JAVAD GNSS Unveils New Survey Products

JAVAD GNSS unveiled its own brand of GNSS products in February, including the TRIUMPH chip; OEM boards; TRIUMPH-1 and TRIUMPH-4X (Cluster RTK) GNSS receivers; six antenna types; software applications including Giodis, Justin, and Tracy; and its rugged controller, Victor.

JAVAD GNSS introduced its products in February, along with bundle pricing and discount structures. “You can select different options and see how quickly you will reach the 75 percent discount level on options. One advantage of this open pricing policy is that you will get the same exact low prices anywhere in the world,” explained Javad Ashjaee, JAVAD GNSS CEO and president.

The products can be ordered online, with shipping to begin in April.

TRIUMPH Chip with 216 Channels. Central to Javad’s product line, the TRIUMPH receiver chip is built on 90-nanometer architecture housed in a 17 x 17 millimeter package and features 216 channels grouped in three categories of channels, some with five and some with 10 correlators, optimized to track all types of GNSS signal, according to the company. These include GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, WAAS, EGNOS, and Compass/Beidou signals. The TRIUMPH chip incorporates a 220 MHz CPU, 4 MB of internal RAM, and five sophisticated 64th-order adaptive anti-jamming filters in five signal bands capable of suppressing multiple interferences by up to 60 decibels.

TRIUMPH-1. TRIUMPH-1 is housed in a rugged, lightweight, and hermetically sealed box which accommodates GNSS and modem electronics, antennas, and up to 20 hours of rechargeable batteries with a sophisticated power-management system. “The close proximity of our batteries with the electronic section helps the batteries to absorb heat and function better in cold weather,” the website states.

The Triumph-1 is a fully integrated package designed for rugged use.

TRIUMPH-4X and Cluster RTK. With the TRIUMPH-4X and the Cluster RTK (or 4x4 real-time kinematic), 16 baselines are processed in each RTK measurement, performing the equivalent of geodetic network adjustment on 16 baselines, removing outliers and providing reliable geodetic quality RTK solutions 20 times per second, according to the website.

OEM Boards. Javad offers six OEM boards based on the TRIUMPH chip, offering up to 100 Hz RTK. Each board includes the true Galileo option. The onboard power supply on every OEM board accepts from +4.5 to +40 volts and delivers clean filtered voltage where needed, to eliminates the risk of power contamination (ripples) created when clean power is generated elsewhere and delivered to the board via cables. Each board includes drivers for four LEDs, on/off, and function button controllers.

Free Galileo

Javad is offering free Galileo services for one year, listing the following reasons. “First, we want to demonstrate to the Galileo authorities that the user community is already prepared for Galileo and encourage them to expedite the development and deployment of the system. Second, we want to encourage the Galileo authorities to share detailed technical information with us more quickly and in more detail so we can help to test the system with the many customers who will receive the Galileo option free of charge from us.”

A third reason is to expand the system test. “More tests will help us to ensure our systems are fully debugged when Galileo becomes operational. We will issue free firmware upgrades as Galileo system develops.”

Fourth, “Users will not need to exchange their receivers when Galileo becomes available. They can buy the Galileo option when they observe the advantages of Galileo. We supported GLONASS the same way 15 years ago by introducing the Cinderella option. For Galileo our Cinderella is full time for one year, instead of one day every two weeks.”

» LOCATION-BASED SERVICES

Spirent Tests A-GPS for LBS

Spirent Communications (Crawley, United Kingdom) has made available of two new capabilities for its UMTS Location Test Solution (ULTS): enhanced testing of Secure User Plane (SUPL) and WCDMA Signaling Conformance testing.

Spirent has released a new SUPL Enhanced Test Pack for the ULTS which allows testing of SUPL clients in a wide rage of real-world situations not addressed in current industry test specifications. Developed in conjunction with leading network operators, the new test pack gives ULTS users full control over all SUPL parameters and the ability to perform advanced testing involving SUPL session interruptions, simultaneous SUPL sessions with voice or emergency calls, and the introduction of impairments into SUPL messages.

With the launch of 3GPP TS 34.123 WCDMA signaling conformance test cases for the ULTS, Spirent offers a complete validated assisted GPS (A-GPS) conformance testing solution for WCDMA devices to Global Certification Forum (GCF) and PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB) requirements.

The ULTS can also carry out conformance testing of A-GPS in GSM devices to the 3GPP TS 51.010 specification.

SUPL will be the catalyst for widespread deployment of next-generation location-based services, claims Spirent, since it allows network operators to provide A-GPS-enabled services without the need for costly changes to their infrastructure.

Spirent’s ULTS can verify conformance of A-GPS devices to industry standards, while also being capable of fully testing A-GPS performance beyond the minimum requirements of the standards.

» RESOURCES

From IMU/GNSS Data to a Full 3D History

A new NavtechGPS book by James L. Farrell provides several flight-validated formulations and algorithms not currently in use because of their originality. By exploiting more modern capabilities and insights, inertial processing is dramatically simpler than conventional approaches. GNSS Aided Navigation and Tracking: Inertially Augmented or Autonomous presents complete formulations to convert raw uncorrected data from IMU plus GNSS (pseudorange and ambiguous carrier phase) to a full 3D history. The 280-page book is $89, ISBN 978-1-56167-979-9.

» AVIONICS & TRANSPORTATION

California Highway Tests Showcase Traffic Solution

Nokia and UC Berkeley capture real-time traffic information using GPS enabled mobile devices

In a February road test, 100 cars equipped with the GPS-enabled Nokia N95, and driven by students from the University of California—Berkeley traveled a 10-mile stretch of highway near San Francisco to show how real-time traffic information can be collected from the GPS feed, while preserving the privacy of the devices’ owners.

The experiment tested the traffic-data collection and aggregation system, while studying the trade-offs between data accuracy, personal privacy, and data-collection costs, according to the Nokia Research Center, based in Palo Alto. The software aggregating the GPS feeds immediately disassociates that data from an individual device and combines it with the general stream of traffic data. To protect privacy, all data is anonymous and aggregated and protected by banking-grade encryption.

 During the experiment, special software on the mobile devices periodically sent anonymous speed and location readings from the integrated GPS to servers. The feeds were then combined to create a real-time picture of traffic speeds and projected travel times.

For state transportation agencies such as The California Department of Transport (Caltrans), mobile phones could remove the need to invest in expensive infrastructure to obtain traffic information, and help motorists avoid congested areas.

“There are mobile device-based systems out there that can collect data in a variety of ways, such as measuring signal strength from towers and triangulating position, but to our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of this scale using GPS-enabled mobile devices to provide traffic-related data such as travel times, and with a deliberate focus on critical deployment factors like bandwidth costs and personal privacy issues,” said Thomas West, UC Berkeley’s California Center for Innovative Transportation.

» MASS MARKET OEM

SiRF Unveils New Multimedia Platform; Deals with Stock Drop

SiRF Technology made headlines in February, and not only because of its sleek new multifunction hardware platform, SiRFprima.

The company’s stock lost half of its value following an ugly quarterly report, spurring speculation by analysts that the independent chipmaker may be an acquisitions prospect.Six weeks ago, SiRF had a $1.5 billion market cap, making the firm an expensive acquisition target, according to analysts. With the stock sell-off that followed the report, the company’s market value has shrunk to $441 million.

In SiRF’s earnings report, the company reported an 89 percent decrease in fourth-quarter profits to $700,000 from $9.1 million the year before. This loss came despite net revenue of $100.4 million, an increase of 35.3 percent. Investors reacted quickly; the price of SiRF’s stock dropped $8.91 per share to close at $7.36 per share, a one-day decline of 54 percent on volume of 63 million shares, 30 times the average three-month volume.

In the wake of the report, SiRF is also tussling with a class action lawsuit. The legal firm of Bernard M. Gross filed suit against SiRF in Northern California district court on behalf of purchasers of SiRF stock between October 30, 2007, and February 4, 2008, alleging violations of U.S. securities law.

SiRFprima. SiRF says its new SiRFprima platform takes a step beyond GPS receiver hardware into mobile multimedia functionality.

The platform includes a multifunction processor comprising an ARM11 core, a GPS/Galileo receiver, and a digital signal processor. It includes hardware-accelerated 3D graphics and multimedia encoding and decoding engines based on the gaming-grade PowerVR MBX 3D graphics accelerator core, vertex geometry processor, and PowerVR MVED1 video encode/decode accelerator from Imagination Technologies, according to SIRF.

» MILITARY & GOVERNMENT

Marines Pick Rockwell Collins for Sky-Diving Nav

The U.S. Marine Corps has selected Rockwell Collins to provide more than 3,000 ParaNav units, a helmet-mounted navigation system for parachutists, the company announced in February.

ParaNav is a personal, GPS-based, flight management system with an integrated heads-up display. It provides parachutists with accurate navigation capabilities and enhanced situational awareness, allowing them to fly to their designated landing zones, according to Rockwell Collins. The system also allows the parachutist to divert to alternate sites with the same level of accuracy, the company said.

ParaNav is designed specifically for parachutist guidance. The system consists of a lightweight battery-operated GPS pod that connects to a parachutist’s helmet. An integrated, full-color display attaches directly to goggles or helmet shields, according to Rockwell Collins.

The unit also contains Wi-Fi interface for Joint Precision Airdrop System data connectivity and custom circuitry allows for dead-reckoning calculations in the event of a GPS lock failure.

The heads-up display, which attaches directly to goggles or shields, provides multiple navigation screens and data that includes altitude, ground speed, distance to landing zone, heading to landing zone, estimated time of arrival, and a glide slope incorporating wind drift. The total system weighs 0.9 kilograms.

ParaNav’s test and evaluation phase included more than 100 test jumps at maximum altitudes of 28,000 feet and at temperatures of 20 degrees below zero. Rockwell Collins is participating in ongoing evaluations of the ParaNav system with potential military customers.

For an in-depth look at instrumenting paratroopers with GPS navigation, read “Stand Up, Hook Up — GO!” by Joseph Strus, Earl Blackwell, Christian Gellrich, Michael Kirkpatrick, and James Sinko, in the April 2003 issue of GPS World.