GPS World, June 2016

TAKING POSITION Princes Death Highlights 911 Issues 6 GPS WORLD WWW GPSWORLD COM JUNE 2016 Q What different requirements for UAV PNT performance will be seen as the market shifts from a military focus to commercial uses and users A PNT accuracy availability and assurance will increase in importance UAV payloads for military applications routinely require precise PNT information to geolocate sensor data for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance missions High end commercial applications for survey and mapping will require similarly high levels of accuracy and availability As commercial UAV operations enter the national airspace PNT assurance levels will increase with the need for GNSS receivers designed for safety critical applications A Whether for military or commercial use the accuracy requirements of a UAVs positioning navigation and timing system depend on the UAVs size weight the mission duration and complexity and the information being gathered Commercial UAV applications such as mobile survey mapping surveillance and virtual imagery realtime overlays require higher levels of accuracy particularly for UAVs in urban or heavily populated areas with tight restrictions Many higher end UAV accuracy requirements dictate the use of FOG based inertial systems A As the growth of small UAS operations increase in the National Airspace System it will be interesting to track how PNT standards and certifications evolve in order to adapt to a more versatile UAV aircraft certification system Likely a tiered system will be required to map PNT requirements for lower risk lower accuracy and lower cost applications to higher risk systems or those which require higher precision due to their mission profiles NEIL GEREIN PORTFOLIO MANAGER NOVATEL JAY NAPOLI VICE PRESIDENT KVH INDUSTRIES CHRISTIAN RAMSEY UAS PROGRAM MANAGER HARRIS CRITICAL NETWORKS BY Tracy Cozzens MANAGING EDITOR P rinces death April 21 highlights a fatal flaw in the United States antiquated 911 emergency system When you call from cell phone 911 doesnt automatically know where you are 911 often cant determine the location of an emergency even when the call for help comes from a GPSequipped smartphone Often the 911 operator can only zero in the nearest cell tower which can be several miles away or in the next county In the transcript of the 911 call from Princes house comes this exchange 911 operator OK whats the address Caller Were at Princes house 911 operator OK does anybody know the address OK your cell phones not going to tell me where youre at so I need you to find me an address OK have you found an address yet Caller Yeah um Im so sorry Im so sorry The caller is heard asking others if they know the address 911 operator Is there any mail around that you could look at While a quicker response may not have saved Princes life some experts estimate that cutting 911 response by one minute could save one person every hour every day nationwide The FCC and the four largest cellphone carriers say theyre doing their best to address the problem One possible solution is LaaSer a technology suite that runs in the cloud LaaSer updates your precise location at the exact same time that the call to 911 is being made so that the answering operator is immediately presented with your information With Laaser any mobile device delivers accurate location information about the caller to 911 operators immediately It does this using existing infrastructure so carriers handset manufacturers and 911 call centers wouldnt have to change their systems to receive the benefits Unlike current 911 mobile phone technology LaaSer takes advantage of all of the location information a l ready avai l abl e i n smartphones including GPS Wi Fi Bluetooth near field communications NFC RFID compass accelerometer barometer and more Our lives may depend on it T C Princes Paisley Park address