Press and News - 17.07.2006

GREAT Consortium to Aid Design of First Mass Market Receiver for Galileo, Europe's new Global Satellite Navigation System for 2012

Thalwil, Switzerland -- July 17, 2006 -- As part of a major series of programmes, funded by the Galileo Joint Undertaking, a consortium of six European organisations - GREAT (Galileo REceiver for the mAss markeT) - has been established to participate in a two year programme to perform research and development of enabling technologies for Mass Market Receivers for Galileo services.

Within the new Galileo environment - Europe's own equivalent of GPS - high volume Mass Market Receivers are key to opening up the market for precision location services and to helping a number of suppliers move quickly towards volume supply.

Through this project - part of the 2nd call of the 6th Framework Programme for Galileo Research and Development - the GREAT Consortium will exploit the special characteristics of the Galileo signal to deliver real benefit to Europe's consumer and location based services market.

GREAT has been set up and will be led by PA Consulting Group, the consortium's coordinator - a leading technology management specialist with over 25 years' experience in the design of mobile communications products for GSM and 3G. The Consortium comprises five other satellite navigation experts from across Europe including:

ACORDE - a Spanish SME with extensive RF design experience for satellite and communications systems
DLR - The German Aerospace Center, well versed in satellite navigation and communication, mobile radio and aeronautical communications
Tampere University of Technology - Finnish experts in algorithm design for GNSS systems
u-blox AG - a leading Swiss fabless developer and manufacturer of GPS chipsets and GPS receiver modules

The project will comprise three distinct phases - core technology development, prototyping and testing - achieving major blocks of demonstrable baseband IP, which in turn will allow further developments to be kick-started.

Work will include development of novel front-end RF designs, as well as the algorithms and baseband technology to allow the Galileo signal to be successfully used in indoor locations. The work is focussed around technology suitable for use in new and next generations of mobile phones (3G and beyond) and similar products, allowing a wide range of location based services to be effectively deployed.

GALILEO will ensure Europe's strategic independence and enable European companies to be involved in a growing sector of industry whose annual market could be over EUR 200 billion in 2020 with 3 billion receivers in service.

The GREAT project is managed by the Galileo Joint Undertaking through EU 6FP funds.

Related Links:

GREAT Consortium
Galileo Joint Undertaking

GREAT Consortium Members:

PA Consulting Group - Consortium leader

PA is a leading management, systems and technology consulting firm. Operating worldwide in more than 35 countries, PA draws on the knowledge and experience of 3,000 people, whose skills extend from the initial generation of ideas, insights, solutions and new technology, all the way through to detailed implementation.

Through its wireless technology expertise PA Consulting Group is the leading supplier of end -to -end solutions for the wireless industry. PA's technology-led consultancy solutions for 3G operators range from strategy development and business planning through to services creation, network design and roll-out management. PA supports vendors directly through the provision of contract design of infrastructure and handset products, marketing and bidding support and infrastructure element design.

For more infofrmation, please contact:

Graham Bell
phone: +44 1763 267 325, e-mail: graham.bell@paconsulting.com

Beverley Adams
phone: +44 1763 285 260, e-mail: beverley.adams@paconsulting.com

PA Consulting Group, Cambridge Technology Centre, Melbourn, Herts. Tel +44 1763 267 492

ACORDE

ACORDE is a Spanish SME, whose main activities are system engineering, industrial prototype development and manufacturing of small and medium series. It is a very fast growing start-up, with activities in telecommunication, space and defence sectors. ACORDE staff is composed primarily of 23 electronic and telecommunication engineers, and 15 laboratory technicians and administrative personnel. In the electronic defence sector ACORDE has become one of the leaders for satellite communications.

For more infofrmation, please contact:

Marco Detratti
phone: +34 942 200 923, e-mail: marco.detratti@acorde.biz

DLR

At DLR's Institute for Communications and Navigation, new systems for radio communication and radio navigation are conceived and developed. The application environments are aeronautical and terrestrial, both for broadcasting and for point to point usage. The research in communications addresses satellite constellation design, propagation modeling, signal modulation and coding, as well as radio resource allocation. New communication services for airplanes and trains have been developed and are being demonstrated. Recent experiments using optical links provide previously unseen data rates and efficiencies to airborne platforms and satellites. Finally, new communications systems are being developed for replacing the old-fashioned communication in air-traffic management by a modern design.

Galileo is currently receiving substantial attention in Europe. The understanding and handling of major impairments to the accuracy and reliability of satellite navigation are key working areas of DLR. This includes in particular the ionospheric delay and scintillation, as well as multipath propagation. Measurements of multipath delay with the highest resolution were performed at DLR. In the area of applications, the focus is on reliability for safety of life services, comprehensible accuracy for precise positioning, as well as availability for indoor service. DLR is also strongly engaged in the validation and verification of Galileo.

For more infofrmation, please contact:

Stephan Sand
phone: +49 8153 28 14 64, e-mail: stephan.sand@dlr.de

Uwe-Carsten Fiebig
phone: +49 8153 28 28 53, e-mail: uwe-fiebig@dlr.de

German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Communications and Navigation, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, Germany

Tampere University of Technology

Tampere University of Technology (TUT) specializes in the education and scientific research of technology and architecture.

TUT offers its students versatile undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education in technology and architecture. In its research, TUT produces new technological knowledge and resultant new innovations for the business world.

TUT collaborates closely with the business world by providing training and research services.

For more infofrmation, please contact:

Jari Nurmi
phone: +358 40 506 4460, e-mail: Jari.nurmi@tut.fi

Heikki Hurskainen
phone: +358 3 3115 3872, e-mail: Heikki.hurskainen@tut.fi

Simona Lohan
phone: +358 50 309 4927, e-mail: Elena.simona.lohan@tut.fi

u-blox AG

u-blox is an international company headquartered in Switzerland, with sales organizations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1997, u-blox develops leading positioning technology, products and services based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for the automotive and mobile communications markets. For more information, please visit www.u-blox.com.

u-blox Contacts

Clemens Bürgi
phone: +41 (44) 722 74 83, e-mail: clemens.buergi@u-blox.com

Further Information

Press Releases 2006

Press Release (PDF Format)

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