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  • Siberian City Sees Rebirth from GLONASS

    The Siberian city Zheleznogorsk, a hub of Russian space and nuclear technology, fell on hard times in the 1990s. Now, GLONASS has infused a new life and vitality into this once-secret city, as described in a feature by Russia and India Reports.

    The feature discusses the city’s history as attracting young scientists and specialists in the 1950s and 1960s, then its stagnation in the 1990s until its rebirth today, as a hub for GLONASS production. About 40 satellites are in production at the same time, including secret military systems, GLONASS satellites, and telecommunications and geodesy satellites for Russian operators.

    Read more at Glonass Revives Siberian Space Hub.

  • Magellan Truck GPS Navigator Helps Truckers Plan Routes, Drive Safely

    Magellan Truck GPS Navigator Helps Truckers Plan Routes, Drive Safely

    Photo: MagellanMagellan, maker of innovative GPS devices for vehicles, outdoor and mobile navigation, today announced the newest addition to its Magellan RoadMate Commercial GPS family for truckers and commercial drivers providing improved safety and productivity before, during and after their on-the-road trips. The compliance-ready Magellan RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM GPS device is specifically designed for the needs of truckers including an extra-large GPS display, customizable truck-specific routing, hands-free communication, and trip logging.

    To prepare for their trips, truck drivers can use the Magellan RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM to set up customizable routes based on the height, weight, width, and length of the vehicle, as well as applicable hazmat restrictions. Multi-destination routing allows drivers to plan their stops and optimize routes to help them save time and gas, Magellan said.

    While on-the-road, the Magellan RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM helps drivers navigate on an extra-wide 7-inch high-definition touchscreen display that adjusts color and contrast for easy night-viewing. The large display also makes maps and other content easy to read when the GPS Navigator is mounted in large vehicles with deep dashboards. The integrated Bluetooth wireless technology, when paired with a compatible Bluetooth phone, enables drivers to safely talk hands-free while keeping their eyes on the road.

    At the end of their trip, the Magellan RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM facilitates preparing required compliance reports including hours and state mileage for IFTA fuel records. A comprehensive log of trip information by each driver is retained in the Magellan GPS device for easy exporting into reports.

    “We expanded our family of Magellan RoadMate Commercial GPS Navigators to further meet the unique navigation needs of commercial and truck drivers who need a comprehensive solution to efficiently perform their jobs from the initial trip planning stage to their on-the-road requirements and managing required log reporting after their trip,” said Stig Pedersen, Associate Vice President of Product Management for Magellan. “The Magellan RoadMate Commercial series of GPS Navigators are designed to make drivers’ jobs safer and less stressful plus improve productivity, reduce costs and ultimately increase profits.”

    The Magellan RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM functions as an “information dashboard” that not only navigates, but provides elevation and truck speed limit warnings. The 9270T-LM GPS device includes several valuable safety and convenience features:

    • Highway Lane Assist that shows realistic highway signs and guides truck drivers towards the correct lane when approaching complex highway interchanges and exits;
    • Free Lifetime Traffic Alerts that help drivers avoid traffic incidents on their route by offering an alternative solution;
    • Spoken Street Name guidance that announces the street name and gives turn-by-turn directions;
    • Highway Exit Points-of-Interest and a Truck Stop Directory help drivers find services including gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, rest areas and showers, truck services, Wi-Fi availability;
    • OneTouch lets truckers bookmark and assign a button to their favorite destinations or searches for faster access;
    • Heavy-duty extended windshield mount, designed for deep dashboards, is included to provide fully-adjustable, personalized comfort and safe viewing;
    • An A/V input for easy connection to external devices such as the Magellan Wireless Back-up Camera or a DVD player;
    • Free downloadable Lifetime Map Updates keep the pre-loaded maps of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico up-to-date.

    The Magellan RoadMate Commercial GPS family now includes two models — the new 7-inch Magellan RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM ($399.99 MSRP) and the 5-inch Magellan RoadMate Commercial 5190T ($379.99 MSRP). Both models are available in June at truck stops and through Magellan’s consumer electronics and online partners.

  • Abaqus, 1Shop Wireless Launch myGeoTracking MRM Service for T-Mobile Business Customers

    Abaqus, Inc., developer of device-neutral, cloud-based location and messaging platform that enables high-quality, low-cost mobile workforce and asset management solutions, and 1Shop Wireless, a national business partner sales (BPS) master agent for T-Mobile USA, have teamed to provide the cloud-based myGeoTracking mobile workforce management service for T-Mobile customers.

    “We’re really excited to work with Abaqus to offer their myGeoTracking MRM service to T-Mobile customers,” said Peter Giansante, director of sales for 1Shop Wireless. “It’s an ideal device-neutral location-based-solution for companies that want to equip their employees with feature phones and smartphones, and want to avoid the deployment and training issues associated with mobile apps-based MRM services.”

    The Abaqus myGeoTracking platform provides a unique cloud-hosted solution that combines network-derived and phone-based GPS location information with fine-grained privacy control options, location-enhanced SMS, and a powerful rules engine to let companies quickly and easily manage their field-personnel and assets. It does not require special devices & smartphones, expensive data plans, cumbersome applications, or software.

    “Abaqus’ myGeoTracking bizTeam service is a great fit for any field-force oriented T-Mobile customer that needs to deploy a mobile management solution,” said Gillian Foley, vice president of One Shop Wireless.

    Unlike smartphone-based applications that require special phones and client applications, the location-enhanced, SMS-based myGeoTracking mobile workforce management solution from Abaqus can locate any phone on a cellular network using either Cell ID information, or a precise location using GPS inside the device. The platform provides fine-grained controls to the dispatcher or the employee in the field to pull or push location data using simple SMS commands. The myGeoTracking platform has a rich web API which can be used to integrate with a range of back-office Enterprise systems, Abaqus said. The service provides SMS-based messaging for team job status reports, and has a powerful rules engine that can use geo-fencing, time, device identity, workgroup and other terms to integrate into a company’s mobile workflow needs on a day-to-day basis.

    • The myGeoTracking bizTeam service is an MRM solution which is completely cloud-based and does not require special GPS devices, special phones or any new software.
    • The myGeoTracking bizTeam MRM service can use any standard feature phone to send location and event information, and complies with USPS location standards.
    • The myGeoTracking bizTeam MRM service provides fine-grained privacy controls which can be managed by the end-user from their mobile phones or from the web site
    • Location-enhanced SMS (myGeoText ™) lets your mobile workers actively send you a date, time and location stamped status message from the field and trigger additional dispatch functions.
    • The myGeoTracking bizTeam MRM service provides Geofencing, Geo-corridors, and a variety of other events-based rules to enable easy integration of real-world alerts into a company’s workflow
    • The myGeoTracking bizTeam service provides rich reporting tools which can be exported to a company’s backoffice systems
    • The myGeoTracking MRM bizTeam service provides an Enterprise SMS feature which lets customer’s enhance their dispatch and operations by messaging individuals, groups, or the whole company.
    • The myGeoTracking Platform Integrates with a range of back-office programs through a rich web API.
  • Digital Matter Embedded Introduces GPS Log Book Based on u-blox Technology

    Digital Matter Embedded Introduces GPS Log Book Based on u-blox Technology

    Photo: Digital Matter Embedded

    Digital Matter Embedded, a South African based provider of innovative technology providing electronic and software solutions for a wide range of Industry applications, has launched a compact GPS logging device which plugs into any vehicle’s cigarette lighter. The device, the GPS Log Book, is designed around u-blox’ NEO GPS receiver module to provide an easy way for drivers to automatically keep an accurate travel log book which can be securely accessed later from anywhere via a web interface. Information logged includes route, speed, and distance traveled. The device is targeted at businesses where tracking of vehicle usage is an important part of their cost control and accounting: taxi, emergency, and delivery services, as well as for traveling sales personnel.

    “The GPS Log Book takes advantage of u-blox’ extremely sensitive GPS receiver technology to provide a simple and useful way to keep an accurate overview of vehicle usage,” said Alex Soldatos, general manager at Digital Matter Embedded. “The GPS Logbook provides a simple, cost-effective way for businesses to keep track of one of their most valuable assets: their cars.”

    “The GPS Log Book takes full advantage of u-blox’ leading positioning technology: it requires fast satellite acquisition and re-acquisition speeds, small module size, and high sensitivity to allow the use of a very small GPS antenna,“ said Huub Robroek, regional sales manager at u-blox. “Basing their design on our NEO GPS module has resulted in an impressive, compact device that delivers useful and reliable vehicle usage data.”

    The GPS Log Book uploads its log data on both PC or Mac via USB where a web interface application allows users to manage their devices, view trips, and add locations as well as many other useful functions including creating powerful, informative reports. Most notably, the log book can be generated for use with income tax return for individuals. Data is stored for more than five years and can be viewed at any time if required.

  • GSA Releases 2012 SatNav Market Report

    The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has published its second Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) Market Report, providing key information to entrepreneurs in the satellite navigation sector.

    GNSS market forecasting is of great interest to private and public GNSS stakeholders, for business and strategic planning and policymaking, according to the GSA. According to the 2012 GSA Market Monitoring Report, the worldwide GNSS market is growing fast and the total market size is expected to increase at an average of 13 percent per year until 2016.

    The total enabled GNSS market size is expected to stabilise in the latter half of the decade due to market saturation, price erosion and platform convergence. Global shipments of GNSS devices are lower than previously forecasted up until 2015 yet are forecasted to continue growing to over 1.1 billion units per year.

    Expanding coverage. Following up on the first GNSS Market Report published in 2010, the GSA’s 2012 Report includes an analysis of two new sectors: maritime and surveying. Relevant examples from EU research projects have also been included for each sector.

    2012 Report Highlights

    Road and location-based services (LBS) still in the lead. Road and LBS dominate GNSS device sales (54% and 44% respectively). LBS constitutes 87% of the total GNSS market in terms of units sold and GNSS penetration in smartphones is set to increase from 30% today to almost 100% in 2020. For road navigation, traditional Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) will gradually disappear from the European market yet remain present in other regions in the form of low cost OEM products. Smartphones and in-vehicle devices will be the preferred means of navigation.

    Commercial aviation use will grow. In the Aviation sector, the segment that will see the greatest growth in terms of GNSS equipment revenues will be Commercial Aviation, surpassing general and business aviation by 2018.

    GNSS use in agriculture continues to rise. In agriculture the current positive growth trend will continue; low cost precision agriculture solutions based on EGNOS are driving GNSS adoption by farmers in Europe.

    Surveying: a growing opportunity. In surveying, the construction segment is dominating the market in terms of units and value. North America is leading in terms of market penetration but the other regions will catch up by 2020 as GNSS is rapidly replacing the traditional surveying and mapping methods in Europe and around the world.

    Safer seas with GNSS. In the open sea segment, shipments of search-and-rescue (SAR) beacons will exceed those of other categories making the SAR segment the largest in terms of shipments and second largest in terms of market size.

    The 2012 GSA Market Monitoring Report can be downloaded for free.

  • NovAtel, L-3 Interstate Electronics Partner on Civil RTK and SAASM Receiver Card

    NovAtel Inc. today announced the development of its OEM625S Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) GNSS receiver, a collaborative effort between NovAtel and L-3 Interstate Electronics Corporation (IEC).

    System integrators have come to rely on the centimeter-level positioning accuracy made possible with real-time kinematic (RTK) commercial GPS receivers. Many authorized defense customers rely on access to the Precise Positioning Service (PPS) for single-point positioning. The OEM625S will combine a commercial dual-frequency NovAtel GNSS receiver with an L-3 IEC XFACTOR SAASM in a single card solution, reducing overall size and power requirements for end customer applications.

    The OEM625S will maintain NovAtel’s OEMV-2 form factor, ensuring a successful drop-in replacement and backward compatibility for existing customers. Integrators can continue to use their existing user interface, which will be enhanced with OEM625S logs and commands for SAASM functionality.

    NovAtel’s well-established, comprehensive set of software commands facilitates system integration, NovAtel said. The SAASM position is provided via a dedicated communication port, as well as through NovAtel’s software command protocol, allowing for maximum flexibility.

    “For the past 17 years NovAtel’s customers have enjoyed great success in integrating our OEM family of high-precision receivers into a wide array of defense applications,” stated Graham Purves, executive vice president of NovAtel. “Adding the L-3 XFACTOR SAASM to our receiver card will allow defense customers to continue to use our products in the most demanding military environments.”

    Ric Pozo, general manager of L-3 IEC’s Navigation Systems business unit, commented, “We are pleased to collaborate with NovAtel and provide the warfighter this highly flexible and capable GPS SAASM product. Our combined teams are looking forward to bringing this one-of-a-kind solution to market.”

    NovAtel will accept orders for the OEM625S from authorized customers starting in the third quarter of 2012.

  • OpenGeo Suite 2.5 Released

    OpenGeo released version 2.5 of their flagship product, the OpenGeo Suite. Version 2.5 bundles many improvements and bug fixes from the open source communities and adds special OpenGeo features, including a toolkit for developing and deploying applications powered by the OpenGeo Suite, and improved raster format support. OpenGeo, an innovator who introduced unlimited support on a complete open source mapping stack, continues to innovate with the 2.5 release. The fully integrated suite takes the pain out of installing and upgrading open source components. Stand-alone, production-ready downloads make it simple for users to install and upgrade scalable, multi-tier deployments of the OpenGeo Suite.

    According to the announcement, the highlight of version 2.5 is the the introduction of the OpenGeo Suite Client SDK. The much anticipated SDK provides tools for developing and deploying web mapping applications backed by the OpenGeo Suite. By providing a plugin-based architecture and leveraging OpenLayers, Ext JS, andGeoExt the SDK allows users to build powerful web mapping applications by providing a JSON configuration.

    When reached for comment about the SDK Tim Schuab, OpenGeo CTO said “The Client SDK provides a robust toolkit for rapidly creating, debugging, and deploying browser based mapping apps. We’re excited to include the initial version of the SDK in the 2.5 release and will continue building on it, focusing on customizing server side functionality and developing mobile applications.”

    The 2.5 release also comes with support for publishing data from formats supported by the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL), including: DTED, EHdr, AIG, ENVIHdr, and more. MrSID is available to those with a license for LizardTech’s decoding software development kit. Other noteworthy changes include:

    • Improvements to the GeoServer Layer Importer, including Oracle and SQL Server options and support for importing ZIP files containing multiple Shapefiles.
    • Options in GeoServer to allow layers to be available but not advertised as well as options for producing lenient capabilities documents to prevent invalid XML output from misconfigured layers.
    • Better WFS output from GeoServer, including paging and sorting in the WFS capabilities and user-defined WFS GetFeatureInfo output.
    • Better 3D support in GeoServer and GeoTools, including proper handling of read/write of 3D polygons from Oracle and proper handling of 3D data in GML3 encoding.

    More specific information is available in the release notes. OpenGeo Suite 2.5 is available for download free of charge with a 30 day trial of OpenGeo’s enterprise support.

  • Lockheed Martin Completes Navigation Payload Milestone for GPS III Prototype

    The Lockheed Martin team developing the next generation Global Positioning System III satellites has completed a major integration and test event on the program’s satellite pathfinder, known as the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST). The milestone is a key indication that the GPS III team is on track to deliver the first satellite for launch availability in 2014.

    In Lockheed Martin’s new GPS Processing Facility (GPF), engineers successfully powered on the GNST with major elements of its navigation payload to include advanced atomic clocks for improved GPS accuracy, and the mission data unit, the heart of the GPS III navigation payload. The test was completed in advance of integrating the full navigation payload element, which is scheduled for delivery to the GPF this fall.

    The GPS III program will replace aging GPS satellites while improving capability to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users worldwide. GPS III satellites are expected to deliver better accuracy and improved anti-jamming power, while enhancing the spacecraft’s design life and adding a new civil signal designed to be interoperable with international global navigation satellite systems.

    Incorporating lessons learned from previous GPS programs, the Air Force initiated a “back-to-basics” acquisition approach for GPS III. The strategy emphasizes early investments in rigorous systems engineering and industry-leading parts standards to significantly reduce risk, improve production predictability, increase mission assurance and lower overall program costs. These investments early in the GPS III program are designed to prevent the types of engineering issues discovered on other programs late in the manufacturing process or even on orbit.

    “The GNST is the cornerstone of the Air Force’s back-to-basics acquisition approach, and this milestone demonstrates that GPS III is on track and the acquisition strategy is working,” said Keoki Jackson, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Navigation Systems mission area. “The Air Force’s early investment in meticulous parts standards and rigorous systems engineering will significantly reduce per unit production costs and ensure mission success.”

    As production progresses on the first GPS III satellite, the team has already benefited from lessons learned on the GNST. Early efficiencies identified include:

    • 50-80 percent reductions in labor hours and defect rates between similar activities on the GNST and the first space vehicle.
    • Identification of tens of millions of dollars in cost savings for the production satellites based on process improvements recognized during GNST integration and test.

    “As we continue learning lessons on the GNST and move into full scale satellite production, we expect to continually streamline our processes and reduce per unit costs,” Jackson said.

    In 2008, Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract for the design, development, and production of the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) and the first two GPS III satellites, with priced options for up to 10 additional satellites. In early 2012, the Air Force exercised a $238 million option for production of the next two satellites, GPS III space vehicles three and four. The Air Force plans to purchase up to 32 GPS III satellites.

    The GPS III team is led by the Global Positioning Systems Directorate at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Lockheed Martin is the GPS III prime contractor with teammates ITT Exelis, General Dynamics, Infinity Systems Engineering, Honeywell, ATK and other subcontractors. Air Force Space Command’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS), based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., manages and operates the GPS constellation for both civil and military users.

  • Open Source GIS: Part II

    I received a bit of email from my article last week on open source GIS. There are two letters from readers I’d like to share with you because I think they clearly represent two different perspectives of the open source GIS discussion.

    I’d love to hear from more folks about their open source GIS apps. Please send me a quick email.

    The first letter points out an important fact about open source GIS that I didn’t touch on last week. His point is that with open source GIS, anyone can modify the software source code to add or change features of the software.

    Dear Eric,

    I’ve been following your writings for a few years now, and I’m delighted to see you bring up open source geospatial software in your column!

    Last year, I finished an online MGIS degree from Penn State, using open source GIS and web mapping tools with local township staff for my “capstone project.” Here in Michigan, townships are the local units of government that are below counties in the hierarchy of governments. There are over 1200 of them in the state.

    Open source tools, I think, represent an “enabling” technology and movement, especially for impoverished township governments like those I worked with in northern Michigan. There, some of the staff may actually be trained in using commercial GIS tools (from previous employment or from schools), but their small, rural townships may not be able to afford licenses for them. In other townships, staff have enthusiasm for, but not training in, GIS tools, and are willing to spend the time to learn and use them if their townships can provide them with such tools. (Here again, up here in rural northwest lower Michigan, townships typically can’t.) The townships up here typically have populations in the low thousands.

    For this segment of potential users, open source desktop GIS tools such as QGIS and uDig turned out to be just what was needed. For a couple of townships, I just had to show them how to download and install these tools, and then they were off on their own! After they created paper maps and such for their use (planning commission work, recreational planning, and so on), I made online interactive versions for their websites using open source tools. Such open source web mapping tools included Open Layers, Geoserver, and even Google Maps API, even though Google Maps API is not, strictly speaking, open source. In other townships, I initially had to sit down and coach them in the use of QGIS and uDig, but they soon caught on and started producing their own mapping products. Granted, the maps were fairly simple maps, but perfectly adequate to communicate to their constituents whatever needed to be communicated. Without open source GIS products, none of this would have been possible, especially in today’s economic climate.

    If you take a close look at QGIS, for example, you’ll see that the current release version (1.7.4) and the development version (1.9.x) contain highly sophisticated tools that rival those from commercial packages. In fact, for the vast majority of potential users (such as those I worked with), what are in the current versions are more than enough for their needs. Through the efforts of the worldwide communities of enthusiastic, part-time developers who program in their own time, these open source geospatial products of great sophistication are made available to those who need them most!

    Again, thank you for hi-lighting open source geospatial products in your column!

    Howard Yamaguchi

    P.S.  Eric, in your column you dwelled on the “free as in free beer” aspect of open source, where anybody can download the software and use it, gratis. The other aspect of open source that you could have mentioned is the part where, in addition to  downloading the product, we can also download the source code and tinker with it. We are then free to use the tinkered code for our own use, even to profit from it by deploying and using such modified versions for our clients. Open source licenses typically require us to eventually upload the modified source code to the developer community so that they can, if they so choose, incorporate it into the release versions of the product. That’s the “free as in free speech” part, the part that really distinguishes open source software from the world of commercial software. (But you probably knew all this!)  Cheers!

    Following is a letter from a gentleman who says the cost-savings potential with open source GIS isn’t worth it for the organization he works in.

    Eric—

    Thanks for your always insightful columns. You asked for feedback from users who are using open source GIS apps, but might I offer the following counterpoint? The electric utility company I work for doesn’t use open source GIS and has no plans to use it, regardless of how reliable or low-priced it becomes. “Why?” you ask. “Is it because we’re herd-bound and lacking vision?  Are we so tied to our big-box traditions that we can’t see the coming GIS software wave?”

    No, the reason is simply that the cost of neither software nor hardware is significant in comparison to the value of GIS data integration. When our system operators remotely close a switch, the distribution SCADA system’s electrical-connectivity data (which it receives from our GIS) darn well better correctly identify the facilities it just energized. So a GIS that’s highly integrated into our distribution-SCADA, accounting, work-management, outage-management and meter-data-management systems is a bargain at any price; but a stand-alone GIS app (even one with really great data-collection capabilities) is effectively worthless to us, regardless of how cheap it is.

    This system integration is not something our management cares to do in-house (though I’m always making the argument that we can and should do more in-house), nor is it something we can entrust to volunteer hackers (regardless of how altruistic they are). There will always be a market for high-dollar GIS platforms that frictionlessly exchange real-time data with mission-critical systems.

    It seems (to me anyway) that the only role open source apps might play is in areas that don’t involve interfaces with other mission-critical systems — e.g., in presenting our GIS data alongside other datasets, or perhaps in data collection/validation.

    Thanks again, for your always interesting insights,

    Bob

    Thanks to Howard and Bob for their perspectives.

    How about open source geo data such as openstreetmap.org?

    If you recall, one of the trends identified by the experts that the United Nations polled was that “There is unlikely to be a market for datasets like those currently sold to power navigation and location-based services solutions in five years, as they will have been superseded by crowdsourced datasets from OpenStreetMaps or other comparable initiatives.”

    Do you think that Bob’s rationale also applies to open source data? I’m sure that’s what Navteq/Nokia and Teletlas/TomTom would argue.

    Personally, I think that the U.N. prediction of five years is pretty aggressive. Navteq and TeleAtlas have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into collecting and validating their datasets. They get paid to be accountable for the quality of their product. The challenge for OpenStreetMap to take over the GPS Personal Navigation and other LBS markets is that the quality bar has already been set. If OpenStreetMap data quality doesn’t match or come close, the user experience will be disappointing and OpenStreetMap’s reputation will take a hit.

    Don’t take this wrong, though. Open source GIS data sources like OpenStreetMap, OpenSeaMap, etc. have a bright future. As I’ve written before, and as the U.N. correctly identifies, the proliferation of high-precision GNSS receivers, along with other sensors, will make high-precision data collection inexpensive and commonplace. Super-detailed, feature-rich, open source data is in our future.

    Thanks, and see you next week.
    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Gakstatter to Give GNSS Technology Update at Esri Conference

    Eric Gakstatter, GPS World’s contributing editor for Survey/GIS, will speak at the 2012 Esri International User Conference, which will be held July 23-27 in San Diego, California.

    In his “GPS/GNSS Technology Update,” Gakstatter will provide a discussion on how current and upcoming satellite systems affect the user. The talk will be held in Room 31B at 10:15-11:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 26. Here is the official description:

    ArcGIS Mobile users around the world are challenged to keep current with evolving satellite systems. There are new GPS satellites being launched with new GPS signals being broadcast (L5). The Russian GLONASS system is near operational and Europe has launched its first two Galileo satellites. Not only are the satellite systems changing but also GPS augmentation systems such as WAAS, DGPS, EGNOS, MSAS and GAGAN systems. ArcGIS Mobile users take advantage of these GPS/GNSS augmentation systems and should be aware of how they are evolving. The LightSquared controversy is still a major threat to GPS/GNSS users. How might that affect the future of GPS/GNSS mapping/surveying? How do these changes affect spatial data collection and navigation services within ArcGIS Mobile? Which factors should one consider when using these different satellite systems. What are the current trends and developments that one should consider when preparing GPS/GNSS mapping hardware budgets?

    To learn more about the conference, read about it in our Events section here.

  • Spirent Launches Entry-Level Multi-GNSS Simulator

    Spirent Launches Entry-Level Multi-GNSS Simulator

    Photo: Spirent Communications

    Spirent Communications today announced the launch of its new GSS6300M Multi-GNSS simulator designed for integration, verification, and production testing where a quick and accurate functional test is needed. The platform supports simulation of signals from individual or combined GPS/SBAS, GLONASS, and Galileo constellations, with eight satellites per constellation.

    The GSS6300M supports two modes of operation — integrated into an Automated Test Equipment (ATE) environment or using Spirent’s SimCHAN software. For automated operation, the GSS6300M can be synchronized with other equipment and controlled remotely over Ethernet, IEEE-488 (GPIB), or RS232 interfaces. The SimCHAN software interface supplied with the GSS6300M enables the user to create unlimited scenarios and specify parameters such as user position, date, and time. Both modes support precise user control over power level and atmospheric effect selection.

    “The GSS6300M is designed for customers who want an affordable, easy-to-use multi-GNSS test system with the quality, reliability and support that is expected from Spirent,” said Rahul Gupta, product manager with Spirent’s Positioning Technology business. “The GSS6300M enables testing of fundamental receiver functionality including time to first fix, sensitivity, and accuracy.”

    The GSS6300M is now available for order. A field upgrade pack is available for existing Spirent GSS6300 customers who want to leverage the multi-channel capabilities of the GSS6300M.

  • Nexteq Navigation Announces New Flagship Data Collector

    Photo: Nexteq Navigation

    Nexteq Navigation, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has announced the T5A, its new flagship multifunctional GNSS handheld data collector. The device is a high-accuracy GPS unit capable of 2-centimeter accuracy using real-time kinematic (RTK) and 50-centimeters globally using Nexteq’s i-PPP technology. With the T5A, users can achieve extremely accurate and consistent results anywhere in the world with no loss in flexibility, Nexteq said, adding that the unit’s centimeter-level precision coupled with versatility allows for accurate data collection in the most diverse weather conditions.

    Suitable for projects in all-environments, the T5A has a professional quality internal GPS receiver that provides accurate real-time results. Using Nexteq’s Freedom, i-PPP, or RTK technologies, the T5A data collector can provide flexible and accurate positioning in all parts of the world, Nexteq Navigation said.

    The T5A has a 3.7-inch color touchscreen that is both waterproof and dustproof. The device includes features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, digital cellular data and voice, microSD card slots, and a 3.0 megapixel digital camera.

    Like all Nexteq Navigation GPS handhelds, the T5A is a ruggedized and tough unit. The T5A has an IP66 rating with excellent dust and water resistance.