Archives

ESRI Conference and SVN-49 Troubles

July 29, 2009 - By

I had a great visit at the ESRI User Conference earlier this month. If you recall last year, I wrote: “As much as surveyors, engineers, and constructors may not appreciate geographic information systems (GIS) technology, at some point everyone should attend at least the ESRI Survey/Engineering Summit and the first couple of days of the ESRI User Conference held every summer in San Diego, California. This is not a GIS sales pitch. It's a networking sales pitch. When other conferences are struggling to maintain attendance levels, the ESRI conferences seemingly never fail to grow in attendance. This year, it attracted some 15,000 people from 120 countries. That means gobs of GIS people, and also gobs of surveyors and engineers.” The statement rang true this year too. Even in today’s economy where conferences are severely impacted or even cancelled due to travel budget cuts, the ESRI User conference still attracted ~11,000 people this month. read more

This article is tagged with , , and posted in Opinions, Survey

IGI&S 2009: Getting Back to Basics and Our Roots

July 25, 2009 - By

Earlier this month I attended the Defense Installation GeoSpatial Information and Services (IGI&S) conference in Dallas. Although not a large conference, it is tightly focused and aimed directly at the GIS community that supports military installations. The conferences were initially started by the Air Force, but attendance by other branches has grown since they all have common issues and many... read more

This article is tagged with and posted in GeoIntelligence Insider, Opinions

CSR Completes SiRF Acquisition

July 24, 2009 - By

England's CSR plc and U.S.-based SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. have completed their merger, ending years of speculation over what may become of SiRF, a pioneering maker of GPS receivers that had become financially troubled during the current economic downturn. read more

This article is tagged with , , , and posted in Mobile

CSR and SiRF Complete Merger

July 20, 2009 - By

CSR plc of Cambridge, UK, and SiRF Technology Holdings Inc., of San Jose, Califonia, on June 26 completed the merger between SiRF and a wholly owned subsidiary of CSR. The merger resulted in "creating a provider of connectivity and location platforms and a company with the scale, technology, and strategy to enable its customers to address the exciting and emerging opportunities in mobile markets," according to a company statement. read more

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Expert Advice: Cause Identified for Pseudorange Error from New GPS Satellite SVN-49

July 15, 2009 - By and

The GPS Wing and its contractors have traced the cause of pseudorange errors on L1 and L2 broadcast by the newest GPS satellite, SVN-49, to the manner in which the L5 signal demonstration payload was added to the satellite. Signal leakage between the two input ports of the antenna coupler network for the satellite's array of 12 helical antenna elements, reflected from the L5 filter and then transmitted, creates a second signal with a delay of approximately 30 nanoseconds, and the appearance of a multipath component. While testing an adjustment to the signal-in-space to minimize the effect of the problem on receiver navigation solutions on Earth, the GPS Wing is interested in hearing from manufacturers and the user community concerning the different impacts of SVN-49 signals on the wide range products and applications in operation, before reaching a final decision on what to do with the satellite prior to setting it healthy. read more

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Letters to the Editor

July 1, 2009 - By

DAGR and GAO Furors read more

This article is tagged with and posted in From the Magazine, Opinions

Expert Advice: All Rise, GPS Entering the Court

July 1, 2009 - By

In the litigious society that we have become, it is not surprising to see GPS as a regular fixture in many civil and criminal proceedings in our nation?s courts. A new and growing outlet for the legal profession, it has also engaged many of the older GPS pioneers who, instead of just retiring, have found a relatively lucrative way to spend their free time. They now form the cadre of GPS expert witnesses, without whom many of the cases involving positioning could not be settled equitably. read more

This article is tagged with and posted in From the Magazine, Opinions

Innovation: Where Is GIOVE-A Exactly?

July 1, 2009 - By

Using Microwaves and Laser Ranging for Precise Orbit Determination
Though Galileo’s GIOVE-A is a test satellite not necessarily ready for scientific use, orbit analyses with a reduced accuracy can help to identify weaknesses and suggest improvements. This month, the authors share work being carried out to precisely determine the orbit of GIOVE-A using SLR and microwave observations. This preliminary investigation will benefit the procedures to be implemented for the future Galileo constellation. read more

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