GPS In 2008 GPS remains dominant with 32 nominal Satellites. At the same time local DOP holes will remain possible as the aging GPS constellation may have multiple unhealthy satellites. Standard GPS L1 accuracy improvement will slowly start degrading as the Ionospheric activity will increase to the next solar max in 2012.

SBAS In Europe EGNOS is maturing and will finally achieve it’s in orbit validation (IOV). Working towards QZSS and Gagan will continue to operate.

Glonass Glonass will again launch 6 satellites in 2008, but at the same time the older generation of Satellites will become unhealthy leaving a 12 Glonass Satellites constellation at year’s end.

Omnistar Omnistar will replace in 2008 most of its 100 reference stations with new Glonass capable reference stations. Omnistar will expand the DGPS reference network into new areas as India, Kazakhstan and China. Omnistar will in 2008 improve the broadcasting data format to be more compressed and allow more measurement data to be sent over the 12 worldwide satellite links. Omnistar HP converge time will again improve. Also in 2008 Omnistar’s worldwide 10 cm accuracy system will improve gradually. Omnistar will add three new geostationary L-band correction satellites in America (AORW), Europe (AORE) and Asia (IOR). Omnistar corrections over cellular phone will start with pilot projects.

Everywhere one looks, there is evidence that GNSS is hitting the mainstream. New signals, new applications, new lower prices, better maps, more accuracy… everything points to the acceleration of the navigation and positioning revolution. In 2008, we are looking forward to:

Galileo will the Galileo project forge ahead in 2008 or be tarnished by some of the organisation and funding issues that we have all read about recently? My prediction is that 2008 will be a good year for Galileo. Confidence will build and developers will start to seriously look at adding Galileo compatibility to receivers.

Compass the industry is hungry for more information about the intriguing Compass system. Perhaps it will become available during 2008? The Chinese have indicated their intention to make information available on the open Compass signal(s), something we all look forward to understanding more about.

GLONAS more launches recently, with more in prospect, and the potential for CDMA technology in future, make GLONASS a serious GNSS that is receiving increasing interest already. This looks set to continue through 2008.

Industry consolidation is likely to continue. Of particular note already are the emergence of Broadcomm (with the Global Locate deal) and Cambridge Silicon Radio (with the CPS and NordNav deals). A-GPS location applications growth: we have been waiting for cellphone-based location applications for many years. With a few exceptions (eg. Korea, Japan) we are still waiting. 2008 could be the year that this will change. The key enabler is the Secure User Plane Location technology that enables handset manufacturers and others to offer services direct to users in a network-agnostic way. Finally, is the increasing work ongoing on receiver and antenna technology. From GPS M-code user equipment projects in the USA to adaptive antenna technology, these developments are certainly moving forward and will improve still further the GNSS capabilities across all application areas.

In mobile telephones, positioning information provided by GPS receivers has become as common as Bluetooth. The major trend in 2008 will be growth in GPS attachments in a myriad of different electronic devices. We anticipate significant breakthroughs in many areas of the consumer electronic market, resulting from falling costs in integrating positioning functionalities. This has made the price of GPS negligible. The industry has reached a level of maturity that makes the availability of positioning information of true value to users of handheld devices. Today maps, points of interest and other information are readily available, something that was not the case only two years ago.

The main drivers of the industry are identifiable. Firstly, continued improvements in mobile connectivity with the many different wireless communication technologies available make internet connection possible, almost anywhere. Modern mobile devices require accurate positioning information to be useful. Here wireless and positioning technologies play hand-in-hand in providing additional user benefits. Thus we believe that more and more mobile terminals will include an integrated GPS receiver.

Secondly, the economic benefits derived from navigation information boost the demand for GSP receivers and wider scopes of their application. Market penetration should continue to increase, with alone the sales of Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) being predicted to double in 2008.When the promised modernizations of GPS and commissioning of the GALILEO satellite systems are finally realized, better signal quality will allow further expansion in the range of positioning applications. Current receiver technology has reached a very sophisticated and mature level so that innovation will again be accelerated by the new capabilities provided by the satellites.