Technology

Could New Wireless Internet Network Knock Out Essential GPS?

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new, ultra-fast wireless Internet network is threatening to overpower GPS signals across the U.S. and interfere with everything from airplanes to police cars to consumer navigation devices.

The problem stems from a recent government decision to let a Virginia company called LightSquared build a nationwide broadband network using airwaves next to those used for GPS. Manufacturers of GPS equipment warn that strong signals from the planned network could jam existing navigation systems.

Could New Wireless Internet Network Knock Out Essential GPS?

A technical fix could be expensive — billions of dollars by one estimate — and there’s no agreement on who should pay. Government officials pledge to block LightSquared from turning on its network as scheduled this year unless they receive assurances that GPS systems will still work.

The stakes are high not only for the GPS industry and its users, but also for those who would use LightSquared’s network. In approving it, the Federal Communications Commission seeks to boost wireless competition and bring faster and cheaper Internet connections to all Americans — even in remote corners of the country.

LightSquared and the FCC both insist the new network can co-exist with GPS systems. But device makers fear GPS signals will suffer the way a radio station can get drowned out by a stronger broadcast in a nearby channel.

The problem, they say, is that sensitive satellite receivers — designed to pick up relatively weak signals coming from space — could be overwhelmed when LightSquared starts sending high-power signals from as many as 40,000 transmitters on the ground using the airwaves next door.

“The potential impact of GPS interference is so vast, it’s hard to get your head around,” said Jim Kirkland, vice president and general counsel of Trimble Navigation Ltd., which makes GPS systems. “Think 40,000 GPS dead spots covering millions of square miles in cities and towns throughout the U.S.”

Could New Wireless Internet Network Knock Out Essential GPS?

One of the biggest risks is to the GPS navigation systems used by about 40 percent of commercial and private planes. Backup systems that rely on ground-based radio signals are not as accurate and have coverage gaps. Some older private planes have no backup at all.

With GPS interference, a pilot “may go off course and not even realize it,” said Chris Dancy, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

LightSquared‘s network could also undermine the Federal Aviation Administration’s multi-billion-dollar program to upgrade the nation’s air-traffic control system, which is based on World War II-era radar technology.

The new GPS-based system is more precise and lets planes fly more direct routes. That will save airlines time, money and fuel and cut pollution. It is also key to accommodating projected increases in airline traffic by enabling planes to fly safely closer together.

Public-safety officials, too, are nervous about LightSquared because they rely on GPS to track and dispatch police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. Many 911 systems also use GPS to help locate people. Disruptions could delay responses to emergencies, said Harlin McEwen, an official with the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Even the Pentagon has expressed concern as it relies on GPS to guide planes, ships, armored vehicles, weapons and troops.

LightSquared plans to compete nationally with super-fast, fourth-generation wireless services being rolled out by the likes of AT&T and Verizon Wireless. It won’t sell directly to consumers, though. Instead, LightSquared will provide network access to companies including Leap Wireless, parent of the Cricket phone service, and Best Buy, which will rebrand the service under its own name.

LightSquared has its roots as a satellite-phone operator, so its airwaves historically have been reserved primarily for satellite communications. FCC rules adopted in 2003 allowed the company to back up those signals with ground-based wireless service, but only to fill in coverage gaps.

In January, however, the FCC gave LightSquared permission to use its airwaves for a broader, conventional wireless data network. Although the company will continue to offer satellite service, it plans to cover at least 92 percent of Americans by 2015 with high-power wireless signals transmitted by base stations on earth.

Until now, GPS receivers haven’t had much trouble filtering out noise in the adjacent airwaves because it consisted mostly of low-power signals beamed from space. But GPS manufacturers warn that will change once there is a major ground-based broadband network.

Both LightSquared and the FCC say further testing is needed to determine the true extent of any interference. The FCC is requiring LightSquared to participate in a study group with GPS manufacturers and users.

LightSquared won’t be allowed to turn on its network until the government is satisfied that any problems are addressed, FCC spokesman Rob Kenny said.

“We have every reason to resolve these concerns because we want to make sure there is a robust GPS system,” LightSquared executive vice president Jeffrey Carlisle said.

Dan Hays, a consultant with the firm PRTM, insists the technical solution is straightforward: GPS devices need to include better filters to screen out the LightSquared signals.

Estimates on the costs of a fix, however, range widely.

Hays believes it will cost no more than $12 million — or 30 cents per device — to install better filters in roughly 40 million standalone GPS units made worldwide each year. Cell phones, he said, will be fine because they don’t rely solely on GPS to determine location and have better filters anyway.

But Tim Farrar, a consultant with TMF Associates, insists cellphones need upgrades, too — raising the annual cost to as much as $1 billion.

Tens of billions of dollars of existing equipment may also need to be replaced, Farrar said.

GPS manufacturers insist that neither they nor their customers should have to pay.

That’s because GPS receivers were designed to screen out low-power signals next door, and now the government is changing the rules, said Scott Burgett, software engineering manager with Garmin Ltd.

But Hays said GPS receivers are “eavesdropping on signals outside of where they are supposed to be” — in LightSquared’s space.

That was not a problem — until now.

Moreover, LightSquared and the FCC say the GPS industry should have been preparing for a ground-based network nearby since the FCC first allowed backup wireless systems in that space in 2003.

The real dilemma, Hays said, is this: “This is a situation where the neighbor built the fence too far over the property line and may not have realized it at the time. Now the other neighbor wants to build a pool and there is not enough space. So the question is: who has to pay to move the fence?”

___

Associated Press Writer Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.

Comments (60)

1 2
  • Barb1954
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 7:20pm

    Oh man! Do I have to go back to using my map???? Oooops, silly me, I never stopped using my map………LOL

    Report Post »  
  • dirtyshore
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 5:51pm

    But here is the REAL story behind all this madness!
    http://nlpc.org/stories/2011/03/01/will-fccs-political-favor-harbinger-hedge-fund-result-gps-interference
    Do a search on Phil Falcone and see what you find!

    Report Post » dirtyshore  
  • rpercifield
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 5:45pm

    As an engineer with significant RF experience I am concerned with the direction this is taking. Your GPS receiver is picking up a signal from a satellite approximately 12,000 miles away (at its closest point). This is a very low amplitude signal, and the fact that you can receive it at all is a miracle of RF design and digital signal processing. It is not a simple addition of a narrow bandwidth filter to affect this change allowing this “Light Squared” terrestrial signal from interfering. Channel spacing has always been based on received signal power. The spacing for a signal from a satellite source is different from a terrestrial source. The more power from the signal at the receiver, the further apart the channels must be to reduce interference. Yes you can filter very close signals, but it is expensive, and the filters will not fit in your hand. No law passed by Congress or rule promulgated by the FCC can overturn the laws of physics, no matter how many lawyers you have behind you.

    As far as those who want to go back to the old days, you can go there if you want, but leave my tools alone. Yes planes can navigate without GPS, but GPS navigation is cheaper, more reliable (at least for now), and much safer than the other methods available. I do not want the pilot of my plane to have to use a sextant to determine his position on the globe. Yes VORs and VORTACs are available, but they break down as well. A simple hand held GPS gives much more accuracy than any other legacy navigational aid. That is why airlines and pilots are adopting it.

    I do not yearn for the days I navigated to people’s houses using a map as a Paramedic. It lengthened response times, and caused poor resource management. Yes, I can read a map, having the convenience of knowing exactly where I am without having to perform the orienteering with a paper map is almost indispensable.

    This interference to such a vital system should not even be considered no less being tested. Obviously technical competence is not a requirement to work at the FCC.

    Report Post »  
  • Wyatt's Torch
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 3:49pm

    great….another source of Rf waves to buffet our bodies, and screw up navigation just so that little Beavis can update his Facebook, send a “whassup?” text message, upload a YouTube video, and pull down some porn on his “digital pacifier telescreen” device faster than ever…

    Report Post » Wyatt's Torch  
  • snit3
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 3:38pm

    JP4JOY was right. This is a technical issue. What’s known as “spillover” is typical in all over the air transmissions. The problem here is similar to using an AM radio in an electrically noisy environment. Only the most selective (and therefore expensive) receivers can do the job. What this may mean – in terms of dollors cost – will be similar to the recent move made to digital TV. All the old non-digitally ready sets must be scrapped, or, a digital converter must be added. Guess who paid for the digital add-on converters? Who’s going to pay for the “upgrade” of the hundreds of millions of existing GPS systems already in use. Answer: YOU and ME! But, heh! It’s only money.

    Report Post »  
  • Revere2
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 2:32pm

    If there is a problem you can bet the FCC will make Joe public pay for it.

    Report Post » Revere2  
  • TheGreyPiper
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 1:33pm

    Dammit people! I’m a merchant marine officer, and one of the things they hammer into you over and over and over is “The prudent mariner will not rely on one single method of navigation, particularly electronic navigation.” And that’s just for a ship flaoting along at 20 knots on the water; I would think an airplane going a lot faster than that a lot higher off the ground would want some kind of backup that isn’t going to fail because of a broken wire!

    You ALWAYS have something besides GPS! You can lose GPS any time, for many reasons. All of which is completely beside the main point here, but what the heck. Don’t be a slave to your gadgets, is all I‘m sayin’.

    Report Post » TheGreyPiper  
  • mrsmileyface
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 12:47pm

    Ahh I miss the days when all you needed for navigation was a compass and a map. I believe they still make maps and compass’. The more you rely on technology the less you rely on yourself. How on earth did the human race ever make it out of the stone age without GPS. Pathetic.

    Report Post » mrsmileyface  
  • Your Name Here
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 12:12pm

    I hope we will still have the Stratum 1 clock as a back up.
    Everything that requires a high precision timing source now uses GPS signals.
    One example is cellular phones.
    The cell sites used to take their timing from the T-1 circuits which got their timing from the Stratum clocks but now all use a GPS antenna at each site.
    Just think of all the wireless communications out there and then all of a sudden they lose timing.
    Some can run for 24 hours without the GPS signal but eventually will crash.
    Leave it to communists like Julius Genachowski or Mark Lloyd, buddies of Obama to further contribute to the destruction of our infrastructure and country.

    Report Post » Your Name Here  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 12:08pm

    .
    Buy a Map…if you get that lost w/o your GPS you might as well stay home….

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • VISITORNUMBER3
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 11:13am

    Unrelated to this topic, but I was just wondering if anyone knows what googleanalytics.com is ?

    Report Post » VISITORNUMBER3  
  • ConservativeFeminist
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 11:09am

    *********************************************************************************************************************
    Who are the owners and individuals making profits off the “Lightsquared” company? If the current progressive/socialist group at the FCC is backing this project, FOLLOW THE MONEY! FOLLOW THE POLITICS!

    *********************************************************************************************************************

    Report Post » ConservativeFeminist  
  • Linda_Callaway_FL
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:54am

    If this were such a problem, why did the nay-sayers wait until the product is almost ready to activate? A basic question I have is why in the world everyone needs some type of GPS device/program on everything? Why do you want give big brother the ability to know where you are or have been at any point of your life? Does no one know how to read a map or road signs or follow directions? Ok, so it’s helpful for emergency responders. Perhaps if we came out of our cocoons assisted someone in trouble and contacted emergency responders for them rather than passing them by the one in trouble would not be left the big brother to locate. And how many decades were planes safely flown without GPS? For the military, air traffic controllers and first responders there may be a viable reason they need GPS – but for the rest of us? Phooey! We have become so dependent on our electronic devices telling us absolutely everything, where to go and how to get there, when to buy the spouse a birthday gift, reminding us of doctor appointments and the list goes on to a totally nauseous level. Use your brain and learn to think for yourself. Is this technology really an improvement to your daily life or are you now dependent and needful of something that your own brain could do for you? And what are we teaching our children but to rely only on some technology and not their own reasoning abilities?

    Report Post »  
    • ConservativeFeminist
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 11:20am

      The GPS community has been pro-active in trying to stop this project for months and months. The mainstream press is *finally* letting people know the risk to their navigation devices.

      If you live in the same community your entire life, GPS is probably not needed for personal travel. For other families in large metro areas the GPS devices save gasoline and time (quickest destinations determined, no guessing and driving in circles). It is also safer than trying to read a map if you are driving alone in heavy traffic.

      Report Post » ConservativeFeminist  
    • paying-for-freedom
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 2:35pm

      All I can will say is this, I felt a lot more free before gps, cell phones and computers came along. It keeps us all connected but more physically apart. Gone are the days when you had to walk or drive over to your buddies house to see what he was doing. Now you just text him. Humanity seems to spend less and less real time doing things together and instead just communicating about it.

      Report Post »  
  • Gypsy123
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:42am

    Don’t let the feds get their hands on it!

    Report Post » Gypsy123  
  • Insanityrules
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:34am

    Gee. I sure hope these problems never interfere with the gov tracking our every movement. I would feel so insecure if big brother didn’t know where I am at any given moment. What if I gets losted?

    Report Post »  
  • Midwest Blonde
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:26am

    Not that I’m surprised by anything that appears to be on the heading to take our freedoms.

    Just one personal comment – I’d much rather use a damned old paper folding map. I’ve been lost more times with a GPS unit than I have using a map. Go figure. I haven’t used a GPS for years due to the mistakes and lost time/travel it caused me.

    Report Post » Midwest Blonde  
    • paying-for-freedom
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 2:27pm

      If it has truly been years then you might want to reconsider. The newer models are very accurate and have rarely let me down and a large part of my job is driving! The new 7 inch screens are awesome!

      Report Post »  
  • RightUnite
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:14am

    OMG!!! How ever will one get around??? Oh! The agony!!! Lame……

    Report Post »  
    • scaldisnoel
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 1:02pm

      Personal navigation devices are only a tiny fraction of the GPS market. GPS is thoroughly integrated into commercial trucking, surveying for construction, and a host of other industries. The small construction company I work for, that does on the order of $10,000,000 in business and employs 50-100 people relies heavily on GPS for tracking trucks and for surveying, and has invested over $100,000 on equipment that would be useless without GPS. That is not uncommon in the construction industry. On the contrary, it is almost universal in companies our size and larger. Should those investments be made worthless?

      Report Post »  
    • TheGreyPiper
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 1:36pm

      It’s not going to be made worthless, you’ll just have a couple more dead or weal spots — maybe. Maybe. Say, when you got all that GPS equipment, how much $$$ of old equipment was suddenly worthless?

      Report Post » TheGreyPiper  
    • scaldisnoel
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 6:50pm

      TheGreyPiper, you cannot know how much this will or will not affect the GPS signal. You may be correct, but based on what is being suggested, this could massively affect how effectively the technology operates. My point was that most people think of GPS only in terms of their personal navigation device. That is only the smallest portion of what GPS is used for in the commercial world. Many companies have made very large investments in technology to compete and grow. Those investments should not be discounted as trivial. When the company I worked for purchased the equipment it did, the owner had to make a decision that took into consideration that the old equipment had outlived its useful life, or was only useful in limited circumstances. When something is introduced that may drastically affect the usefulness of his investment, it is a very big deal for him, and for all of the other companies that may be affected. GPS has become so common because it has revolutionized so many industries. Trivializing the potential effects on its viability shows a lack of understanding of how critical and ubiquitous GPS is.

      Report Post »  
  • mossbrain
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:42am

    If everyone would wear a tin foil hat I’m sure the damaging rays could be deflected away from sensitive devices, rendering the powerfull rays harmless.

    Report Post » mossbrain  
    • paying-for-freedom
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 2:23pm

      I was wearing one but due to the falling obama-dollar the foil is no longer affordable!

      Report Post »  
  • BubbaCoop
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:21am

    http://www.saveourgps.org/

    Report Post »  
  • martnee777
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:19am

    The whole purpose of having government controlled airwaves is to avoid problems like this, the incompetence is staggering.

    Report Post » martnee777  
  • TexasProgressive
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:12am

    I can‘t wait to see how you blazers make this Obama’s fault or maybe even his way to take over the world…let the craziness begin…

    Report Post »  
    • Leadthemtothelight
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:17am

      Keep drinking the Kool-Aid

      Report Post » Leadthemtothelight  
    • teddrunk
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:20am

      No, I‘m SURE it’s George Bush’s fault, right?

      Report Post »  
    • BetterDays
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:16am

      Texas progressive:
      Nope, You did it!
      Let’s say someone takes your car for a joy ride and after the mandatory ensuing car chase your car gets pit maneuvered and goes into a ditch. After the mandatory police theatrics, you are called and informed as you vehicle will not be impounded as evidence, so you arrange a tow truck to get your car out of the ditch. But the driver of the tow truck is incompetent, and after two years your car is still in the ditch. Do you think you’d get a NEW tow truck, or at least a NEW driver?
      I suppose you would unless you want the CAR IN THE DITCH.

      Report Post »  
    • americabev
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 5:16pm

      “A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.”
      Ecclesiastes 10:2

      ZING!
      (but God loves u anyway)
      HOWDY! also in TX ;)

      Report Post »  
  • svedka
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:04am

    I think it is prudent to remember how to read a paper map.

    Report Post » svedka  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:21am

      That doesn’t help pilots. I, too think drivers should still be able to read maps, but police and safety services rely on GPS to locate the person in need. A simple fix would be to move the frequency for the broadband signal.
      What’s the frequency, Kenneth?!

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • captaintoodi
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:38am

      I must agree, sometimes the old ways are better. That being said, I use my GPS all day and every day. And I would be “lost without it”. I do in fact know how to read a map, an art lost by the younger crowd that rely so heavily on modern tech gizmos.

      Report Post » captaintoodi  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:01am

      Pilots will be fine if the navigators can still navigate. Once upon a time we were able to pilot aircraft around the world without a GPS, and planes don‘t just fall out of the sky if the GPS isn’t working. God forbid we would have to rely on our own skill and not just some little piece of technology to get where we want to go.
      I agree that many people find the GPS an extremely useful peice of equipment (as in rescue workers) but we got along fine without it for millenia. It might help out this new and upcoming generation if they had to use their brains a little bit instead of always relying on something or someone else telling them what to do and where to go and how to get there.

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • scaldisnoel
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 12:56pm

      Untameable-Kate, unfortunately, it goes far beyond simple navigation. There are so many industries that have incorporated GPS into their normal operations that this would be economically devastating. As an example, I work in surveying for construction. Our work is now extremely dependent on GPS, because it is far superior to traditional methods of surveying, in terms of productivity, reducing required manpower and improving precision. The amount of money invested, even by small construction companies is enormous. If GPS operation is interrupted, their investments become worthless. Think also of the integration of GPS navigation into route planning and logistics for the trucking industry. All of these things are interrelated, and cannot be just shut off in favor of “doing it the old fashioned way”.

      Report Post »  
  • Leadthemtothelight
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:02am

    Hmmm perhaps someone should have done a little research before issuing the green light? But hey if planes loose gps ability its no big deal right? People, the government cannot make informed responsible decisions. Why do we keep giving them more and more power?

    Report Post » Leadthemtothelight  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:32am

      I think at this point it isn’t a matter of what we are giving them the power to do, it is a matter of what they are taking indiscriminately. They don’t ask, they just take, I think there is a name for that….hmm.
      Theives?

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:05am

      @Untamable Thieves:

      there is another name for them, “Dictators in the making”. They seize as much power and ability for themselves and throw the rest to the wind in a ‘devil may care’ attitude. The day will come soon when the books will be balanced one way or another.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • BMMiller1975
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 11:50am

      Planes losing GPS capability before take-off is not that big a deal. They can plan for it. Planes losing GPS capability mid-air: HUGE deal. They could easily get way off track without enough gas to get back to an airport for a safe landing.

      Report Post »  
    • MarketsClear
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 11:55am

      The real issue is the government monopoly property of bandwidth. We have allowed the FCC to have absolute control over the EM spectrum and no wonder there are issues with fighting for bandwidth that can lead to channel leakage and interference. Let the market decide. Privatize the spectrum!

      Report Post » MarketsClear  
  • jedi.kep
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:01am

    Where’s the connection to George Soros? I bet there is one…

    Report Post » jedi.kep  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:15am

      I can see it now…

      Soros “Ah, internet is most efficient, now I can use it to control the FCC and the GPS…”
      Speaker “Lord Soros, we will be landing at the airport shortly, totally under GPS control…”
      Soros: “Oh no…”

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:20am

      How about this for ‘Where is George Soros”

      “Hmm, this little light keeps pointing out where Lord Spooky Dude is? I wonder why that is?”

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:00am

    If one bit of interferance were to occur, this could be used by the FCC and fed’s as another excuse to control the internet and savage evertything even worse than they have so far.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • joe conservative
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:06am

      I agree Snow, crazy that we have to think about things that way, but with the current administration in power, we have no choice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11eYGdOVnvc

      Report Post » joe conservative  
    • JP4JOY
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 9:34am

      The FCC has been taken over by politicians not engineers. We have had problems nationwide with crossover problems and signal bleed. They want to squeeze out more slots in the radio signal band so they can get more money from the licenses. Technically it is possible to put the signals into a narrower bandwidth but in reality the manufacturing of such discrete receivers reduces their ability to receive in less than perfect signal conditions. Our atmosphere changes the dynamics constantly so a slightly wider signal band is desirable to reduce interference.

      The internet is a whole different animal and they will screw that up too.

      Report Post » JP4JOY  
    • TermLimits4All
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 10:16am

      Let the market run itself. Get the government out of our lives. All this government control is very anti-progressive but you won’t hear anything about that from the “progressive” left.

      Report Post »  
    • the frog
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 1:16pm

      have wireless internet and GPS the GPS is far more relieble then wireless internet

      Report Post »  
    • Anti_Spock
      Posted on April 6, 2011 at 2:17pm

      Just another government switch to unplug GPS on a rat-maze population. When are people going to wake up?

      TIP: Learn to navigate without GPS. You might need it someday.

      Report Post » Anti_Spock  
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