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Home »DARPA and GPS Backup – The “D” Stands for “Defense”
We were very glad to see the announcement this week that DARPA had awarded a contract to Rockwell Collins to develop technologies that could serve as backups for the military's GPS system. Last year DARPA had posted on its site that military use of GPS had "...evolved...
DARPA taps Rockwell Collins for GPS backup technologies
By Richard Tomkins, UPI Sept. 21, 2015 Rockwell Collins has been contracted by U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to research and develop technologies for systems that could be used as backups to GPS. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Technologies that...
U.S. ‘Master Clock’ Keepers Test Terrestrial Alternative to GPS
By: Jeremy Hsu IEEE Spectrum 22 September 2015 GPS technology can do much more than guide drivers and smartphone users on unfamiliar streets. The Global Positioning System’s satellites carry expensive atomic clocks that also provide synchronized timekeeping for cell...
NYU – “Potentially Catastrophic Vulnerabilities in GPS” – Live web forum
New York University - International Center for Enterprise Preparedness (InterCEP) When: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 11:00 A.M. (Eastern Time) Join this discussion on The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), with a look at how it works and its many applications....
Can You Hear Me Now? New Spectrum Users Should Respect Long-Time Residents
Your doctor probably won’t be able to hear your heartbeat if there is a heavy metal band playing in the next office. That’s the problem with transmitting on frequencies near GPS. All GPS and GNSS signals are so very, very faint, and receivers have to be so very, very...
Congress Presses GPS Backup Ahead of Today’s “PNT ExCom” Meeting
Earlier this week five members of Congress wrote to the deputy secretaries of the US departments of Transportation and Defense urging them to “…immediately address the issue of GPS vulnerability by establishing a national backup capability coordinated by a single...
156 YEARS AGO, A GEOMAGNETIC MEGA-STORM
Reprinted from SpaceWeather.com 2 Sep 2015 156 YEARS AGO, A GEOMAGNETIC MEGA-STORM: On Sept. 2nd, a billion-ton coronal mass ejection (CME) slammed into Earth's magnetic field. Campers in the Rocky Mountains woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that the glow...
Finding Jammers – Signal Sentry 1000
This is the second in a series of posts that summarize interviews with important PNT users. Today’s is from a conversation with Mr. Joe Rolli of Harris, Inc. on the capabilities of one of their latest products, Signal Sentry 1000. [Editor’s Note: This interview was...
Russia Boasts Jamming to “Make Aircraft Carriers Useless” at Show This Week
This week “Space Daily” re-posted an item from the Russian news outlet “Sputnik.” The article claims that the nation’s long standing expertise in electronic warfare has culminated in the ability to neutralize aircraft carriers, and that this will be demonstrated at...
Time and Money – Precise Time in Financial Systems
This is the first in a series of posts that summarize interviews with important consumers and providers of PNT services. Today’s is from a conversation with Mr. Andrew Bach, VP, and Chief Architect at Juniper Networks, a company that provides network systems and...
FCC Fines Smart City $750,000 for Jamming Mobile Hotspots
By Ellen Muraskin The FCC has established, again, that nobody can make you overpay for their Wi-Fi when you’ve brought your own. In a decision that should please cellular providers and their mobile hotspot customers, the Commission slapped Smart City Holdings with a...
US to Shutdown Most of DGPS
The US Coast Guard recently published its intent to close 62 of 84 Differential GPS sites, most of them in non-coastal areas. The use of DGPS has long been on the decline, as has the availability of receivers that are able to take advantage of the service. Users have,...
GPS, Telecom Industry Groups Support eLoran System for US
94% of responses to the US Department of Transportation “Request for Comment” on its eLoran proposal were in favor of establishing the system as a complement and backup for GPS. Notably the GPS Innovation Alliance, an industry group, was in favor of establishing the...
Cheap GPS Spoofer Changes Everything – For the Worse
If your GPS receiver is being jammed, there’s a pretty good chance you are going to know that you don’t have a signal you can trust. If it is being spoofed… not so much. Sure, if the spoofer is unsophisticated enough to make your receiver believe it’s in China and you...
Chinese Invent Bargain Basement GPS Spoofer
Hacking a Phone's GPS May Have Just Got Easier Forbes Tech 7 Aug 2015 Parmy Olsen One of the drawbacks of our increasingly connected world is the proliferation of new wireless connections to hack. More worrying is when hackers finding cheaper and more accessible ways...
Locata to Serve as Core Technology for NASA’s UAS Research
By Inside Unmanned Systems Locata Positioning recently announced that NASA plans to install LocataNet at its Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The network will serve as the core positioning technology for safety-critical unmanned aerial system research....
Pensacola Native Joins Army Senior Executive Ranks
By Pensacola News Journal On June 16, Kevin M. Coggins, a Pensacola native and a U.S. Army civilian in the Army Acquisition Corps, was appointed Senior Executive Service (SES) as program manager for Direct Reporting Program Manager Positioning, Navigation and Timing...
Key Lawmakers Move to Make DoD Responsible for eLoran, GPS Backup
By Dee Ann Divis A quintet of well-placed lawmakers, tired of federal dawdling, are prepared to make the Pentagon responsible for building and maintaining eLoran as a backup system for GPS. The move could come by the end of the year, possibly through language attached...
Air Traffic Control News – New Life for GPS Backup
By Robert Poole As the prospect of taking the Air Traffic Organization out of FAA and reconstituting it as a self-supporting air navigation service provider (ANSP) draws closer, many supporters and opponents are making stronger statements about their positions—while a...
Are YOU Prepared for a Solar Storm? World Will Get 12 hours Warning if the Sun Erupts
By Richard Gray The British government has released its Space Weather Preparedness Strategy warning of a major solar storm that could trigger power cuts and travel disruption. GPS systems could be down for up to 3 days, resulting in widespread chaos. The report urges...
“You Have Put This Nation At Risk!”
Saying that there will be a major GPS outage some day and that America “absolutely has to have a backup system,” Congressman John Garamendi (D, CA) joined several other members of Congress at a hearing yesterday chastising the administration for its lack of movement...
Europe Satellite Agency Seems to Endorse eLoran for Resilience
In a post entitled "Resilient Navigation in Demanding Maritime Environments" dated 23 July 2015, the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency discusses the dangers of depending upon just space signals and the need for resiliency. "But with the increased...
“We’ve got a problem!” – Congressman John Garamendi
Speaking to the DC section of the Institute of Navigation last Wednesday, Congressman John Garamendi (D, CA) voiced his serious concern about the government’s inaction to protect GPS. Pointing out that President Clinton had first sounded the alarm in 1998 about the...
New Initiative: Commercially Owned Low Frequency Wireless Timing & Navigation – based on eLoran
We were surprised and pleased to get an invitation last week that read: "The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) of the UK and Ireland are delighted to invite you to attend the launch of a new commercially owned and operated international low frequency wireless...
Congressional Hearing on Federal Radionavigation Plan – What’s the Issue?
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced this week that it will hold a hearing on the 28th of July at ten o'clock in room 2253 of the Rayburn Building. According to the announcement, it will be "A Hearing on the Federal Radionavigation Plan,...
Arab Institute of Navigation 2016 Conference Announced
The biannual Melaha Conference "GNSS WAY Ahead" is back next year on the beautiful beaches of the Red Sea front. GNSS Way Ahead will offer an ideal opportunity to pursue continuing navigational education, to learn about recent advances, and likely future developments....
Timing is Everything for Securing Wireless Communications
By Steven Chabinsky In Christian Science Monitor "Passcode" If you think that computer intrusions are the main thing we need to worry about when it comes to cybersecurity, think again. There's growing concern about the implications of our increasingly wireless world...
Congressman Speaks On Time at US Naval Observatory, July 22
Local chapters of the Institute of Navigation don’t normally meet at a global center of excellence, nor are they usually addressed by members of Congress. But both of those are happening Thursday, July 22nd. The program for the evening is “Keeping and Sharing Time –...
Thad Allen Discusses eLoran at GEOINT 2015
By GPS World Staff In this exclusive interview, Admiral Thad Allen, former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, discusses PNT alternatives to GPS for navigation, including eLoran and the activation June 19 of a signal on an eLoran tower in preparation for a timing...
U.S. Secretary of Defense Wants to Move Past GPS to MEMS-Based Navigation, PNT Experts Doubtful
By Dee Ann Divis Ashton Carter, the new U.S. Secretary of Defense has been making clear he supports moving past GPS to a disbursed network based on microelectromechanical systems or MEMS for position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information. Carter, who was tapped to...
GPS-Related Provisions in Congress’ Defense (NDAA) Bills
Information from "GPS Bulletin" 1 July 2015, with thanks to editor Chris Mindnich (see www.gps.gov/congress) The following items are included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bills for fiscal year 2016 now under consideration in Congress: National...
Europe Looks at Time & Sync Requirements – DEMETRA Public Abstract
The EU has released this description of their DEMETRA project. It should be of interest to the entire timing and sync community. [big_button...
Europe Looks at Time & Sync Requirements – DEMETRA Workshop 17 July 2015
The European Union is concerned about time and synchronization as a critical component of industry and infrastructure and has been studying the issue for a while. [big_button url="https://rntfnd.org/wp-content/uploads/DEMETRA-Workshop-1-Flyer.pdf"]Read...
Slide Show of Congressman LoBiondo at Wildwood
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Congressman LoBiondo “Throws the Switch” on eLoran
You have to get past the weeds in the sun baked parking lot carved out of the beach grass and sea-grape tangle. Then you go around to the back and through a locked door. The air is a bit stale as you enter a dimly lit warehouse room filled with massive, 1950’s era electronic equipment. Along the walls are storage racks stuffed with boxes of spare equipment.
Air Force To Boost Budget to Prepare for Conflicts in Space
National Defense - June 2015 By Stew Magnuson A potential conflict on Earth that escalates into space has prompted the Air Force to find and extra $5 billion to spend on offensive and defensive systems to protect national security satellites. Read More [big_button...
Device Tracks Soldiers’ Movements without GPS
By GPS World Staff When GPS satellites can’t be seen due to dense jungle canopy, or they are blocked due to enemy interference, soldiers will still be able to track their location digitally using the Warfighter Integrated Navigation System (WINS), a device now under...
Father of GPS on IMUs, eLoran, GPS
At the 15th meeting of the National PNT Advisory Board last week in Annapolis, the board’s vice chair and generally recognized “father of GPS”, Dr. Brad Parkinson, made the case for using a combination of GPS, eLoran and inertial systems in order to achieve the nation’s goal of “Assured PNT.”
Baidu Kicks Off Its ‘Indoor GPS’ Rollout In China
BY MICHELE CHANDLER, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY China search leader Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) has begun the rollout of indoor location services powered by indoor mapping provider IndoorAtlas to the 270 million monthly active users of its Baidu Maps service. IndoorAtlas had...
What Would Happen If All Our Satellites Were Suddenly Destroyed?
George Dvorsky Filed to: DAILY EXPLAINER Since their inception 60 years ago, satellites have gone on to become an indispensable component of our modern high-tech civilization. But because they’re reliable and practically invisible, we take their existence for granted....
New tool could predict large solar storms more than 24 hours in advance
R&Dmag.com by Hayley Dunning, Imperial College London Large magnetic storms from the Sun, which affect technologies such as GPS and utility grids, could soon be predicted more than 24 hours in advance. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are eruptions of gas and...
Guided-Bomb Makers Anticipate GPS Jammers
Defense News by Joe Gould WASHINGTON — The makers of precision-guided munitions no longer take for granted that simple GPS-guidance systems will always work on their own. Jammers and spoofing equipment threaten to populate future battlefields; manufacturers have taken...
Federal Radionavigation Plan Touches on NDGPS, eLoran
May 27, 2015 - By GPS World staff The 2014 Federal Radionavigation Plan, just released from the U.S. Department of Transportation, touches on funding for the Nationwide Differential GPS and the use of eLoran as a precision timing alternative. The plan is signed by the...
‘GPS of the Aisles’ – LEDs and Indoor Positioning
Supermarket LED lights talk to smartphone app By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor, BBC News French shoppers have become the first to experience a new LED lighting system that sends special offers and location data to their smartphones. [big_button url="[big_button...
Breaking News: Agreement for eLoran Test Signal In US!
Today, the US Department of Homeland Security agreed with the Exelis and UrsaNav Corporations to put an eLoran signal on the air for testing and demonstration.
US Agrees to Putting Test eLoran Signal On Air
Today, the US Department of Homeland Security agreed with the Exelis and UrsaNav Corporations to put an eLoran signal on the air for testing and demonstration at former Loran-C sites. The goal of the effort is to test eLoran as a complement to the GPS system and for a...
Jammer Hunting with a UAV
GPS World By James Spicer, Adrien Perkins, Louis Dressel, Mark James, Yu-Hsuan Chen, Sherman Lo , David S. De Lorenzo and Per Enge, Stanford University A fully autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based system for locating GPS jammers, currently under...
US Weighs UAS-Friendly GPS Backup System
Inside Unmanned Systems By Dee Ann Divis The comment period is about to close on a potential navigation backup system for GPS that could be very useful for unmanned systems. Enhanced Loran or eLoran is an invigorated version of the old Loran system formerly operated...
Euroship Installs GPS Backup Techology
Marine Technology by Laura Stackhouse Ship management company, EuroShip Services Ltd, has installed eLoran as a back up to GPS to ensure the safety of its vessels operating off the coast of the UK. Read More
Exelis upgrades and tests GPS threat detection technology
From Intelligent Aerospace Exelis engineers have enhanced the company’s Signal Sentry 1000, which detects and locates sources of intentional and unintentional interference to GPS signals, with sensors that increase detection accuracy to better pinpoint the jamming...
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ITU – ‘Nations jamming and spoofing GNSS is OK!’
Image: Norway Telecom Authority What's New: Our colleague Prof Todd Humphrey's speaking at CGSIC this week reminded us about an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) resolution from from December of last year. It takes a strong stand against interference with...
Where the heck are we? PNT in 2024 – RIN Navigation News
Image: Shutterstock What's New: A roundup of national PNT efforts around the world. Why It's Important: There is a lot going on, but efforts vary widely. So, therefore, does PNT resilience and nation's security. What Else to Know: The author is President of the RNT...
Bezos plots GPS rival as Putin menaces satellite systems – The Telegraph
Image: Shutterstock What's New: A report (rumor?) that Amazon's founder is thinking of getting into satnav. Why It's Important: Certainly backing up and protecting GPS is important. It is a sign that some of the biggest and richest players are becoming aware of GPS...
Toffler, VA Tech Prof on Greater PNT Resilience in the US
Image: PNT System of Systems Approach - RNT Foundation What's New: A paper published by Toffler Associates s and written by retired RADM Dave Simpson, USN, now a professor at Virginia Tech calling for resilient PNT. Full title: A DAY WITHOUT SPACE AND A CALL FOR...