Theme of the Week
Teamwork The next "G" is coming. 6G is expected to be "100 times faster than the peak speed of 5G" and transform “the way we live and work.” But you can’t get there with existing technology and spectrum – some new tricks are needed. One of those tricks: increase the number of base stations. But these base stations have to be closely synchronized to avoid handover problems. Another trick: directed signals using beamforming from multiple antennas at one location (MIMO) or different locations (COMP). This also requires very tight synchronization for phase alignment. Yet another option in the 6G playbook: connecting to multiple base stations, instead of just one (TDD). This also requires close synchronization between base stations to ensure transmit and receive data don’t interfere with each other. All of these technologies have a common thread: multiple elements working together. And these elements need to be in sync. Last Week's Theme: It's Lunar Time
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Industry News
Why use a spy balloon instead of a satellite? Cost and flexibility.
Though it may seem easy to destroy a high-altitude balloon, it is worth noting that satellites can also be destroyed with anti-satellite missiles or even hunter satellites. Because of this there is concern that any future conflict will extend to space.
A Space Force official also expressed concern about the cyber vulnerability of satellites, citing the Russian hacks of the ViaSat and Starlink satellites and jamming around Ukraine: “Right out of the gate, we saw both sides attacking satellite operations to degrade command and control. We see a lot of GPS interference to degrade those kinds of capabilities.”
A new International Council of Quantum Industry Associations was recently announced as a joint effort between the US Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), Quantum Industry Canada (QIC), Japan's Quantum Strategic Industry Alliance for Revolution (Q-STAR) and European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC).
Some Google Maps users have been reporting a "Searching for GPS" error but it seems to be limited to Android Auto.
Conferences
Workshop on Synchronization and Timing Systems, March 13 - 16, Vancouver, Canada
Satellite 2023, March 13 - 16, Washington DC
Space Symposium, April 17 - 20, Colorado Springs,CO
Commercialising Quantum Global, May 17 - 19, London UK
The More You Know...
One nice side effect of moving to 5G and 6G is the development of location and positioning projects and standards, including:
A recent NASA PNT Workshop showed off developments with interconnected drones and flying taxis.
A Netherlands “SuperGPS” research project evaluated “accurate positioning and time distribution like GPS" using synchronized base stations because “perfect timing means more precise positioning.”
An Australian 5G Positioning Testbed project between GMV, FrontierSI, Ericsson and Optus claimed "a key step forward for the use of 5G technology for high accuracy positioning."
A UK Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) project at Cranfield University that includes Inmarsat, Boeing, Saab, and Thales, is looking into digital aviation technology.
A Japan Tohoku University research project looked at using the SoftBank cell network to “evaluate its quality in monitoring crustal deformation” for early earthquake detection.
A Swedish paper claims that positioning and sensing in 6G could “support new use case families with extreme performance requirements,” but “ranging accuracy degrades mainly due to timing errors.”
All of these projects highlighted the need for accurate synchronization between the beacons.