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LightSquared Files Revised Plan With FCC
Again Insists New Plan Fixes Most GPS Interference

In addition to having not even built and fully funded an actual network yet, upstart LTE provider LightSquared is also facing considerable opposition from the GPS industry, who continue to note that the technology they're using interferes with GPS signals. As LightSquared tries to resolve these problems with an alternative spectrum use proposal, the company also now faces increased problems on the political front, where politicians are trying to pass laws barring the FCC from easing LightSquared's entry into the market. Meanwhile, LightSquared sent us a statement saying they've filed their revised network plan with the FCC as well as their test results, confirming what we already knew: their technology interferes with GPS.

"Despite the GPS industry’s claims, the FCC does not face a stark choice between reliable GPS service and a new competitor in the broadband market," says the company. "In fact, the testing results released today show LightSquared’s proposed solution resolves interference for approximately 99.5 percent of all commercial GPS devices- including 100 percent of the 300 million GPS-enabled cell phones."

So far the GPS industry has laughed off LightSquared's revised spectrum plans, groups like the Coalition to Save Our GPS calling the plan "bizarre" and simply a "hail mary pass" attempt. According to LightSquared, there's only about 200,000 GPS devices that will be impacted moving forward, but the company says it's prepared to work with the GPS industry to resolve these problems. While LightSquared insists they're eager to work with GPS companies, there's a bit of light snark in their press release aimed at countering GPS industry attacks:
quote:
But LightSquared cannot solve this problem on its own. It needs the cooperation of the GPS industry. LightSquared believes cooperation is the least to expect from an industry that built a business by piggy-backing on the federal government’s GPS network without any investment in infrastructure or spectrum. A recent Brattle Group study showed that the commercial GPS industry’s ability to use the U.S. government’s GPS network amounts to an $18 billion federal subsidy.
The ball's now in the FCC's court, the agency forced to find a solution that appeals to both LightSquared and the GPS industry, all while dodging political bullets designed to erode the FCC's authority further.
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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

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FFH5

Premium Member

FCC mishandled Lightsquared from beginning

The FCC made the situation bad from the beginning when they granted waivers to Lightsquared to use sat approved spectrum on ground based towers and at transmit powers guaranteed to cause problems for nearby spectrum(specifically GPS). Ever since that initial error they have been scrambling to find a way to justify their decision. And they have been working with Lightsquared hand in hand to save face and let the big money interests behind Lightsquared to push this plan forward.

But their continued advocacy of Lightsquared's interests has put them in opposition to many other powerful, politically well connected players. And this includes AT&T, Verizon, etc. The GPS industry(outside of gov't agencies and the military) have no real political power and are bit players at best.

This latest Lightsquared proposal is like getting the camel's nose in the tent. Use a small part of the initially proposed spectrum with supposedly little effect on most GPS users, and then expand in to the larger footprint later thru more FCC waivers.

But it all comes down to which money interest the FCC is most afraid of - the big money behind Lightsquared or the bigger money and political power behind AT&T & Verizon.

As usual, the FCC once again shows that they have stopped being an independent agency implementing their authority to manage spectrum and one that is more an action arm carrying out initiatives wanted by the White House and Congress.
rlharris02
join:2009-02-06

rlharris02

Member

Re: FCC mishandled Lightsquared from beginning

I think you are 100% wrong.

Everyone in the GPS world knew that this was coming since 2003.

They knew that they had to STOP there GPS's devices from going into other bands.

They want the FCC to stop LightSquared when all they are doing is using what they own. LS does not go into the GPS band, it is the GPS's that go into LS spectrum.

In the wireless world companys have to insure that they do not cross into other bands, GPS signals are No different.
Expand your moderator at work

r81984
Fair and Balanced
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join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984 to rlharris02

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to rlharris02

Re: FCC mishandled Lightsquared from beginning

said by rlharris02:

I think you are 100% wrong.

Everyone in the GPS world knew that this was coming since 2003.

They knew that they had to STOP there GPS's devices from going into other bands.

They want the FCC to stop LightSquared when all they are doing is using what they own. LS does not go into the GPS band, it is the GPS's that go into LS spectrum.

In the wireless world companys have to insure that they do not cross into other bands, GPS signals are No different.

You are 100% wrong.
GPS technology is designed to pick up 25 mhz into the adjacent bands for the red shift of the timing signal. That is intentional due to the laws of physics and is not something that you can just eliminate. If you eliminate this then GPS will not be as accurate for high precision GPS for aircraft, construction, farming, etc.
GPS was designed to work within the rules, lightsquared was not.
The FCC employees granted a waiver for bribe $$$$ or gaurantee of cushy jobs. This waiver was not logical as it went against how GPS was designed to operate.

The more senstive or accurate the GPS the more likely it will be jammed. So your car GPS might work outside a mile of transmitter, but an aircraft GPS will be jammed for several miles away.

They do not have any means right now to prevent the interference. That is why they proposed to delay using the specturum hoping technology will be invented.
Farmers will be screwed eitherway as the starfire GPS operates right in the middle of the frequencies that lightsquared now wants to use for ground based transmitters.

John Deere operated within the rules and now all their equipment will be 100% useless with no way to fix it.
rlharris02
join:2009-02-06

rlharris02

Member

Re: FCC mishandled Lightsquared from beginning

The GPS community does not own the Spectrum that LS is wanting to use.

And to say it has to is just not true, for over 7 years the GPS community could of easily designed antennas, and filters to elimitate the need to intrude into someone elses spectrum property.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
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join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

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r81984

Premium Member

Re: FCC mishandled Lightsquared from beginning

said by rlharris02:

The GPS community does not own the Spectrum that LS is wanting to use.

And to say it has to is just not true, for over 7 years the GPS community could of easily designed antennas, and filters to elimitate the need to intrude into someone elses spectrum property.

That spectrum mandated by the FCC was only for satellite transmitters, not ground based transmitters.
Everyone built to those standards.
Now the FCC gave LS a waiver to use ground based transmitters that will over power all satellite transmitters in those frequencies.

The only way for the GPS community to fix it is to give GPS an extra 25 mhz buffer on the lower end of the spectrum for any ground based transmitters that will over power the weak satellite transmitters or to change physics to stop red shifting of the signals.
Can you change physics????

Lightsquared knows this and has proposed to only use the lower portion of the spectrum until some date in the future they someone can invent the technology needed to bypass the laws of physics. Currently there is no way for anyone to prevent interference if they use the 25 mhz next to the GPS bands with more powerful ground transmitters.

Why are you acting like there is something that the GPS commmunity can do???
GPS devices already have filters that block anything past 25 mhz outside their spectrum so they can read the red shifted signals, but nothing outside of that.

I dont understand the point of LS.
If sprint cant get that many wireless subscribers with BB direct, Wimax, or Clear then why does LS think they will magically get customers especially when everyone will see them as the company that ruined their GPS devices???

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

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Transmaster

Member

Re: FCC mishandled Lightsquared from beginning

R81984 you are absolutely correct the ignorance on display here about how GPS works is really irritating beings how this information is but a couple of mouse clicks away. The arguments sound so much like the bovine scatology that was excreted during the BPL era. I can just see a low flying light airplane, or helicopter flying at night under IFR conditions has it's GPS system unlocked by some frog sexting his sweetie and crashes. This isn't just about more bandwidth, how GPS is hogging it and crappy GPS receivers. The only thing worse then the ingorance displayed here is the FCC.
talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon, OH

talz13 to rlharris02

Member

to rlharris02
said by rlharris02:

The GPS community does not own the Spectrum that LS is wanting to use.

And to say it has to is just not true, for over 7 years the GPS community could of easily designed antennas, and filters to elimitate the need to intrude into someone elses spectrum property.

Yeah, we should pass some legislation against the laws of physics! Who's with me?!

marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO

marigolds to rlharris02

MVM

to rlharris02
said by rlharris02:

The GPS community does not own the Spectrum that LS is wanting to use.

And to say it has to is just not true, for over 7 years the GPS community could of easily designed antennas, and filters to elimitate the need to intrude into someone elses spectrum property.

Yes, it does own that spectrum.
LightSquared is getting a waiver to operate in the GPS spectrum, not the other way around.
HIPAR
join:2005-11-10
Tannersville, PA

HIPAR to FFH5

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to FFH5
It's what happens when the politics of technology are out of sync with the science.

--- CHAS
UncleDave
join:2009-01-08
Florissant, CO

UncleDave to FFH5

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to FFH5
I just drove through Denver on a trip to Bolder. Just south of the mile High Stadium my GPS failed. Most un nerving at 60 mph on I-25. In the past I never had a problem like this.

$14 Billion has been put into the Project? I believe that the White House will push it through the FCC. and people Will Die. I speak out of my experience of 30 years in Broadcasting.

Wish I am proved wrong. PBS TV did an interesting documentary Empires of the Air. Look it up. What happened to TV Channel 1?

How is IBOC working out? Ever report a Saftety item to the Government? I have, three times. "When someone dies, then call us back"

Uncle Dave
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs

Premium Member

International obligations

If LightSquared's transmissions interfere with GPS navigation) in Canadian waters (Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River) and ocean border areas on the east & west coasts, then the FCC is going to have to deny LS an operating license.

If LS signals do in fact cause interference to the extent claimed by some, that they can be considered a hazard to navigation in international or another nation's territorial waters, then LS and/or the US may be subject to actions under either Admiralty Law or WTO actions.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
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join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: International obligations

Good point, but what will happen is LS will promise to not transmit near boarders both north and south and then bribe some more FCC officials in the future to get around that promise.
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs

Premium Member

Re: International obligations

said by r81984:

Good point, but what will happen is LS will promise to not transmit near boarders both north and south and then bribe some more FCC officials in the future to get around that promise.

As I understand the issue thus far, interference can be experienced up to 30 miles from any of their towers under the currently tested configuration. There are many areas in the Great Lakes basin where ocean-going ships are traveling in relatively narrow shipping lanes, same for smaller working vessels & pleasure craft.

I can tell you from personal experience that even with (relatively) lower powered cell sites along the border and sectorized or directional antennas, there is signal spillage for some considerable distance on either side of the border - Canada-to-US, US-to-Canada.

I wonder how that the small organization known as the US Navy feels about its boomers navigating the Juan de Fuca Strait (an international waterway) and Puget Sound area with GPS signal interference. The Strait is a very busy commercial shipping channel, and even AIS (think of it as TCAS for ships) will likely be affected. When you have no room to maneuver because the rocks are too close aboard or the depth is too shallow because your GPS put your sub and 100,000 ton tanker or container ship on a collision course, something's gonna break.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

GPS industry is at fault in the end

I agree with the GPS detractors that the GPS industry made the mistake of allowing other spectrum to interfere with receivers. They have basically wasted the spectrum that is nearby.

Not saying LS should proceed if it will disrupt GPS, but the GPS industry is causing an inefficient use of spectrum and they are basically saying they 'own' the nearby spectrum. The GPS industry players fighting this should pay up for that spectrum or work with the FCC to develop a timeline to not be interfered by other spectrum.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
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join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

said by xenophon:

I agree with the GPS detractors that the GPS industry made the mistake of allowing other spectrum to interfere with receivers. They have basically wasted the spectrum that is nearby.

Not saying LS should proceed if it will disrupt GPS, but the GPS industry is causing an inefficient use of spectrum and they are basically saying they 'own' the nearby spectrum. The GPS industry players fighting this should pay up for that spectrum or work with the FCC to develop a timeline to not be interfered by other spectrum.

Sorry, but GPS receivers are designed to receive 25 mhz into the below their bands still inside the L1 satellite only spectrum that LS is trying to use. They purposely designed GPS that way to receive the red shifted signals. Without this GPS cannot be as accurate for things like aircraft/elevation, farming, or construction.

LS is trying to use th L1 spectrum that is supposed to be only for satellite transmitters. The FCC is letting LS transmit from the ground which will jam all the weaker satellite signals.

It makes no sense that the FCC would allow ground transmitters for a satellite transmitter band.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

Because there seems to be a bunch of people with paralyzed "click" fingers here is the Wiki on GPS educate yourself and then tell us how it is all the fault of GPS receiver manufacturers.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps

r81984
Fair and Balanced
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join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

said by Transmaster:

Because there seems to be a bunch of people with paralyzed "click" fingers here is the Wiki on GPS educate yourself and then tell us how it is all the fault of GPS receiver manufacturers.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps

You might as well quote this line from your link. It sums it up nicely for low brow people to why GPS manufactures are not at fault and GPS receivers are filtered already and working as designed.
said by reality :
A team of U.S. scientists led by Dr. Richard B. Kershner were monitoring Sputnik's radio transmissions. They recognized that, because of the Doppler effect, the frequency of the signal being transmitted by Sputnik was higher as the satellite approached, and lower as it continued away from them. They realized that because they knew their exact location on the globe, they could pinpoint where the satellite was along its orbit by measuring the Doppler distortion.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

Their are many Hamradio operators that communicate through "Orbiting Satellites C arrying Amateur Radio" OSCAR. The transceivers we use have systems that automatically compensate for Doppler shift. When you watch just how much the frequency changes during a pass you have a first hand understanding of why a GPS receiver must work the way it does. These satellite transceivers are filtered, and notched to the Nth degree but they still are required to have a wide tuning range in order to set up a com link. This is a great deal of fun. I once used a Yaesu FT470 HT with a hand held Arrow satellite antenna hooked up through an OSCAR and from Cheyenne had a brief conversion with with a fellow Ham who was in a canoe on a river in the Canadian Yukon.
rlharris02
join:2009-02-06

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r81984

Just because the GPS industry created flaws in the technology and refused to fix it doesnt mean anything.

They knew this was coming since 2003, they should of in tern advanced the technology so it would not intured on others spectrum.

The GPS community does not own the extra 25mhz it is using.

There is No reason in 8 years that the GPS community could not of solved all of these issues.

But they decided to be cheap, and put no RND into solving a flaw.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
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join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

said by rlharris02:

r81984

Just because the GPS industry created flaws in the technology and refused to fix it doesnt mean anything.

They knew this was coming since 2003, they should of in tern advanced the technology so it would not intured on others spectrum.

The GPS community does not own the extra 25mhz it is using.

There is No reason in 8 years that the GPS community could not of solved all of these issues.

But they decided to be cheap, and put no RND into solving a flaw.

Wait, what???? Did you just ignore all the other postings and the wikipedia link.

GPS industry cannot fix doppler shift. That is part of the laws of physics. The GPS industry cannot change the laws of physics!!!!!! What is wrong with you???
Here is the link again »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gl ··· g_System

GPS broadcasts at this frequency 1575.42 MHz. Due to doppler shift the signal can red shift 25 mhz into other satellite only frequencies that lightsquare is trying to use for ground transmitters.

No technology exixts that would allow GPS to coexist with lightsquares ground base transmitters.
Lightsquare even stated they would hold off using the upper frequencies until a later date. That is because they know they will jam GPS and there is no way to prevent it.

Omnidirectional ground transmitters and satellite transmitters just do not mix.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

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Transmaster to rlharris02

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So you are saying 8 years ago somebody at Garmin was consulting with a Ouija board and found out that ten years in the future there was going to be an outfit that was going to somehow get the FCC to let them horn in on satellite frequencies and they had better get ready.

Well to help you out go here: »www.brainjar.com/dhtml/ouija/

Ask the question "Will FCC Commissioner ..............(fill in the name) get a job with ..............(fill in the wireless companies name)
rlharris02
join:2009-02-06

rlharris02

Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

hahah.

The Gramin knew 8 years ago that they could no longer get a free ride.

But instead of putting some RND money out there to solve there design flaw they made the choice to do nothing.

The FCC gave permission for this to be done in 2003.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
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join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

said by rlharris02:

hahah.

The Gramin knew 8 years ago that they could no longer get a free ride.

But instead of putting some RND money out there to solve there design flaw they made the choice to do nothing.

The FCC gave permission for this to be done in 2003.

The laws of physics are not a design flaw.
No GPS gets a free ride. GPS is broadcasted at 1575.42 MHz, but red shifts into the bands that Lightsquared wants to use.

Also 8 years ago, people knew that lightsqaured wanted to do to use satellite bands for ground transmitters which was against the rules. 8 years ago was the start of the petition. The FCC gave the waiver in January 6, 2011 which no would rational would have thought the FCC would have granted.

Again the FCC granted permission for this on January 6th 2011 not 8 years ago. Here is a copy of the waiver »www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releas ··· 33A1.pdf
rlharris02
join:2009-02-06

rlharris02

Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

The orginal company that LS bought got a waiver in 2003, and I know you know that

Also the GPS companies do get a free ride, they pay NOTHING not one penny to use the governments GPS stats.

Please find me something saying that any gps company's investing in solving this defect over the past 8 years?

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

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r81984

Premium Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

said by rlharris02:

The orginal company that LS bought got a waiver in 2003, and I know you know that

Also the GPS companies do get a free ride, they pay NOTHING not one penny to use the governments GPS stats.

When they got their waiver is irrelevant. GPS was created in the 60s/70s.
GPS is broadcasted at one frequency and the laws of physics causes the red shift to lower bands that Lightsquared wants to use. There is no way to fix this unless you can change the laws of physics or put GPS or lightsquared on a new frequency with enough padding.
John Deere's starfire GPS (planned since 1994) is licensed right in the middle of the frequencies lightsquared wants to use. They had those frequencies first and Lightsquared will 100% jam and destroy their more accurate farmer GPS. Again there is no fix for the satellite transmitters to coexist with the overpowering ground based transmitters. All of John Deere's equipment will become paper weights.

It makes no sense to allow a large scale ground based network on satellite frequencies.

GPS companies DO NOT get a free ride. The GPS satellites were put there by military, they were paid for by US citizens and our government opened up the usage for all Americans to use. WE PAID FOR IT.
Companies buy maps or spend a fortune making maps and then create a device that the American people can use for the GPS network we all paid for. There is no free ride by anyone except maybe foreigners using US GPS satellites in foreign countries for free.
said by rlharris02:

Please find me something saying that any gps company's investing in solving this defect over the past 8 years?

Please tell me how you can prevent red shift of moving satellites??? Sorry but there is NO FIX for lightsquared.
Their ground based transmitters are way more powerful than the satellite transmitters.
If you invent a fix you will get a nobel prize.

Out of lightsquareds 1525-1559 MHz they can stil use 1525-1534 mhz which is not much and not jam GPS, but they will still jam John Deere's Starfire which operates at 1525-1565 mhz.
rlharris02
join:2009-02-06

rlharris02

Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

I do like how you side step every fact / point of my posts.

Fact. When they got the waiver has everything to do with.
Fact. The GPS industry has put no money or effort in RND to solve this issue.
Fact. Gamin,TomTom ext pay NOTHING to the government to use there sats, that equals a free ride literally.

Dis prove any of those facts before you prech any more please.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

said by rlharris02:

I do like how you side step every fact / point of my posts.

Fact. When they got the waiver has everything to do with.
Fact. The GPS industry has put no money or effort in RND to solve this issue.
Fact. Gamin,TomTom ext pay NOTHING to the government to use there sats, that equals a free ride literally.

Dis prove any of those facts before you prech any more please.

I love how you ignore all the facts, but all your points are disproven by the facts.

Fact.GPS was first and John Deere's Starfire GPS was first. The burden is on lightsquared to coexist.
Fact. The L1 band that lightsquared wants to use was only licensed for satellite transmitters. Lightsquared getting a waiver jams the signals of all the satellite transmitters already using the L1 band.
Fact. No amount of money can change the laws of physics for redshifting of the GPS signal. They already know that if they filter the 25 mhz for the redshifted signal it makes GPS much less accurate so it won't work for construction, aircraft, or close together roads. What can they do??? Please tell us so you can get your nobel prize.
Fact. The American taxpayers PAID for GPS. Garmin, TomTom, ect do not use the GPS signal. The American taxpayer uses the GPS signal. GPS is already paid for and using it costs no extra money.
If you want to charge Garmin, TomTom, etc for GPS all that means is then when you buy a GPS unit you will pay a higher price as that cost will be funneled directly to the customer which is crazy because we already PAID for the GPS signal.

marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO

marigolds to rlharris02

MVM

to rlharris02
said by rlharris02:

I do like how you side step every fact / point of my posts.

Fact. When they got the waiver has everything to do with.
Fact. The GPS industry has put no money or effort in RND to solve this issue.
Fact. Gamin,TomTom ext pay NOTHING to the government to use there sats, that equals a free ride literally.

Dis prove any of those facts before you prech any more please.

Two issues here. One, LightSquared did not acquire the waiver. They purchased the waiver from Inmarsat, who was granted the waiver for satellite communications.
Two, related to this, LightSquared also pays NOTHING to the government to use their sats and bandwidth. They shell out $115M to Inmarsat, but nothing to the Federal government.
Inmarsat received the waiver for satellite phones. The FCC is letting lightsquared stretch the definition from satellite phone to terrestrial/satellite (that is why LS is required to sell dual terrestrial-satellite phones for the same price as their terrestrial only phones, to fit under the Inmarsat approved use).
marigolds

marigolds to rlharris02

MVM

to rlharris02
said by rlharris02:

r81984

Just because the GPS industry created flaws in the technology and refused to fix it doesnt mean anything.

They knew this was coming since 2003, they should of in tern advanced the technology so it would not intured on others spectrum.

The GPS community does not own the extra 25mhz it is using.

There is No reason in 8 years that the GPS community could not of solved all of these issues.

But they decided to be cheap, and put no RND into solving a flaw.

You understand that the technology that has to be "fixed" is on the end of the satellites, not the receivers? Right?

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: GPS industry is at fault in the end

said by marigolds:

said by rlharris02:

r81984

Just because the GPS industry created flaws in the technology and refused to fix it doesnt mean anything.

They knew this was coming since 2003, they should of in tern advanced the technology so it would not intured on others spectrum.

The GPS community does not own the extra 25mhz it is using.

There is No reason in 8 years that the GPS community could not of solved all of these issues.

But they decided to be cheap, and put no RND into solving a flaw.

You understand that the technology that has to be "fixed" is on the end of the satellites, not the receivers? Right?

No sorry.
GPS satellites broadcasts at 1575.42 MHz. Nothing on the satellites needs to be fixed.

As satellites move toward you the signal gets blue shifted (higher frequency) and as it moves away it gets red shifted (lower frequecy).
This is the laws of physics and cannot be "fixed".

There is no technology to date that can fix the lightsquare interference issues. Lightsquares transmitters are way more powerful than the satellite signals and they will jam all the redshifted signals. GPS uses those signals to help calculate an accurate position. If you jam this GPS will not be accurate enough to use for farming, construction, elevation/aircraft, or even cars if the roads are close together.

marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO

marigolds

MVM

Not just the GPS Industry...

The entire geospatial industry is opposing this now:
»cogo.pro/uploads/Revised ··· r_v3.pdf
There are some heavy hitter signatories on that letter.

rchandra
Stargate Universe fan
Premium Member
join:2000-11-09
14225-2105
ARRIS ONT1000GJ4
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rchandra

Premium Member

LightSquared are poor magicians

The whole cornerstone of most performing magicians is effective redirection. Their argument of "well, the government subsidized a whole buncha businesses for which they didn't pay (directly) one red cent" (for satellites, their launches, maintenance, etc.) falls very flat with me. So what? It's there. It can, thanks to President Clinton (signing the order to broadcast the P code unencrypted), be used for a wide variety of applications (including my TomTom). It doesn't matter who paid for it, if you're interfering with it, you're interfering with it. If I had paid directly into it, would that make LS's interference any less? I very highly doubt it.

It reminds me of some whiners I've heard complaining Netflix doesn't pay one red cent for their distribution facilities, supposedly unlike any other business...namely the cable between the Internet and me. Likewise specious...they pays their Internet carrier bills likes everyone else. Heck, I (along with millions of other) even pay for this end of that distribution facility, except I'm not a (Netflix) subscriber. Hey, TWC: I want a rate reduction!

dslcreature
Premium Member
join:2010-07-10
Seattle, WA

dslcreature

Premium Member

Deconfusing LS vs GPS

I'm trying to get the facts of this straightened out. There are multiple overlapping issues involved which seem to be a little confusing.

There are two separate proposals being talked about. The original was to use two 10mhz bands concurrently. Basically the allocation looks like this:

-------(1)10mhz--(2)10mhz-GPS------------
 

The most recent "revised" plan is to use only the lower 10mhz channel furthest away from GPS (1) as a workaround to GPS interference issues.

There are two methods of transmission involved in the allocations from the FCC for Satellite and Ground transmitters. The "Integrated services" rule exists to prevent allocations for satellite use from being taken over by ground stations springing up like weeds.

The 2003 era allocations were for use under the integrated services rule which is significant to interference as incoming signal from satellites can be *billions* of times less powerful "wisper" than signal from ground transmitters and would therefore not be expected to interfere with GPS.

From FCC document the waiver of this integrated services rule for the allocations first went out for public comment on November 19 2010. On Nov 26th the comment period was extended until Dec 2nd due to people scrambling to respond. In just that short window the GPS issues came out as well as expected rumblings from other providers saying no fair or me too please.

In response to GPS issues the FCC tossed in conditions for testing to make sure there would be no interference.

The original plan with the two 10mhz bands was quickly found to be doomed by pretty much everyone involved. Ground antennas shouting millions/billions times louder soo close to GPS frequencies are not something that can be reasonably filtered and running the two parallel 10mhz channels concurrently caused inter-modulation interference into GPS frequencies in the testing that was conducted.

The new plan to use just the one single 10mhz band furthest from GPS is better but there are still open questions and testing needed to be completed by people who are not affiliated or contracted by lightsquared to understand any interference problems in a band that was only intended for "wisper" use.

This is where the arguments on the margins of whos fault it is if some fraction of receivers or clocks could have been better engineered vs lightsquare can be applied. I think where the blame can be directed for problems in the narrow scope of the single 10mhz channel furthest away is still an open question.

In my opinion there are enough important interests for Air and Sea safety even assuming GPS manufacturers could effectively allow the furthest 10mhz signal only with filtering measures there are countless millions of receivers in use today that will not be replaced for many years. Given the use in life safety especially at sea not something I would want anyone messing with.

wags
@frontiernet.net

wags

Anon

.

So rlharris, it's O.K. to have another Exxon Valdez disater, or a major plane crash, just so someone, somewhere can have some kind of internet? Since when does a "luxury" like the internet trump public safety? Why not put this in the 800mhz range of public safety radios since it doesn't matter to you? Your neighbors house burns down? Gets robbed? Oh well! At least you still have your web!
rlharris02
join:2009-02-06

rlharris02

Member

Re: .

Thats a very ignorant in false statement.

You know nothing of the facts of whats going on.

Non of what you posted would ever happen.

But im sure you think the aliens are out to get you also.