As a professional programmer I have to ask: what idiot decided that 10 bits should be the maximum value stored in the counter? Most digital computers store data in 8-bit increments ie: 8 bits, 16 bits, 32 bits, 64 bits.
I guess my question is this: was the complexity of managing a partial word (10 bits vs 16 bits) and inherently limiting the value worth it? I cannot believe that. If the extra 6 bits was actually needed for another purpose I am sure they could be found elsewhere in the data storage.
Y2K was the same thing really ... some programmers decided to save some space an so they dropped the century from date definitions. I could understand that back in the 70s but today? In a terabyte storage world, this is ridiculous.
BTW, Linux 32-bit systems are set to roll over Jan 19, 2038 at 03:14:08. It is safe to say that by then no computer will be a 32-bit based system. The 64-bit systems coming online today will roll over in about 292 billion years from now. As I am close to retiring I find it safe to say that it is unlikely to be a problem I will face.
There is a tremendous amount of data that must be encoded in the gps signal. If everything were packed as 8, 16, or 32 bit words there would be a tremendous amount of wasted bandwidth. If you look up IS-GPS-200 you can learn all about the numerous messages and how they are packed. The 10 byte GPS week and it’s rollover is not a limitation for the GPS system itself. It just forces GPS receiver venders to come up with ways to recognize the rollover and not reset your time back 19 and a half years. Some of the newer signals coming on line do add a few extra bits to avoid this rollover, but at some point, everything rolls over.
Sometimes it’s better when rollovers are more frequent. That way there are folks around who understand the design and how to get through it. Imagine if you had a system that you relied upon as much as we rely on GPS but it only rolled over every century. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who still had the skill set to be aware of the issue, much less know how to operate through it. All the designers would be long gone.