Gnostech is excited to be turning 40 this year, and we’re extremely proud of our legacy providing engineering services and solutions for the warfighter. Today, we’re looking back at how our company started and honoring past team accomplishments, in order to gain a better understanding of our origins and to inform the continued evolution of our capabilities in order to meet tomorrow’s requirements.
We initially provided GPS simulation and software development support to the U.S. Navy, specifically the former Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, PA. Our first prime contract was awarded in 1982 providing GPS development support to the U.S. Navy, as well as designing and fabricating specialized monitoring and measurement instrumentation for the commercial manufacturing sector.
Additionally, Gnostech provided engineering expertise for the GPS Directorate (GPSD) from the beginning – before the current generator of satellites launched into orbit. We participated in the development of the design of signal spectrums and satellite data messages. Our engineers identified optimal design criteria and produced some of the earliest GPS products, including almanacs and Dilution of Precision (DOP) analyses for the early military users. Gnostech continued to grow in parallel with the program and worked with key pioneers of the program such as Colonel Bradford Parkinson and Dr. AJ Van Dierendonck to enhance and refine GPS capabilities such as Differential GPS (DGPS), Wide Area Augmented System (WAAS), the Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) and now Modernized GPS (M-Code, MNAV, CNAV, etc.). Over the years, we have had the privilege to work with multiple customers including the Air Force (746th Test Squadron Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), ESC Hanscom AFB, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Munitions Directorate Eglin AFB), U.S. Navy (Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC)), U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and multiple Joint Programs.
Gnostech also developed a multitude of GPS mission modeling and analysis tools for the GPS Central Engineering Activity at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, including the Advanced Global Navigation Simulator (AGNS). AGNS is a modeling and Radio Frequency (RF) simulation tool that generates GPS navigation signals and models intentional or unintentional RF interference. AGNS software utilizes the flexibility and scalability of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology, resulting in the ability to generate an all-in-view satellite constellation; allowing up to 192 simultaneous satellites and/or jamming signals. This modeling and simulation (M&S) tool is used to evaluate all Navy GPS systems before deployment in the Fleet.
As our capabilities have continued to expand to meet evolving requirements in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) domain over the past four decades, it was the work with our first GPS customer that helped lay the foundation.