Industry Dossier

France's BCI Joins with Motorola for Vehicle System

BCI Navigation, S.A. of Evry, France recently announced a partnership with Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA, to create an in-vehicle information, navigation, and entertainment system based on wireless Internet access. The two companies will combine efforts to develop a server-based automotive navigation system that will store content on the Internet, instead of a computer stored in the vehicle.

As part of the agreement, Motorola now holds an equity stake in BCI, an engineering firm with a focus on automobile navigation software and hardware. According to BCI's president, Bruno Coiffet, the company will target the important high-volume international market with the new product. The scalable telematics system -- providing drivers with varying levels of service for differing subscription rates -- will include voice recognition and text-to-speech technologies. It will serve as a wireless Internet client device, providing access to content originating from various sources, including the Internet, cellular, broadcast or satellite transmissions, and traditional AM/FM bands.

In addition, a personalised Internet page will enable the telematics service to be configured wherever users have an Internet connection. For users with mobile devices, data such as phone and address information, calendar functions, and Internet bookmarks can be synchronised with the in-vehicle radio.

According to BCI, the partnership will place the technology in the majority of vehicles produced by the years 2004­2005, and revenues could reach $40 million by 2004. Previously, the 30-employee firm has partnered with companies such as Siemens, Michelin, Citroen, and Peugeot in the development of its Cristine driving assistance software, a GPS-enabled fleet vehicle-tracking system. For details, contact BCI, 3, rue du Velay, CE 1740 Petite Montagne Sud, 91017 Evry, France, +33 1 69 11 30 00, fax +33 1 60 86 30 64, e-mail <bcisa>, Internet <www.bcisa.com>.

Racal Survey Announces LRTK Service

Racal Survey Group Ltd, of Chessington, United Kingdom, has introduced a new satellite-based offshore positioning service for Europe, targeted at deep-water exploration and development applications.

The long-range real-time kinematic (LRTK) service is said to be capable of providing accuracies better than 20 centimetres in both horizontal position and height throughout the coverage area. According to the company, this is due to the system's ability to solve GPS integer wide lane ambiguities in a kinematic environment at more than 800 kilometres from a reference station.

Initially, four stations have been installed to optimise coverage in the North Sea and Norwegian Continental Shelf regions. The service will soon be extended elsewhere within Europe, with a planned expansion in the Gulf of Mexico as well. Within the system, proprietary LRTK messages are broadcast to the user by way of L-band satellite frequencies and are received on a small dome antenna.

DSNP Dredging Devices Delivered, Office Opened

Beverley, England-based Ormston Technology Limited recently supplied Dredging International of Antwerp, Belgium with 25 Aquarius 5002 long-range kinematic GPS systems from DSNP of Carquefou, France. The systems will be used for pre- and post-dredging operations in support of the Belgian company's worldwide fleet of dredgers. The modular systems comprise dual-frequency, 16-channel GPS receivers with integral UHF and plug-in UHF transmitter modules.

DSNP has also established a Dutch affiliate named DSNP Nederland B.V., of Le Papendrecht, The Netherlands. Founded in mid-February, the new office is in charge of developing the sales of DSNP's Global Navigation Satellite System navigation and positioning equipment. Contact DSNP Nederland B.V., Ketelweg 12­14, 3356 Le Papendrecht, The Netherlands +78 615 7988, fax +78 615 2027.

Microcom Unveils DGPS, RTK Products

Microcom GmbH, based in Munich, Germany, has introduced new additions to its Hermes family of products designed for differential GPS (DGPS) and real-time kinematic (RTK) uses.

The company's newest product, the GM340 SurveyLink, is designed for use as a radio link in DGPS and RTK applications. The handheld device supports both speech and data communications. Microcom technology allows for the same operational distances during rover­base links at 38.4 kilobits pers second (kbps) as those using 9.6 kbps, where typically increases in data throughput cause decreases in operational distance.

Microcom's GM350 Base is a radio modem designed for transmission of DGPS data and has been tested in operation with GPS receivers from major manufacturers. Complete DGPS networks can be deployed through the device's 19.2 kbps high data throughput with forward error control. It can be deployed as a fixed DGPS base station or as a portable RTK base radio link unit, suited for applications such as fleet management, navigation systems, and telemetry data transmission.

Other Microcom products include the HDR2000 DGPS receiver, which uses a Motorola GPS chipset, features 99 programmable channels available for manual or automatic scan mode, and uses RS-232 interface and over-air data rates up to 19.2 kbps.

For details, contact Marketing Director Bob Hannaby, Microcom, Gautinger Strasse 26a, D-82061, Munich-Neurid, Germany, +49 89 745 547, fax +49 89 7594614, e-mail <info>, Internet <www.microcom-de.com>.

Receivers to Aid in Earth Research

LNR Globalcom, a Rijswijk, The Netherlands­based developer of permanent GPS network reference stations, has been selected to provide 13 GPS receivers, including three continually operating reference stations (CORS) and SR530 receivers from Leica Geosystems, for the build-up phase of the Netherlands Research Centre for Integrated Solid Earth Science (ISES).

The CORS receivers will help ISES researchers in their observation, data handling and processing, as well as interpretation and modelling of surface and crustal deformation processes, with a focus on predictive capabilities. One of the CORS receivers will be used by the University of Utrecht for monitoring of ice flow activity in Antarctica. LNR Globalcom will provide training and support for the Leica GPS receivers, which were selected from among a group of four competing manufacturers.

Dutch-Language Leica System Available

Dutch speaking users can now operate Leica's GPS System 500 with the aid of new Dutch-language firmware, provided by LNR Globalcom, a Dutch distributor of Leica GPS products based in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. All clients with a maintenance contract for their System 500 equipment will automatically receive the new firmware version, accompanied by four Dutch language instruction booklets. For more information, contact Jeroen Zomerdijk, technical business manager, LNR Globalcom bv, Postbus 172, 2280 AD Rijskijk, The Netherlands, +31 70 413 4000, fax +31 70 413 4004, e-mail <mail>. c

GSS User's Conference

The Global Simulation Systems (GSS) User Conference 2000, scheduled May 25­26 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, will review recent developments in the satellite navigation market as well as discuss the company's latest software releases, new features for the company's STR2760/STR4760 multichannel GPS simulator family, other new products, test applications, and GSS's future plans.

The event is aimed at new and experienced simulator users and will provide an opportunity for users to meet and discuss testing techniques and applications. Workshops with GSS senior technical staff will be available. For more information, contact Caroline Lee, Global Simulation Systems Ltd., Aspen Way, Paignton, Devon TQ4 7QR, UK, +44 1803 546309, fax +44 1803 546301, e-mail <Caroline.Lee>.

Lockheed Forms

GPS Augmentation Company

Lockheed Martin has announced it has formed a new company called Synchronetics to offer worldwide ground-based and satellite-based GPS augmentation services for aviation applications. Bethesda, Maryland, United States-based Lockheed Martin first proposed the new service in spring 1999.

According to Daniel Brophy, director of navigation services at Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management, the company will begin offering ground-based local augmentation services right away and will eventually expand into satellite-based, wide-area augmentation. Wide-area services will be supported by Lockheed Martin's planned Regional Positioning System (RPS), a privately financed constellation of 12 satellites positioned in six locations in geostationary orbit. Two satellites will be placed at each orbital location to provide dual coverage for safety-critical navigation services between 68.5 degrees north and south latitudes.

The company will also form three regional subsidiaries covering the Americas, the Asia­Pacific, and Europe­ Middle East­Africa. These subsidiaries will finance and build the infrastructure for their respective geographic areas. Anchor tenants must be committed to the project before investments will be made, said Lockheed Martin in their announcement.

The first region to come online will be the Americas, Brophy said. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is a potential customer, as are the governments of Central and South America. There is a new regional effort underway in Central America to put augmentation services into place, Brophy said. That effort is being led by the Corporacion Centro Americana de Servicios de Navegacion Aerea (COCESNA), which coordinates air traffic control for part of that region.

Lockheed Martin will build at least the first satellite for the Americas. Interestingly enough, they will not necessarily build the other satellites. The satellites for the European region, for example, would be built by European firms, Brophy said. Because they are geosynchronous satellites, that is, the satellite is always over the same place on the Earth, it is not necessary to have all of the satellites in place for the system to provide services to a specific region. Each region can add a satellite as it can afford to do so.

The satellite signals will broadcast in the L-band and C-band with the augmentation signals broadcast on the same frequency as the GPS L1 (1575.42 MHz) and GPS L2 (1227.60 MHz). The system should provide the necessary accuracy, integrity, and availability for enroute navigation through Category I precision approach.