Posted on 04/06/2011 4:41:56 AM PDT by Jonah Hex
A new, ultra-fast wireless Internet network is threatening to overpower GPS signals across the U.S. and interfere with everything from airplanes to police cars to consumer navigation devices.
The problem stems from a recent government decision to let a Virginia company called LightSquared build a nationwide broadband network using airwaves next to those used for GPS. Manufacturers of GPS equipment warn that strong signals from the planned network could jam existing navigation systems.
A technical fix could be expensive — billions of dollars by one estimate — and there's no agreement on who should pay. Government officials pledge to block LightSquared from turning on its network as scheduled this year unless they receive assurances that GPS systems will still work.
(Excerpt) Read more at hamptonroads.com ...
Another score for the ignorant and uninformed amatures of the Obama administration.
Just another screw-up for the Obama administration.I guess these Bozo’s didn’t check who would be effected before they granted the license to build the network.
I wish them luck with the network, it would be GREAT to get Americans off their GPS addiction.
Yeah, because it was so much better relying on outdated maps and piles of papers with directions and landmarks.
to summarize - government encourages a project and then proceeds to threaten the project.
Knucklehead!
GPS is NOT just for personal vehicles!
Package shipping, Air Traffic (new system), Emergency Responders, oh....and NATIONAL DEFENSE SYSTEMS!!!!!
So no one was paying attention at the FCC?
Harbinger Capital
Obama Invested in Company That Got Sweet Deal From FCC
Since microwave radiation is strictly line of sight, how about a bowl shaped faraday enclosure to screen out signals originating from the horizon?
OK, GPS will still work, it might mean that instead of plus or minus six feet, the accuracy will be several hundred yards.
That is "working" but........
Sounds more complicated than good guys and bad guys to me. I suspect that the makers of low cost GPS receivers have been doing a little spectrum squatting. They know that there are no high power near-in services, so they can save money by not bothering to filter out potential out of band interference. The issue is more than just the cost of filters. They probably need to significantly increase dynamic range and sample rate in the front end, especially if they do not want to incur unacceptable levels of “insertion loss”. It’s nice to have the whole world get out of your way, but that’s not how the world works.
Obama probably sold his shares by now, which is why this news is coming out.
From what I remember about this in previous stories, I do believe you are correct. GPS manufacturers have allegedly not been sticking to the standards, and the argument is that a standards-compliant service that causes problems with GPS is the problem of the GPS manufacturers, not for the new system.
From a theory standpoint, I agree. However, there’s the practical issue of how this affects a large number of running systems, and what (if anything) can be done to resolve the problems.
Isn’t stuff like this the precise reason we’re told we EVEN HAVE an effing FCC??? Meanwhile, while they’re busy appointing ‘Diversity Czars’ and concentrating on censoring the Internet, they can’t even do their actual job.
Shut it all down now. Enough is enough.
“A technical fix could be expensive — billions of dollars by one estimate — and there’s no agreement on who should pay. “
So,,,, Who stands to make the “billions of dollars” making a “Technical fix?”
Sounds like you have an addiction to other peoples business. I wish you luck staying healthy.
“I suspect that the makers of low cost GPS receivers have been doing a little spectrum squatting. They know that there are no high power near-in services, so they can save money by not bothering to filter out potential out of band interference.”
You got it.
In fact, you can bet the GPS manufacturers hope the network gets turned on - then everyone will go through a technology refresh on their GPS receivers.
It takes fewer components and hence, less cost, to not put a tight filter roll-off on a receiver front-end. The consumer will buy the cheapest equivalent functioning gadget they can find - so there is no reason for higher quality devices to sell more than low-quality - for this sort of issue.
This could have been foreseen by anyone with even a little technical savvy, but this is government work - so, well, there you go.
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