LightSquared™ has signed an agreement with Javad GNSS Inc. to develop a system that will eliminate related interference issues for high-precision GPS devices. The Javad GNSS system can be adapted to work with high-precision GPS devices, including those already in the agriculture, surveying, construction and defense industries. Javad GNSS has completed the design, made prototypesm and tested those prototypes. Preproduction units will be released for public tests in October, followed by mass production. High-precision receivers for positioning applications are expected to go to market by November 2011 and precision timing devices by March 2012.
“I have said from the beginning that this interference issue will be resolved as soon as smart engineers like Javad Ashjaee put their minds to it. With this new system, Mr. Ashjaee makes another mark for himself as a cutting edge pioneer in the precision GPS industry, a field he has helped shape for more than 30 years,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. “This breakthrough is a final step toward LightSquared’s goal of building a nationwide wireless network that will bring lower prices and better service to Americans from coast to coast.”
To develop the technology, Javad GNSS took the existing flagship receivers and reconfigured the filters and linear amplifiers to make them completely compatible with LightSquared’s bottom 10 MHz of spectrum. It was a very simple and inexpensive process and was developed in a matter of days. The additional cost for this technology is not expected to increase the selling price of the device to the customer. “This interference problem is not a difficult one to solve, once you decide to solve it,’’ said Javad GNSS founder Javad Ashjaee. “We’ve begun manufacturing preproduction models and expect to have 25 available within two weeks – we are not talking in hypotheticals here.”
“The truth is that high precision GPS users have a wide range of interference issues to contend with – from congested frequencies to intentional jamming. LightSquared made this problem much easier to solve by moving to spectrum farther away from the core GPS frequencies. As LightSquared’s spectrum neighbor, it’s our obligation to build a wall between our spectrum and LightSquared’s. My filter accomplishes that goal,’’ said Dr. Ashjaee. Good fences make good neighbors. The tests conducted so far by the GPS industry did not take into account the GPS modernization plan that is in place. Since we have demonstrated that LightSquared can certainly coexist with the current GPS satellite signals, the coexistence will be even stronger when the new GPS satellites with modern L1C, L2C and L5 un-encrypted codes are launched.”
LightSquared™ has also achieved an important milestone in the development of its network: the selection of a renowned systems integrator and three leading software solution providers to build and deploy its wholesale platform.
This wholesale platform will enable LightSquared’s partners to provide critical customer management services to their end-users. LightSquared has selected Wipro Technologies (WIT), a global provider of IT services and consulting, as its technology partner for systems integration and managed services.
Following an extensive evaluation process, LightSquared, in cooperation with Wipro, selected three key components for its platform:
- Provisioning and Activation, provided by Evolving Systems (EVOL), which enables LightSquared’s partners to activate and provision end-users on the network
- Real-Time Usage and Credit Management, provided by Openet, which enables LightSquared’s partners to manage their own customers’ network usage and credit in real time
- Rating and Billing, provided by Convergys (CVG), which enables LightSquared to invoice its partners at a wholesale level based on aggregate usage