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China’s BeiDou has been adopted to provide tracking systems for ships after being given a certificate by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), reports CGTN, a state-run news channel based in Beijing.

At its meeting Nov. 2-11 in London, the IMO Maritime Safety Committee adopted a resolution to approve the BeiDou Message Service System (BDMSS) for use in the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).

The GMDSS is an internationally recognized distress and radio communication safety system for certain-sized ships under the IMO Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS). The automated ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship system uses navigation satellites and terrestrial radio systems with digital selective calling technology.

The meeting summary states:

Following the assessment and evaluation of an application by China Transport Telecommunication Information Group Co. Ltd. (CTTIC) to recognize the BeiDou Message Service System (BDMSS) for use in the GMDSS, the MSC adopted an MSC resolution on Statement of recognition of the maritime mobile satellite services provided by CTTIC through BDMSS.

BDMSS was evaluated taking into account the existing requirements of the criteria for the provision of mobile satellite communication systems in the GMDSS (resolution A.1001(25)).

The recognition is currently limited to a coverage area within 75°E to 135°E longitude and 10°N to 55°N latitude.

BeiDou is the third system approved for GMDSS, following Inmarsat and Iridium, both of which use GPS and Galileo to provide tracking services.

The Leica BLK2FLY has been named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022.

The BLK2FLY, recognized for its productivity and innovation, is a fully integrated autonomous flying laser scanner. It’s part of Hexagon’s BLK suite of autonomous reality capture sensors designed for speed, portability, ease-of-use and mobility.

To compile the list, TIME solicited nominations from TIME’s editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields — such as the electric vehicle industry, green energy and the metaverse. TIME then evaluated each contender on key factors including originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.

“Having our reality capture technology recognized by TIME as one of the year’s best inventions is both humbling and inspiring. It validates our mission to build Smart Digital Realities that empower an autonomous, sustainable future,” said Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén. “Our technologies aim to change the world for the better, turning concepts that were once thought impossible into real solutions that benefit everyone. By optimizing quality, productivity, efficiency and safety — profitably — we can help industry achieve sustainability through mitigated risk, less waste and reduced cost.”

As a lidar-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the BLK2FLY addresses costly and complex issues, quickly and accurately capturing everything from large outdoor spaces to complex structures and environments.

For example, when renovating building structures, it can easily capture the exterior dimensions of previously inaccessible or difficult-to-reach areas such as rooftops and facades. The resulting colorized 3D point clouds are instrumental in building information modeling (BIM) processes, documenting site conditions and improving an asset’s operation, from infrastructure to utilities to industrial facilities.

ESTEC Test Centre, Europe’s largest satellite testing facility, said goodbye on Nov. 14 to the final satellite in the Galileo First Generation series, as it departed to OHB in Germany. There, it will rest in storage until ready to be sent for launch.

In a new European Space Agency (ESA) video, the people responsible for readying the satellites for space have gathered to reflect on the end of an era.

The work on Galileo began two decades ago with two test Galileo In-Orbit Validation (GIOVE) satellites, followed by a series of operational launches. The two GIOVE satellites and all 34 Galileo Full Operational Capability satellites were tested at ESTEC.

Next will come the Galileo Second Generation satellites, already in development.

The Institute of Navigation is seeking abstracts for the 2023 Joint Navigation Conference (JNC 2023) for the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. The Military Division of the Institute of Navigation will host the conference taking place June 11-15 in San Diego.

The exhibit hall will be open to all conference participants, exhibitors, their employees and related organizations. All materials displayed in the exhibit hall shall be Publically Releasable After Review.

The theme of this year’s conference will be “Enhancing Dominance and Resilience for Warfighting and Homeland Security PNT”.

JNC is the largest U.S. military Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) conference of the year with joint service and government participation. The event will focus on technical advances in PNT with an emphasis on joint development, testing and support of affordable PNT systems, logistics and integration.

The conference will also focus on advances in battlefield applications of GPS; critical strengths and weaknesses of field navigation devices; warfighter PNT requirements and solutions; and navigation warfare.

Abstracts must be written for public release with the intent to present in a Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) U.S. only environment. Abstracts not approved for public release will not be accepted. Abstracts should be submitted via ion.org/abstracts by February 3.

Featured Photo: ION

Europe’s 2^nd Horizon Europe call has been launched for European GNSS, Galileo and Earth observation projects, offering total funding of €48.1 million.

The Horizon program is managed by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). It funds research and innovation by small and mid-size enterprises, academia, public actors and others that will stimulate development of space applications and solutions using EUSPA data and services.

The 2nd call aims to to strengthen downstream capabilities and modernize the EU public sector by offering cutting-edge solutions based on Galileo, Copernicus, EGNOS and GOVSATCOM.

Funding is being offered for projects that make use of Galileo and EGNOS in smart mobility applications. Other projects fuse Copernicus data with artificial intelligence to boost the European economy and help modernize the public sector. For the first time, the call seeks to deliver satellite communication use cases based on the forthcoming GOVSATCOM system.

Below is a breakdown of the funds’ distribution per thematic area.

Visit the EU’s funding & tender opportunities portal for detailed information about the EUSPA call and the topics available. The deadline for applications is March 2, 2023.

Fugro has signed a tri-party cooperation agreement with GNSS receiver company Septentrio and synchronization equipment manufacturer Meinberg to launch the Fugro AtomiChron real-time synchronization and authentication service.

Numerous sectors rely on resilient and highly accurate time synchronization, including telecommunications, finance and energy. The timing technology eliminates time drift caused by clocks counting time at slightly different rates, and provides extreme stability that surpasses current precision frequency standards.

With up to sub-nanosecond accuracy, Fugro AtomiChron includes Navigation Message Authentication (NMA), ensuring reception of genuine GNSS signals and time synchronization improvements. Integrated anti-spoofing detection further prevents interference with GNSS timing signals providing accuracy, authentication, validity and security for end users.

The agreement ensures that the Fugro AtomiChron service will be available in new Septentrio mosaic-T GNSS receivers, as well as a selection of Meinberg GNSS clocks, without the need for additional physical interfaces or separate antennas.

“Septentrio is a forerunner in the area of robust and resilient GNSS solutions,” said Jan Van Hees, business development director at Septentrio. “With the addition of the unique Fugro AtomiChron service, we are pleased to further strengthen our offering and provide our customers even more accurate and reliable solutions for resilient GNSS timing.”

A roundup of recent products in the GNSS and inertial positioning industry from the November 2022 issue of GPS World magazine.

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OEM

GNSS Module

For UAV, precision agriculture and autonomous machines

The UM982 GNSS module is a high-precision, dual-antenna real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning and heading module. It supports BeiDou B1I/B2I/B3I; GPS L1/L2/L5; GLONASS L1/L2; Galileo E1/E5a/E5b, QZSS L1/L2/L5; and SBAS in dual-antenna mode. The highly integrated, compact (16 mm × 21 mm × 2.6 mm) module can reduce the design area of an OEM board by 72% compared to previous modules. Power consumption is less than 0.6 W. The NebulasIV GNSS system-on-chip is a key part of the UM982’s navigation system. The NevulasIV integrates RF, baseband and high-precision algorithms on a single chip, with supporting functions built in. High-level performance indicators include raw observation accuracy, RTK positioning accuracy, precise point positioning accuracy, and time to first fix. The two antennas can independently participate in deriving an RTK solution and outputting the positioning results.

Unicore Communications, en.unicorecomm.com

GNSS Antenna

Alternative to ceramic patch provides omni-directional performance

The Agosti (part number SR4G080) is a new miniature surface-mount-designed (SMD) antenna for GNSS applications. It measures 9.0 mm x 5.8 mm x 1.7 mm and operates with exceptional efficiency in a reduced space on a corner of a printed circuit board. It has a small ground-plane requirement of 40 mm x 20 mm, 70 mm x 25 mm and 80 mm x 30 mm, making it suitable for small form-factor designs such as wearable devices, trackers and onboard diagnostics.

Antenova, antenova.com

Timing Antenna

Housed Dual-Band antenna with Accutenna technology

The dual-band TW3885T antenna supports GPS/QZSS L1/L5; Galileo E1/ E5a/b; BeiDou B1/B2/B2a; GLONASS G1/G3; and satellite-based augmentation systems in the region of operation: WAAS (North America), EGNOS (Europe), MSAS (Japan) or GAGAN (India). It is housed in a through-hole mount, weatherproof (IP69K) enclosure. It mitigates the effects on GNSS receivers of new signals or harmonic frequencies from adjacent LTE bands on the radio-frequency spectrum. For permanent installations, L-bracket (PN 23-0040-0) or pipe (23-0065-0) mounts are available. Tallysman provides an antenna installation guide that recommends a 100 mm –125 mm ground plane and provides antenna installation and cable connector waterproofing best practices.

Tallysman Wireless, tallysman.com

Front End

Simplifies product development for high-precision applications

The TFM.110A is the first in a new series of high-precision, multi-band GNSS front ends for autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, automotive applications and robotics. It comes fully integrated with two cascaded low noise amplifiers (LNA) and pre-filters in a small, low-profile, shielded surface-mount package. When used between the device’s GNSS receiver and antenna, the two-stage amplifier solution eliminates the need for complex and challenging onboard filter and amplifier circuits. It supports L1, L2 and L5 bands and enables seamless signal transmission, signal purity and position accuracy in high-precision applications.

Taoglas, taoglas.com

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SIMULATORS

Signal Simulator

Provides interference, spoofing, encryption and authentication capability

Version 2.8 of the NCS Nova RF signal simulator offers advanced capabilities. With integrated interference generation capability, the Nova can generate coherent interference signals with a signal power of up to –30 dBm. The ability to assign two users to one RF output enables integrated spoofing scenarios with a single RF output, meaning spoofing is available even with an entry-level single RF Nova. The new release has advanced navigation message authentication simulation capability compliant to User ICD 1.0 for the Galileo E1-B OSNMA, meaning specific OSNMA events can be simulated — key to ensuring compliant receiver behavior. Supported events include renewal and revocation of both a public key and a TESLA keychain. GPS cross-authentication and generation of Galileo E6-C encrypted codes are also supported.

IFEN GmbH, ifen.com

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MOBILE

Z-Axis Positioning

Enables first responders to locate callers on floor levels

Z-axis location service enables the pinpointing of a smartphone user within one floor level inside a multi-story building. The technology — demonstrated to meet the 3-meter vertical location accuracy requirement of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — is integrated into Schok Gear’s newly released flip phones. The Schok phones provide consumers with a simple, powerful device. Adding indoor and vertical location to these phones enables first responders to locate all wireless 911 callers with floor-level accuracy in multi-story buildings.

Polaris Wireless, polariswireless.com

Rescue Beacons

Connected with free mobile app

The new ACR Electronics GlobalFix V5 Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and ResQLink AIS Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) have integrated the automatic identification system (AIS) to increase the speed of location and aid. They also are compatible with Return Link Service (RLS) alerting. The combination of services ensures faster rescue and increases chance of survival of both boat (EPIRB) and crew (PLB). The safety beacons deliver mobile connectivity to a cell phone with a free mobile app, made possible with the addition of near-field communication technology in the beacons. With the app, users can monitor their beacons, review self-test results, view GNSS test locations, and monitor beacon performance and maintenance by scanning the beacons with their mobile phones. Besides GNSS positioning, the lightweight beacons have 406-MHz Cospas-Sarsat distress signal with MEOSAR compatibility and 121.5-MHz local homing signal.

ACR Electronics, acrartex.com

Device Management Platform

For Internet of Things deployments

The Canvas Device Manager simplifies workflows for configuration and maintenance of internet of things (IoT) device deployments. It enables users to easily set up devices, monitor performance, and keep software up-to-date across the entire IoT device fleet. Device parameters can be remotely managed, and performance monitored. Canvas enables users to organize large numbers of devices to quickly build and maintain IoT solutions, and software updates can be remotely and rapidly deployed, thwarting security attacks.

Laird Connectivity, lairdconnect.com

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SURVEYING & MAPPING

Slim Receiver

Advanced technologies in a slim, portable unit

The N2 Palm RTK GNSS receiver is suitable for surveying, mapping and construction. It has a highly integrated main board and a three-in-one antenna, yet weighs 0.72 kg with battery and measures 48 mm. Powered by ComNav’s SinoGNSS K8 high-precision module, the N2 can track 1,590 channels, including all existing and planned signals of GPS, BDS-2, BDS-3, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and SBAS. Its advanced satellite-tracking technology ensures it works well even in harsh environments, such as under heavy foliage or close to buildings. A third-generation inertial measurement unit (IMU) makes the N2 immune to magnetic disturbance, which greatly improves its reliability. Pole-tilt compensation of up to 60° allows surveyors to locate points within 2.5 cm. By using the company’s Quantum algorithm, the N2 achieves calibration-free operation — after 10 seconds of initialization, users can make tilt measurements with centimeter-level accuracy for an extended period, greatly improving efficiency.

ComNav Technology, comnavtech.com

Image Library

Now with Pléiades Neo 30-cm imagery

Airbus has added 30-cm Pléiades Neo imagery to its OneAtlas Living Library service. The new data source will complement the service which already allows users to instantly access a premium catalogue of Pléiades 50 cm and SPOT 1.5 m data via streaming, download and API. The Living Library provides frequent updates over urban areas, airports, harbors and military sites to name a few. Imagery is updated every day and processed in the cloud, with flexible options for integration into GIS workflows. With the OneAtlas Living Library, Airbus offers a pay-per-order option but also a subscription-based service that allows users to access premium content quickly available into their account, as well as a deeper archive of more than 10 years of imagery by Pléiades and SPOT satellites at a higher incidence angle and cloud coverage threshold, which will be available in just a few hours. OneAtlas also provides access to several other data services, such as reactive tasking, that allows users to task a full suite of optical and radar satellites, including Pléiades Neo, or access more than 15 years of global radar data, as well as the ability to download the WorldDEM product suite among others.

Airbus, https://oneatlas.airbus.com/service/living-library

Satellite Imagery 3

Free, user-friendly tool shows the Earth’s changes

The Nimbo Maps platform provides monthly 10 m-resolution images of changes on Earth in a user-friendly format. The images are chronological, seamless and free of clouds, and include intuitive comparison timelapse features. The platform, developed by French startup Kermap, relies on innovative artificial intelligence methods to process satellite images supplied by the European Union’s Copernicus program through its Sentinel missions. APIs automatically retrieve data extracted from satellite imagery, providing Kermap customers with real-time, strategic, value-added information in the fields of agriculture, land planning and environmental transitions. Current coverage includes Europe, the Middle East and the United States, with plans to provide global coverage by early 2023.

Kermap, www.kermap.com; Nimbo, nimbo.earth

3D Imaging System

A lightweight payload package

The TrueView 655/660 3D imaging system uses the Riegl miniVUX-3UAV laser scanner and three fully integrated mapping cameras (right, left and nadir) for high-accuracy mapping with excellent vegetation penetration and wire detection. Previous TrueView 3D systems carried dual oblique cameras to maximize mapping coverage. The TrueView 655/660 adds a third RGB camera, allowing for imagery directly below the sensor to be captured. The third camera provides a direct view of the ground below to maximize data collection for time flown, while improving the quality of photogrammetry and colorized point clouds.

GeoCue, geocue.com

By Alex Damato
Acting Executive Director
GPS Innovation Alliance

From its humble beginnings in the 1970s to its expanded use in the present day, GPS technology has been vital for nearly every industry from defense and aviation to farming and construction. GPS devices are designed to receive faint GPS signals transmitted from satellites about 12,000 miles away. Acknowledging this reality, regulators have historically maintained for GPS, which relies on such faint radio signals and sensitive equipment, an appropriately quiet spectrum neighborhood—populated by similar users.

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With the NASEM report’s confirmation of harmful interference, the deficiencies of the FCC’s April 2020 decision are even more striking

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Although these GPS signals and equipment have benefitted from decades of optimization, it is impractical to place highly sensitive GPS receivers designed to capture faint signals from remote transmission facilities immediately next to high-power communications equipment. Unlike those from communications systems, GPS signals are below the thermal noise floor when they are received. As a result, increases in that noise floor often decrease the availability of GPS services, which in turn places at risk high-consequence and safety-of-life services that rely on GPS.

Why does this matter? In April 2020, the FCC approved a plan to deploy a terrestrial network in spectrum adjacent to the frequency bands used by GPS — operating communications signals that would be around two billion times more powerful than GPS signals at the same location.

This past September, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released a report detailing the harmful effects of a terrestrial communications network that would operate in a frequency band close to that of GPS.

Expert concern within 14 federal agencies and departments, a broad coalition in Congress, and the GPS industry resulted in a congressional mandate that NASEM conduct an independent technical review of potential interference to GPS. After a thorough review of the materials, NASEM concluded that the proposed terrestrial network would result in harmful interference to a substantial number of GPS receivers.

In particular, the report noted that high precision GPS devices, which are used in the most economically significant GPS applications, are the most vulnerable receiver class and likely to be affected by interference. The potential for any interference with GPS, especially with devices used by the Department of Defense, poses a threat to national security, the economy, and our daily lives.

With the NASEM report’s confirmation of harmful interference, the deficiencies of the FCC’s April 2020 decision are even more striking: potentially millions of farmers, pilots, construction companies, and first responders may be required to repair or replace GPS equipment at their own cost. Although the FCC assumed that this equipment could be repaired through upgrades or filters, some devices cannot be filtered without significant financial and performance costs, and some devices simply cannot be filtered at all.

GPS is estimated to provide up to $300 billion annually in benefits to the economy. Any disruption in GPS accuracy and usage would have detrimental effects on productivity and economic growth. Moreover, the year before the FCC’s flawed decision, another key report revealed that the loss of GPS service would have an average impact of $1 billion per-day on the nation.

The GPS Innovation Alliance will continue to work with all federal and industry stakeholders to maintain open channels of communication to connect, listen, and learn from all those involved in the discussion. As technological innovation continues, these debates on harmful interference are not going away, and GPSIA is looking forward to engaging further.

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Consistent with the terms of their litigation settlements with Ligado, GPSIA members Deere & Company and Garmin International, Inc. do not affirmatively endorse or oppose the deployment of Ligado’s proposed communications network.

What is the most promising approach to increasing the location accuracy of smartphones?

“In addition to the use of increasingly available augmentation services, such as Galileo’s free High-Accuracy Service (HAS), I see two development directions that may help, particularly in the context of positioning in urban areas where smartphones are most used. One is the use of 3D city models — in general, 3D geoinformation — to compensate for multipath, non-line-of-sight and occlusion effects. The other is to use signals that are robust against those effects, which today are only available in geodetic-grade receivers.” — Ismael Colomina, GeoNumerics

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For the navigation of autonomous vehicles, will GNSS become essential, or will it be relegated to a secondary role by robotic navigation methods?

“The PNT solution cannot be from a single source because autonomous navigation requires high integrity. Therefore, it’s not that GNSS will be relegated to secondary status, it’s that no one method will be primary. An intelligent fusion of diverse sensors —including GNSS — will provide the PNT solution along with an integrity metric that safeguards operation. The various sensors must agree. If they don’t, no trust can be put into the solution and autonomous navigation will cease. The definition of a new integrity metric that quantifies this trust level is needed.” — John Fischer, Orolia

“Because GNSS provides high precision and widely available PNT, it will continue to be a critical component in navigation while working with computer vision, inertial measurement units (IMUs) and lidar through sensor fusion. As a secondary component, GNSS serves a vital role for localization and validation.” — Ellen Hall, Spirent Federal Systems

“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

Queue Tracker for the Queen

After the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8, the British government launched a live queue tracker app to give people an idea how long they would have to wait to pay their respects at her lying in state at the Palace of Westminster. The app also used What3Words to help locate the end of the line using a three-word tag. The queue grew dramatically in the days before the funeral as tens of thousands lined up, some waiting as long as 16 hours. The app also showed locations of public toilets, drinking water and first-aid stations along the queue route.

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A Dam Problem Solved

Lake Sarez, deep in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan, was created only a century ago when a strong earthquake triggered a massive landslide. The area experiences considerable seismic activity, which could result in massive flooding downstream should a landslide dam break. With the help of 40 donkeys, 10 scientists and 30 staff from the National Time Service Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences transported and installed a BeiDou-based deformation monitoring system at the dam. The team had to resolve technical problems in the rugged area, such as providing sufficient solar power and communications. With the system now operating, the dam is being monitored in real time down to the millimeter.

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Counting the Forest for the Trees

Integration of aerial and ground-based mobile mapping sensors and systems is enabling a team of Purdue digital forestry researchers to locate, count and measure more than a thousand trees in a matter of hours. “The quick, accurate inventory of the global forest ecosystem will improve our ability to prevent forest fires, detect disease, perform accurate carbon counting and make informed forest management decisions,” said Songlin Fei, the Dean’s Remote Sensing Chair. The Purdue-made systems integrate GNSS and inertial navigation devices with lidar and cameras, deployed with manned aircraft, drones and backpack-mounted systems. The technology gathers a variety of information about each tree, including height, trunk diameter and branching formation. The team maintains the precise location and time tags of all acquired features.

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Saving Ukranian Heritage

By the end of May, at least 367 incidences of destruction had occurred to Ukraine’s museums, churches, theaters and libraries. Through the project #SaveUkranianHeritage, mapping company Skeiron is capturing sites in high detail using laser scanning and photogrammetry. For a UNESCO-protected church in Lviv, the team gathered more than 300 individual laser scans and 6,000 photos to create a 3D model. The company has two laser scanners — a Leica C10 and Leica ScanStation P20, DLSR cameras and a drone. To support the project with funding or equipment, visit skeiron.com.ua/en/saveukrainianheritage/.