> My wife half-heard a piece on the radio this morning saying that GPS
> instruments would fail next week unless they had previously been
> modified to take account of some transmission changes. They would
> simply be unable to find a position. Sound a bit like the millennium
> bug. Does anyone have any information about this, please? Users were
> advised to contact their suppliers. I'm feeling lost already so can you
> help?
>
> Frank
> --
> Frank Evans
This sounds familiar. It's not a y2k problem per se, though it of a
similar nature. I believe the issue is that a binary counter in the
GPS systems had few enough bits that they would reach overflow during
August 1999. I believe the limitation is on the satellites
themselves.
I don't have the book with me from which I learned this (it's "The
Millennium Bug: How to Survive the Coming Chaos", by Michael
S. Hyatt), nor do I remember the precise date. I will look tonight.
I believe that the book said that at the time it was written no
solution had been devised. It sounds like this transmission
modification must be the fix that DoD devised (or perhaps the
transmission modification is simply the wrap-around of the counter).
I wonder whether early GPS receivers will be able to cope...
It reminds me of DOS's famous "640 K memory limit.
Jim
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| Jim Cobb | 540 Arapeen Dr. #100 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
| Parametric | Salt Lake City, UT | (801)-588-4632 |
| Technology Corp. | 84108-1202 | Fax (801)-588-4650 |
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Familiar things happen, and mankind does not bother about them. It
requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.
-- Alfred N. Whitehead
