Galileo-Navigationssystem

Saudi Arabia is planning to change its civil aviation navigation system from ground based to satellite based in phases, according to Muhammad Al-Salimi, director of air corridors at General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA).“The new system will be implemented partially at this stage as the total shifting to the new international navigation system requires time and should pass through different phases,” he told Arab News.

Al-Salimi said the Kingdom would enter into serious negotiations with a number of countries under the umbrella of the International Civil Aviation Authority to set out laws on the use of satellites for air navigation.

He said the Kingdom would participate in the activities of the International Civil Aviation Organization to develop and modernize civil aviation systems, set out new regulations, and modernize the management of air traffic.

“The shift from ground-based system to satellite-based also requires qualified manpower,” he said. “Consequently, the GACA will conduct intensive training courses for its air traffic control staff in satellite and digital communication.”

The satellite system is called Galileo and is the first global satellite positioning and navigation system designed specifically for civilian use.

He said the authority was currently applying satellite communication in some airlines. The objective is to help airlines save time by reducing flight duration. This will also increase air traffic and attract foreign airline companies, he explained.

Al-Salimi made this statement while addressing a meeting of the working group to implement future navigation systems. The meeting was organized by the GACA.

Opening the meeting, GACA President Abdullah Al-Rehaimy said he was looking forward to setting out mechanisms that help Arab civil aviation administrations and airline companies to set up air corridors to provide airlink to aircraft equipped with FANS1A satellite air navigation systems in Arab skies.
[via arabnews]

SiGe Semiconductor says that it is ready to launch the world’s first Galileo-ready receiver for mass market consumer electronics, which will enable the integration of GPS style navigation services into portable devices including mobile phones.

Galileo is a new satellite system that will greatly enhance navigation and positioning performance compared with the existing GPS system. The combination of GPS and Galileo will improve user experience of location based services by enabling products to determine position data much more consistently, more quickly, and with greater accuracy than with GPS alone. These benefits are expected to drive a significant opportunity, as the global satellite navigation market is expected to reach US$30 billion by the time the Galileo system becomes operational in 2008.

The SE4120 allows consumer device manufacturers to capitalise on this market by designing Galileo-ready systems even as the standards are being finalised. The software-based receiver architecture ensures that changes to the standards can be supported with simple software upgrades. This allows manufacturers to design their systems now, ensuring they are among the first to market with Galileo-ready products. The software-defined architecture also minimises board area, power consumption, and cost - benefits ideal for high-volume portable consumer electronics.
[via cellular-news]

Anwendungen des Satellitennavigationssystems Galileo für den Bahnverkehr werden in Zusammenarbeit des Instituts für Verkehrsführung und Fahrzeugsteuerung mit dem Institut für Kommunikation und Navigation in Oberpfaffenhofen erforscht. So kann das Galileo-System mit präzisen Ortungsinformationen beispielsweise zur Prüfung der Vollständigkeit von Zügen oder auch zur Vermeidung von Kollisionen genutzt werden.

Die InnoTrans gilt mit ihrem Ausstellungsschwerpunkt Schienenverkehrstechnik als die internationale Plattform nationaler wie internationaler Anbieter und Nachfrager des Personen- und Güterverkehrs. Das DLR präsentiert sich auf der Fachmesse am Standort Berlin, wo 220 Firmen der Verkehrstechnikindustrie ihren Sitz haben, als kompetenter Partner in vielen Bereichen der Bahnforschung.
[via dlr.de]