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GPS World interviews key leaders

in the international GNSS community on

issues of top-level importance.

New Videos are posted every two weeks.

Launch videos at www.GPSWorld.com

Video Interviews

Recent footage comes from the Munich

Satellite Navigation Summit and the

European Navigation Conference.

Featuring

Mikel Miller,

President,

U.S. Institute

of Navigation

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July 2009

The Business and Technology of Global Navigation and Positioning www.gpsworld.com

INNOVATION:GIOVE-A Precise Orbit Determination

EXPERT ADVICE

Len Jacobson,

Expert Witness

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

DAGR and GAOAction

THE SYSTEM

GLONASS Helpfor GPS Gaps

THE BUSINESS

PND on a Chip;

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BUSINESS OUTLOOK

The Real Race

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July 2009VOL. 20, NUMBER 7

gpsworld.com

THE SYSTEM 16Can GLONASS Cure GPS Malaise?;Survey/Construction Comments

on GAO

THE BUSINESS27Broadcom Introduces PND on a

Chip; SpotOn GPS Platform Enables

LBS Ad Delivery; SiRFatlasIV

Processor for Low-Cost Navigators;

more

BUSINESSOUTLOOK28The Real Race in GNSS

By Andrew Sage

COVER STORY

OPINIONS &DEPARTMENTS

INNOVATION

Where is GIOVE-A Exactly? 42Using Microwaves and Laser Ranging for Precise Orbit Determination

Though Galileos GIOVE-A is a test

satellite not necessarily ready forscientific use, orbit analyses with

a reduced accuracy can help to

identify weaknesses and suggest

improvements. This month, the

authors share work being carried out

to precisely determine the orbit of

GIOVE-A using SLR and microwave

observations. This preliminary

investigation will benefit the

procedures to be implemented for

the future Galileo constellation.

By Erik Schnemann, Tim A.

Springer, Michiel Otten, and Matthias Becker

Graphics courtesy of Topcon

Out in Front6Next Is the New NowBy Alan Cameron

Letters to the Editor8DAGR, GAO Furors

Expert Advice12All Rise, GPS Entering the CourtBy Len Jacobson

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GPS World | July 2009 www.gpsworld.com4

WHATS HOT AT GPSWORLD.COM

Online InterviewsFrom the European Navigation Conference

Watch now atwww.gpsworld.com/videos

Mikel MillerPresident, Institute of Navigation

(ION); chair of the Joint Service Data

Exchange; Technical Director of the

Advanced Guidance Division, Air

Force Research Laboratory

Peter GrognardPresident and CEO,

Septentrio Navigation

Pascal CampagneCoordinator, Organization of European

GNSS Equipment and Service

Industries (OREGIN), now merged

with Galileo Services

Hottest Pages @ GPSWorld.comMay 16, 2009 June 15, 2009

1 GPS at Risk: Doomsday 2010

2 GNSS Leaders to Watch (May issue)

3 Block IIF: Follow-on, or Failure?

4Parkinson Prescribes Remedy

for GAO Report Alarm

5 New GPS Satellites Problems Indicated

6 Innovation: Precise Point Positioning

7Taking up Indoor Positions: Qualcomm and

Skyhook (Utilities & Communications newsletter)

8 Broadcom Introduces PND on a Chip

9Consumer-Grade GPS Receivers for GIS Data

Collection (Survey & Construction newsletter)

10 Air Force Space CommandCommitted to GPS Health

Wide AwakeStaying Up Late

Editor and resident curmudgeon

Alan Cameron writes an after-hours

blog on all matters GNSS. It started

with jet lag in Naples while attending the European

Navigation Conference and proceeds from there.

Recent topics include:

virtually infected

GAO report, long form and short

IIF stands for two furies

long-term commitment

the real race in GNSS

software receivers

jamming: the Queen is not amused

hard work in the GNSS trenches

Galileos chamber of commerce

Peruse the blog atwww.gpsworld.com/wideawake

VIDEOS GNSS BLOG

Whoa, GAO!Full Report Worth the Read

By Don Jewell

There is a 61-page version of the

GAO report and a 15-page version.

My assessment of the report has changed markedly

since I read the full report. Most of my objections

concerning the Testimony version delivered to Congress

were answered in the full-length report.

The full-length report is educational, even enlightening,

although the recommendations are woefully inade-

quate. I have hopes that the dialog as well as the intense

interest the report has created will continue for some

time, possibly for years. Thats because a GAO report,

by definition, should be much more than a conclusion or

recommendation. It serves as an excellent quick look at

a critical part of our national security infrastructure, the

Global Positioning System.

Read full column atwww.gpsworld.com/whoa

MILITARY & GOVERNMENT NEWSLETTER

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OUT IN FRONT

Published monthly

www.gpsworld.com

W

ere in a hurry. We knowwhat we want, we have

developed the technology toachieve it, but . . . we just cant get therefrom here fast enough. Something standsin the way.

The Atlantic Interoperability Initiativeto Reduce Emissions (AIRE), conductedjointly by the U.S. Federal AviationAdministration (FAA), the EuropeanCommission, and several airlines, plansto demonstrate how GPS technology cancut flight times and reduce fuel use by

thousands of pounds per longhaul flight.A green ticket, some call it.Test aircraft will fly GPS-assisted

routes that run straighter than the coursesthey ordinarily follow. They will climbcontinuously instead of in steps, andapproach destinations on tailored paths,

burning less fuel by running at idle for thelast 100 miles.

These new navigational tools go by thename NextGen, for Next Generation AirTransportation System, the coming wavein air-traffic control. The FAA plans toimplement it by 2020 for planes flying incontrolled airspace in the United States.

Some say NextGen can happen today;

they want what they call NowGen. They

say whats holding it up is an outdatedair-traffic system and the FAA.

Advocates including the Air TransportAssociation of America say NowGencould produce more than $12 billionin economic benefits through 2012.They remind us that flight delays causedby constraints in the current air-trafficsystem may cost more than $9 billion ayear. We have the tools today and reallyshouldnt be forced to wait until 2020.

J. Randolph Babbitt, in his first speechas FAA administrator on June 10, quoth

NextGen is just flat out not moving fastenough. I want more, and I want morefaster. However, industry critics see along history of the FAA not showing upor simply not holding up its end of thedeal in implementing new procedures.

Much of this capability has beenaround for some time, they maintain;manufacturers started deliveringGPS-equipped passenger planes thatcould have supported these kinds ofimprovements as early as 1995.

Theres a lot more, but Ill stash thematerials on the Wide Awake blog whilehurrying to the next several points.

This issues Letters section flames withpassion over outdated specs by which thesoldiers GPS handheld was designed;further, over a flawed award processfor Block IIF and prolonged Block IIIcontract exercise that together maycreate gaps in the GPS constellation overthe next eight years. Business Outlookwarns of irrelevance-at-birth for Galileounless the European Union issues withalacrity a signal-in-space interface controldocument, so that manufacturers canactually make GPS/Galileo chips.

Government moves exceedinglyand sometimes maddeningly slow,except when invading the domains ofother governments. To govern meansto keep a steady hand on the helm.The line between steady and heavysometimes eludes the rulers, er, that is,

the representatives of the people.

Letters to Editor invited: email to [email protected].

Next Is the New NowEDITORIAL

Editor in Chief Alan Cameron |[email protected] Editor Tracy Cozzens |[email protected] Director Charles Park |[email protected]

EDITORIAL OFFICES

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MANUSCRIPTS: GPS Worldwelcomes unsolicited articles but cannot be held responsiblefor their safekeeping or return. Send to: 201 Sandpointe Avenue, Suite 500, Santa Ana,CA 92707-8716 USA. Every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy, but publishers cannotaccept responsibility for the accuracy of information supplied herein or for any opinionexpressed. REPRINTS: Reprints of all articles are available (500 minimum). Contact800-290-5460, ext. 100, e-mail [email protected]. DIRECT MAIL LISTRENTAL: Ilene Schwartz, Kroll Direct, 216-371-1667, fax 216-371-1669 e-mail [email protected]. SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: To subscribe, change your address, and allother services, e-mail [email protected] or call 866-344-1315 (1-847-763-9594 outsidethe U.S.). PERMISSIONS: Contact 800-494-9051 ext. 100 or [email protected]. INTERNATIONAL LICENSING: Contact e-mail [email protected] OFFICE and OFFICE OF PUBLICATION: 306 West MichiganSt., Ste 200, Duluth, MN 55802, USA.

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I want more, and I want more

faster, says J. Randolph Babbitt.

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GPS World |July 2009 www.gpsworld.com8

In the April edition, an article titled

DAGR Extended covered newsfrom the Space & Missiles Center

regarding the GPS Wing awarding a fol-low-on contract to Rockwell Collins toprovide Defense Advanced GPS Receiv-ers (DAGR).

At the end of the article appeared anUnofficial Word, which made deroga-

tory and inac-curate remarksabout the use of

the DAGR.We are disap-pointed that thestaff ofGPS Worlddid not contact usfor a response to theaccusations made inthe article.

Had you con-tacted us, our response would have beenthe following:

The DAGR provides the only means

for dismounted soldiers or special opera-tors to obtain location information of suf-ficient accuracy, reliability, and integrityfor targeting purposes. Our warfightersuse the DAGR to call in close air supportmissions, which the DAGR delivers GPS-guided munitions with pinpoint accuracythrough its Advanced Laser Range Finderand Fire Support functions. The DAGRalso provides unique Gun Laying AzimuthDetermination applications.

Use of a commercial GPS in these cir-cumstances would entail significant riskthat would be totally unacceptable. Noother handheld GPS is authorized, norshould it be authorized, for use in militarytargeting operations.

In the combat theater, our soldiers andspecial operators are working in extremelydifficult conditions environmental con-ditions where the DAGR functions con-sistently and provides warfighters with theinformation they vitally need.

On April 30, we celebrated the deliv-ery of the 300,000th DAGR, which isproven testimony to the utility and reli-

ability of the product.

In the future, wed appreciate an oppor-tunity to respond firsthand.

Robert Haag

Senior Director, Soldier Solutions

Rockwell Collins

Don Jewell, Military & GovernmentEditor, replies: I could not agree with youmore. At the same time, I totally disagreewith your comment that our remarks werederogatory and inaccurate about the

use of the DAGR.The conclusions drawn in that Unof-ficial Word (not, by the way, written byme) came directly from several industryand government warfighter panels (manyof them attended by Rockwell Collins),face-to-face interviews, letters, and a pleth-ora of personal e-mails from warfightersover the last 24 months. The results wereunanimous: the DAGR, according to ourwarfighters who have opted not to use it, istoo big, too heavy, has limited battery life,

a black-and-white screen, is basically obso-lete, and has a very difficult, definitely notuser-friendly interface. Our interviews andcorrespondence show that the DAGR, asa standalone device, has been replaced byvarious GPS handheld or wrist-mountedunits, Garmin and Trimble primarily.

How can I then agree with your com-ments? Because your letter very carefullyonly defends the use of the DAGR as anembedded device. Indeed it has been ourexperience that the only warfighters thatconsistently give the DAGR high marks arethe soldiers using the DAGR as an embed-ded device: those responsible for directingfire bombs or artillery on target. In arecent interview session with more than 40soldiers, only the soldier responsible for di-recting fire said that he used the DAGR inany capacity. He stated, For directing fire Iuse my DAGR because it has the necessaryinterface for laser designators and commu-nications to direct fire. Other than that, I

depend on my Garmin, as does everyoneelse I know, for a personal GPS unit. TheCaptain uses the DAGR as an input to the

Blue Force Tracking (BFT) system thatstays in the Humvee or Stryker vehicle.

As I, and many others, in many articles,have said all along, the DAGR as an em-

bedded piece of equipment, with dualfrequencies, encryption, and approvedgovernment interfaces, serves a necessaryand critical function: supplying BFT in-formation and directing fire. As you cor-rectly point out, it is the only approvedgovernment PNT source for directing fire.That is a good thing; all information andinterfaces needed for the direct-fire mis-sion have been worked out and do notneed to be duplicated. Warfighters direct-

ing fire use the DAGR because there is noalternative, but for every other purposefor which they rely upon handheld GPSequipment, the DAGR is found seriouslywanting. Suffice it to say the design ismore than 14 years old, and the unit wasdated when first released.

I have spoken to several Rockwell Col-lins representatives about my concerns andthose of the warfighters over the years, andusually they do not dispute the DAGRsshortcomings. However, recently I was

shown a picture, by a senior Rockwell Col-lins representative, of a new Rockwell Col-lins government GPS unit that impressedme as much as a simple picture of a GPSunit can. I asked for more information anda unit to review and I am still waiting. Myproblem, and I say this in all sincerity, isnot with Rockwell Collins, as I know youbuilt the DAGR to outdated governmentspecifications that were generated in theearly 1990s; by Moores law that is morethan seven generations old by todays stan-dards. My primary concern is the safety andwelfare of our warfighters. I know you cando much better, but the antiquated andnon-responsive government acquisitionsystem has prevented you from makingchanges and updating the poorly designeduser interface. Rockwell Collins makes tre-mendous radios and avionics, which I usedsuccessfully throughout my 30-year militarycareer, except for PLGR and DAGR units,which I consistently found to be inferior.

I consider myself a sophisticated GPSuser and have tested more than 80 individ-ual GPS units from manufacturers around

DAGR, GAO Furors

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GPS World |July 2009 www.gpsworld.com10

the globe, yet I find your equipment and in-terface totally confusing. So please help me.Send me the new proposed governmentequipment with the color screen, the new

interface, and hopefully new capabilities,and I will gladly review it in the magazine.

Several of my articles have helped gainwaivers from the U.S. government for of-ficial use of thousands of commercial andcivilian GPS handheld units in theater,mostly military-hardened Trimble units.If you have a great new handheld unit,then please send me an example to reviewand I will do that. Maybe we can get of-ficial waivers to use it in theater. I sincerely

hope that is the case.The soldiers, sailors, and airmen of theU.S. military have voted by purchasingtheir own units or by obtaining waivers.Even the newest recruits, whose low sal-ary qualifies them for state assistance andfood stamps, spend their money on com-mercial GPS units. As a very distinguishedfriend and world-renowned GPS expertsaid recently in a public forum, You maynot know it, but there has been an unof-ficial competition among military users for

GPS handheld units, and Garmin won.You have delivered 300,000 DAGRs, buthow many of those units are actually in usetoday as stand-alone devices?

In my opinion the GAO QuestionsGPS Health article in the May is-sue focuses too much on the IIF as

the potential problem. The May 1415National Space-Based PNT AdvisoryBoard meeting heard a presentation fromthe DoD on GPS issues and challenges[http://pnt.gov/advisory/2009/05/hyten.ppt].During the briefing, Brigadier GeneralHyten acknowleged (as asserted in the

GAO report)that there arethree somewhatequally scaryrisks: delay of IIF,delay of OCXcontract award,and delay of GPS

IIIA. In the GAOreport, the realdoomsday scenario

(in the 20152017 time frame) was froma two-year slide on the GPS IIIA pro-gram. You should also be aware that thegraphs in the GAO report dont accountfor two mitigation tools the DoD has inreserve: retired satellite still in space thatcould be revived (there are three at themoment), and power management as ameans to extend satellite life.

Im less worried about the first graph inthe report that shows a dip in the 2010 timeframe than I am about the catastrophic dipin the second chart around the 2015 timeframe. I think we have a good chance ofhaving fired our silver bullets by that timeand will be much more constrained with re-spect to available mitigations. It is good youare writing about this as it raises awareness

of the issue which could aid in the develop-ment of a more robust risk mitigation planbefore this becomes a crisis.

I have been somewhat troubled by theanti-IIF program bias in the overall dialogon the subject. I dont have full visibility orhistorical knowledge of what all went wrongthere; what I do know indicates there wasplenty of culpability to go around betweenthe contractor and the government. I amconcerned that too much focus on publiclyspanking IIF will detract from fixing theroot causes of the dilemma we are in: therequirements development processes andacquisition programs applied to GPS arebroken. That is exacerbated by a lack ofstable policy with respect to the long-termstrategy for GPS development and sustain-ment. There are definitely lessons to learnfrom the IIF experience. But the difficultiesassociated with that program should be seen

for what they are: symptoms rather than theroot cause. Name Withheld

GAO, FIGURE 5 Probability of maintaining constellation of at least 18, 21, and 24 GPS

satellites based on reliability data as of March 2009 and a two-year GPS III launch delay

GAO REPORT, FIGURE 4 Probability of maintaining a constellation of at least 24 GPS

satellites based on reliability data and launch schedule as of March 2009

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EXPERT ADVICE


In the litigious society that we havebecome, it is not surprising to seeGPS as a regular fixture in many

civil and criminal proceedings in ournations courts. A new and growingoutlet for the legal profession, it hasalso engaged many of the older GPSpioneers who, instead of just retiring,have found a relatively lucrative wayto spend their free time. They now

form the cadre of GPS expert witness-

es, without whom many of the casesinvolving positioning could not besettled equitably.

These brave individuals must ofnecessity remain nameless, becauseall have signed non-disclosure ordersregarding the details of any case they maybe or have been working on. Even thepublic record of adjudicated cases affordsbut a small peek into the activities of theseunheralded witnesses. Most civil cases aresettled before trial, often with confidentialterms, and many criminal cases plead out,so there is little to find in a search of publicrecords for cases involving significantaspects of GPS.

Civil matters usually fall into one of the

following categories: misuse or misappropriation of intel-

lectual property (IP), for example,

patent infringement; liability for accidents; or product liability for latent defects.

Criminal matters involve some sortof tracking of suspects or felons, oruse of GPS for evidence of an allegedperpetrators location at the time of thecrime. The use of GPS in these instancescomes smack up against the publics rightto privacy. In some states, many of these

cases are thrown out for lack of warrantsallowing use of GPS tracking, while inother states warrants are not required.In 2007, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court ofAppeals held that no warrant was required,as did a court in Wisconsin. But the NewYork State Court of Appeals found theopposite on a 43 vote. It is likely thatthe U.S. Supreme Court will have todetermine if such warrantless tracking ofsuspects violates the Fourth Amendmentto the Constitution.

Patents. Most IP cases involve patentdisputes wherein the patent in questionin some way uses GPS or is itself a GPScomponent. An application relating tomapping in a car or the way differentialGPS is performed provide examples ofthe former, while a method for improvedreceiver signal-processing would be ofthe latter type. These lawsuits are verycontentious because experts from eachside will disagree on what to others mightseem to be obvious. These experts mustopine on the meaning of the claims inthe patent, the validity of the patent, andthe likelihood that the device in questionactually infringes on the patent. The casesare expensive to litigate and take a longtime to come to an end. Many are settledjust before going to trial.

During the pre-trial process, the expertwitness must conduct research, providereports, and testify in depositions. Earlyon, the expert will testify before a federal

judge at proceeding called a Markmanhearing, wherein each side presents hisinterpretation of the words in the patent

claims that are in dispute. It is up to thejudge to decide what the words mean.Lawyers refer to this as claim constructionand how the claims are construed. If thecase does go to trial, the experts testify inopen court, usually before a jury.

Navy versus Air Force. A civil casewell known to me involved whether or notGPS receivers would perform during andafter the week-number rollover (WNRO)

that occurred in the summer of 1999.This case came about as an adjunct to thehysteria involving Y2K. But it was a realconcern to the tracking company and itscustomers, who had deployed thousandsof GPS receivers, some in high-risk areas.They had valuable cargo and people atrisk if their GPS failed.

The tracking company asked thereceiver manufacturer if the units wouldoperate through and after WNRO. Thereceiver company really didnt know

and delayed answering long enoughthat the exasperated tracking companycommissioned a U.S. Navy test facility toexperiment with a GPS simulator and thereceivers in question to see what wouldhappen. In the meantime, the receivercompany told the tracking companythat the Air Force expected everythingto go ahead normally, that is the uploadsperformed at the Master Control Stationin Colorado would continue on the sameroutine during WNRO as it had in thepast, namely at least daily uploads. The AirForce would not guarantee that it wouldhappen that way because its specificationallowed for uploads plus or minus threedays from the end of the week. As such,the receiver company told the trackingcompany it couldnt guarantee the uploadwould be timely, but not to worry.

The tests by the Navy showed that ifthe uploads was early or late, there wouldbe adverse consequences. One version

of the receiver would stop operatingfor several days after the upload, andanother version would stop operating

All Rise, GPS Entering the Court

The use of GPS in some instances

comes smack up against the

publics right to privacy.

By Len Jacobson

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EXPERT ADVICE


ADVISORS UPDATE

ALISON BROWN, president and

CEO of NAVSYS Corporation,

announced that NAVSYS received

the Talon Namath Phase III

Follow-on Contract from U.S.

Air Force Space Command 50th

Contracts with funding provided

by Air Combat Command. NAVSYS developed this GPS

enhancement, which transfers zero age of data GPS ephemeriscorrections over Link 16, a secure military communications

channel, to Air Force planes and GPS guided weapons.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Vidal Ashkenazi Nottingham Scientific Ltd., United KingdomSally Basker General Lighthouse Authorities, United Kingdom & IrelandAlison K. Brown NAVSYS Corporation, United StatesPascal Campagne France Developpement Conseil, FranceIsmael Colomina Institut de Geomtica, SpainJordi Corbera Spanish Institute of Navigation, SpainPaul A. Cross University College London, United KingdomNicolas de Chezelles Ministry of Defense, FranceClem Driscoll C.J. Driscoll & Associates, United StatesBrje Forssell Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayAlain Geiger Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry, SwitzerlandArt Gower Lockheed Martin, United StatesSergio Greco Alcatel Alenia Spazio, ItalyJrg Hahn European Space Agency, The NetherlandsMichael Healy Astrium Limited, United KingdomGnter Hein University of the Federal Armed Forces, GermanyLarry D. Hothem U.S. Geological Survey, United StatesLen Jacobson Global Systems & Marketing, United StatesWilliam J. Klepczynski Institute for Defense Analyses, United StatesGrard Lachapelle The University of Calgary, CanadaWolfgang Lechner Telematica, GermanyJingnan Liu National Research Center for Satellite Systems, ChinaPietro Lo Galbo European Space Agency, The NetherlandsKeith D. McDonald NavtechGPS, United StatesTerence J. McGurn Consultant, United StatesJules G. McNeff Overlook Systems Technologies, United StatesJames Miller NASA, United StatesTerry Moore University of Nottingham, United KingdomRuth Neilan Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United StatesBradford W. Parkinson Stanford University, United StatesIvan G. Petrovski iP Solutions, JapanMario Proietti TechnoCom Corporation, United StatesJayanta Ray Accord Software and Systems, IndiaMartin U. Ripple European Aeronautics Defense and Space, GermanyMichael E. Shaw National Space-based PNT Office, United StatesGiorgio Solari Galileo Supervisory Authority, BelgiumJac Spaans European Group of Institutes of Navigation, NetherlandsThomas Stansell Jr. Stansell Consulting, United StatesF. Michael Swiek U.S. GPS Industry Council, United StatesDavid Turner Department of State, United StatesA.J. Van Dierendonck AJ Systems, United StatesFrantisek Vejrazka Czech Technical University, Czech RepublicAkio Yasuda Tokyo University of Marine Science & Technology, Japan

LEN JACOBSON is a consultant to the GPS industry and has participated as an expert witness

in many cases involving GPS. He is the author of the book GNSS Markets and Applications,

published in 2007.

Alison Brown

and never recover. As a result of thesetests, the tracking company purchasedreplacements and then sued the receivercompany for the costs, claiming a latent

defect in their products. The jury ruledfor the tracking company and orderedthe receiver company to pay for thereplacement receivers.

Crash Course. Another case involveda fatal accident caused by the crash ofan automobile companys test van intoan open-structured, desert racing car.The test van had GPS onboard as it wasperforming experiments. The data showedthe speed and location of the van up to the

time of the collision, and that was enoughto cause a settlement.GPS has figured in countless cases of

property incursions where GPS surveydata has been used to prove exactly whereone property begins and another ends.

Probably the most celebrated andprecedent-setting cases occurred in 2001,when a driver sued a rental-car companybecause it levied a $450 surcharge whena concealed GPS unit indicated he wasspeeding while driving the rental car. The

judge threw out the case because the rentalcompany failed to disclose that it hadhidden GPS unit in the car, and that ithad no right to collect a fine for speedingas only a government entity could do so.

Several ongoing cases involve patentdisputes about GPS applications andreceiver designs, but all are subject to non-disclosure restrictions.

Suspect Tracking. In the criminalarena, a large number of cases involveGPS use to track suspects. That sortof data was used to help convict LaciPetersons husband of murder in a recentand celebrated California trial. Today,courts all over America are ponderingwhether the covert use of GPS tracking isan invasion of privacy and should requirea warrant before police can use it.

Authorities use GPS quite openlyto keep track of felons, child molesters,parolees, indicted suspects out on bail,

people sentenced to home restraint, and soon. Supposedly, in these cases the personhas already broken the law so their rightsare abrogated. Or, they may have signed

an agreement giving consent to suchtracking in exchange for their conditionalrelease.

In one instance, a paroled sex offenderin Florida was rearrested when the trackingcompany informed the sheriff that he wasnot where he was supposed to be. Afteran examination of the data and with helpfrom Google maps, it was determined thatif the tracking companys data was correct,the parolee had to be traveling at 90 miles

per hour across a field where there was noroad. He was released forthwith.Law enforcement routinely uses GPS

to locate stolen cars equipped with servicessuch as OnStar.

In Malibu, California, two fishermenwere stopped by fish and game deputiesand charged with illegal taking of lobsters.The officers had photos and onboard GPSfixes to present in court. Unfortunatelyfor the district attorney, the wily defenseclaimed that since magnetic north had

moved more than 100 meters since themaps that Fish and Game relied on weremade, the maps were not accurate, andtherefore the GPS data was inaccurate. Thejury did not seem interested in science, thelaw, or the facts, and it acquitted the leaddefendant. His partner chose to plead to alesser charge and was fined, while the boatowner went free.

Market Outlook. It is highly likely thatlitigation regarding IP will grow as morecompanies profit from GPS technology,in many instances not knowing thatsomeone holds a patent on which theycould possibly be infringing. Criminalproceedings will increase as well, now thatGPS tracking is relatively inexpensive forlaw enforcement to deploy. Meanwhilelegislatures and high courts ponder howto deal with potential violations of privacyand the need for warrants.

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Policy and system news and developments | GPS | Galileo | GLONASS

SYSTEMTHE


By Grard Lachapelle and Richard Ong

The current GPS constellation of 30+ satellites provides a

high level of availability, reliability, and accuracy to users.

Centimeter-level accuracy requires the use of carrier-

phase measurements and the resolution of associated

integer ambiguities; success is a function of the number

of satellites and their geometry and duration of observa-

tions. Given that the use of additional satellites is alwayspreferable, the question arises as to the gain that might be

achieved using combined GPS-GLONASS. Recently, a

renewed commitment by the Russian government has

increased the GLONASS constellation to a 1520 range.

Under a worst-case replenishment scenario foreseen by

the recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report,

the number of operational GPS satellites might drop below

24 in the next two years due to procurement delays

giving this question added and urgent relevance. FIGURES 1

and2 provide part of the answer: the horizontal dilution of

precision (HDOP) at the 95 percentile level for a depleted,

19-satellite GPS constellation and a 19+16 GPS-GLONASSconstellation. The figures were obtained by computing

HDOP values on a 20-degree grid at time intervals of one

minute for 24 hours and calculating the 95 percentile

values at these points, using an elevation mask of 5.

No constraints were applied. Although most GPS values

are below 2, which is excellent, regions of significant

size have values between 6 and 10, which is marginal.

The corresponding values for a 30-satellite constellation

would be consistently below 2. The corresponding HDOP

values for a combined GPS-GLONASS constellation are

consistently below 2.

More telling are the reliability parameters (FIGURES 3and4).

These are 95-percentile horizontal probable errors (HPE) that

would go undetected, were they to occur, due to the lack of

redundancy. They are also called external reliability numbers

and are closely related to RAIM values. Standard deviations

of 2 and 6 meters were assigned to GPS and GLONASS

code measurements, respectively. The higher GLONASS

value accounts for larger orbital errors. A 0.1-percent

significance level and 90-percent test power were used.

As expected, the reliability of the 19-satellite GPS

constellation is very poor, given that errors of up to 300

meters would go undetected. The corresponding values fora 30-satellite constellation, not shown here, all fall below

20 meters. The corresponding HPE values for a combined

pFIGURE 2 HDOP for a combined 19-satellite GPS and16-satellite GLONASS constellation

pFIGURE 3 Maximum horizontal error probable for a 19-satelliteGPS constellation

pFIGURE 1 HDOP for a 19-satellite GPS constellation

Can GLONASS AlleviateGAO Malaise?

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19/53GPS World | July 2009 www.gpsworld.com18

THE SYSTEM

Survey/ConstructionComments on GAOBy Eric Gakstatter

The recent GAO report has alarmed

the GPS community. Is a high level

of concern justified? As with most

answers about GPS, it depends.

While most GPS users ponder the

effects of a potential drop below 24

satellites seemingly a long way

from 31 real-time, high-precision

users should worry about a drop of

only two or three satellites, unless

they can use GLONASS.

Surveyors, engineers, construc-

tion companies, and GIS users who

rely on real-time, high-precision posi-tioning require a lot of observables,

from at least six satellites that

produce a low position dilution of

precision (PDOP) value. These real-

time kinematic (RTK) users will be

among the first affected by any

degradation in the GPS constellation.

If the constellation dropped five

satellites tomorrow, typical con-

sumer GPS users wouldnt feel the

pain. They would still be able to navi-

gate from Point A to Point B, to their

favorite fishing spot, and so on. Even

pilots wouldnt have any problems

using GPS for aviation navigating.

But professionals who have spent

tens of thousands of dollars on GPS

equipment to increase their produc-

tivity would feel the difference im-

mediately during certain parts of the

day, due to lack of satellites and an

increased PDOP. Their productivity

would drop significantly.

GPS-GLONASS constellation are much

better, below 50 meters for much of

the world, except specific regions.

Kinematic GPS-GLONASSGLONASS satellites can also help in

resolving carrier-phase ambiguities

faster and more reliably, despite the

limitations of the GLONASS FDMA

signals, together with associated solu-

tions. We illustrate this through a series

of short kinematic test-runs conducted

in March at speeds of up to 50 kilo-

meters per hour, using two NovAtel

OEMV1-G receivers and GPS-702-GG

antennas. The OEMV1-G provides L1

GPS and GLONASS code and carrier-

phase measurements. The reference

unit was located within 1 kilometer

from the mobile unit, and the mask

angle due to surrounding mountainous

topography reached 25 degrees. The

number of GPS satellites ranged be-

tween 5 and 11 and that of GLONASS

satellites between 5 and 7. The data

was reduced using PLANSoft, a

proprietary carrier-phase ambiguity-

resolution software developed internally.The combined effect of noise and

multipath double-difference mea-

surements was of the order of 60

centimeters for the code and 8 to 10

millimeters for the carrier phase, at

the one sigma level, for either GPS or

GLONASS, as shown in FIGURE 5. The

corresponding undifferenced 1-sigma

figures are therefore 30 centimeters

and 4 to 5 millimeters, respectively.

Seven test runs of 200 seconds were

completed. In GPS-only mode, the

L1 integer ambiguities were resolved

in four cases while in GLONASS-only

mode, the ambiguities were resolved

in three cases. For the combined

case, ambiguity resolution was suc-

cessful in all cases. These results areobviously very limited, and one should

not extrapolate them automatically to

other applications. They nevertheless

indicate the advantages of a com-

bined GPS-GLONASS approach. This

is of course well known and is the

reason why high-end GNSS manufac-

turers have offered combined GPS-

GLONASS equipment for a few years.

These results show that thebenefits of a combined approach are

indeed significant. While high-end

equipment is available for various

classes of users, location-based

services, which use low-cost chipsets,

do not have access to equivalent

equipment at this time. The question

then becomes: when will chipset

manufacturers come up with GPS-

GLONASS chipsets?

GRARD LACHAPELLE is a professor and RICHARDONG an MSc candidate in geomaticsengineering at the University of Calgary.

pFIGURE 4 Maximum horizontal error

probable for a combined 19-satellite GPS

and 16-satellite GLONASS constellation

pFIGURE 5 Combined effect of noise and multipath in double-difference kinematic mode

Continued on page 41

GLONASS DataInnovation editor Richard

Langley and University ofNew Brunswick colleagues

have also published satellite availability

studies: see www.gpsworld.com/glo.

MORE ONLINE

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2 different mounting

options:female thread 1-14

3 holesM5 50

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BUSINESSIndustry news and developments | GPS | Galileo | GLONASS

THE

Broadcom Introduces PND on a Chip

MASS MARKET OEM

Broadcom has released what it callsthe first PND on a chip, a newnavigation processor and power man-agement unit (PMU) designed forpersonal navigation devices (PNDs).The BCM4760 system-on-a-chip(SoC) includes a GPS baseband, radiofrequency (RF) circuitry, low noise

amplifier (LNA), and high-poweredapplications and graphics processorsto drive 3D user interfaces.

By integrating many of the nec-essary, and costly, external com-ponents required for a competitiveproduct, Broadcom aims to affordPND manufacturers the ability tocreate engaging 3D graphical userinterfaces (GUIs), accelerating map-rendering and eliminating lags andblocky renderings of many current

devices. Marketing Director DaveMurray characterized it as a morespectacular and interactive GUI, nowcapable of 10 updates per second, asopposed to one update per secondthat has been the norm.

The BCM4760 is a low-power SoCthat combines a high-performanceGPS receiver and baseband, anARM11 processor, an OpenGL ES1.1/OpenVG 1.0-compliant graphicsprocessor, and analog technology in a

built-in applications processor power-ful enough to serve as the core for a

full range of devices beyond the PNDmarket, including personal mediaplayers, gaming devices and othermobile products. A 65-nanometerchip carrying an audio codec, touchscreen controller, and USB 2.0 con-troller with high-speed transceiver, allon a single die, it provides integrated

support for Broadcoms other tech-nologies including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,and combo-chip solutions.

A fabless semiconductor companywith 2008 revenue of $4.66 billionheadquartered in Irvine, California,Broadcom acquired GPS chipmakerGlobal Locate in June 2007. Broad-com stated it planned to combineGlobal Locates GPS technology withits own Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellulartechnologies, and supply that combi-

nation to mobile handset makers.PNDs and MIDs. Despite the rela-

tive slackening in the PND marketforeseen by some analysts, Broad-com remains committed to it andseeks to create new pricepoints inthe PND marketplace presum-ably to stimulate demand. Murraystated that while the 4760 couldpotentially be used in a smartphone,such products would probably prefercombo chips that Broadcom also pro-duces, rather than ones with applica-tion processors.

He spoke of the rise of mobileinternet devices, or MIDs, which the4760 suits. Hybrids between smart-phones and small laptops, the MIDsare a new category of mobile devicesfor both business and consumer

users, also called touch tablets.Video- as well as positioning-enabled,these devices do not currently per-form both functions simultaneously,although they could. Only the con-tent is lacking. But Murray sees thatas a soon-to-develop field.

According to the company, itsBCM4760 enables system manu-facturers to create a platform meet-ing the needs of the entry-level,mid-level, and high-level GPS PND

market segments. The BCM4760 andBCM59040 are now sampling.

Applanix Introduces Flight Management and Direct Georeferencing System

www.gpsworld.com July 2009 | GPS World 27

Applanix of Richmond Hill, Canada,has introduced the POSTrack 410flight management and direct geore-ferencing system for medium-formatairborne digital photogrammetric

cameras to maximize the efficiencyand productivity of airborne mapping,the company said.

POSTrack has a built-in POS AVGNSS-Inertial Navigation System(INS) for direct georeferencing ofairborne images. Flight managementfeatures include mission planning,

pilot guidance, automatic stabilizedmount control, and automatic cameratriggering at pre-planned intervals.

The POS AV features include in-airinitialization, leveling of stabilizedmounts, automatic drift correction,GNSS position translation using en-coder data from stabilized mounts,

and generation of exterior orienta-tion of each image for the mappingprocess.

SURVEY & CONSTRUCTION

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THE BUSINESS

TechnoCom Corporation has launched a mobile advertis-

ing and marketing content-delivery platform, SpotOn

GPS, providing comprehensive turn-by-turn navigation,search, and mapping. A white-branded mobile platform,

SpotOn GPS represents the first U.S. offering of advertis-

ing/marketing integrated with navigation. The sweet spot

is the added revenue stream it provides to affinity groups,

brands, and most important of all for the future of loca-

tion-based advertising (LBA) and location-based services

(LBS) wireless carriers.

A hosted solution, SpotOn GPS delivers ads to the

cell-phone handset as part of a navigation/local search

platform. It delivers customizable interactive and loca-

tion-aware advertising, offers, coupons, and loyalty-build-

ing promotional messages. According to TechnoCom,

it increases the effectiveness and reach of advertising

and promotional messaging by presenting it to consum-

ers at select times, in the right places, close to points of

sale enhancing the return on investment from mobile

advertising dollars.

SpotOn GPS has the potential to reach a wide range

of end-users with access to international local search da-

tabases, and text- and voice-prompted instructions in 13

languages, with more being added.

Early evidence suggests LBA yields significantly

higher conversion rates with direct response modes,

such as click-to-locate and click-to-navigate, compared tononlocation- based advertising, says ABI Research prac-

tice director Dominique Bonte. LBA and navigation are a

winning combination, mutually reinforcing each other. For

the end-user, ad-funded navigation represents a highly

valued balance between exposure to advertising and ac-

cess to reduced cost, or potentially free, navigation, thus

driving adoption of both.

According to TechnoCom, groups that are defined by

a membership or community are in excellent position to

brand their own navigation offering and participate in the

flexible revenue streams offered by SpotOn GPS. Affin-

ity groups often have partners that they want to cross-

promote so there is no need to go find ads. Affinity

groups such as airline mileage-rewards programs, shop-

ping clubs, or travel clubs can offer search listings of their

inventory, suppliers, and partners.

A turn-key solution, SpotOn GPS is designed for fast

deployment, with service launch within 60 days of con-

tract signing. Worldwide rich-mapping options include

street maps, 3-D map views, and satellite images. Loca-

tion-specific traffic and weather are also offered.

SpotOn GPS Platform Enables LBS Ad Delivery LOCATION-BASED SERVICES

See all events at www.gpsworld.com/events.

UN ICG Seeks Presenters for Fourth MeetingSeptember 1418, 2009, St. Petersburg, Russia

The United Nations International Committee on GNSS

is looking for presenters on the interoperability of naviga-

tion satellite systems and augmentations from the user

perspective. Contact Rick Hamilton, [email protected].

International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN)Tri-Annual CongressOctober 2730, 2009, Stockholm, Sweden

www.congrex.com/nnf/iain2009/welcome.asp

GPS WorldEditor Alan Cameron will chair a session on

Human Technical Interaction and Useability.

IGNSS 2009 Conference & ExhibitionDecember 13, 2009, Queensland, Australia

www.ignss.org/?D=5

EVENTS

Targeting an emerging class

of location-centric devices for

budget-conscious consumers, SiRF

Technology Holdings has introduced

the SiRFatlasIV multifunction location

system processor for creating high-

volume, navigation, and location-aware

products. The SiRFatlasIV platform

available now in production quantities is designed to

minimize bill of materials (BOM) and overall system cost

while giving manufacturers the premium location and

multimedia performance they need to create innovative,

value-priced consumer products.

We believe multifunction, location-centric consumer

devices are best served by multifunction location silicon

and software platforms, said Kanwar Chadha, founder and

vice president of marketing for SiRF. The compelling cost/

performance benefits of our SiRFatlasIV solution enable

our customers to profitably address these high-volume

consumer markets without compromising the location

performance consumers have come to expect from SiRF.

Together, our SiRFatlas and premium SiRFprima multifunc-tion system platforms enable SiRFs customers to offer a

complete range of location-centric products.

SiRFatlasIV Processor for Low-Cost Navigators


In-depth CoverageFind more details on these stories at gpsworld.com.For the latest GPS news, sign up for GPS World Alerts.

MORE ONLINE

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Let Topcon steer youwhere you need to go.

topconsolutions.com

Its time.

Precise precision for your automation.

As dependence upon GPS grows,so does the need for comple-mentary or augmented solu-

tions. In commercial aviation, the lack ofintegrity in GPS is addressed by systems

such as the European Geostationary Navi-gation Overlay Service (EGNOS), whilemariners have developed their own dif-ferential network for similar assurances.The mobile market has developed net-work-assisted techniques to counter theslow time-to-first-fix, whilst on-boardsolutions such as map-matching enable

seamless in-car navigation.Experience shows that, regardless of

sector, users gravitate to free signals ofopportunity. Even the lack of a stableoperational system does not appear to

slow innovation of downstream indus-try. Take the examples of EGNOS, notyet fully operational, and GLONASS,at reduced capacity for years. Yet bothsystems have already become an essentialpart of the mix for specific user segmentssuch as agriculture and land survey.

The future will be no different. The

presence of even more free-to-air signalsin space will effectively raise the bar for

commercial services wishing to offer ad-ditional value at a price to end users.

Thus we establish our first groundrule in the competition among otherGNSS Galileo, GLONASS, andCompass to become the partner ofchoice with GPS: Markets will notwait for new solutions to existing

problems.

The lack of signal availability in theurban environment remains one of the

biggest obstacles to expansion in GPSuse. Monetizing GPS for the mass mar-ket depends upon the same level of ap-plication continuity that we experiencetoday for voice or messaging, regardlessof whether we are indoors or under acanopy.

Competition is fierce among GNSS

The Real Race in GNSS To Be the Partner of Choice with GPSBy Andrew Sage

BUSINESSOUTLOOK

7/31/2019 GPS_World_200907


BUSINESS OUTLOOK

chipset and platform manufacturers, with ever-decreasingmargins. The slightest performance advantage can make a bigdifference to sales. Therefore these manufacturers are desper-ate for a second constellation. Even though GLONASS has

been in use for many years in survey, GPS has not yet found itsnatural partner for the mass market.

Despite cynicism regarding Galileos timelines, support forthe project remains very strong from the downstream supplychain, for whom 50 or 60 satellites present ample opportuni-ties for performance innovation. Hence, if anyone had anydoubt whether the race had started, our second rule is : Themarket for multiple constellations is already here.

Perhaps not quite yet for the consumer market but forlonger lifetime platforms, todays procurements must future-proof against potential upgrades. Car manufacturers now re-

quest flexible software receivers that can be readily upgraded tomultiple constellations, an obvious requirement given the typi-cal six-year period for car design and manufacture, followedby 10 years in service. Train rolling-stock procurement officersare also asking manufacturers to indicate how they propose toupgrade to multiple GNSS during the lifetime of the asset.

Because of all this stored-up demand, and in spite of theuncertainty surrounding timescales for GNSS programs, a coreand very key handful of chipset and receiver manufacturers arealready investing substantial amounts of R&D.

Let us recall henceforth that an ever-decreasing numberof chipset suppliers control an ever-increasing portion of the

GNSS market. They do not care from which part of the globethe second-place GNSS comes; this is completely irrelevant tothe bottom line. They are looking for the same thing that GPShas provided for two decades: a continuous and, above all, pre-dictable, thus bankable, signal and service.

From discussions with our customers, the key metric indetermining the GNSS second-place winner will not be wholaunches the most satellites soonest but who publishes a firmand manufacturer-friendly interface control document (ICD).Enabling manufacturers to design, build, and sell chips andreceivers that are prepared to receive interoperable multi-GNSSsignals may be more important than the actual arrival of thosesignals, or declared full operational capability of the GNSSdelivering them.

This then is the third rule governing the GNSS race: ICDs,not satellites, constitute the key performance indicator.

Costs of R&D and product development have drivenconsolidation amongst the major global players. Further, theinfluence of companies once confined to mobile phones andpersonal navigation devices has now spread to automotiveand leisure, formerly secured by professional receiver manu-facturers.

In essence, high volumes and low margins characterize both

the consumer and telematics markets. The additional cost ofGNSS in an integrated chipset is expected to be less than $1 bythe end of 2010. Some predict that half of all new mobile sales

in the UK will be GPS-enabled in the same timeframe.This means that while companies are desperate for new per-

formance differentiators, technical innovation is low on theirlist of priorities. Instead, cost is the deciding factor in productchoice. But every feature has its price; Russias announce-ment of implementing CDMA on a GLONASS open-servicefrequencies has whet the appetites of many GPS developers.Thus, the fourth ground rule: Innovation in technologynecessitates tangible performance benefit.

Such is the ferocity of price competition that any royalty fee,however small, will have an immediate and detrimental effecton Galileos uptake. Even an optimistic fee of $0.01 across 1billion sales per annum would only scrape up $10 million.

Meanwhile, professional and safety-of-life (SoL) markets,

characterized by higher unit costs and lower volumes, dif-fer greatly from the mass market. Receivers cannot easily bedeveloped without sufficient user-pull and backing frominternational agreements and standards. EGNOS experienceprovides some key lessons here. Certified commercial air-transport receivers are only just becoming available in Europedespite equipment standards being finalized many years ago.In turn, receiver suppliers are unwilling to spend marketingresource without a critical mass of user-pull, despite imminentoperational capability.

Uptake of new open services such as Galileos Open Service(OS) in markets like aviation and maritime depends uponmany steps, and unfortunately they are sequential. They in-clude equipment standards, international agreement and accep-tance (ICAO, IMO), upgrade and re-capitalization of groundinfrastructure, and new procedures and training. Even replacingexisting equipment every 15 years is often optimistic, as usersinstead opt to tie into other wider aircraft/vessel upgrades.

And thats just for open free-to-air services. The acceptanceof more specific Galileo services such as safety of life will re-quire a new precedence in international acceptance, and mayultimately have to wait until GPS is ready to provide the samefunctionality and performance as part of a global integrity

concept. Therefore,the uptake of integrity services insafety-critical markets will be slow.Prospects are strong for a multiconstellation, single-

First GPS/Galileo receiver salesTime

Penetration

GNSS %

Time of Galileo

Introduction

Determined by:

- Internal factors such asprogramme timescales andICD release

- External factors such asstandards andinstitutionalapproval

Rate of Galileo

Penetration Increase

Fundamentally driven by rateof replacement (eg mobilephones = 2 years; ships = 15years)

What % of users choose toupgrade from GPS toGPS/Galileo?

Galileo%

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BUSINESS OUTLOOK

www.gpsworld.com July 2009 | GPS World 31

frequency, L1 open service, with rapidtake-up across virtually all markets. Gali-leo has married itself to the GPS opencivil signal from its very beginnings,

and the EU-U.S. agreement means thatGalileo still holds onto second positionin the race. Despite the complexity indecoding the Galileo signal, added soft-ware and silicon should not mean that afuture GPS/Galileo L1 receiver is signifi-cantly more expensive than GPS alone.

For the time being, it looks as thougha world of free-to-air multiple openservices will not only meet the needs ofmost users, but enable a significant step

up in user experience and applicationperformance. The window for Galileoremains open but its closing fast, asRussian and Chinese counterparts jostlefor position alongside GPS. The casefor Galileos other services such as SoLremains unanswered for the time being.Clearly, however, even with strong user

demand, it is likely that the second gen-eration of Galileo users will be the earlyadopters of these added-value services.Moral: Given the chance, users will

quickly turn to GPS/Galileo L1.

Three Tactics to Improve OddsExamination of these sporting statisticssuggests three easy ways for Galileo to im-prove its chances in the marketplace. Of first and paramount importance is

the early release of the Open Servicesignal-in-space (OS SIS) ICD withimmediate rights for commercializa-tion and no royalty fees. The GPS

SIS ICD was published at least 10years prior to GPS full operationalcapability (FOC). Each competitorin this race leaves the starting blockswhen its ICD is released not whenFOC is reached.

Promote development of multiple-channel software receivers flexible to

all of this program uncertainty. Thesecan be exploited by long-lifetimeplatforms such as aviation, maritime,rail, and ground networks, and will

minimize through-life costs of infra-structure over 1520 years. Galileohas a real opportunity to put hooksinto the market at this early stage toensure its future.

Do nothing to risk delays in OS intro-duction. From discussions with usersand manufacturers, 12 more satelliteswill make sufficient difference to theuser experience to encourage receiverdevelopment.

There is a real race to become thepartner of choice for GPS, but it is inthe chipset, not in the programs.

ANDREW SAGE is a director of Helios, a UK-

based management and technology consul-

tancy specializing in the field of navigation.

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7/31/2019 GPS_World_200907


Accuracy improvements and cost reductions in thesurveying field have both accelerated rapidly in re-cent years, driven by changes in work procedures

that combine different instruments and techniques. Sensorintegration for positioning and precise navigation is the prin-cipal innovation responsible for these advances.

This evolution also affects construction, specifically earth-

moving machines assisted by GNSS receivers integrated withattitude/tilt sensors. These recently introduced systems con-tinue to undergo new developments, one such described here,

as well as study and testing to improve their affordability andperformance within the complexity and special circumstancesof construction projects.

Currently most companies producing positioning instru-ments also distribute machine-control systems tailored to thecustom requirements and accuracies to be obtained. Such sys-tems are based on satellite positioning and include one or moredual-frequency GNSS receivers. Many of these systems canreceive GLONASS as well as GPS signals. Nearing comple-tion as of May 2009, the GLONASS constellations availabilityimproves the positioning success rate in sites with natural or

artificial obstructions.In bulldozer-type machines, the GNSS antenna is installed onthe frontal blade, protected by vibration-damping systems set up

SURVEY & CONSTRUCTION |Machine Control

Guido Fastellini, Fabio Radicioni, and Aurelio Stoppini

University of Perugia, Italy

Network-based real-time kinematic (NRTK) positioning reduces or eliminates the communication, integrity,

and affordability problems associated with semi-automated guidance of bulldozers, excavators, and other

equipment at centimeter-level accuracy. This new method addresses adequate height control, a crucial factor

for machine-control users.

Network Correctionsfor Machine Control

Excavator

Tilt Sensors

GPS Receiver

Control Box

Radio Antenna

Tilt Sensor

GPS Single Antennas

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Machine Control| SURVEY & CONSTRUCTION

in different ways by the manufacturers.These systems must also withstand thehigh temperatures that can occur duringwork. A second GNSS antenna measures

the blades transversal inclination.Other devices such as micro-elec-

tromechanical systems (MEMS) andsimilar sensors also contribute to

machine con-trol. Such in-

struments havemany interesting

characteristics:large numbersof units pro-

duced a t low cost, toughness,small size, easy

installation and cus-tomization, and possibil-ity of integration withother sensors. For ex-ample, one company has

announced that their nextcontrol system for dozers will

carry a three-axes MEMS capable of aposition and attitude estimation at rates

up to 100 Hz. Such a powerful sensorsystem will further improve productiv-ity of the system and augment the GNSSreceiver during poor satellite visibility.

Machines turning around a verticalaxis, such as excavators, also carry a sec-ond GNSS antenna, as well as two- orthree-axes tilt sensors to estimate the in-clination of the booms and the positionand attitude of the bucket.

Problems and Innovations

The current state of machine control(see CURRENT BASELINE sidebar), whilerepresenting great advances over tradi-tional building practices, still presentssome drawbacks and limitations: costs for a base station on each

building site (purchase, installation,precise positioning, surveillance);

necessity of preliminary survey oper-ations for the estimation of a datumtransformation between the local

datum of the computer-assisteddesign (CAD) and WGS84, incor-

porating an adequate number ofground-control points;

communication problems betweenbase station and the rovers, due to

the low radio-modem power per-mitted by the law in some countries(for example, 1 watt in Italy, lim-

iting the operating range to a fewkilometers);

sites spanning long distances, as inthe case of road construction, that

require placing and geo-referenc-ing more base stations, or installingradio-repeater devices; and

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affordability and integrity problemsfor the correction data coming froma single station that require frequentcontrol measures on known points.

To help solve some of these prob-lems, the Department of Civil and En-vironmental Engineering (DICA) at theUniversity of Perugia conducts researchon possible improvements to machine-control systems.

The main avenue we have explored in-volves permanent networks for the GNSScorrections, which would eliminate theneed for one or more base stations in ornear the building site. The transmission

from the network to the rovers can beeffected in two different modes: direct,through a GPRS or UMTS modem in-

stalled on each rover; or indirect, withan intermediate pass on a radio repeaterredistributing the corrections all overthe building site. This second approach

has a consistent advantage over the firstone: only one GPRS/UMTS modem isrequired for any number of machines op-erating on the site, and it can be placedwhere the GSM coverage is better.

FIGURE 1 shows the impact of a GNSSpermanent network on the organizationof the machine-control system. Under thecurrent system architecture, each build-ing site operates with a connection to itsown local base station. Figure 1 shows

the future set-up utilizing a permanentnetwork, in this case the GNSS networkin Umbria, Italy: an unlimited number of

pFIGURE 1 Future proposed organization:

all building sites get RTCM corrections

from the network Ntrip caster

The use of real-time kinematic

(RTK) and network RTK (NRTK)

techniques enable such systems to

reach accuracies less than

5 centimeters, but some applica-

tions, for example road paving,require even better performances,

on the order of a few millimeters. In

such cases, laser or ultrasonic levels

are installed at the building site, to

furnish height determinations with

a sub-centimetric accuracy for dis-

tances up to hundreds of meters, for

an unlimited number of receivers.

The main element of any machine-

control system consists of one or

more GNSS receivers installed on

the machine. A fixed GNSS stat ion

installed in or near the building site

sends RTK corrections via radio

modem to all GNSS rovers operating

inside the transmission range. The

rovers are installed on machines or

carried by operators for tracking and

control purposes. A differential tech-

nique with code and phase correc-

tions estimates the rover position,

reaching accuracies equal or better

than 5 centimeters.The system estimates in real time

the plano-altimetric position of the

rover. Other sensors, if present, can

improve the height accuracy and

enable determination of other com-

ponents of movement, position, and

attitude of the excavating blade or

bucket, after a brief one-time cali-

bration procedure.An onboard computer, previously

loaded with a digital terrain model

(DTM) of the site, processes all data

acquired by the sensors. Thus, the

machine operator can visualize at

any moment the difference between

the actual ground surface and the

intended design.

In most cases, the system is also

connected to the machines hydrau-

lic control system, so that software

automatically commands the move-

ment of the booms or blade. The

driver only has to control the excava-

tion result and follow the design plot,

assisted by the displayed informa-

tion: machine position, excavation

or filling height, ground slope, cross

section, and so on.

Introduction of such machine con-

trol has considerably improved the

accuracy of earth movement, reduc-

ing times and costs. Advantagesinclude:

complete elimination of costs

for preliminary survey phase and

for the tracking during excava-

tion (more office work required

for design and DTM elaboration

and loading, but this is offset by a

more accurate data provision);

direct transition from the designto execution phase, eliminating

intermediate passes, with a con-

sistent reduction of time, cost,

and potential errors;

better involvement and efficiency

of the machine operators, who

control project execution in real

time on their display;

consistent improvement in project

accuracy, reducing waste of mate-

rial, energy, and time;

on-site technicians controlling the

work in a very fast and affordable

way by means of the same RTK

corrections;

most machine-control systems,

even the newest releases, fully or

nearly turn-key, easy to learn and

understand by the operators after

a quick calibration phase;

damages to underground cables

and pipes avoided if the design

drawings includes their positionand depth.

Current Baseline

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operating machines in different buildingsites work simultaneously and indepen-dently, all connected to the permanentnetwork without local base stations.

Networks. The DICA operates twopermanent networks: GPSUMBRIA, the official GNSS

network of the Umbria Region, cen-tral Italy, offers both post-processingand real-time positioning services. Itcomprises 10 stations (two more arescheduled in the next few months),covering the region (FIGURE 2). Moreinformation about the networkand its data (freely available at themoment) is at www.gpsumbria.it.

LABTOPO, a regional network setup for research purposes, is puttingtogether a bundle of GNSS perma-

nent stations of different operators(universities, schools, public admin-istrations, and private companies).

It includes 21 stations over a widearea in central Italy from Rimini toRome (FIGURE 3), and offers onlypost-processing services. See http://

labtopo.ing.unipg.it/labtopo/index.php.

The monumentation of the stations ofboth networks is very stable: all GPSUM-

BRIA stations match the IAG ReferenceFrame Sub-Commission for Europe(EUREF) and International GNSS Ser-vice prescriptions, and most LABTOPO

stations are set up with equivalent char-acteristics. Two GPSUMBRIA stations(UNPG Perugia and UNTR Terni) form

pFIGURE 2 GPSUMBRIA network

pFIGURE 3 LABTOPO network

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part of the European Permanent Networkand the EUREF-IP real-time project.

All stations are equipped with GPS-GLONASS geodetic receivers. Most havechoke-ring antennas; all GPSUMBRIAantennas are individually calibrated.

All data of both networks are sub-mitted to an automatic quality-controlprocedure and then distributed to the sci-entific and technical community throughthe websites mentioned, in the form of

daily or hourly RINEX files at samplingrates of 30, 5, and 1 seconds, to be usedfor post-processing applications, enablingusers to achieve position accuracies downto a few millimeters.

Post-processing data are currentlyprovided free in order to promote theiruse, but such distribution policy mightchange in the future, for example requir-ing a fee for the 1-second files.

The GPSUMBRIA network also sup-plies real-time positioning services (net-work code corrections or NDGPS, andnetwork phase corrections or NRTK) toregistered users. Registration is currentlyfree because the real-time services are stillin a promotional phase; such policy willlikely change to a fully operational phasein the future. FIGURE 4 shows the real-time network.

Phase corrections are transmittedto the users in virtual reference station(VRS) or Flchen Korrektur Parameters

(FKP) modes, using the RTCM 2.3 for-mat (correction types 18, 19 or 20, 21).Code corrections are given in RTCM 2.0

format. Users can receive the correctionsthrough a direct connection to a stack ofGSM modems set up at the network con-trol center or through our recommendedapproach, the network Ntrip caster.

The real-time software performs acontinuous computation of the network,which besides its primary function (am-biguities and biases computation) consti-tutes a powerful instrument for networkanalysis and control.

Network Corrections Tests

Trovati S.n.c., a building and earth-moving company of Perugia, recentlyacquired two machine-control systems,installed on a dozer and an excavator.

The dozer carries a system includinga dual-frequency GPS-GLONASS re-ceiver, with antenna mounted on a

vibration-damping rod located at thecenter of the excavating blade. A mono-axial tilt sensor estimates the transversalattitude of the blade. The equipmentalso includes a control box, an onboardcomputer with LCD screen, and a radiomodem receiving the RTCM correctionfrom the base station (see FIGURE 5).

The excavator has been fitted with asystem composed of two GNSS antennasand five two-axes gravitational sensorsmounted on the three booms of the ex-cavating machine, plus one on the bucketand one on the machine body. The sys-tem includes an onboard computer withtouch-screen control panel and a controlbox including the GNSS receiver, con-

nected to a radio modem.Both machines carry an oleo-dynamicgroup actuating the blade movement and

pFIGURE 5 Dozer installation

pFIGURE 4 GPSUMBRIA real-time

network

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an electronic control system connected tothe control box.

Standard operating procedure requiresin a preliminary phase the selection of a

ground point to place the GNSS basestation. Its WGS84 position can be ob-tained by means of a rapid-static or RTKGNSS survey, using the post-processingor real-time data of a permanent net-work, or connecting the station to someknown points, such as vertexes of the Ital-ian Geodetic Network IGM95.

To make the procedure easier for opera-tors lacking knowledge on the referencesystems, the base station is often georefer-enced in an approximate way (for exam-ple, by a simple point-positioning throughpseudorange) with the condition that themonumentation and the assigned coordi-nates (we can call them pseudo-WGS84)do not change from one day to another.

Using the phase corrections from thebase stations, the pseudo-WGS84 coordi-nates of a series of ground control pointsare determined by means of an RTK localsurvey. This way, the control points havea double set of coordinates: the pseudo-

WGS84 and the local ones extracted fromthe design CAD drawings.The system manufacturers software es-

timates a set of transformation parametersbetween pseudo-WGS84 and the localsystem. From then on, the operator worksin the local system, following the design

digital terrain model (DTM) and draw-ings loaded on the PC and visible on thescreen. The machine position, computedin RTK mode in the pseudo-WGS84datum, is automatically converted by thesoftware into the local system.

With this operating mode, there is anerror due to the roughly approximate po-sition of the base station. However, sucherror has no influence on the work if thebase station position does not change intime. If the base has to be moved for anyreason, the initialization procedure mustbe repeated, including a new parameterestimation.

We selected a test area and surveyed itwith the GNSS NRTK technique, usingVRS corrections from the GPSUMBRIApermanent network and producing an ac-curate local DTM. We set up a sampledesign of a road track (FIGURE 6) for test-ing purposes, including a straight partand a 15-meter-radius curve, for a total

length of about 100 meters. We exag-gerated the transversal slope of the testroad (10 percent, more than the values

pFIGURE 6 Test with NRTK corrections: left, the design plot; right, a planimetric

representation of the differences in meters measured between the designed and the

initial survey


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normally allowed) for a better testing of the dozer blade-controlsystem.

To apply the innovative use of the GNSS permanent network,it was necessary to partially modify the machine-control system,which is a closed system, a limit due to its turnkey philosophy.Following the indirectmethod described earlier, we supplementedthe system with a small hardware component capable of receiv-ing NRTK corrections through an internal GPRS modem, andredistributing them over the building site by means of a radiomodem. The adopted device also includes a basic GPS receiver(code-only, 20 channels) that computes an approximate positionby means of the pseudoranges and sends a NMEA message to thepermanent network control center (necessary when operating inthe VRS mode). The supplementary device configuration is easilydone by sending it an SMS code (FIGURE 7).

We encountered some practical problems during the tests: apoor GSM coverage over the test area, and some interference onradio transmission. Both were easily solved, the first by changingthe supplementary devices location and the GSM operator, thesecond by changing the frequency on the radio modem.

A further problem concerned the data stream (VRS or FKPcorrections in RTCM 2.3. format) transmitted by the GPSUM-BRIA network caster. The bit-rate normally given by the technical

literature for VRS corrections is about 600 bits per second (bps)for each satellite. During the test, the number of available satelliteincreased to 14 (GPS + GLONASS), with a total bit rate of 8400

bps. Adding some other data exchanged between the caster andthe rover, the bandwidth available on the radio modem (9600

bps) was fully occupied.A further increase in the number of satellites available onceGLONASS reaches its full operational phase would make thingseven more difficult in the future. A possible solution is the adop-tion of the Compact Measurement Record (CMR) format, a stan-dard protocol for reducing the bit rate, usable with any brand ofreceiver. A CMR bit rate can be estimated as follows:

Bytes/s = 6 + N [8 + (Freq - 1) 7]whereNis the number of available satellites (GPS + GLONASS)and Freqthe frequencies (1 for single, 2 for double). In the caseof our test (14 satellites), the result is 216 bytes per second,thus 1728 bps. Even adding other message parts necessary to

transfer supplementary information about the reference stationand its coordinates (about 500 bps every 10 seconds), the 9600bps limit seems sufficient.

A further possibility is given by the definition of a data streamin the RTCM 3.0 format. A data stream of about 200 bps is esti-mated for each satellite in the type 1004 message, while the 1003is about 50 bps smaller. The 1004 or 1003 types only containGPS observations, but similar evaluations can be made for the1012 or 1011 types used for GLONASS. Referring once moreto the test situation (14 satellites), a stream data of about 2800bps can be estimated, which is about one third of the RTCM 2.3value. The manufacturers support documentation, where a baudrate of 2742 bps is evaluated with 12 satellites for a RTCM 3.0VRS correction, confirms this.

We carried out the first test using the classic RTCM 2.3 formattransmitting VRS and FKP corrections. The limited bandwidthprovoked a periodic bottleneck effect in radio data transmission,thus the dozer partially operated without differential correc-tions.

After the dozer had completed its earth-moving job, a newGNSS survey (NRTK VRS) checked the correspondence betweenthe execution and the design DTM. The mean value of the dif-ferences between the two DTMs (shown in FIGURE 8) is about 5

centimeters, with standard deviation of 8 centimeters.Note that a survey performed after the skinning phase ofthe ground is subject to a few centimeters uncertainty, because

pFIGURE 8 Distribution of the height differences between

design DTM and execution (meters)

pFIGURE

gps_world_200907

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