Theme of the Week
...Looking Forward GPS has been a cornerstone for the modern world for nearly four decades. All financial transactions, communications, data centers and power grids rely on timing from GPS. And that will continue – GPS and other GNSS systems are critical for global navigation and timing. But there are future needs that they cannot address:
6G networks that require tight synchronization “to make far more efficient use of spectrum."
Self-driving cars, flying taxis, and delivery drones cruising effortlessly through large cities.
Precise indoor navigation and timing for manufacturing and delivery robots.
Position sensors accurate enough for early tsunami and earthquake warning.
Weather detection using RF signals delays caused by water vapor in the air.
Quantum networks that may one day entangle quantum computers.
Accurate, traceable, and verifiable time stamps for financial transactions.
A lunar GPS network to support manned missions to the moon.
Deep space missions including detection of dark matter.
Satellites in tight formation flying for scientific and communication missions.
It's 2023 and the future beckons. Last Week's Theme: Looking Back…
Industry News
The race for broadband-speed 6G networks is underway. China reportedly leads other countries in 6G patents and has over 2M 5G base stations compared to 100,000 in the US. And they will need better synchronization "to coordinate the sharing of frequency bands in real-time, rather than relying on guard time and guard bands (the buffer zones between different chunks of spectrum).”
The Q-NEXT quantum research center's recent “A Roadmap for Quantum Interconnects” report outlines the research and scientific discoveries needed to develop the technologies for distributing quantum information on a 10- to 15-year timescale.
The US $1.7T 2023 spending bill “includes the highest research and development-driving budget in the Pentagon’s history and billions in additional funds to accelerate the military’s adoption of cutting-edge capabilities”
The moon also needs its own GPS system, and the Aerospace Corporation and Space Systems Command have ideas.
Pitchbook’s 2023 US Venture Capital Outlook noted that fundraising hit records in 2022, “surpassing 2021's figure in just three quarters…Dry powder remains extremely high, but dealmaking has continuously slowed on a quarterly basis throughout the year.” Meanwhile The Quantum Insider prepared their assessment of quantum investments in 2022 and quantum predictions for 2023.
If you suffered from travel delays over the holidays, there is hope that future quantum computers could one day help in “untangling operational disruptions.”
Conferences
Time and Money Conference, January 17, New York, New York
Photonics West and Quantum West, January 28 - February 2, San Francisco, CA
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
The More You Know...
Recently Russia has expanded their jamming of GPS into Russia and Moscow in the light of drone attacks. This is wreaking havoc with commercial flights and portends further escalation as the conflict drags on. When Russia originally invaded, they also expected easy disruption of Ukraine's communication networks. But they didn’t count on the resiliency of commercial satellite systems. Starlink, in particular, has been resilient to Russia’s cyber-attacks with their “ability to quickly update the system’s software.” And threats of attacks using anti-satellite missiles “would also be a lot less useful against a constellation like Starlink than against older systems. Knocking out a single Starlink would achieve more or less nothing. If you want to damage the space-based bit of the system, you need to get rid of lots of them.”