GPS Tracking ROI

Thanks an a big tip of the blog hat to GizMag.com for breaking this news about DARPA initiative to provide an alternate/back-up navigation system for GPS. (They are the folks who actually invented the Internet, by the way, regardless of what Al Gore or Tim O’Reilly seem to think …I was there.)

 … The objective of the Robust Surface Navigation (RSN) program is to develop technologies that can exploit various “signals of opportunity” — electronic waves emanating from satellites, cell phone towers and even television transmission towers — to provide precise location and navigation information to ground troops when GPS signals are being electronically jammed or blocked by natural or man-made obstacles, such as foliage or buildings.

… or solar disturbances … remember reading here about solar flares and the solar max cycle just a week or so ago?

… “The challenge is to develop an integrated system that can use all available signals — not just GPS — to provide accurate navigation information through one small receiver, thereby eliminating the need for an expensive, fixed infrastructure,” said Bart Ferrell, Boeing Phantom Works program manager for Precision Navigation Programs.

The Boeing-led Robust Surface Navigation team is beginning its 15-month Phase 1 concept development contract.

The team includes ROSUM, NAVSYS and Shared Spectrum. “Leveraging the technical expertise and capabilities of this exceptionally strong team will help ensure the development of a very robust integrated system for surface navigation,” Ferrell said….

In simple terms what we, as a world people and a nation within that world is to make use of all the electromagnetic signals that we currently flood the atmosphere with.  If the signal from the GPS satellite constellation is blocked, intentionally turned off, or “messed with” by a bad guy, vehicles, ground troops and aircraft flying over the USA (or other populated countries) actually have more than enough sources of data to late their position.  The problem is, in today’s narrowly focused “data silo” scheme of government programs, even though the signals are available the potential user would need a box car full of receivers and analysis devices to get data from the sources that are already there.  Why not make use of what we already have?

The TV signal portion of the solution is an extremely good idea.  Broadcast television, unlike the cheap, opportunistically built cell phone system is quite robust.  It also puts out very strong signals and one other necessity many don’t think of … an extremely accurate timing signal.  High accuracy timing is the key to any navigation system and television has it.

 I’ve written about ROSUM and their innovative work with TV signal positioning here in the past as well.  Don’t get me wrong, I style myself as Mr. GPS and I am a fully certified GPS enthusiast (geek), but like any technology, I don’t believe in keeping all one’s eggs in the same basket. Not only is this idea smart, and long overdue, there will undoubtedly be a strong commercial fallout as the overall quality of navigation will increase, significantly.  Come back here to the GPS Tracking ROI (return on investment) blog for more news and views like this, and if you enjoyed this article, let me know with a comment, and email, a phone call, (see the about/contacts page above) or take the time to click on the Digg and/or del.icio.us and let others know.