INDUSTRY

Oceaneering and DDK Positioning sign service agreement

Oceaneering International, Inc., and DDK Positioning Limited have entered into an agreement for the provision of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) augmentation service and all associated software and hardware supporting Oceaneering’s C-Nav Positioning Solutions group offerings.

DDK Positioning’s services are delivered exclusively through the Iridium satellite communications network coupled with hardware developed by partner Topcon. It will provide its MAX service to Oceaneering clients, which can achieve accuracy to less than 10 cm (2 Sigma). The MAX service use both GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS constellations with further systems to be added within a year. www.oceaneering.com 

AsteRx SB3 GNSS receiver

Septentrio has launched the AsteRx SB3 receiver family, enclosed in an IP68 housing. This receiver offers superior availability of RTK highaccuracy positioning due to its ability to track a wide variety of signals from all currently operating GNSS, including not only GPS and GLONASS but also Galileo and BeiDou. septentrio.com 

Sonardyne navigation for Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ SPICE AUV

Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ (KHI) has chosen a suite of subsea navigation, positioning and communications technologies from Sonardyne to navigate, track and control its first commercial SPICE autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

The SPICE (Subsea Precise Inspector with Close Eyes) AUV, complete with a submerged docking system and unique robotic arm for non-destructive testing, has been designed and built by KHI for intelligent and low-logistic pipeline and subsea asset inspection operations down to 3,000 m water depth. sonardyne.com 

Swift Navigation and KDDI announce partnership

Swift Navigation announced a partnership with Tokyo-based KDDI Corporation. This partnership will be key in bringing Swift’s precise positioning technology to the Japan market and adds KDDI as a key partner in the global expansion of Skylark precise positioning service—currently available across the continental U.S. and Europe in partnership with Deutsche Telekom. swiftnav.com 

Fugro’s Spacestar satellite positioning service heads into space

Loft Orbital, which flies and operates customer payloads on its YAM series of small satellites, launched their YAM-2 satellite, the first in space to be equipped with Fugro’s SpaceStar nextgeneration positioning technology, on 30 June into a 525 km sun-synchronous orbit from Cape Canaveral in Florida onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceStar is using PPP to deliver high-accuracy sub-decimetre onboard positioning in real time during YAM2’s low earth orbit (LEO) operations. Fugro’s proprietary positioning software is integrated into YAM-2 and employs state-of-the-art technology to receive precise GNSS real-time orbit and clock corrections from geostationary satellites. Fugro.com

Dual-output automotive dead reckoning module

ublox is introducing a series of automotive-grade positioning modules that are operational up to 105 °C. The NEO-M9L modules and the M9140-KA-DR chip are built on the robust ublox M9 GNSS platform and use dead reckoning techniques to provide accurate position data when satellite signals are compromised or unavailable. Both are specially designed for first-mount automotive solutions. The modules and the chip are all automotive grade. www.ublox.com 

New eXtended filtering to Accutenna precision antennas

Tallysman Wireless has announced new eXtended Filtering (XF) features to the TW3900 series of Accutenna precision antennas. It has designed the XF feature to mitigate interference from all near-band signals and ensure that the antenna provides the purest GNSS signals.

Worldwide, the radio frequency spectrum has become congested as many new LTE bands have been activated, and their signals or harmonic frequencies can affect GNSS antennas and receivers. In North America, the planned Ligado service, which will broadcast in the frequency range of 1526 to 1536 MHz, can affect GNSS antennas that receive space-based L-band correction service signals (1539 – 1559 MHz). New LTE signals in Europe [Band 32 (1452 – 1496 MHz)] and Japan [Bands 11 and 21 (1476 – 1511 MHz)] have also affected GNSS signals.  Lastly, the Inmarsat satellite communication uplink (1626.5 – 1660.5 MHz) commonly used on maritime vessels can also affect nearby GNSS antennas.

Tallysman’s custom XF filtering has been tested to mitigate new (Europe and Japan) and existing LTE signals, enabling the XF antennas to produce clean and pure GNSS radio frequency data. www.tallysman.com

GPSdome 2 anti jamming solution

infiniDome, the Israel-based GPS Security Company, announced GPSdome 2 Duo, its newest product line delivering GNSS protection for small-medium Class 2-3 UAV/ UAS, ground UGV fleets and other critical manned and unmanned platforms. GNSS signal is the basis of all unmanned platforms whether operating in the air or on the ground. infiniDome utilizes electronic warfare principles into a tiny package, enabling high-end GNSS anti-jamming protection for the unmanned small to medium platform. Offering dual frequency protection GPS L1 + GPS L2 or GPS L1 + GLONASS G1, it protects any GNSS-based system from multiple interfering signals. www.infinidome.com 

UrsaNav trials eLoran

ADVA has announced that UrsaNav and ADVA have conducted an enhanced long-range navigation (eLoran) field trial using UrsaNav’s eLoran receiver and ADVA’s Oscilloquartz grandmaster clock technology. The successful demo shows that eLoran offers a robust and reliable backup for GPS and other GNSS and could be used to provide an assured position, navigation, and timing (PNT) service. The trial follows US federal executive order 13905 aimed at strengthening national resilience through PNT services, including protecting critical infrastructure such as electrical power grid and communication networks from rising cyber threats. By harnessing ADVA’s flexible OSA 5420 Series, designed with assured PNT (aPNT) technology, UrsaNav has shown that eLoran can provide a new layer of protection and significantly boost timing resilience and security.

Across the globe, essential services and entire industries are increasingly reliant on GNSS for PNT information. But these satellite systems are inherently susceptible to interference, which could have disastrous consequences. A major disruption may result in billions of dollars of economic damage as well as a serious risk of loss of life. eLoran is one of the key technologies that could provide protection, with governments including the US exploring its potential as an alternative PNT source. www.adva.com 

neXat navigates new route to maritime prosperity

neXat is now available to the maritime sector, opening the door for maritime connectivity services providers to new markets and the monetization of payment and management services.

neXat is a cloud-based, virtual OSS/ BSS that also operates as a satellite aggregation platform, acting as a connectivity broker connecting teleports with regional services providers that operate in the maritime sector. The new services from SatADSL’s flagship platform will serve both the commercial shipping industry as well as the leisure boating sector. www.satadsl.net 

Ubihere launches crowdfunding campaign

Ubihere has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine. Its solutions use next-generation location systems to keep track of items in GPSdeprived environments such as remote, mountainous regions; or in office and hospital corridors. By unlocking this data, Ubihere provides its customers with the intelligence needed to make valuable realtime business decisions. Ubihere arose when NASA needed to know how future colonies of astronauts and autonomous rovers could navigate accurately on extraterrestrial planets without GPS. The space agency turned to The Ohio State University and Dr. Alper Yilmaz, head of the nationally renowned Photogrammetric Computer Vision Lab. ubihere.com 

BAE Systems chooses Spirent Federal Systems

BAE Systems has selected Spirent Federal Systems to provide a CRPA Test System to support M-Code military GPS technology development. BAE Systems is developing an advanced military GPS receiver and improving the capabilities of size-constrained and power-constrained military GPS applications, including precision-guided munitions and handheld devices. Spirent Federal is uniquely qualified to provide essential test equipment and support in the pursuit of resilient, accurate PNT data in GPS-degraded Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR) situations. CRPAs provide proven and effective protection against jamming in high-interference environments. The Spirent CRPA Test System can simulate 16+ individual elements with a separate RF output per antenna element. spirentfederal.com 

Orolia introduces EdgeSync network timing platform

Orolia has introduced EdgeSync, a new cost-effective network timing platform that provides Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP) Grandmaster and Boundary Clock functionality for real-time edge applications. It uses a multi-GNSS receiver (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou and QZSS), PTP and Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) as input references and generates PTP, SyncE, NTP and timing signals (10 MHz, 1 PPS and Time of Day message) as outputs. It features dual 1 GbE ports for both copper RJ45 and optical network timing connections. www.orolia.com