Iridium and Boeing team up

Iridium and Boeing have achieved two major milestones to further develop and demonstrate capability enhancements to the High Integrity Global Positioning System (GPS) program for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

The first milestone, completion of an Enhanced Narrowband (ENB) software modification to computers on Iridium satellites, enables second-generation GPS-aiding signals to be broadcast through the entire Iridium constellation. These broadcasts will enable rapid, more accurate GPS position fixes than are available with current technology. The GPS-aiding signals will provide appropriately equipped warfighters significantly improved capabilities for quickly locking on and maintaining a GPS signal, even while operating in restrictive environments such as urban areas, forests, mountains and canyons, as well as under enemy jamming attempts or amid battlefield radio frequency noise.

The second milestone was a demonstration of the acquisition of a GPS signal under substantial jamming while moving in a vehicle.
"When a military GPS receiver is jammed, it cannot obtain a position fix, and movement only makes the situation worse," said David Whelan, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems chief scientist. "Even from a cold start, it took only minutes for the High Integrity GPS-aided receiver, in a moving vehicle, to receive the GPS signal while being jammed. Without assistance from the High Integrity GPS system, a position fix would never have been obtained."


The team includes Iridium, Boeing Phantom Works' Advanced Network and Space Systems, Rockwell Collins, Coherent Navigation and experts from academia.

Source: Iridium Satellite LLC