Galleon Systems, one of the world's leading NTP time server specialists, http://www.galsys.co.uk is preparing for the next generation of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) following over a decade of dominance by the US Global Positioning System.
Currently GPS is the world's only GNSS and provides time and positioning information worldwide but the European Galileo project is now only a few years from operation and Galleon Systems are preparing their next generation of NTP servers to ensure they can take advantage of the new satellite network.
"Most people immediately think of GPS as solely a satellite navigation system but its time signals are currently used by countless numbers of NTP servers to synchronise networks all over the world,' says Mark Neal, managing director of Galleon Systems.
NTP servers are synchronisation devices that receive the time signals from atomic clocks and can currently receive timing information from GPS receiving a timestamp directly from the satellites' atomic clocks or national time and frequency broadcasts. However, over the last decade the demand for GPS based systems has rocketed thanks to increases in coverage.
"GPS time servers are now the preferred device for receiving time and frequency information and the new Galileo project is an exciting prospect for us. We are ensuring our next generation of NTP server will be able to receive both signals, further increasing coverage and accuracy," added Mr Neal.
Galileo is a Europe wide project intended to provide time and positioning information along similar lines to the GPS network, however, as the USA's system has been in orbit for over two decades, Galileo is expected to supersede the current network's technology, claim those involved in the project.
“Galileo is intended to have somewhat better positioning and timing performance than GPS," explains Peter Whibberley from the National Physical Laboratory’s Time and Frequency Department (NPL).
He added that the proposed new duel system NTP servers by Galleon will have major benefits over current GPS receivers:
"The great advantage of a combined GPS and Galileo receiver over a GPS-only receiver is that it will be able to see around twice as many satellites. The greater number of satellite signals available should in itself give an improvement in position and timing accuracy," he said.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Galileo is a European Union project and is expected to become fully operational by 2013, with timing and positioning signals available at the same time.
Galleon Systems is a UK based NTP time server specialist providing time synchronisation and NTP products worldwide for the last two decades.
For information about the Galileo project contact the National Physical Laboratories times and frequency department via http://www.npl.co.uk/
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Galleon Systems Ltd
Birmingham B33 OLG UK
Telephone: +44 (0)121 608 4433
Fax: +44 (0)121 60 4477
Email: enquiries@galleonmail.com
http://www.galsys.co.uk
