| NEWSBRIEFS – GPS |
| GPS applications to hit
900m units by 2013 |
The use of GPS technology in consumer,
business, and industrial applications,
such as telematics and asset tracking,
will expand the market to more than
900 million units by 2013, market
research firm ABI Research said.
Personal Navigation Devices for in-car
use will be increasingly complemented
by converged solutions based on
GPS-enabled handsets for pedestrian
navigation and Location Based Services.
However, GNSS technologies will have
to be combined with other positioning
solutions such as assisted-GPS, Wi-Fi,
and dead reckoning to address the indoor
coverage issue. www.abiresearch.com www.abiresearch.com |
| Ifen begins shipping Galileo/
GPS RF simulator |
Germany’s Ifen GmbH recently began
shipping its GNSS RF navigation
simulator, NavX-NCS. It is the first
product from Ifen, which supports all
present and future Galileo and GPS
frequencies (E1/L1, L2c, E5ab/L5, and
E6) in one box. It can also accommodate
high-precision applications, addressing
four frequencies simultaneously. |
| In Russia, space exploration
takes back seat to GPS |
A top Kremlin official has ordered that
space exploration be put on the back
burner until the country’s GPS rival
actually begins working. According to
First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey
Ivanov “Working on such large-scale
and correspondingly wasteful projects
(as Moon or Mars missions) purely
to satisfy our own ambitions or to
achieve some kind of fantastic goal
is something we have no right to do,”
said Ivanov. http://blog.wired.com |
| Russia decommissions five
unhealthy GLONASS satellites |
GNSS signal observers have noted
that Russia decommissioned five
GLONASS satellites, while three
satellites launched December 25 have
yet to be fully commissioned.
The Russian navigation satellite
constellation currently has 13 satellites
operating and set to healthy. |
| Chinese satellite navigation
system monitors dangerous
chemical transport |
China has begun use of a domesticallydeveloped
monitoring system to oversee
dangerous chemical transport based on
the country’s Beidou satellite. The system
provides all-day data to the navigation
satellite, which in turn gives corresponding
operational order, according to experts
who researched and developed the
system. http://news.xinhuanet.com |
| Low-cost GPS device gives
hope to fishermen |
The Indian Coast Guard, ISRO’s
Ahmedabad-based Space Application
Centre and Faridabad-based VXL
Technologies Ltd have jointly developed a
low-cost GPS transmitter-based fisheries
alert system for use by fishermen at sea.
The system shall be invaluable in distress
situations at sea. Fishermen have been
handed over five of the transmitters
who are operating mechanised boats in
Chennai. www.business-standard.com |
| SATNAV among top eight in India |
According to Dataquest magazine, which
has listed top eight companies in India to
WATCH OUT for in the year 2008 has
selected SATNAV as one of them. The
selected companies are expected to be
hot in 2008 and these are the ones that
are expected to significantly define the
trends in their respective areas in India. |
| Australia piloting GPS-based
control of vehicle speed |
Australia, has begun trials this month
on a GPS-based speed limiting device
for vehicles. Titled the “Australasian
Intelligent Speed Adaptation Initiative”
the technology keeps track of where the
vehicle is located, and the speed limit at
that location. If the GPS signals from the
vehicle indicate a higher rate of speed than
is posted on that section of road, an audible
warning sounds. If the driver ignores the
warning, the gas pedal gets more difficult
to depress. The final stage is a technology
bypass of the driver so that no amount of
pedal-mashing will accelerate the vehicle. |
| NOAA to ensure GPS accuracy |
NOAA will lead an international effort
to pinpoint the locations of more than
40 global positioning satellites in Earth
orbit. NOAA personnel will compile
and analyse satellite orbit data from 10
analysis centres worldwide to ensure
the accuracy of GPS information. For
the next four years NOAA’s National
Geodetic Survey will serve as the
Analysis Centre Coordinator for the
International Global Navigation Satellite
Systems Service, a voluntary federation
of more than 200 organisations that
provide continuous global satellitetracking
data. www.ngs.noaa.gov |
| Is Iphone’s Wi-fi based location
finder better than GPS? |
 Steve Jobs recently announced that the
iPhone will feature Skyhook Wireless’
Wi-Fi location technology in a joint
development with Google. It is easy
to write this off as a stop gap solution
for GPS, as this is a first step towards
the next generation of cellular location
technology. According to Senior Research
Analyst at IMS Research, GPS is a more
accurate technology, when you start
moving into inner city urban canyons
and indoors, just getting a fix with
GPS becomes the issue, not accuracy,
as anyone with autonomous GPS will
reluctantly admit. GPS fundamentally
struggles in these environments. |
| February 2008 |
