Gps Innovation Alliance

Programs: Member services - in 2017 a good portion of gpsia's activities continue to be focused in the general area of protecting and preserving the stable and quiet radio spectrum environment in which gps and other satellite navigation services operate. In addition, we became increasingly involved in the realm of international standards setting bodies in which there was a good deal of activity that could affect not only market access for gps products in global markets, but also the establishment of technical parameters used in various regulatory environments. These undertakings took place in established domestic and international radio spectrum regulatory forums, as well as in approaches along new lines to private sector groups and government agencies (continued on schedule "o" ) to work to ensure the compatibility of new and emerging satellite and wireless services with gps and satellite navigation both in the us and to a growing degree outside of the us. A new dimension in the spectrum protection area in europe appeared with the emergence of efforts to implement the european radio equipment directive (red). One area of concern is the work being done within a european standards setting body, the european telecommunications standards institute (etsi), to establish standards applicable to gnss receiver equipment as part of the implementation of the red. The current proposed standard would be highly detrimental to gps/gnss receivers. Consequently, gpsia became a member of etsi and has been working directly with that organization to guide drafting of the standard to more properly reflect the requirements of satellite navigation equipment and services providers. Even though the general work of etsi to establish the new standards and compliance procedures for gps/gnss equipment under the european radio equipment directive was concluded successfully, there were subsequent moves to revise and redraft portions of the newly agreed upon procedures. This resulted in continued work and vigilance in the ets forum, as well as in other related fora. One of the major issues being addressed was the attempt to impose technical standards commonly used to establish harmful interference criteria for telecommunications equipment on gps/gnss satellite navigation equipment. Telecommunications and satellite navigation equipment and applications operate in a fundamentally different manner, and hence, telecommunication technical parameters are inappropriate and incompatible with gps/gnss satellite navigation equipment and applications. Consequently, gpsia also joined other related organizations to better monitor developments and provide constructive input to any decision making and standard setting process. The new organizations that gpsia joined included radio technical committee maritime (rtcm); red-ca, and the american national standards institute (ansi). Gpsia maintained an ongoing dialogue with the us government on the evolution of the management and regulatory structure governing gps , as well as on technical aspects of designing and implementing new signal structures for gps satellite signals. - gpsia participated in workshops sponsored by the department of transportation and the federal communications commission aimed at investigating the potential for gps signals to operate in environments with various types of signals and wireless services in radio frequency spectrum bands adjacent to the spectrum frequency bands allocated to gps and other satellite navigations services. - gpsia members provided support and participation in us government workshops and exercises to test the susceptibility of gps receivers to interference form signals in adjacent radio frequency bands. We continue to monitor them pending release of the final work product, known as the adjacent band compatibility study. Gpsia was also approached by a new entity, theia holdings, who wished to discuss the compatibility and interference potential of theia's proposed remote sensing project with gps equipment. Theia's goal appeared to be to work out operating parameters that would allow their system to operate free from harmful interference with gps in spectrum frequency ranges close to gps. Gpsia arranged for discussions and a meeting with theia representatives for initial background. Consultations and discussions are continuing as we learn and determine if some sort of acceptable technical working relationship can be devised. In the congressional and legislative areas, activities during 2017 included monitoring federal and state legislative and regulatory policies related to global positioning systems ("gps"), including bills before the us house and senate, state legislative bodies, and proceedings at all relevant federal and state agencies. Also during 2017, members of the gpsia met with policy makers to provide educational information and advocate for the gps industry and user community. - researched and monitored several federal legislative vehicles related to geolocation privacy. - monitored the appointment process for key federal officials in roles with oversight responsibility for gps programs. - analyzed funding levels for gps programs in the fy 2018 department of defense budget. - analyzed funding levels for gps programs in the fy 2018 department of transportation budget. - researched and monitored legislation related to the establishment and operation of redundancy systems for gps. - researched and monitored legislation related to additional federal spectrum availability. As a consequence of the continuing regulatory issues related to us spectrum management policy via the fcc and other federal agencies, gpsia continued its extensive effort to monitor these developments and prepare specialized filings within these agencies. A second source of concern over interference to gps signals in the international arena arises from japan's imes system, which can provide indoor location capabilities by using a series of repeater transmitters. Originally devised as a limited system for controlled indoor applications only within japan, information from japan indicated the possibility of efforts to expand qzss applications to outdoor applications, as well as into markets outside of japan. We have continued our approaches to japanese governmental authorities and contacts in the japanese gps industry to provide assistance in resolving the potential conflict areas. We saw some progress in this area as the japanese authorities appear to have gained insights into the limitations of their current approach and are working to find technical solutions to moving the imes signals further away from current gps signals, and possibly even out of the radionavigation spectrum bands entirely. Gpsia continues to provide information and guidance on this issue in response to requests from both the us government and appropriate authorities within the government of japan. There were also several issues raised during meetings of various committees of the international telecommunications union (itu) that had the potential to affect gps. These issues included potential interference sources to gps. Working in conjunction with us government and industry delegates to itu working group and other meetings we were able to review the proposals and provide constructive input to help guide discussion and decision making. These included monitoring and participating in the preparations for wrc-2019 and the work in two itu sub-groups: working party 7c - metservices- (eess {earth exploration satellite service} interference into gnss) and working party 4c - efficient orbit/spectrum utilization for mss and rdss. In japan, the passage of the new space basic law and establishment of the new office of national space policy has placed the japanese satellite navigation program - qzss -- as an essential program for national infrastructure as well as for national security in japan. As a result, qzss was given a boost in importance and acceleration of schedule, as well as reinvigorated funding levels. We continue to work closely with japanese authorities to synchronize visions for qzss/gps compatibility and coordination in the years ahead, and with the development of future qzss satellites. There is also an emerging vision at the goj policy level for an enlarged and enhanced qzss-type system, which again would been to be coordinated with gps interests.