On June 27, the Galileo Joint Undertaking declared its intent to negotiate the concession contract wit
h joint consortia partners Eurely and iNavsat.

For 16 years, this magazine has sought to lift into international consciousness a

Two for One as Galileo Competitors Combine; Robot Semifinal Heat; EGNOS Delivered; In Memoriam Allen
W. Osborne

SiRF Acquires Motorola GPS Business;

Low-cost sensors and a Horizontal Trust Level (HTL) enable mobile-terminal applications requiring
continuous quality of service in positioning and integrity.

Concerns about airspace security in Afghanistan literally brought a LiDAR-based survey operation down
to the ground.

It may not have the gossipy appeal of the Brad/Angelina/Jennifer soap opera, but a seven-year study on advanced highway traffic safety technologies released by the U.S. Department of Transportation late last year could radically affect the safety — and convenience — systems available to Canadian drivers in the future.

The final report of the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative found that one way to decrease fatalities as well as road congestion is to include global positioning systems (GPS) units and wireless communication devices in every vehicle sold in the United States, as well as to integrate other sensors into highways and intersections so that warnings could be transmitted to the driver of upcoming dangerous scenarios, or that the vehicle is dangerously close to leaving the road.

U.S. auto safety legislation tends have significant influence on Canadians because the technology and features that are mandated south of the border almost always find their way into Canadian vehicles, which almost invariably are produced on the same assembly lines.

For example, since the United States mandated that frontal airbags become standard equipment in all vehicles in that country — since September, 1998 — such bags have appeared in every new consumer vehicle on the Canadian market, even though there is no law on Canadian books requiring them.

Transport Canada sets crash and air bag deployment standards, if so equipped, but doesn’t specify what equipment is needed to achieve these crash standards.

Even if the Canadian or provincial governments can’t or don’t invest in the “intelligent” road and highway sensors needed to provide all the safety and traffic enhancements envisaged by the U.S. report, if auto makers do equip all Canadian vehicles with a GPS unit, it has the potential to radically increase the availability of advanced convenience features such as satellite radio, GPS navigation systems, automatic toll collection and in-vehicle internet accessibility.

GPS units in vehicles are coming down in price as they grow in popularity, but are still far from reaching overall market penetration.

The report is part of the U.S. government’s Intelligent Transportation System program, whose main goals are to decrease fatalities on American roads while simultaneously helping to alleviate congestion issues.

The study was done in co-operation with nearly all the major auto manufacturers in the United States, as well as with government, auto parts and university research partners.

No specific timelines for the implementation of these technologies were made in the report, but estimates of overall ITS implementation by the U.S. DOT have pegged public safety benefits to occur by the end of 2009.

Source: By MICHAEL BETTENCOURT - Globe and Mail Update

The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service marked formal completion of its technical
qualification and acceptance by the European Space Agency on June 16.

The company has developed a DSP ASIC and the Crescent OEM GPS receiver integrating the new
technology.

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