Posted on 09/21/2011 11:23:41 AM PDT by jazusamo
Wireless startup LightSquared claimed Wednesday to have found a solution that will prevent its network from interfering with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, even especially sensitive precision devices.
The company said it worked with Javad, a GPS manufacturer, to develop a system that will adapt precision GPS devices so they can operate in the presence of LightSquared's network.
Martin Harriman, LightSquared's executive vice president of ecosystem development and satellite business, said the fix is affordable and "relatively simple.
The company plans to test a batch of prototypes alongside additional tests required by the Federal Communications Commission.
LightSquared intends to provide wholesale wireless broadband service, but it had to put its plans on hold after tests earlier this year revealed that its signals interfere with GPS devices, including those used by the military.
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In response to the problem, LightSquared agreed to operate its land-based cell towers on only the lower 10 MHz of its spectrum. That was no small commitment; the company says the change will cost $100 million.
But even operating on only the lower 10 MHz, the network still causes problems for some precision GPS devices.
Last week, Air Force General William Shelton told a congressional subcommittee that fixing the interference problem with precision GPS devices would cost billions of dollars and take a decade or more.
Harriman said that assertion is "simply not true" and LightSquared will be able to mass produce devices that do not interfere with its network in a matter of months.
“This breakthrough is a final step toward LightSquared’s goal of building a nationwide wireless network that will bring lower prices and better service to Americans from coast to coast,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, LightSquared's chief executive.
The GPS industry remained skeptical that LightSquared's proposal would solve the interference problems.
“LightSquared has, as usual, oversimplified and greatly overstated the significance of the claims of a single vendor to have ‘solved’ the interference issue," the Coalition to Save Our GPS said. "There have been many vendor claims that have not proven out in rigorous tests and the demanding tests of marketplace acceptance."
In addition to the GPS problems, LightSquared has also run into political obstacles in recent weeks.
Republican lawmakers have called for an investigation of the company's ties to the White House after emails revealed the company had communicated with senior administration aides. Reports said the administration also asked Shelton to change his testimony in a secure congressional briefing to make it more supportive of the wireless startup.
Correct. Obama has had things go pretty much his way but since he lost the House these type things have been surfacing more frequently. LightSquared had better go back to the drawing boards.
Irrespective of the Obama corruption, I hope that they figure out how to work it out, because Sprint is supposed to be using LightSquared for its LTE solution. They have wimax now, but want to switch to LTE. I don’t want to use Verizon or ATT, so I would like Sprint to get the LTE. There is supposed to be an announcement about it in October. But if LightSquared’s spectrum will interfere with GPS, that is simply something that cannot be risked.
These aholes can’t be serious.
I propose if these jerkwads get captain Zero to dictate they can start their network, that people start taking their network back offline, one piece at a time at 3000fps.
Simple fix = easy hack.
The Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, has awarded contract G10PC00160 resulting from competitive solicitation 10WRSS0010 to JAVAD GNSS, Inc. of San Jose, CA. The contract is an Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity contract for various configurations of GPS/GNSS receivers and antennas with a five (5) year ordering period and a $3.9M ceiling.
The contract was competitively awarded after a sustained protest and reopening of the solicitation to the original offerors (reference previous announcement for G10PC00100). It is contemplated that one or more orders placed under this contract will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Act), Public Law 111-5; unique provisions required to implement the Act, including those for significant transparency and reporting requirements, have been included and will apply to delivery orders funded by the Act.
uhhh... You will. But it's your fair share.
And you will get a $50 tax credit spread out over ten years...
.
In the earlier days of the Mob this was called paying insurance.
A device or circuit adaptations that the GPS manufacturers would have to pay some royalty to use. This "solution" is no solution at all. It's simple robbery of the rights of current owners of GPS units.
So the fix for the problem called by light squared is for OTHER manufacturing entities to make “affordable changes”?
Bull puckey! Light Squared causes the issue and it’s everyone else’s problem to fix... Typical freaking democrat thinking!
Simple fix is to have LS to reimburse everyone with a GPS device the price for a new one.
Yeah...sure...right. 99% chance of pure Bullshit.
So...LS is going to replace my $1500 of GPS equipment for free? and before the LS network renders them useless?
From Broadband Communications Cut The Cord - ED, by Louis E. Frenzel, 2011 August 11 - September 9 Independent Wireless Services While the main telecom carriers are the primary suppliers of broadband, there are several existing and forthcoming independent broadband wireless service providers. The most visible are Clearwire and LightSquared. Clearwire runs its popular CLEAR nationwide WiMAX service using its extensive 2.5-GHz spectrum holdings.Its network of WiMAX basestations covers more than 80 U.S. cities and is available to an estimated 130 million potential users. The company offers home modems for fixed service as an alternative to cable TV or DSL service. It also provides USB dongles for laptops for mobile operation. Download data rates vary with range, LOS conditions, noise, and other factors, as is normal for any wireless service. Most users experience an average of 4- to 6-Mbit/s data rates with peaks to 10 Mbits/s. Data plans are very affordable. Clearwire also just released its CLEAR Spot mobile hotspot, which connects to the CLEAR network and can service up to eight Wi-Fi connections to smart phones, laptops, tablets, or whatever. In fact, Clearwire recently announced that it will transition from WiMAX to LTE over the coming years. The company will overlay a TDD LTE network over the existing WiMAX network and maintain both. (For more, see "Clearwire Announces Plans To Add LTE To Its Network" at www.mobiledevdesign.com.) LightSquared is proposing another interesting system under development. The company is planning to build a nationwide LTE network that will serve not only the major cities but also most rural areas. This matches up well for the National Broadband Plan. LighSquared will sell its services wholesale only, meaning it will not sell directly to end users but to other companies that want to establish a wireless broadband presence. Ultimate customers may also be smaller cellular suppliers who want to use LTE but cannot or will not afford the capital expenditure. LightSquared's approach is to use the L-band (depending upon the defining source, 1 to 2 GHz), unlike the traditional cellular bands. Its proposed operating frequencies are in the 1525- to 1559-MHz range. The biggest issue is that GPS also uses the L-band operating at 1227.6 MHz and 1575.42 MHz. GPS satellite signals are very weak and are subject to interference from other services. As a result, there is considerable opposition to LightSquared's future network. Most big users of GPS including commercial as well as government and military organizations oppose the LightSquared plan. The FCC is now reconsidering LightSquared's plan to use its licensed frequencies. The Federal Aviation Agency, which is working on its next-generation navigation and landing systems based on GPS, opposes the plan. LightSquared has proposed several solutions such as using the lower end of its spectrum to provide greater spacing in addition to using effective filters and lower power. Yet the opposition continues. The FCC has not yet decided what to do. The fate of LightSquared and its potential seems in jeopardy. One possible solution is a recent Sprint-LightSquared agreement that provides a way for Sprint to enter the LTE market (Sprint uses WiMAX now) by using LightSquared's wholesale services. The agreement also allows LightSquared to license unused Sprint spectrum in the 2.5-GHz bands for its network. ..... < snip > < snip > .....
A little background on Clearwire (Nasdaq:CLWR):
Clearwire was founded by Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular fame, who now owns 4% of the company. Clearwire has never been profitable. More than 85% of the sales comes from the U.S., primarily major metro areas along the West Coast, in Texas, Florida and Midwest.
A list of investors in Clearwire include Comcast, Time Warner, Google and Intel (Intel is a main promoter of the WiMAX wireless standard, which had an early lead but now seems to be falling behind as most in the industry move towards Long-Term Evolution / LTE standard) - they together own more than 25% of the company. Sprint-Nextel owns 56% of its joint venture with Clearwire, CLEAR business. Best Buy is the major reseller of CLEAR. In 2011 Sprint made a wholesale agreement with Clearwire to spend up to $1 billion during 2-year period to enable 4G data services through parts of its network.
Thanks. That answered a few questions for me.
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