GPS

500E · November 10, 2011

On AV web today

LightSquared Update

My bold.

The interrmod problem would require further filtering with loss of sensitivity to the GPS engines.

Read the PDF it gives you a overview of the on going problem it is not to technical, but it does give you the feeling that either LS is arrogant or they have backed themselves into a corner with their investors & are trying to bluff the regulators.

If it goes ahead GPS users start saving for new units IF & when they are made.

Why dont the FCC just say NO and fight it if it becomes a legal thing, the Co are trying to bulldoze the regulators into backing down, that would leave the consumer Big & small picking up the tab for mods! while LS go off with the profit,

I am still surprised there is not a huge public debate, the effect & cost is enormous for ALL not just us flying types.

1 Co holding the US to ransom. ( to day the US tomorrow the world)

A coalition of GPS manufacturers told the FCC Tuesday that there is still no reason to think that LightSquared's use of frequencies to provide broadband will not impair GPS signals as LightSquared expands its plans. According to the coalition, "there has been no suggestion that there will ever be an effective way to mitigate interference from its [LightSquared's] use of the upper 10 MHz without seriously degrading GPS performance." LightSquared has claimed that solutions exist for mitigating interference from use of a lower 10 MHz band. The coalition contends that claim has yet to be demonstrated and tested and that LightSquared has plans to move beyond that range, anyway. Meanwhile, an announcement Wednesday shows that LightSquared is doing anything but backing off of its plans.

Wireless Federation reported Wednesday that LightSquared has entered into an agreement with a provider to enable financial transactions via mobile handsets over the LightSquared network. The partner company, m-banco, says LightSquared's network will turn m-banco equipped devices into virtual wallets to conduct financial transactions in real time, any time, regardless of location. LightSquared has threatened legal action if its system proposal is rejected by the FCC and says inexpensive products have been developed that may resolve the interference problem. LightSquared has also contended that interference problems could be avoided if only GPS manufacturers built their receivers properly, to Department of Defense standards. If the use of LightSquared's network requires the company to expand its frequency band to both lower and upper spectrums considered, it could sandwich the GPS spectrum. The coalition says that situation could create a new problem -- "intermodulation" of signals "in the heart of the GPS band, well outside of LightSquared's authorized frequencies." Click here to read the coalition's full letter: PDF.

500E · December 15, 2011

Latest Tests Show LightSquared Disrupts Most GPS

FROM AV WEB

Federal officials Wednesday confirmed earlier reports that signals from a nationwide broadband system proposed by LightSquared will significantly disrupt existing GPS service. In separate statements, the National Coordination Office for Spaced-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation essentially said that under current circumstances, GPS cannot coexist with LightSquared's planned 40,000-tower network of high-speed wireless broadband transmitters. "LightSquared signals caused harmful interference to the majority of … general purpose GPS receivers," said Anthony Russo, director of PNT. The comments were based on recent test results that also showed the signals could affect TAWS. Cellphones are not affected significantly, according to the tests. LightSquared said it rejects the findings about the GPS receivers but is willing to work with the FAA on TAWS. The GPS interference, LightSquared claims, is the GPS industry's fault, which, regardless of the veracity of the claim, may be a moot point.

In a statement, LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja said the problem isn't that his company's signals invade GPS's territory, it's that GPS receivers "look into" LightSquared's spectrum. "LightSquared has had the legal and regulatory right to use its spectrum for eight years over two administrations," Ahuja said. "The testing further confirmed that the interference issues are not caused by LightSquared's spectrum, but by GPS devices looking into spectrum that is licensed to LightSquared. We have taken extraordinary measures -- and at extraordinary expense -- to solve a problem that is not of our making. We continue to believe that LightSquared and GPS can co-exist." However, the FCC waiver that would permit LightSquared to operate its system appears to place the onus on LightSquared to ensure its signals do not interrupt GPS service. LightSquared is expected to have more to say about the tests on Thursday.

500E · December 22, 2011

Do not think this is going away it is going to COST all GPS users A lot of cash, weither in new kit,modifications, or just poor GPS reception.

Courtesy of VR

LightSquared Files FCC Petition

LightSquared has thrown down a potentially tricky legal gauntlet and challenged the Federal Communications Commission to clarify its right to use the sliver of radio spectrum it owns for a ground-based broadband network. In a petition for declaratory ruling (PDF) filed Tuesday, the upstart broadband service wholesaler repeats its claim that the manufacturers of GPS devices that are affected by the broadband signals are to blame for the interference. "It recently has become apparent that the commercial GPS industry has manufactured, and sold to unsuspecting consumers, unlicensed and poorly designed GPS receivers that 'listen' for radio signals both in the 'RNSS' frequency band in which the U.S. GPS system is intended to operate, as well as across the adjacent 'MSS' frequency band that is not intended for GPS use, and in which LightSquared is licensed," the petition says. "The commercial GPS industry claims, without justification, that these GPS receivers somehow are entitled to 'protection' from the LightSquared authorized operations ...." LightSquared is also asking that the manufacturers of GPS equipment be kept out of any deliberations on the future of LightSquared's applications because, according to LightSquared, the GPS makers lack the legal standing to have their comments heard. The GPS industry says the filing is a rerun of previous LightSquared rhetoric that selectively cites previous FCC rulings and ignores its own positions on the interference issues.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the Coalition to Save Our GPS said LightSquared has agreed to not to interfere with GPS. "In its January 2011 order, the Commission made clear that LightSquared would not be permitted to commence operations until it had demonstrated that it would not interfere with GPS," said coalition spokesman Jim Kirkland. "LightSquared did not challenge this condition at the time, and has to live up to it. There is overwhelming technical evidence—the most recent of which was released by the Government just last week--that this condition has not been satisfied." The petition is the latest in a series of aggressive moves by LightSquared, which says it has spent billions to get its high-speed wireless broadband system off the ground. If approved as written, the LightSquared petition would put the entire legal onus for coexistence on the GPS industry. However, LightSquared insists it's still willing to help solve the interference problems. "While we ask the FCC today to confirm our legal rights, LightSquared remains fully committed to cooperate with all parties -– the GPS industry, GPS users, and the federal government -– to ensure that LightSquared's network is deployed in a way that is compatible with GPS users," said LightSquared spokesman Jeff Carlisle. "LightSquared has always recognized the critical importance of the GPS system, and we firmly believe that GPS devices can peacefully coexist adjacent to our network."