GPS Transitions to New Control System

gsfprez writes "It took us a long time, but the Air Force has finally moved off of the 1970's mainframe GPS control system and is now running on a new Unix-based Control System called AEP — Architecture Evolution Plan. It's important to remember that current GPS satellites are basically solar powered iPod shuffles with atomic clocks that simply playback whatever we upload into them at a precise rate. They don't actually have any idea where they are — its the control system at Schriever Air Force Base that does. The new system will be a lot cheaper to support and modify since Sun stocks things like SATA drives - while digging up Saturday Night Fever-era DASDs isn't simple. AEP will also allow us to be ahead of the curve: we're basically good to go to fly the new IIF birds."

Comments

Yay!

[Anonymous Coward]

They finally upgraded from 1970s technology to..

..Unix. Oh.

Um.

Yay!!!

Re:Confusion

[eln]

I'm not confused, I'm pissed! The Air Force apparently had solar powered iPod shuffles way back in the 1970s while the rest of us had to wait until 2005, and ours aren't even solar powered!

Which Version of Unix

[Steve Newall]

Air Force has finally moved off of the 1970's mainframe GPS control system and is now running on a new Unix-based Control System

Which release of Unix are they moving to? Would that be an SCO Unix (System V Release 3.2) or SCO UnixWare (System V Release 4) :-)

what your post is like

[thegnu]

It's like an iPhone with words on the screen, that's what. Stupid words. Shut up.
--Steve

Re:Big Iron

[Overzeetop]

It's amazing what you can accomplish when your annual budget approaches a trillion dollars, isn't it?

Uploading

[russotto]

with atomic clocks that simply playback whatever we upload into them at a precise rate. /blockquote We, kemosabe? Who is this "we". I don't know about you, but I've never uploaded anything to the GPS satellites. Though that would be kind of cool... does Garmin sell anything which would do that? :-) :-) :-)

RDF-based space weapons

[mhall119]

It's important to remember that current GPS satellites are basically solar powered iPod shuffles with atomic clocks It seems that the Air Force has figured out how to weaponize Steve Job's Reality Distortion Field. Now instead of threatening to turn the middle east into radioactive glass, we can threaten to turn it into shiny white plastic. Finally world domination that "Just Works".

what my post is like

[thegnu]

it's a joke about Steve Jobs. Laugh, bitches.

Re:Confusion

[megaditto]

It's the Air Force that should be pissed. They have paid a billion for the first 27 iPods, while those that waited bought theirs for $300... AF should demand a store credit!

Roland?

[iamlucky13]

After reading the iPod bit, I had to doublecheck to make sure the submission wasn't from you-know-how, but then I realized it both made too much sense and contained too little gobbledygook to be from him.

However, now I'm going to be anxiously watching the firehose for an article announcing Apple's new iDecay line of atomic clocks. These will be far better than the Air Force's because they'll have built in battery packs instead of relying on solar power, and offer touch sensitive screens which will redefine the paradigm of atomic clock interfaces.

* iDecay not recommended for people with pacemakers or sensitive to ionizing radiation. Apple does not guarantee the accuracy of iDecay. Maintenance on battery pack by non-certified personel will void warranty. Possession of an iDecay may be used as evidence of WMD's. Do not take internally. Use of iDecay near copywrited material may result in quantum entanglement with the storage medium and is a violation of the DMCA. If you experience an erection lasting more than four hours while using iDecay, your Apple-fanboi status has reached flat-out perversion and you should seek professional assistance. iDecay requires Quicktime.

Re:Maybe My Imagination

[gurutc]

Well thank you for confirming my benevolent conspiracy theory! But would more Sats improve the new receivers' performance? Thanks for any info -

Re:i was edited and my points were lost....

[Stele]

The savings comes only to US taxpayers - because its going to be way easier to for "us" (US citizens) to pay for younger engineers that are not all about to retire and younger hardware and software that shouldn't have been retired 20 years ago. "We" (US citizens) can pay less to keep GPS going now.

Great! When can I expect my taxes to go down because of this?

Re:Confusion

[langelgjm]

Q: What are they going to do with a billion dollar credit at the iTunes store? They song catalog isn't nearly that big!

A: Ringtones.

Epoch rollover?

[Ungrounded Lightning]

I trust the administrators of the system will make sure the code is robust against the epoch rollover.

Re:wow.

[Anonymous Coward]

we can call it the "lemming law".

Re:Shame

[SteveMurphy]

And you're typing on a computer that was manufactured by your buddies in the "Resistance" in Iraq made out of rocks, dirt and camel shit, right?

Re:Confusion

[Amouth]

so they will buy A sweet desktop - and maybe have enough left over for a monitor, or a two button mouse

iDecay

[game kid]

My BFF Jill owns one of those. I don't. TISNF.

Re:Hope the reliability is just as good!

[multipartmixed]

> Its not cheap - but i ask you - can you name the other globally available, centrally controlled,
> free to use resource on the planet and above it?

Catholicism?

Iridium isn't free, but it's also been a God-send.

Re:Confusion

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

You could almost afford a sweet Mac Pro with that rebate, I guess.