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Geoinformatics_04-2009
article beidou according to one of the participants, it also appeared during the summit that the dispute between europe and china over the proposed compass signals has not been resolved. the core of the problem is the intention of china to overlay compass signals on the two l1 frequency bands planned for galileo s public regulated service (prs). so far it has been rumoured that in this matter china is ignoring all international rules about frequency allocation. normally the first country that applies for allocation of a frequency from the international telecommunication union (itu) receives a preliminary allocation of the frequency. there have been rumours as well, however, that the first country to start using the frequency is the first that is granted priority status. since china s satellites are expected to start transmitting before the galileo satellites, this could reverse the story. it is not possible for galileo to change the frequencies, in particular for the public regulated service, since there has been an agreement with the united states since 2004 over the use of this frequency. delta ii satellite (source: www.navigadget.com) commission s galileo & intelligent transport unit, said "if all goes well, we will be able to conclude the contracts for most of the [seven] work packages starting from the middle of the year. during the same summit someone also asked karamitsos about the prospects of galileo lite , a reduced system comprised of only 20 satellites broadcasting an open service signal. the idea was completely repudiated by karamtisos, and he added that member states have a legal obligation to deliver the full system. the discussion, however, was rekindled by anne sta, head galileo programme division, department for transport (uk), who stated that it was difficult to see the need for the public regulated service (prs). according to her, a study identified a grand total of five actual users (not user groups!) for the prs, and the uk military has no need of the prs. richard peckham, business development director for eads astrium in the uk, added in a later presentation that "prs is very strongly french today." eloran years ago, the usa published the volpe report that stated that gps as the sole means of navigation would present many vulnerabilities. from then on the usa has included the terrestrial navigation system, loran, in their radio frequency plans. the latest plan, from 2008, still includes eloran, the modernized version. over the last few years eloran has been operational as well, although there is little improvement over basic maintenance. so, in all honesty, intentions seem to be good. in practice, however, there is some unwillingness to really provide this backup to gps. this is evident in the lack of structural funding from either the us department of homeland security or the us coast guard. so far the system has been funded operationally, meaning that the agency in question decides if it is willing to put up the money. launch of the gps iir-m (20) satellite (source: pnt.gov) receiver developments in this series we do not normally talk about new gps developments; however, some have come to our attention that represent a significant change from the current navigation systems and therefore, in our opinion, require a mention. the first is the development of a micro gps receiver that includes an antenna on the circuit board. the circuit board measures 12 mm x 2 mm. the antenna, which is 10 mm wide and 4 mm high, is soldered to the circuit board at a 90 degree angle so that when it is built into a telephone, for example, it is pointing towards the sky. the small size and integrated antenna should improve reception and allow it to be incorporated into the smallest telephones and other units. on the other end of the navigation spectrum, trimble has presented its latest version of the r8. now the r8 is no stranger to this magazine; we tested one a while ago. what s new, however, is the ability to remotely configure and connect to the r8 rover and base receivers from the office. the unit can be accessed over the internet where it can be configured and monitored through a web interface. it is even possible to download post-processing data through the interface, eliminating trips to the field. huibert-jan lekkerkerk hlekkerkerk@geoinformatics.com is project manager at idsw and freelance writer and trainer. this article reflects his personal opinion. latest news? visit www.geoinformatics.com 35 june 2009
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