An article from 2003 predicted exactly how before long we would be using GPS without a second thought…..
Jacob Benadiva *
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/gps010103.html
Most consumers think of geographic positioning systems - GPS, as something innovative: a piece of electronics capable of informing you of the location of the nearest McDonald's restaurant, or the screen in the upgraded car, which insists on explaining to you how to return to a pre-planned route. Talking addicts have adopted GPS devices for navigating journeys on horseback or on foot. "Look for the treasure" games in this version are the ultimate combination between a sense of orientation and high technology, during which the competitors are sent to coordinates that lead them to public parks, forests or restaurants, where they will find the next clue, or the treasure.
As developers focused on the consumer products market continue to search for the winning application, GPS systems have received a warm reception in several industries, including manufacturing, agriculture and transportation. In all of these, GPS applications quickly return the investment and generate significant added value for the user.
Companies that manage and operate fleets of vehicles in various transport tasks, like the GPS devices that allow determining the exact position of each vehicle along the route. In this way, significant cost savings are achieved, shortening the response times to calls and meeting deadlines. GPS systems may also improve the dispatch processes and the overall management of the transport tasks.
Starting in 2000, all cell phone operators in the US are required to provide emergency services known as e911. The number 911 is the common emergency services telephone number in the USA and e stands for electronic. The GPS chips installed in the end devices make it possible to identify the exact location from which the call came and call the rescue forces there, even if the caller is unable to provide full details about his location. GPS systems make it possible to improve response time and optimize the work of emergency centers. The data received from the caller is cross-referenced with the location of the mobility and rescue forces and shortens the time of arrival of the aid forces.
The improvements in the field of GPS are expected to contribute significantly to the increase in the level of safety in the field of air traffic control and land traffic control, or at least to significantly reduce the degree of exposure of these control systems to human error. Airports will benefit from systems capable of automatically locating and identifying planes within 60 meters, from the moment of landing, so that weather conditions and poor visibility will no longer cause flight delays. The GPS systems are becoming accurate to a level that allows a full landing using instruments.
One of the areas where the use of GPS is expanding rapidly is law enforcement, the police and prisons. The budget cuts in the US are leading the law enforcement authorities to consider the use of house arrest controlled by GPS-based monitoring systems that are attached to the body of the detainee, and are also used to monitor those released on bail.
Holes in the cover
Even if GPS systems are particularly suitable for tracking everything from shipments to prisoners, this technology also has limitations. Today, users enjoy access to satellite data on only one frequency. The plans that exist today to expand the number of frequencies to three, will reduce or reduce problems such as too weak a signal, or interruptions in reception in a dense urban environment. Today there are still holes in the coverage network provided by the GPS systems.
The European competitor: Galileo
While new applications that rely on GPS periodically make headlines, the GPS system itself becomes the subject of an increasingly heated debate, focused on the European intention to build a system that complements and competes with the existing GPS system. The European system was codenamed Galileo.
Supporters of the new venture say Galileo is designed primarily for civilian and commercial applications, along with the ability to adapt to military purposes as needed. This, in contrast to the GPS that was designed in advance to respond to military-security needs, as defined by the USA. Galileo is supposed, according to its supporters in Europe, to provide the same or better service qualities and reliability than GPS and will be accessible from extreme latitudes, which are not in the coverage areas of GPS.
In the US they claim that the European plan to operate a network of over thirty satellites may interfere with the upgrade plans designed to increase the number of frequencies where GPS data is available. The leaders in Europe demand that Galileo be compatible with GPS and play the role of a backup system in the event of a failure of the GPS system or its proactive shutdown by the US - as was done on September 11 last year, immediately after the attack on the Twin Towers.
Galileo will give Europe a certain degree of autonomy in the technology necessary, according to those who believe in the project, to ensure European competitiveness in the fields of business and agriculture. At the same time, services will be offered to the public in the fields of public security and emergency medicine. The price of building the first stage of Galileo is 3.2 billion euros and it will be covered jointly by members of the European Community and the European Space Agency. The additional development expenses are expected to fall on companies in the private sector, which will generate profits from operating services that rely on the system.
It has not yet been decided whether Galileo will be available free of charge, like GPS, today. If it is decided to charge a fee, it is not yet clear how the customers will be charged. Access to the current GPS system can only be limited by area - and cannot be opened or closed at the individual user level. In both systems, technology should be included to manage users and usage permissions. Registration fees or usage fees can be charged with the purchase of the positioning device, when another option is to include in each GPS device a smart card that will measure the actual usage amounts and carry out the current collection.
According to one of the proposals, Galileo's basic service - at a level equivalent to that of GPS today - will be provided for free, while additional services will be available for a fee. The privacy security arrangements at the individual user level in Galileo or GPS may be similar to those known to users of a satellite or set-top box. A personal code enables the blocking or opening of receiving content, and monitors the use of the various signals passing through the system - without checking for what purposes this data is used.
Russia and China
If the Galileo system operates in 2008 alongside the GPS, as is expected today - the two will not be alone in the battle. Another satellite radio system for navigational tasks, Glonass, was developed by the Russian military and according to various reports it is planned to expand and offer services to the private sector. China, for its part, expressed interest in joining the Galileo project - which did not prevent it from launching its own experimental satellite navigation system.
* Yaacov Benadiva is director of communications at the consulting company Accenture Israel. The article was published in the newsletter: TLECOM from the People and Computers Group, edited by Aryeh Seter
