Wide-Area Timing, Frequency, and Data Using … Data Using Terrestrial Ground-Wave RF Solutions . EMEA Operations ... FM 540606 Corporate Overview ... Jammer“personal privacy

Charles Schue – UrsaNav, Inc.

RTCM Annual Conference – September 25, 2012

Wide-Area Timing, Frequency,

and Data Using Terrestrial

Ground-Wave RF Solutions

EMEA Operations Bertem, Belgium

Corporate Headquarters Chesapeake, VA

Washington DC Metro Area Leesburg, VA

Southeast Region North Charleston, SC ISO 9001

FM 540606

Corporate Overview

Founded in 2004

Veteran Owned (VO) & Service

Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVO) SB

Strong engineering and IT

background

Extensive experience working under

strict security and safeguard

mandates

Chesapeake, Virginia, USA

Leesburg, Virginia, USA

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) & Value-Added

Reseller (VAR) Products

Chesapeake, VA corporate headquarters includes a 22,000

SF office, light industrial, laboratory, and warehouse space

Leesburg, VA facility includes 4,600 SF office and

laboratory space

Bertem, Belgium office handles EMEA opportunities

Regional offices in Boston, MA and Charleston, SC

Commercial and government clients in 32 countries.

About us





FM 540606

Low-Frequency Business Unit

Alternative/Backup

Solutions to

GNSS/RNSS

Positions, Navigation,

Timing/Frequency &

Data (PNTF&D) Systems

State-of-the-Art

Transmitting & Receiver

Technologies

Differential GPS/GNSS

Solutions

• X

• X

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• X

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• X

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• X

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• X

• X

• x

• Nautel NL Series LF Transmitters

• UrsaNav LF Multi-Mode Receivers

• CrossRate, Locus, & Plutargus IP

• Receivers for UK GAARDIAN/Sentinel IDM

• Nautel Vector Series DGPS Transmitters

• Trimble RS/IM Equipment

• Trimble Control Station Software

• Antennas, Nautel ATU, spares, shelters

• Installation, training

• Symmetricom Time Scale Solutions

• TWLFTT, TWLLTT, TWSTT

• Transmit and Receive Antennae

• Data Channel (9th/10th Pulse, Eurofix, Other)

• Loran-C, Chayka, eLoran, LFPhoenix™, and Beyond

• Temporary, Transportable, & Tactical Solutions

• 21st Century Technology





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• e-Navigation

– DGPS, ECDIS, DSC, AIS, Radar, Synchronized Lights

• Homeland Security

• Defense

• Telecommunications Networks

– Landline / Mobile / Paging Systems

– Computer Networks / Internet

• Energy and Power Systems

– Phase Synchronization & Flow Control

• Banking & Finance

– High-Speed Trading

– ATM transactions

• Agriculture

GPS Dependent Systems

Of the (18) CIKR sectors, (15) use GPS timing.

GPS timing is deemed essential for (11) of the sectors.

[Source: Department of Homeland Security]




Southeast Region North Charleston, SC

GNSS/RNSS Vulnerabilities

Performance degradation

• Ionosphere & solar activities

(natural)

• Unintentional & intentional

(human factors)

Signal blockage

Spectrum competition

Common signal use across GNSS

Radio frequency interference

System anomalies & failures

Jamming

Spoofing & Counterfeit Signals

Why is an Alternative to GPS Timing Necessary?

Low-cost “personal privacy

devices”

150W L1 – L5 “Full Band” Jammer

(Range up to ¼ mile*)

100W “Super” Jammer (Range over ½ mile – Plugs

into cigarette lighter*)

* Range as advertised on the supplier’s website. Independent tests have shown significantly further ranges for lower output power.









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Moonlighting near NWK

Leaving a switch on in San Diego

Watching TV in Half Moon Bay

Unintentional Jamming.





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April 2010 – March 2011: WAAS Gone Wild!

Galaxy 15 GEO Satellite Communications

Problems Affected Northwest Alaska

Losing control in North America

May 2011: SVN49/PRN01 has been officially

taken off active service, after problems

surrounding signal transmission couldn’t be

resolved. The satellite was never fully integrated

into the active GPS satellite constellation, but the

signal was still being tracked by the International

GNSS Service. The signal data was being stored

and recorded to be used by scientists and

engineers. This data will still be used in order to

help make future improvements to satellites and

signal transmission. The satellite was being

tracked by an IGS station in Tahiti, where the

signal was reportedly switched off at around 14:38

GPS time.

Mixing up signals in space

System Problems.





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- Ministry of Land Transport and Maritime Affairs, Maritime Traffic Facilities Division,

ROK.

Intentional Jamming – Bad Guys

300 km area affected.





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Source: FAA

Intentional Jamming – Good Guys

Source: USCG





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Unintended? Jamming.

Resistance was (almost) futile!

http://www.lightsquared.com/





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* Source: Dr. Todd Humphreys, University of Texas at Austin

** Source: 8/14/2003 NE Interconnection Outage

Potential Jamming / Spoofing Sector Impact

Industry Timing

Requirement Impact of Loss

Monetary Impact of Loss

Banking / Financial ≤1ms

Market vacuum (loss of liquidity); market

"skimming"; leaked pricing information*

Tens to Hundreds of Millions per stock

Telecommunications ≤1us Loss of communications Millions+

Electrical Power Distribution ≤1us Power outages & potential

equipment damage Billions**

DOD/DHS ≤1ms Loss of communications Safety / Security

DOT: FAA ≤50ns Loss of ability to trilaterate

position; loss of communications

Safety, Security, Efficiency





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GPS Jamming

• North Korea • San Diego • Newark Airport • WSMR • East Coast • NATO Joint Warrior • ...

GPS Jamming / Spoofing Technology

• Internet purchase • Internet design • Russian made • Chinese made • University made • Cheap and effective

Experts / Studies

• DHS • IDA • IMO, IALA • GAO • GLAs • DOT (Volpe, FAA)

Recapping: Standalone GPS is a Concern

Facebook Fumble

NASDAQs computer system issues came

down to 2 msec





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So, what are we doing about it?

Over Ten Years of Studies and Reports - All With the Same Conclusions ...

Hints: GPS is vulnerable. eLoran is the best backup.





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Why is LF the Best Alternative?

• Time. Frequency. Data. Position.

• Terrestrial-based – Significantly higher power than satellites

– Dissimilar failure modes to GPS

• Considerable usable range of LF signals – Requires fewer transmitters than other terrestrial solutions

– Time, frequency, & data require only a single transmission site

• Independent of GPS, but interoperable with GPS

• Spectrum protected for safety-of-life service worldwide • Lessons learned from LSQ

• Integrity built into LF signal – Also provides complementary integrity for GPS

• Available secure data encryption and geo-encryption

• Can meet, when appropriately equipped/designed: – Maritime: HEA 8m-20m; IMO 10m

– Aviation RNP 0.3





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Why is LF the Best Alternative?

• Meets stringent frequency reference requirements – Provides Stratum-1E standard

• Better than 1 x 10-11 long-term

– Same Stratum standard as GPS

• Meets stringent timing reference requirements – << 1 υs

– Transmissions synchronized to well within 10 ns of UTC

• Sub nanosecond synchronization with Two-Way Time Transfer

• Data Channel(s) available – All manner of functionality, including time of day and corrections

– DGPS messages available (RTCM SC-104)

– Offload data requirements from other systems to improve their BW

– Provides alternative wide-area critical messages/notifications

– Third-Party Data Channel options





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Why should Mariners care?

IMO / IALA requirement for e-Nav

Alternative timing for communications

GPS integrity check

Continued mission capability during short- or long-term GPS denial periods

“Proof of position”*

“Proof of time”*

Dissimilar failure modes

Interoperable with all existing and planned systems

Seamless operation

* - Courtesy of Logan Scott Consulting.





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• September 2011 DHS report to Congress

– GPS timing important

– Concern for a lack of a backup(s)

• DHS investigating alternatives

– Precise time via wire/fiber

– Asked USCG to investigate wireless time transfer

• CRADA (Effective 02/13/2012)

– Two years after Loran-C Termination

– Promotes R&D efforts; tech transfer

– Not a contract; no exchange of funding; not government “sponsored”

• Objectives

– Research, evaluate, document

– Time. Frequency. Data. (Position.)

LF in the USA: A Way Ahead

Disclaimer: The USCG has no intent to acquire, operate, or provide

wireless time technology or associated services.





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Now it Starts!

• Started testing February 29, 2012

• Transmissions currently from “dBF” Wildwood, NJ – Transmission to within <10 ns of UTC

– Able to transmit from any former Loran-C or GWEN site

– Able to transmit using transportable “LF-in-a-Box” solution

• Several test locations with multiple receivers – Leesburg, VA (142 miles)

– Chambersburg, PA (160 miles)

– Chesapeake, VA (170 miles)

– Burlington, MA (310 miles)

– Durham, NH (354 miles)

– Charleston, SC (505 miles)

– Mobile Measurement Unit

• TWSTT solution installed at dBF June 6, 2012

• TWLFTT solution – truly “sky-free” – testing begins in 2013





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Global land-mass and EEZ+ coverage possible that is truly “sky-free”.

Technology

Loran-C, eLoran, LFPhoenix™





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• Improved transmission alignment to UTC

– Fiber

– GPS L1 / L2

– TWSTT; TWLFTT

• Mitigation of diurnal & seasonal propagation effects

• Indoor time, frequency, data signal recovery

• Performance as an input to other systems or solutions: Telecomms; SmartGrid; NextGen; “Farm-to-Fork”

• Results/capabilities to government, academia, industry

• Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Energy, Defense

• Use of advanced waveforms for time, frequency, & data recovery: LFPhoenix™

Next Steps ... Demonstrate:





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Representative Test Environments





Example: SmartGrid

SmartGrid sensors need UTC timing and frequency for

accurate measurement of the power grid phase

Sensors don’t provide data without time synchronization

The use of GPS timing modules with antennas near

windows has issues

Low E windows are a

problem for GPS

1/2 to 2/3 of Phasor

Measurement Units

currently unusable at

any given time because

of lost GPS timing

For marine example, see GLAs GPS Jamming video at

http://www.gla-rrnav.org/news/2010/gps_jamming_trials_video_now_available_online.html





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• Timing performance – Time recovery to within 75 ns RMS (UTC)

• Distances to 500 miles (conservative; no differential corrections)

• External E-Field antenna

– Time recovery to within 200 ns RMS (UTC)

• At 1,000 miles (no differential corrections)

• External E-Field antenna

– One-time calibration against Symmetricom ATS-6501 Rb disciplined L1/L2 receiver; free-running afterwards

– Compensated for ASFs, receiver processing delays, cabling delays, etc.

– Calibration can be done using a “hot-clock” method, or with TWTT techniques

• Data Channel reception exceeding 1,000 miles

Early Results: eLoran





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Verified eLoran T, F, & D Coverage

Proper reception, tracking, & decoding of signals from dBF at Kansas City, MO – 1,050 miles





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Single Site eLoran Scenario: 1k Mile Radius

Wherever there is color, we expect LFDC demodulation. With LFDC comes precise time.





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Multiple eLoran Site Scenario: 1k Mile Radius

T, F, & D Coverage Example for the Contiguous 48 States With Four Sites





Blue Ocean -> Almond Codes





Implications

Loran

eLoran eLoran

eLoran Almond Almond

eLoran and Almond can co-exist Almond will operate in ‘compatibility mode’

Full Almond potential





Almond Transmission Trials

• Prototype transmitter • Almond generator • TFE timing suite

• UrsaNav Leesburg • UN150 receiver

w/Almond firmware • Cesium reference • 140mi (226km) distance





Tracking Performance: Almond Codes

Using 1.2 kW ERP transmitter @ 226 km distance

Receiver set for 1 second integration

1-sigma value: 3.42 ns (raw measurements)





First Blush Indoor Performance Test

Prototype H-field antenna

Dimensions: 38 x 38 x 19 mm 1.5” x 1.5” x .75”

• Smallest H-field antenna to date

• Antenna in noisy office environment

• 5 meters away from outside wall





Tracking Performance: Indoor Antenna

Using 1.2 kW ERP transmitter @ 226 km distance

Receiver set for 32 seconds integration (equivalent to 1s integration w/40 kW transmitter)

First blush attempt; uncontrolled environment

1-sigma value: 112.76 ns





FM 540606

LF. Time. Frequency. Data. Today!

Corporate Headquarters 616 Innovation Drive

Chesapeake, Virginia 23320 USA +1 757.312.0790 x205

DC Metropolitan Operations 44160 Scholar Plaza, Suite 380 Leesburg, Virginia 20176 USA

+1 703.858.5111 x305

www.ursanav.com www.ursanav.eu

Southeast Region 7620 Rivers Avenue Suite 370 – PMB 302

North Charleston, SC 29406 USA +1 843.277.1107

EMEA Operations Bertem, Belgium +32 16 845095

For additional information: [email protected]

http://www.ursanav.com/

http://www.ursanav.eu/

Documents

Wide-Area Timing, Frequency, and Data Using … Data Using Terrestrial Ground-Wave RF Solutions . EMEA Operations ... FM 540606 Corporate Overview ... Jammer“personal privacy