ght and volume reductions in inertial measurement units (IMUs).ö Ring-laser gyroscopes are used in the IRSs of the European Space AgencyÆs Ariane satellites.
GPSs represent a major application area for ring-laser gyroscope technology. Sweden-based Celsius Tech, GP&C Systems, and the Swedish Space Corporation have improved the competitive position of with their Global Positioning and Communication (GP&C) system. The ôsecret of the GP&C system is that it adds a VHF communication facility to the GPS receiver, enabling the position of each user to be transmitted to a base station and to all other users within VI-IF range, by an advanced data link, based on GPS-time synchronized, self-organizing Time Division, Multiple Access (TDMA) technology, with very precisely defined time slots.ö
In the United States, a contract for the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) to improve the GPS, was ôawarded to a team headed by Wilcox in partnership with TRW and Hughes. The FAA expects the system to be complete by the end of 1998; however, problems remain to be solved, including upgrading of software, retrofitting of aircraft, and decisions concerning alternative landing programs for airports.ö
International adoption of GPS has been moving forward, ôafter years of resistance to a made-in-the United States, military-controlled solution. Efforts by FAA have eased the way, led by a laboratory-like test in which Fiji switched over to a pure GPS environment for air traffic control. The success of that test and the enthusiasm Fiji expressed for what it got for a minor investment have had a positive impact in the international arena. A tripartite European effort, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS), is a WAAS-like affair for GPS and p
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