GPS, it supports the new L5 signal, which will lead to less expensive dual-frequency, dual-constellation receivers. It’s clear that the European Union is committed to Galileo, and it would be difficult for them to shut down the project after advancing as far as they have.

    GPS Modernization

    Modernizing GPS, on the other hand, is moving very slowly. Galileo already has more L5-capable satellites in orbit than GPS. My 2010 prediction that 18 Galileo satellites and 12 GPS satellites would provide the high-precision user community with a full 30-satellite constellation broadcasting L1/L5 signals by 2015 may not materialize. However, the weak link might end up being delays with the GPS program rather than a lack of commitment from the European Union with its Galileo program.

    Last August at a CGSIC (Civil GPS Service Interface Committee) meeting, I heard rumblings of three GPS launches this year (2013). Sadly, I don’t think this is going to materialize. I think we’re on pace for a single launch this year, again. Budget, launch pad scheduling and a healthy GPS constellation continue to be the culprits.

    There’s also a bit of second-guessing happening with respect to GPS signals. Earlier this month, Don Jewell wrote a piece entitled “2C or not 2C: An Important Signal Question.” While the delay in launching next-generation GPS satellites may have saved the U.S. government some money, I think it has put the L2C signal in peril. There were high hopes for L2C, as the second civil GPS signal, when it was conceived in the 1990s. But it’s been seven long years since the signal was deployed on the first GPS II-RM satellite in 2005, and there are only a total of 10 GPS satellites broadcasting L2C today. That’s not enough, and it’s hard for receiver manufacturers and the civilian user community to take L2C seriously when it appears the U.S. government is not taking it seriously.

    Some sort of positive traction with L2C must happen soon, or it will risk being ignored as it is overtaken by the new L5 signal that is supported by up-and-coming GNSS like Galileo and Compass/BeiDou.

    UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)

    The United States is the last major geographic region (that I’m aware of) where UAVs are illegal to use by commercial entities. Service companies in other countries are going crazy with UAVs in offering mapping services (for instance, in mining and agriculture). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working on establishing rules by 2015 that will allow commercial entities to utilize UAVs in the U.S. This will turn the market for digital mapping imagery upside down. It will become very easy and inexpensive for people to obtain quick-n-dirty imagery for mapping purposes with a very quick turnaround.

    Thanks, and see you next month.

    Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Luch-5B Starts SBAS Test Transmissions

    News courtesy of CANSPACE Listserv.

    According to tracking data from stations of the International GNSS Service’s Multi-GNSS Experiment, the second Russian Luch satellite, Luch-5B, started transmitting GLONASS and GPS differential corrections on January 17, 2013, at around 11:07 UTC.

    Luch-5B, launched on November 2, 2012, carries a transponder for the System for Differential Correction and Monitoring satellite-based augmentation system. The satellite, occupying an orbital slot at 16 degrees west, uses PRN code 125. Transmission tests are not continuous.

  • ION Pacific PNT Conference

    April 22-25, 2013, Honolulu, Hawaii

    The new Pacific PNT Conference, offered by the Institute of Navigation, provides an opportunity for policy and technical leaders from the Pacific Rim to share policy updates, program status and technical exchanges on positioning, navigation and timing.

    The conference, along with tutorials and a table-top exhibition, will be held at the Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa in Honolulu. Subjects to be discussed include GNSS agricultural, construction and mining applications, emergency management, UAVs, earthquake and tsunami prediction and monitoring, terrestrial and low frequency navigation, signals of opportunity, UAS integration into international airspace, and multi-GNSS policy issues.

    The conference advisory board includes experts from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.

    To register, visit the website.