Just image all the ways that we are impacted by current GNSS technology, from the guidance systems in our cars to the apps on our smart phones, and on a global scale by GNSS applications within the infrastructure that supplies our daily needs, including maritime, highway, and aviation navigation in the shipping industry. Now imagine that it stopped working...
It doesn't require a doomsday mentality to recognize the potential impact of an interruption in GNSS service availability. This is the message of GPS founding architect, Brad Parkinson, as delivered in his keynote speech at an event hosted in the UK by the Royal Institute of Navigation. Parkinson notes that the maritime industry is of particular concern, where GPS has been taken for granted. "Even today, most ships have only GPS and the vision of their crew to guide them when approaching harbours."
Parkinson contends that there has been too much focus on sensitivity, and not enough on resilience or robustness, and proposes a 3-stage program to protect signals, toughen receivers, and augment signals with data from other sources. Good food for thought in our satellite-driven world; read the full GPS World article here.