Ground Control Software Update to AEP 5.50D Set for Friday

March 3, 2010

Building on the January 2010 upgrade to the GPS ground control segment, on Friday Air Force Space Command will be installing another software release, AEP 5.5D, primarily designed to support the pending mid-2010 launch of the first GPS IIF space vehicle.

“Unlike the January release, known as Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP) 5.5C, this release, known as 5.5D, does not affect any user interfaces, and therefore should be transparent to the end user,” said Col. David Buckman, Chief, Positioning, Navigation and Timing Division, AFSPC Directorate of Requirements. “To ensure such transparency, the software upgrade has undergone rigorous testing and will be monitored very closely by Air Force Space Command to ensure it performs as expected."

"The software upgrade does not modify the content of the broadcast navigation message and should therefore be transparent to all users. All testing has been completed for this version of the software and confidence is very high that it will perform without any change noticeable to users," said an e-mail notification sent out by Rick Hamilton, CGSIC Executive Secretariat, USCG Navigation Center.

Hamilton asked for users' help in pinpointing any issues. "We would like your confirmation on this. If you observe anything unusual in the GPS constellation or in user GPS equipment operation on the 5th, or during the following week, please notify NAVCEN (per the
NANU below) as soon as possible."

Civilians experiencing any anomalies should contact the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center at 703-313-5900. Military end users who experience any anomalies should contact the 50th Space Wing’s GPS Operations Center (GPSOC) at DSN 560-2541.

“AFSPC has led the charge to improve military and civil navigation capabilities to ensure GPS remains the gold standard for position, navigation, and timing service worldwide,” added Col. Buckman. “We are confident that this improvement initiative will continue the Air Force’s commitment to the global community of GPS users.”

Below is the Notice Advisory to Navstar Users (NANU) about the upgrade.

NOTICE ADVISORY TO NAVSTAR USERS (NANU) 2010041

NANU TYPE: GENERAL
*** GENERAL MESSAGE TO ALL GPS USERS ***

The purpose of this notification is to inform users of an upcoming event related to the GPS satellite constellation. The 2nd Space Operations Squadron will be installing a ground software upgrade on 5 March 2010 (J064). There are no planned GPS satellite outages for this activity, and the broadcast navigation signal will remain IS-GPS-200 compliant. If military or civil users encounter any user equipment problems they feel are related to this minor software change, please call the GPSOC (military) or NAVCEN (civil) immediately.

POC:

CIVILIAN - NAVCEN AT 703-313-5900, HTTPS://WWW.NAVCEN.USCG.GOV MILITARY - GPS OPERATIONS CENTER AT HTTP://GPS.AFSPC.AF.MIL/GPSOC, DSN 560-2541, COMM 719-567-2541, GPS_SUPPORT@SCHRIEVER.AF.MIL, HTTPS://GPS.AFSPC.AF.MIL
MILITARY ALTERNATE - JOINT SPACE OPERATIONS CENTER, DSN 276-3514, COMM 805-606-3514, JSPOCCOMBATOPS@VANDENBERG.AF.MIL

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