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Home »Leap Smear, Leap Second – How ever you do it, here it comes!
The planet doesn't seem to care about how fast or slowly we think it should rotate. Perhaps it is a good reminder that we aren't really in charge of all that much and have to accommodate ourselves to the way the world really turns... Once again we are facing a leap...
American Military’s Greatest Vulnerability: No GPS in a War
Editor's Note: The below item is re-posted from "The National Interest." It is disappointing to see that, in all the discussions in academia, think tanks, and even by Defense Department officials, no mention is made of eLoran - the system the Deputy Secretary of...
GPS-Free Navigation! – Except it’s Not
Some really smart and clever people are figuring out how to navigate without GPS - or so their headlines claim. Take for example this recent post by the University of California, Riverside - No GPS, No Problem: Next-Generation Navigation UC Riverside Team is...
Pyongyang’s GPS disruptions affect over 2,100 planes since 2010 – Korea Herald
Editor's note: In June we posted a South Korean news item that contained much of this same information. The most significant difference with this news item is that in June the lawmaker making the fuss was from the opposition party. The one cited in this article is...
Largest Unmanned Naval Systems Exercise Begins – “Maritime Executive”
Editor's Note: Many futurists see the coming decade as the real dawn of the age of robotics and autonomous systems. This post from "Maritime Executive" seems to reinforce that. It should also remind everyone how navigation is an invisible utility for all of these...
Kiplinger – The Scary Threat to GPS That Could Paralyze U.S. Businesses
Blog editor's Note: Not a bad overview article on Kiplinger.com Two points, though. First, the bit about "What's the value of oxygen? GPS is oxygen" is from Greg Milner's book "Pinpoint - How GPS is changing technology, culture and our minds." I mentioned that in...
Munich Summit will Emphasize GNSS Backup – GPS World
Blog Editor's Note: In 1998 President Clinton directed a study of the growing dependency on satellite navigation and timing systems. In 2001 the resulting report confirmed it was a problem, recommended studying upgrading Loran-C to be a complementary system, and...
House Passes Bill for GPS Backup System
Editor's note: The legislative progress on this important issue continues. A link to the bill itself, HR 5978 Links to materials submitted to the Congressional Record associated with the bill: 2004 fact sheet on National Security Presidential Directive 39 directing...
Who’s In Charge? – PNT Protection in US Leaderless, According to Some
Discussing his agency's efforts to protect GPS and the Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services it provides, a government official was recently quoted saying that a major problem was that the issues were decentralized and so many agencies were involved. His...
China Jamming US Forces’ GPS
Editor's note: This is the first open press item we recall that discusses China's use of GPS jamming against US forces. GPS jamming and spoofing are often classified as "electronic warfare" by US officials instead of "cyber warfare." We don't understand why that is...
New DHS PMO for PNT – Request for Help
Government officials tell us that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is standing up a Program Management Office (PMO) for Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) issues. The PMO will reside within the Office of Infrastructure Protection which is a component...
GPS Interference at Le Mans
Editor's Note: This is a re-post from the blog of our friends at SPIRENT. Very interesting example of how GPS vulnerability impacts so many areas that most people never consider. GPS Interference at Le Mans: What Motorsport Teams – and Device Developers Everywhere –...
“Coast Guard Must Build eLoran for GPS Backup” – House T&I Committee Passes Bill
From Congressman Garamendi's Web Site: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Passes Strong Legislation Co-Authored by Ranking Member Garamendi and Chairman Hunter on GPS Backup Systems and Heavy Icebreakers Sep 15, 2016 Issues: Military and Veterans,...
GPS Jamming is a Growing Threat to Satellite Navigation, Positioning, and Precision GPS Timing
Military & Aerospace June 28, 2016 By John Keller Editor How much do you trust and rely on your personal GPS satellite navigation device to tell where you are or how to get to where you're going? It may be subject to GPS jamming. If you depend on GPS a lot, then...
Improved GPS Jammers For Sale!
Editor's Note: Jammers for every budget and use can be easily found on the internet from sites like Jammerall.com. We thought that this item from IHS was worth repeating, though. KB Radar develops UAV-based SATCOM, navigation jammers Huw Williams, London - IHS Jane's...
Euro Commission Report – GNSS & eLoran Most Practical Methods to Support Cell Phone Systems using TDD
A CEPT Electronic Communications Committee report from 2014 that was recently posted giving practical guidance for TDD networks lists four ways to provide essential timing and synchronization for cell phone networks. From the report: GNSS – Main source used today,...
SEXTANT: Innovative Study on Position, Navigation, and Timing Resiliency
Aerospace Corporation - The purpose of Sextant is to improve resiliency by combining existing and new PNT signal sources. (Illustration: Joseph Hidalgo) Aerospace is pioneering a study to enhance position, navigation, and timing (PNT) resiliency, challenging an...
NIST – “GPS Still Achilles Heel for Internet of Things”
Last year NIST released a report with the tag line: "Lack of Effective Timing Signals Could Hamper ‘Internet of Things’ Development." In it the authors described over-reliance on weak and easily disrupted GPS and GNSS timing signals as an Achilles Heel for future...
SAE International Developing New Standard for Terrestrial PNT – Support for Drones, Critical Infrastructure
Blog editor note: Our Google Alerts dug this up over the weekend. SAE International is the largest automotive and aerospace standards-setting body in the world. They set standards for the design, manufacturing, operation, and maintenance of automobiles, aircraft,...
UK Firm Develops GPS-Free Positioning System – Maritime Executive
By MarEx 2016-08-15 18:04:59 Defense contractors Polaris Consulting have developed a software system to use visual and radar data to compute a vessel's position in littoral waters – independent of GPS. The research was funded by the UK Ministry of Defence's Centre for...
GPS Spoofing – Unicorn Team, Qihoo 360 China
Blog Editor's Note: Recently a video using a Rohde & Schwarz signal generator to cheat Pokemon Go went viral. We hear that the opportunity to spoof Pokemon Go and roam the world from your couch caused a lot of talk about GPS spoofing generally at this year's Def...
GPS hacking takes centre stage at DEFCON 24
Blog Editor's Note: This outstanding guest post first appeared on Linkedin and is courtesy of member Guy Buesnel. Guy's company, Spirent, is very much concerned with GNSS vulnerability and has recently become a premium RNTF member. Thanks for this great report,...
Spectracom Introduces GSG-6 Series GNSS Simulators, eLoran Backup for Timing Reference – Inside GNSS
Blog editor's note: We think that multi-function receivers integrating diverse signals are part of the future for resilient PNT. Good job Spectracom! "Backup" might not be the best term, though, since all signals will be available all the time. "Co-primary" maybe?...
Global Anti-Jamming Market for GPS Worth USD 4.08 Billion by 2022 -Business Wire
August 19, 2016 12:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Anti-Jamming Market for GPS by Technique (Nulling System, Beam Steering System, Civilian System), Receiver Type (Military & Government...
Seven Easy Ways to Get a Win Protecting GPS – Inside GNSS
INSIDE GNSS NEWS GNSS Forum: Seven Easy Ways the Administration or Congress Could Get a Quick Win Protecting GPS and America Dana Goward August 16, 2016 The U.S. Secretary of Defense has said “I hate GPS” and “I want to unplug the military from GPS.” Senior officials...
Spoofing GPS is surprisingly easy; detecting it is surprisingly hard – boingboing
/ CORY DOCTOROW / 8:24 AM THU AUG 4, 2016 GPS security is increasingly implicated in both physical and information security: from steering a super-yacht (or a super-tanker) into pirate-friendly waters to diverting self-driving cars or even unlocking geo-tagged tokens...
Providers Must Spend More on Anti-Jamming – Discussion in GPS World
This is a great set of Q&A from "GPS World." It lays out the case for the R&D budget requirements for protecting GPS from jamming. Some highlights - receiver manufacturers must now: Include options for jamming. It is no longer something to simply...
IEEE/NIST Timing Challenges in the Smart Grid Workshop
Purpose: On October 26, NIST will host the IEEE-SA/NIST Timing Challenges in the Smart Grid Workshop. The result of the workshop is to enable stakeholders to delve further into their issues in wide area precision clock synchronization in current and future power...
How Cyberwar From Hacking To GPS Jamming Is Changing The Face Of Society – Forbes
AUG 8, 2016 @ 10:55 PM Kalev Leetaru , Contributor This past March Bloomberg offered a compelling look inside the world of election hacking in which campaigns and their supporters hack into their opponents and steal or destroy data, saturate the online space with...
A Solar Storm Almost Led to War With the Soviet Union – Popular Science
IN 1967, THE SUN HEATED UP THE COLD WAR By Mary Beth Griggs August 9, 2016 Five years after the Cuban Missile crisis brought the Soviet Union and the United States to the brink of war, another event occurred that brought the two superpowers once again to the brink....
GPS Under Attack as Crooks, Rogue Workers Wage Electronic War – NBC.com
by MIKE BRUNKER 8 August 2016 Once the province of hostile nations, electronic warfare has arrived with little fanfare on U.S. highways and byways. Criminals, rogue employees and even otherwise law-abiding citizens are using illegal "jamming" devices to overpower GPS,...
Dueling Government Studies – GPS Interference & the New Lightsquared (Ligado)
Blog Editor's Notes: Really interesting article from "Inside GNSS" below. Until now, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has had the lead on evaluating the possibility of interference with GPS services from transmissions on adjacent frequencies, like those...
Could Pokemon Go cheaters threaten your cybersecurity? – Archer Security Group
By: Kerry Tomlinson Some say the rise in “location-spoofing” could lead to more GPS attacks on cell towers, drones and more. It’s not enough to play the game. Some fans of Pokemon Go are cheating their way to success. Though some players report trying ceiling fans,...
GALANT against signal jamming and spoofing – suppression of interference and decoy signals at sea – DLR
Ships can be led astray with fake GPS signals. If signals for navigation of vessels are jammed or spoofed, positional and other critical data, such as course and speed, can be affected. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und...
Protecting GPS From Spoofers Is Critical to the Future of Navigation – IEEE Spectrum
Blog Editor's Note: A good article by Professors Psiaki and Humphreys on how to improve GPS receivers. One method they don't mention is protecting GPS receivers from spoofing by pairing the GPS signal with another electronic, preferably non-space, navigation signal,...
DHS BAA Assured Timing – Extended Until 12 August 2016
HSHQDC-15-R-B0008 Assured Timing for Critical Infrastructure This BAA solicitation (HSHQDC-15-R-B0008) is a call issued against Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science & Technology (S&T), Resilient Systems Division (RSD), 5-Year Broad Agency...
USCG Notice – GPS Degradation at High Latitudes 29 July 2016
(Thanks to Dennis Bryant and his excellent blog for bringing this to our attention) USCG NAVIGATION CENTER HIGH HORIZONTAL DILUTION OF PRECISION (HDOP) ADVISORY FOR 29 JULY 2016 Users of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in an area extending to the Northeast from...
Watch Out for the Leap Second – Again!
This is another in our irregular series of guest blogs, this time from Mitch Narins at Strategic Synergies, LLC. The old adage tells us that “Time is money,” but in today’s world, time is so much more. Precise time is the basis for safety, for security, and...
DoT Calls for Even More ABC Tests – “Inside GNSS”
Department of Transportation Calls for More Testing of GPS/GNSS Receivers for Adjacent Band Compatibility ABC study will evaluate the adjacent radio frequency band power levels that can be tolerated by receivers July 8, 2016 Inside GNSS, July/August 2016 A Federal...
Pokemon Go – Recruiting & Training GPS Spoofers
"Wait, wait - you can make your phone think it is someplace it is not? What if you could mess with GPS and do that for other things like automobiles, airplanes, cargo trackers, ankle monitors, or oil tankers ?" While the world's militaries, intelligence services and...
Terrestrial beacons bring wide-area location indoors – GPS World
Extraordinary though satellite navigation may be, GPS and other satellite-based constellations are limited when there is not a line-of-sight or near-line-of-sight path to at least three (and preferably more) satellites. These systems also do not provide sufficiently...
eLoran Demo Signal Scheduled 29 Jul – 15 Aug
The Wildwood, NJ eLoran transmitter will be continuously broadcasting from 0900 (EST) on 29 July 2016 through 1200 (EST) on 15 August 2016. Wildwood will be broadcasting as 8970 Master and Secondary most of the time but occasionally may operate at other rates. For...
“The Night GPS Failed”- The movie (“GPS World” magazine)
"The Atlantic"... "The New Yorker"... "The Christian Science Monitor"... "The Economist"...NPR's radio shows "Science Friday" and "Here and Now"... "The National Space-based PNT Advisory Board"... the new book "Pinpoint - How GPS is changing technology, culture and...
Surveyors Identify GPS/ SatNav Problems in Alaska
Writing recently in "GPS World," Tim Burch, Secretary of the National Society of Professional Surveyors, outlined the increased challenges of using, and problems depending upon, GPS and other satellite navigation systems in high latitudes. In a July 8, 2016 posting on...
DHS, PNT ExCom Move on Backing Up GPS – Inside GNSS
Dee Ann Divis June 30, 2016 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is moving forward to establish a backup for the position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information provided by GPS. This month the agency assumed the lead in a yearlong effort to specifically define...
N. Korea Disrupted GPS 2,143 times this year – So Far
UPI North Korea sent 2,100 GPS jamming signals to South By Elizabeth Shim | June 29, 2016 at 11:12 AM SEOUL, June 29 (UPI) -- North Korea has sent more than 2,100 GPS jamming signals to the South since 2010, a South Korean parliamentarian said Wednesday. Jun...
Army Industry Day(s) for Assured PNT 2-4 August
The Army PMO for Assured PNT will host industry days at Aberdeen Proving Grounds from 2 to 4 August 2016. Register by 7 July. Read the Announcement
Norway Open to Commercial eLoran System, Discussions On-Going
Translation by Google Translate Western Edge Magazine OPEN TO PRIVATIZATION OF CIVIL SECURITY By MARENO Leonhardsen [email protected] Published: 27 June 2016, at. 6:30 p.m. BO: Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen is open to let private build up a system of civil...
ICAO to Warn North Korea on Jamming – NKNews.org
Aviation agency to warn North Korea on GPS jamming Jamming operations by North targeted at aircraft navigation systems in South NK*News.org By John G. Grisafi June 24th, 2016 The International Civil Aviation Organization decided earlier this month to send a formal...
GNSS Anti-Jam Market to Hit 4.8B/yr by 2020
Editor's note: With all of the jamming we hear about these days, we will be surprised if this market doesn't get a lot hotter a lot quicker. Research and Markets - Global Military GNSS Anti-Jamming Systems Market Value of USD 4.80 Billion by 2022 - Analysis,...