Presidential Order Expands Commercial GPS Connection
May. 03, 2000 (Wireless Today, Vol. 4, No. 85 via COMTEX) -- Wireless service
providers using GPS-enabled tracking technologies aren't likely to locate
handsets being used in densely developed areas after getting access to more of
the GPS satellite constellation.
President Clinton on Tuesday eliminated the "selective availability" limitation
for non-military GPS users required by the Department of Defense, which owns the
GPS constellation. The feature limited the amount of timing signals from GPS
satellites available to wireless carriers and other civilian users.
Even with full access to the satellite constellation, however, GPS technology
won't locate wireless phones in urban areas, said Oliver Hilsenrath, CEO of U.S.
Wireless [USWC], which manufactures the RadioCamera network-based technology and
provides location-tracking services. Like satellite-based telecom systems, GPS
requires line-of-sight connections between handsets and satellites.
"To operate GPS, you need a clear view to the sky to see multiple satellites,"
Hilsenrath said. "Where most of us are making calls, in cities, the probability
of seeing multiple satellites is very low."
The change, however, can improve the usefulness of GPS technology to mobile
telecom providers and other civilian operations, said John Huyett, president and
CEO of Magellan, which makes handheld GPS receivers used in the trucking and
shipping industries.
"Our products have become more valuable and useful overnight," Huyett said. "The
same GPS receiver that provided accuracy within 100 meters of a user's location
yesterday is providing position fixes with as good as 10-meter accuracy today.
This change immediately makes GPS more accurate and reliable, and thus more
valuable to our GPS customers."
Despite limited capabilities for civilian GPS timing signals, a market valued by
the White House at about $8 billion annually has developed for receivers and
software needed by telecom providers and other businesses using GPS technology.
Selective availability, however, limited civilian users to determining locations
no closer than within 100 meters (about 330 feet). With that limitation, GPS
systems used in commercial or public-safety applications could determine only
the general locations of the origins of GPS signals transmitted from buildings,
vehicles or mobile telecom devices.
Eliminating selective availability enables civilian users to determine locations
of GPS signals within 5 meters to 10 meters (16.5 feet to 33 feet), according to
the staff of the Defense Department's Interagency GPS Executive Board.
The increased use of GPS technology in wireless businesses and other industries
will help double the global market for GPS hardware and integration equipment to
$16 billion within three years, according to the White House.
Don't count your wireless GPS chickens before they hatch, Hilsenrath said.
GPS-enabled handsets designed for consumer usage aren't available yet.
And manufacturers face obstacles to producing GPS-equipped models likely to be
popular with consumers. Fitting the capability into the diminutive design
favored by consumers and limiting battery drain by the technology are the major
problems.
"That GPS signal isn't connecting to a cell site a couple miles away,"
Hilsenrath said. "It's connecting to a satellite that is several thousand miles
away. The strain on the handset is much greater."
Secretary of Defense William Cohen, the State, Transportation and Commerce
departments and the directors of other executive branch offices, including the
Central Intelligence Agency, recommended Clinton's decision. The president said
he decided in 1996 selective availability of GPS satellites to civilian users
should be eliminated within 10 years.
On the other hand, the Defense Department still can restore selective
availability of the GPS constellation. And it has developed the ability to do
that on a regional basis, such as when national security requires denying
precise timing signals and location data to adversaries.
Copyright Phillips Publishing, Inc.
May. 03, 2000 (Wireless Today, Vol. 4, No. 85 via COMTEX) -- Wireless service
providers using GPS-enabled tracking technologies aren't likely to locate
handsets being used in densely developed areas after getting access to more of
the GPS satellite constellation.
President Clinton on Tuesday eliminated the "selective availability" limitation
for non-military GPS users required by the Department of Defense, which owns the
GPS constellation. The feature limited the amount of timing signals from GPS
satellites available to wireless carriers and other civilian users.
Even with full access to the satellite constellation, however, GPS technology
won't locate wireless phones in urban areas, said Oliver Hilsenrath, CEO of U.S.
Wireless [USWC], which manufactures the RadioCamera network-based technology and
provides location-tracking services. Like satellite-based telecom systems, GPS
requires line-of-sight connections between handsets and satellites.
"To operate GPS, you need a clear view to the sky to see multiple satellites,"
Hilsenrath said. "Where most of us are making calls, in cities, the probability
of seeing multiple satellites is very low."
The change, however, can improve the usefulness of GPS technology to mobile
telecom providers and other civilian operations, said John Huyett, president and
CEO of Magellan, which makes handheld GPS receivers used in the trucking and
shipping industries.
"Our products have become more valuable and useful overnight," Huyett said. "The
same GPS receiver that provided accuracy within 100 meters of a user's location
yesterday is providing position fixes with as good as 10-meter accuracy today.
This change immediately makes GPS more accurate and reliable, and thus more
valuable to our GPS customers."
Despite limited capabilities for civilian GPS timing signals, a market valued by
the White House at about $8 billion annually has developed for receivers and
software needed by telecom providers and other businesses using GPS technology.
Selective availability, however, limited civilian users to determining locations
no closer than within 100 meters (about 330 feet). With that limitation, GPS
systems used in commercial or public-safety applications could determine only
the general locations of the origins of GPS signals transmitted from buildings,
vehicles or mobile telecom devices.
Eliminating selective availability enables civilian users to determine locations
of GPS signals within 5 meters to 10 meters (16.5 feet to 33 feet), according to
the staff of the Defense Department's Interagency GPS Executive Board.
The increased use of GPS technology in wireless businesses and other industries
will help double the global market for GPS hardware and integration equipment to
$16 billion within three years, according to the White House.
Don't count your wireless GPS chickens before they hatch, Hilsenrath said.
GPS-enabled handsets designed for consumer usage aren't available yet.
And manufacturers face obstacles to producing GPS-equipped models likely to be
popular with consumers. Fitting the capability into the diminutive design
favored by consumers and limiting battery drain by the technology are the major
problems.
"That GPS signal isn't connecting to a cell site a couple miles away,"
Hilsenrath said. "It's connecting to a satellite that is several thousand miles
away. The strain on the handset is much greater."
Secretary of Defense William Cohen, the State, Transportation and Commerce
departments and the directors of other executive branch offices, including the
Central Intelligence Agency, recommended Clinton's decision. The president said
he decided in 1996 selective availability of GPS satellites to civilian users
should be eliminated within 10 years.
On the other hand, the Defense Department still can restore selective
availability of the GPS constellation. And it has developed the ability to do
that on a regional basis, such as when national security requires denying
precise timing signals and location data to adversaries.
Copyright Phillips Publishing, Inc.
