Slashdot Mirror
FCC Paves the Way For Improved GPS Accuracy (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) paved the way for improved GPS and location accuracy today, approving an order that will allow U.S. phones to access a European satellite system. The order allows non-federal consumer devices to access the European Union's version of GPS, which is also known as Galileo. The system is available globally, and it officially went live in 2016. By opening up access, devices that can retrieve a signal from both Galileo and the U.S. GPS system will see improved timing estimates and location reliability. The iPhone 8 was the first Apple product to support it. Other phone models from Huawei and Samsung support the system, too. "Since the debut of the first consumer handheld GPS device in 1989, consumers and industry in the United States have relied on the U.S. GPS to support satellite-based positioning, navigation, and timing services that are integral to everyday applications ranging from driving directions to precision farming," the FCC said in a release. Now, the U.S. system will be able to commingle with the European one, making the way for better reliability, range, and accuracy.
Why would they care?
Do you have a dog? If you throw a stick and tell the dog to fetch, would you be upset if it refused?
This is the same. DoD built GPS, and they told the Europeans not to build a parallel system. The Europeans didn't do what they were told.
So DoD threw a hissy fit, and had the FCC ban the use of Galileo signals within the US. Does the FCC have the authority to do this, since the devices are only receiving and not transmitting? That isn't clear, but it was not challenged.
Many phones disable Galileo in software. So they use the extra signals when outside US territory, but disable it within US territory. So just a software patch should be enough to enable the extra accuracy.