GPS Alert!!!
GPS END-OF-WEEK ROLLOVER PROBLEM:
Will occur August 21, 1999
With less than a week to go, only 51 [out of 100] of its [Magellan] products are listed on its web site as "end-of-week compliant". People with products not judged to be compliant are advised to contact Magellan ... The company said also that its equipment could malfunction when used in conjunction with other incompatible equipment, data or software, such as electronic charts or auto-pilot systems ...
John Lovell, director of quality for Trimble Navigation Ltd, the leading maker of GPS devices, said that products bought in the past three to five years would not have any serious problems. He said: "There is a very small chance of a navigational error, but not zero. [For receivers purchased in past 3-5 yrs.] Everyone should check with the manufacturer to make sure." ...
A notice issued by the United States transport department said: "Consumers who depend on GPS at sea, on land or in the air may experience one of these problems with their receiver:
- it will be unable to locate the satellites, resulting in the receiver not working;
- it will take more time than usual to locate the satellites;
- it will appear to be working but display inaccurate positions, times or dates." ..
techstocks.com
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GPS is now used in numerous civilian applications and industries. For example, emergency vehicles use GPS to pinpoint destinations and map routes; shipping companies use the system to track movement of their vessels; truck and transportation services use the system to track their fleets and to speed deliveries; and airlines use GPS to develop flight plans and to land planes.
GPS is also being used to map roads, track forest fires, assist in construction projects, and even monitor earthquakes.
Additionally, telecommunications companies are increasingly relying on GPS receivers to synchronize their own networks, comparing their reference clocks directly with a GPS receiver.
GPS is affected by both the Year 2000 computing problem and an upcoming end-of-week rollover. The upcoming end-of-week rollover is a problem that will occur for the first time on August 21, 1999 ...
The space component also includes satellite support systems, which are physically located on the ground. These systems are responsible for maintaining the satellites and their proper functioning. This includes keeping the satellites in proper orbits (called ?station keeping?) and monitoring satellite subsystem health and status?e.g., monitoring solar arrays, battery power levels, and propellant levels, and activating spare satellites, if possible.
While the satellite support systems are end-of-week rollover compliant, they are NOT yet Year 2000 compliant ... AFMC reports that these systems are in the process of being either replaced or renovated and tested. This work is expected to be done by December 1999. ...
- It is conceivable that some organizations and users may not even be aware that their GPS receiver could be vulnerable to the end-of-week rollover problem.
- Moreover, some may not even be aware that they rely on a GPS receiver as a communications network tool.
Because they contain precise clocks, GPS receivers are sometimes used to synchronize time in communications networks. Synchronization is critical to the transmission of compressed or packetized 3 voice, data, and video transmissions.
Timing errors due to the lack of synchronization, in fact, can lead to data loss and degradation and eventually to network disruption or even complete failures. Because of the interconnective and interdependent nature of networks, these problems, in turn, could impact other networks and even the INTERNET. ...
house.gov
<While the satellite support systems are end-of-week rollover compliant, they are NOT yet Year 2000 compliant ... AFMC reports that these systems are in the process of being either replaced or renovated and tested. This work is expected to be done by DECEMBER 1999. ...
[From Koskinen interview on Y2K in general - not GPS specifically.]
KOSKINEN: "So who are at risk? We've said that the people at risk are the ones who aren't doing anything, who think that they can fix it later. They're likely to find a long line of people."
"And the people who are at risk are the ones who [say they] will be done in DECEMBER, because they won't have time. They're going to catch their problems in the middle of real time, in the Year 2000."
y2ktoday.com
Cheryl
137 Days until 2000 |
