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Warning sirens about the vulnerabilities of GPS to jamming, spoofing, solar activity and other disruptions have been blaring for many years. Now the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), which represents other federal civil departments and agencies on all GPS-related matters within the federal government, might finally be moving from study to action. On September 12, at the annual meeting of the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee held in conjunction with ION GNSS+ in Denver, Robert Hampshire, DOT’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer, announced the release of DOT’s Complementary Positioning Navigation and Timing Action Plan. It aims to drive CPNT adoption across the United States transportation system and within other critical infrastructure areas. You can read more here and download the plan here. 

Which GPS vulnerabilities does DOT aim to address and how quickly can it “drive adoption” of CPNT? Attempting to answer these questions requires pushing through a dense thicket of bureaucratic jargon. I asked Karen Van Dyke, Director for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and Spectrum Management in Hampshire’s office four questions. What follows are excerpts from her answers. You can read her full response here.

What is your office’s charter within the federal government to advance the development and deployment of complementary PNT?

Her office’s efforts, Van Dyke told me, “support federal policy governing PNT programs and activities for national and homeland security, civil, commercial, and scientific purposes. These include Executive Order 13905, Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services (EO 13905) and Space Policy Directive 7, The United States Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Policy (SPD-7).”

Which GPS vulnerabilities and at what scale is this plan addressing?

The action plan, Van Dyke told me, “addresses disruption, denial, and manipulation of GPS for critical infrastructure sectors” on “both a widespread and local scale.”

How and when will this action plan move the federal government’s posture on CPNT from study to action?

Van Dyke cited field demonstrations conducted in 2020 by the Volpe Center of candidate PNT technologies that could offer complementary service in the event of GPS disruptions and a 2021 report to Congress that distilled the PNT resiliency recommendations. DOT, she said, should develop “system requirements for PNT functions that support safety-critical services” and “standards, test procedures, and monitoring capabilities to ensure that PNT services, and the equipage that utilize them, meet the necessary levels of safety and resilience”.

How does DOT intend to engage PNT stakeholders?

Van Dyke pointed to a PNT Industry roundtable that DOT held in August 2022 that included representatives from CPNT technology vendors and critical infrastructure sectors and “informed the development” of the action plan. She also pointed out that on September 11, DOT issued a request for information “as one of the steps to drive adoption” of CPNT services “to augment GPS for the nation’s transportation system, and through the executive branch interagency process, for other critical infrastructure sectors.”

Stay tuned.

Matteo Luccio | Editor-in-Chief

mluccio@northcoastmedia.net

<p>The post First fix: Driving adoption of complementary PNT first appeared on GPS World.</p>

What is your office’s charter within the federal government to advance the development and deployment of complementary PNT?

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is the lead for civil PNT requirements in the United States and represents the Federal civil departments and agencies in the development, acquisition, management, and operations of GPS. The DOT Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and Spectrum Management program (within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology) coordinates the development of Departmental positions on PNT and spectrum policy to ensure safety, mobility, and efficiency of the transportation network. The Department also provides civil PNT system policy analysis and coordination representing Federal civil agencies responsible for critical infrastructure in the requirements development, acquisition, management, and operations of GPS.

These efforts support Federal policy governing PNT programs and activities for national and homeland security, civil, commercial, and scientific purposes. These include Executive Order 13905, Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services (EO 13905), and Space Policy Directive 7, The United States Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Policy (SPD-7).

Which GPS vulnerabilities and at what scale is this plan addressing?

The DOT Complementary PNT Action Plan addresses disruption, denial, and manipulation of GPS for critical infrastructure sectors. These vulnerabilities of GPS include unintentional and intentional jamming and spoofing (both measurement and data spoofing) of the GPS signal and physically impeded environments in which the availability of the GPS signal is impacted (e.g., indoors, underground, and urban canyons). This plan is intended to address vulnerabilities/limitations of GPS on both a widespread and local scale.

How and when will this action plan move the federal government’s posture on CPNT from study to action?

In 2020, the DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) conducted field demonstrations of candidate PNT technologies that could offer complementary service in the event of GPS disruptions. The purpose of the demonstrations was to gather information on PNT technologies at a high technology readiness level (TRL) that can work in the absence of GPS.

While this demonstration was a snapshot in time, there were two central recommendations from the demonstration:

1. U.S. DOT should develop system requirements for PNT functions that support safety critical services.
2. U.S. DOT should develop standards, test procedures, and monitoring capabilities to ensure that PNT services, and the equipage that utilize them, meet the necessary levels of safety and resilience identified in Recommendation 1.

The culmination of the demonstration program was the 2021 Report to Congress, Complementary PNT and GPS Backup Technologies Demonstration Report (2021 Demonstration Report). The PNT resiliency recommendations distilled in the 2021 Demonstration Report were vetted through a Federal interagency review process. During the same period, SPD-7 (directed to U.S. Federal Space-Based PNT service providers) and EO 13905 (directed to PNT users) were issued in a coordinated effort to strengthen U.S. PNT policy.

As part of its ongoing responsibilities as civil PNT lead, the Department has developed a Complementary PNT Action Plan to drive CPNT adoption across the Nation’s transportation system and within other critical infrastructure sectors. The plan describes actions that the DOT plans to pursue over the next several years, including engaging PNT stakeholders; monitoring and supporting the development of CPNT specifications and standards; establishing resources and procedures for CPNT testing and evaluation; and creating a Federal PNT Services Clearinghouse. Taken together with efforts of other Federal partners, these initiatives will continue to strengthen the resilience of the Nation’s PNT-dependent systems, resulting in safer, more secure critical infrastructure.

It should be noted that the U.S. Government is not procuring CPNT systems for non-Federal stakeholders, and as always, all activities are subject to the availability of appropriations.

How does DOT intend to engage PNT stakeholders?

DOT held a PNT Industry roundtable on August 4, 2022 that included representatives from Complementary PNT Technology vendors and critical infrastructure sectors. https://www.transportation.gov/pntindustryround

Feedback from this DOT industry roundtable informed the development of the DOT Complementary PNT Action Plan.

On September 11, 2023, DOT issued a Request for Information (RFI) as one of the steps to drive adoption of Complementary PNT services to augment GPS for the Nation’s transportation system, and through the Executive Branch Interagency Process, for other critical infrastructure sectors. U.S. DOT is planning a resiliency test, evaluation, and performance monitoring strategy for PNT-dependent transportation systems. Taken together with efforts of other Federal partners, these initiatives will strengthen resilience of the Nation’s PNT-dependent systems through the U.S. Government’s purchasing power as a demanding customer of Complementary PNT (CPNT) services, along with critical infrastructure owners and operators, resulting in safer, more secure critical infrastructure for the nation.

The DOT Volpe Center issued this RFI seeking information from industry about availability and interest in carrying out a small-scale deployment of very high technical readiness level (Technology Readiness Level (TRL)≥8) CPNT technologies at a field test range to characterize the capabilities and limitations of such technologies to provide PNT information that meet critical infrastructure needs when GPS service is not available and/or degraded due environmental, unintentional, and/or intentional disruptions. This deployment is intended to test these technologies against CI relevant requirements in order to gain confidence in performance and foster user adoption.

It is likely that DOT will hold future industry roundtables with Complementary PNT technology vendors and critical infrastructure sector owners and operators.

<p>The post Exclusive interview with US DOT first appeared on GPS World.</p>

“Businesses and financial institutions need to accept and start planning how they are going to mitigate the risks associated with GNSS,” said Tim Richards, CEO at Hoptroff. “This livestream roundtable will allow business and financial institutional decision-makers to better understand the impact and disruption GNSS vulnerabilities can have on their bottom line, and why they need to act now.”

The roundtable is an opportunity for those in the financial and business sector to learn more about the status of GPS, the growing potential risks from increased jamming, spoofing and cyberattacks, what disruption looks like, and the new technologies available to provide complementary positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies to help mitigate risk.

“GNSS vulnerabilities create serious consequences for critical infrastructure,” said Richard Hoptroff, founder and chief time officer at Hoptroff. “To effectively mitigate these threats, complementary PNT solutions need to be deployed.”

The event will be moderated by Robert Hampshire, deputy assistant secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation.

Speakers at the roundtable event include:

• Robert Hampshire – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation
• Diana Furchtgott-Roth – Heritage Foundation and George Washington University
• Judah Levine – Fellow, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• Karen Van Dyke – Director for PNT, U.S. Department of Transportation
• Steve Suarez – Global Head of Innovation, Financial Services
• Kathryn Condello – Senior Director, National Security/ Emergency Preparedness, Lumen Technologies
• Richard Hoptroff – Founder and Chief Time Officer, Hoptroff

Areas of discussion at the roundtable include:

• The rising GNSS vulnerabilities and the potential consequences of GNSS disruption such as service outages, errors, or inaccuracies.
• Example use cases where GNSS vulnerabilities can have a significant impact on your business continuity.
• How to enable new resilient complementary technologies for your disaster recovery plans.
• How to start utilizing these technologies today in your real-life applications such as precision timing for global financial services.
• Practical advice for businesses on reducing GNSS risk in financial transactions, fraud detection, compliance and data integrity.

Those interested in attending the livestream roundtable can sign up on the Hoptroff website.

<p>The post Hoptroff livestreams GNSS vulnerabilities roundtable first appeared on GPS World.</p>

It also evolved into a policy discussion with former government leaders saying establishing alternative positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems would make GPS safer by “taking the bullseye off,” and that “the time is now, before it is too late.”

The webinar, titled “What Technologies Can Secure GPS?”, was hosted by the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University (GWU). A bipartisan constellation of civil PNT stars gathered to participate in the event.

Featured in the webinar were:

• introductory remarks by Robert Hampshire, chief scientist for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). He has also been nominated to be DOT’s assistant secretary for research and technology.
• a presentation by Karen Van Dyke, director, Positioning, Navigation and Timing for DOT, and Andrew Hansen of DOT’s Volpe Transportation Systems Center.
• discussion of the issues by Diana Furchtgott-Roth, adjunct professor at GWU and a DOT deputy assistant secretary during the Trump administration, and Greg Winfree, director of the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University and DOT assistant secretary during the Obama administration, both of whom led civil PNT issues for the federal government during their time in office.
• Scott Pace, director of GWU’s Space Policy Institute, serving as moderator; he was executive secretary of the Space Council during the Trump administration.

Hampshire opened the event with an address that touched on Biden administration themes of “building back better,” modernizing infrastructure, reducing transportation deaths, making transportation more efficient, and preserving America’s technological leadership. All of these were linked to the need to improve PNT resiliency and reliability.

Robert Hampshire, U.S. DOT chief scientist, speaking at GWU webinar on May 5. (Image RNT Foundation)

Backup tech demo did not close any doors

Van Dyke and Hansen then gave a presentation on the results of the department’s technology demonstration project.
Van Dyke pointed out that, while “GPS backup” may be a popular term, we need complementary capabilities that come into play not just when GPS is unavailable but work alongside it and provide additional capability and resilience all the time.

She also mentioned that the department is well aware there are more candidate technologies than those selected for the demonstration. Companies offering other ways of providing PNT will not be excluded from future consideration and efforts just because they were not part of the demonstration project.

Also, while the government collected the data during the demonstrations, she acknowledged that the effort was designed to “showcase the technologies in their best light.” Further study, stress testing, and evaluation will be needed for any system or technology that might be of interest to the government.

Key elements in the demos

Hansen discussed the particulars of how the technology demonstrations were conducted and some of the results. While the department evaluated 14 measures of effectiveness during the project, Hansen said that two were key — accuracy and coverage per unit of infrastructure.

All the technologies demonstrating timing showed accuracy that would be useful across a wide range of applications, he said. Positioning accuracy, though, varied from a “ones of meters to around 300 meters” depending on the technology.

Hansen said that coverage per unit of infrastructure varied exceptionally between the technologies. These included satellite systems that provide global coverage with a fixed infrastructure, and radio frequency systems with widely different coverage areas per transmitter.

He also observed that the technology demonstration project was not the end of the department’s technical inquiries. In fact, some of its results—such as eLoran performance in an underground scenario—were unexpected and are being further examined.

Transportation has some of the most stringent PNT requirements for accuracy, integrity, availability, and reliability, he said. And not all safety-critical transportation requirements may be met by market-based business models. Commercial systems lack the open standards and specifications that have made GPS so useful and widely adopted. Hansen said that the department will be working on these issues going forward, as well as performance monitoring for alternative systems.

A recurring theme throughout the webinar from all participants was that there is no single solution, no silver bullet, to achieve sufficient national PNT resilience. A systems-of-systems approach was needed. In Hansen’s words “a plurality of complementary systems” is required to ensure PNT reliability and safety, as well as efficient transportation.

Take the bullseye off GPS! — An urgent national security issue

While agreeing with the systems-of-systems approach, Greg Winfree pointed out that a first step still needs to be taken. He said that the nation has known about the need for alternate PNT since a 2001 report by DOT’s Volpe Center. Twenty years later, still no long overdue first step has been taken.

Just establishing the first alternative and complementary system, Winfree said, will make GPS and the United States much safer. “We need to take the bullseye off of GPS,” he said. GPS is so critically important to this country that it is a very attractive target for those who would do us harm. Having even one just alternative in place would make it much less of a target.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth pointed out that China, Russia, Iran and others have terrestrial systems that complement space-based PNT. About establishing alternatives, she said “The time is now, before it’s too late.”

Provisions in the United States National Space Policy provide that “[a]ny purposeful interference with or an attack upon the space systems of the United States or its allies that directly affects national rights will be met with a deliberate response at a time, place, manner, and domain of our choosing.”

Scott Pace also commented that an having an alternative to GPS will contribute to national security and improve global stability. It will “lower the pressure on us to escalate and respond” should GPS satellites be damaged, or services disrupted, he said.

Next steps

One of the questions posed at the end of the session was about actions and expected accomplishments in alternate PNT at DOT in the next 18 months. When could the first alternative system be expected?

The DOT technology demonstration report recommended that the department work next to develop standards and requirements for alternative systems. Current government employees were appropriately reluctant to say much more.

Calling upon her recent experience in government, however, Diana Furchtgott-Roth that said she believed that the department needed time to stress test technologies, develop standards and finalize requirements. Since many capable technologies were mature, some already in operation, she thought the first capability could be up and running within a year after that.

The only missing element according to Furchtgott-Roth is funding, and the focus needs to be on motivating Congress to provide it. The stage is set, she said, with all parties agreeing on the importance of resilient PNT.

She observed that it is very difficult to get the two parties in Congress to agree, and to pass legislation. Yet this has happened three times in support of establishing GPS alternatives. And PNT is such a critical capability that the entire executive branch even came together to protect it last year opposing the FCC’s decision in the Ligado Networks application.

She also related that, when she was in office, she requested $15M for the current fiscal year to do needed stress testing and standards development, but the funding did not appear in the budget.

One reason could have been questions she was asked about whether it is the government’s job to pay for an alternative to GPS, she said.

As a conservative economist her answer was and is a resounding “Yes.” The national need is beyond the business model of one company or private entity. That is something also suggested in DOT’s report on the tech demo.

Also, “enormous value and vast efficiencies” come from one entity funding such a utility, she said. “Just as the government funds national defense, it should also provide a complement to GPS.”

George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute reports a recording of the webinar will be posted on YouTube within the next week.

Dana A. Goward is President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation.

<p>The post ‘Take the bullseye off GPS before it’s too late!’ — PNT leaders at GWU webinar first appeared on GPS World.</p>

A “Who’s Who” of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) leaders will gather virtually at 11 a.m. PDT/2 p.m. EDT on May 5 to discuss findings of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) GPS Backup Technology Demonstration, which took place in 2020.

Included in the “What Technologies Can Secure GPS?” webinar will be DOT Research and Technology leaders from the Obama and Trump administrations, Greg Winfree and Diana Furchtgott-Roth, and currently serving career DOT officials Karen Van Dyke and Andrew Hansen.

Robert Hampshire, current DOT Acting Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, will make his first public appearance discussing PNT issues.

The event is sponsored by George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and moderated by Scott Pace. Pace served as the executive director for the Space Council in the last administration. In that capacity, he was responsible for a series of directives and policies impacting PNT in the United States.

Describing the plan for the event, the formal announcement states, “Three separate laws have required the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to back up and complement the Global Positioning System, subject to congressional appropriations. To provide a roadmap, in January the department released its Complementary PNT and GPS Backup Technologies Demonstration Report.”

The program will open with remarks from Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute, who will also moderate the discussion. Hampshire will offer introductory remarks. Van Dyke and Hansen will follow up with a presentation of the report. George Washington University Adjunct Professor Diana Furchtgott-Roth and the Texas Transportation Institute’s Greg Winfree will provide comments.”

A question-and-answer session will follow the addresses and discussion.

The event is free and open to the public, though advance registration is required. Registrants will receive a Zoom link. The webinar will also be recorded.

Register for the webinar here.

Feature photo: Monty Johnson of OPNT demonstrates precise time transfer through 100 kilometers of spooled fiber-optic cable. (Photo: RNT Foundation)

<p>The post GWU hosts webinar on DOT GPS backup demos first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Government officials, advisors and congressional staff gathered at NASA’s Langley Research Center on March 13. They were there to discuss the Department of Transportation’s (DoT’s) GPS Backup Technology Demonstration program and view the offerings of six different companies.

A second event to view and discuss technologies offered by the other five companies in the program is scheduled (as of this writing) for Friday, March 20, at Joint Base Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

View from Washington, D.C.

The day began with remarks by Karen Van Dyke from the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as remarks prepared by Colonel Joseph Frankino, deputy director of the National Coordination Office, a multi-agency staff that supports the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee, whose members were unable to attend.

Van Dyke provided an overview of the program and pointed out the increasing importance of resilient PNT. As just one example, improvements in autonomy and self-driving cars are entirely dependent upon consumers having confidence in the entire system, much of which is underpinned by PNT.

Col. Frankino’s remarks reflected the Defense Department’s commitment to and support of DoT’s resilient PNT efforts. He pointed out that the nation’s military depends upon the defense industrial base, which depends upon uninterrupted PNT.

Volpe Transportation Systems Center

The technology demonstration effort is being coordinated by Andrew Hansen from DoT’s Volpe Center. Dr. Hansen pointed out that the ongoing effort, the analysis and assessment of which is expected to be concluded in May, is a series of demonstrations vice tests. This means that the companies involved were showing what their systems could do, vice being measured against set criteria.

He also mentioned that the maturity of all the systems involved seems to have improved significantly over the last year. All are at Technical Readiness Level 6 or better. Also, that things so far had gone very smoothly with no need for any “re-dos.”

GPS and a cesium clock were being used as reference standards for the demos. Two of the systems, NextNav and Skyhook, were also demonstrated on a drone at Langley’s 150 acre open air site.

Report and Transparency

Data from the demos is not proprietary and belongs to the government which intends to make “as much of it available as possible.” DoT representatives mentioned several times their desire for maximum transparency.

Admiral (ret.) Thad Allen (left), chair of the National PNT Advisory Board, was among the attendees learning about DoT’s GPS Backup Technology Demonstration project at NASA’s Langley Research Center. (Photo: RNT Foundation)

Attendee Observations

After a day of viewing and discussing the six different technologies with their vendors, the group reconvened to offer feedback. All agreed the day was very worthwhile and complemented DoT and NASA on the event.

Kicking off the discussion, the DoT hosts remarked that the department is fully committed to GPS and its modernization. That said, there is broad recognition of the importance of other PNT systems. This is evidenced by the recent White House Executive Order on PNT.

Also, that there is no single solution that will fill the PNT needs of everyone. In fact, GPS does not serve the PNT needs of everyone. The need across sectors for a wide variety of sources to “backup” GPS is why the demonstration project includes some systems that only provide time, or only positioning.

Feedback from attendees included:

• The reason for this project is that we have a 20th-century GPS and 21st-century threats. New technologies need to be examined for vulnerabilities. Security must be “baked in” from the beginning. Moderators commented that the DHS Conformance Framework was one of the tools that would help with this.
• Rural and other underserved areas (such as wilderness, remote transportation networks, maritime) need PNT and should be a part of the government calculus.
• Many systems depend upon infrastructure provided by others versus being self-sufficient.
• In the view of many in Congress, it is good to see the demos going well. Overall, though, things are about two years late. Members and staff are very interested in when there will be an RFP and schedule for implementing the timing system mandated by the National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2018.

Monty Johnson of the company OPNT demonstrates precise time transfer through 100 kilometers of spooled fiber-optic cable. (Photo: RNT Foundation)

Systems Demonstrated at NASA Langley

During the course of the day, attendees had the opportunity to interact with representatives from the following companies and their systems.

<p>The post DOT holds first GPS backup technology demonstration first appeared on GPS World.</p>