Posted on Nov 18, 2019
Ghost ships, crop circles, and soft gold: A GPS mystery in Shanghai - MIT Tech Review | RNTF
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I use a GPS tracking program to track my business trips. It shows me taking at least one trip of several miles every day at times when I know the car is safely parked in my locked garage. Thankfully there seems to be a growing public awareness that GPS with no back up is a very bad thing.
The irony is that we had just such a technology ready to come on line and the previous administration shut it down in 2010over the objections of the experts in the field, including their own National Advisory Board as "obsolete" so they could say they cut the budget. No funding was provided for preservation and security of that just upgraded infrastructure, just the opposite funds were provided for it's demolition, but Congress acted to stop that. My comment to my wife at the time was that this would prove penny wise and pound foolish. Now instead of having a mature and robust backup system on line and operating, in eLORAN, we have nothing. Ironically both Russia and China have retained their LORAN C stations and have integrated that "obsolete" technology into their PNT systems. Currently, the DHS is evaluating 11 different proposals for backup systems. I just hope Congress actually does something before it it too late.
The irony is that we had just such a technology ready to come on line and the previous administration shut it down in 2010over the objections of the experts in the field, including their own National Advisory Board as "obsolete" so they could say they cut the budget. No funding was provided for preservation and security of that just upgraded infrastructure, just the opposite funds were provided for it's demolition, but Congress acted to stop that. My comment to my wife at the time was that this would prove penny wise and pound foolish. Now instead of having a mature and robust backup system on line and operating, in eLORAN, we have nothing. Ironically both Russia and China have retained their LORAN C stations and have integrated that "obsolete" technology into their PNT systems. Currently, the DHS is evaluating 11 different proposals for backup systems. I just hope Congress actually does something before it it too late.
Ghost ships, crop circles, and soft gold: A GPS mystery in Shanghai - MIT Tech Review | RNTF
Posted from rntfnd.org
National Security
GPS
Technology
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 2
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For those who want to know a little more, the Technology to which I referred, eLORAN is an update of the venerable and reliable LORAN C that many of you old farts like me are familiar with. Most of you were probably on the receiving end, while I operated and maintained the transmitting end. Basically what eLORAN does is add differential signals to the data channel to compensate for propagation delays etc. The USCG had just spent millions upgrading all their stations to new timing and transmitting equipment in preparation for implementation of eLORAN, which can provide GPS specification precision using a completely independent terrestrial based and jam resistant system. In other words a true backup.
The 11 proposals being evaluated. My thoughts in brackets. To be clear, I do not and have not worked or been associated in any way with any of these companies, though I spent a good part of my USCG time working in LORAN.
Echo Ridge LLC of Sterling, Virginia has been working with the Air Force Research Laboratory Center for Rapid Innovation to develop a way to determine position from radio signals. [Not really enough info to say anything, but it appears to be timing only?]
Hellen Systems LLC of Middleburg, Virginia seeks to develop and deploy enhanced LORAN (eLORAN). [Not familiar with Hellen, but the system is solid and robust]
NextNav LLC of Sunnyvale, California provides encrypted signals and accurate positioning in three dimensions using licensed spectrum and terrestrial transmitters. [Promising, and three dimension positioning is not something eLORAN can currently provide. Does encryption mean it would be limited to subscribers?]
OPNT BV of Amsterdam distributes synchronized timing using existing fiber networks based on the White Rabbit protocol developed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). [OK, if you have a physical link to a fiber network. I assume it would be timing only]
PhasorLab Inc., of Nashua, New Hampshire offers high-precision carrier synchronization technology that can be used to do time and frequency synchronization. This technology is also capable of determining position and doing centimeter-level target tracking. [Looks like a possibility, depending on range, signal strength, frequency etc.]
Satelles Inc., which is in the process of moving to Reston, Virginia, uses the Iridium satellite constellation to provide strong, encrypted navigation signals that the firm said in 2016 would enable 20- to 50-meter unaided position accuracy and microsecond timing. [Accuracy is OK, but while signal strength is better, I suspect it suffers the same vulnerabilities as existing GPS technology]
Serco, Inc. is a global provider of air navigation services. It also has an effort in its New London/Norwich, Connecticut office focused on eLoran. [Appears to be a newcomer to LORAN]
Seven Solutions Sociedad Limitada provides time as a service, remote timing monitoring, GPS jamming protection and solutions for intra- and inter-datacenter synchronization. The firm is based in Granada, Spain. [Timing only ]
Skyhook Holding Inc., with offices in Boston and Philadelphia, uses Wi-Fi, GNSS and cell signals to locate devices, even if they are offline. [Umm, OK, but sounds like limited range and/or similar technology and vulnerabilies]
TRX Systems of Greenbelt, Maryland uses sensor fusion and mapping algorithms to provide real-time 3-D location and mapping within buildings and underground where GPS is not always available. [OK, but again it sees like limited coverage kind of stuff.]
Ursa Navigation Solutions Inc. (UrsaNav) has developed an eLoran transmission system in cooperation with the Canadian firm Nautel. UrsaNav, headquartered in North Billerica, Massachusetts, also offers eLoran equipment. [Arguably the experts in LORAN and eLORAN. Have build new stations from the ground up, 8 for the USCG, and oversaw as well as provided equipment for the modernization of dozens of stations and monitor sites world wide. These guys definitely know their stuff.]
Just my personal thoughts based on my observations, experience and subsequent reading. I think you already figured out who I think is the best choice.
The 11 proposals being evaluated. My thoughts in brackets. To be clear, I do not and have not worked or been associated in any way with any of these companies, though I spent a good part of my USCG time working in LORAN.
Echo Ridge LLC of Sterling, Virginia has been working with the Air Force Research Laboratory Center for Rapid Innovation to develop a way to determine position from radio signals. [Not really enough info to say anything, but it appears to be timing only?]
Hellen Systems LLC of Middleburg, Virginia seeks to develop and deploy enhanced LORAN (eLORAN). [Not familiar with Hellen, but the system is solid and robust]
NextNav LLC of Sunnyvale, California provides encrypted signals and accurate positioning in three dimensions using licensed spectrum and terrestrial transmitters. [Promising, and three dimension positioning is not something eLORAN can currently provide. Does encryption mean it would be limited to subscribers?]
OPNT BV of Amsterdam distributes synchronized timing using existing fiber networks based on the White Rabbit protocol developed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). [OK, if you have a physical link to a fiber network. I assume it would be timing only]
PhasorLab Inc., of Nashua, New Hampshire offers high-precision carrier synchronization technology that can be used to do time and frequency synchronization. This technology is also capable of determining position and doing centimeter-level target tracking. [Looks like a possibility, depending on range, signal strength, frequency etc.]
Satelles Inc., which is in the process of moving to Reston, Virginia, uses the Iridium satellite constellation to provide strong, encrypted navigation signals that the firm said in 2016 would enable 20- to 50-meter unaided position accuracy and microsecond timing. [Accuracy is OK, but while signal strength is better, I suspect it suffers the same vulnerabilities as existing GPS technology]
Serco, Inc. is a global provider of air navigation services. It also has an effort in its New London/Norwich, Connecticut office focused on eLoran. [Appears to be a newcomer to LORAN]
Seven Solutions Sociedad Limitada provides time as a service, remote timing monitoring, GPS jamming protection and solutions for intra- and inter-datacenter synchronization. The firm is based in Granada, Spain. [Timing only ]
Skyhook Holding Inc., with offices in Boston and Philadelphia, uses Wi-Fi, GNSS and cell signals to locate devices, even if they are offline. [Umm, OK, but sounds like limited range and/or similar technology and vulnerabilies]
TRX Systems of Greenbelt, Maryland uses sensor fusion and mapping algorithms to provide real-time 3-D location and mapping within buildings and underground where GPS is not always available. [OK, but again it sees like limited coverage kind of stuff.]
Ursa Navigation Solutions Inc. (UrsaNav) has developed an eLoran transmission system in cooperation with the Canadian firm Nautel. UrsaNav, headquartered in North Billerica, Massachusetts, also offers eLoran equipment. [Arguably the experts in LORAN and eLORAN. Have build new stations from the ground up, 8 for the USCG, and oversaw as well as provided equipment for the modernization of dozens of stations and monitor sites world wide. These guys definitely know their stuff.]
Just my personal thoughts based on my observations, experience and subsequent reading. I think you already figured out who I think is the best choice.
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PO1 H Gene Lawrence
Just a tidbit of info on one of my past duties. While I was stationed on Adak Island, Alaska, my collateral duties, in case of war and invasion, was to blow up the computer banks at the Coast Guard LORAN Station on the back side of the Island. I was trained with explosives to do that one thing as part of the Naval Enlisted Ground Defense Forces.
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PO1 Kevin Dougherty
We should be very concerned. GPS is such a pervasive component of our western way of life ... if it goes down, or someone monkeys with it, as things stand now, we are screwed, blued and tattooed.
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PO1 H Gene Lawrence
PVT James Strait - looking at your profile, I’d say you are a heck of lot more than a Private, brother.
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