ITT Exelis has announced a significant development in the field of GPS technology. To be known as the Exelis GPS Interference, Detection and Geolocation (IDG), it will provide near real-time geolocation of intentional and unintentional GPS jamming sources through a network of sensors and advanced geolocation technology.

"From security to transportation and almost every sector of the economy, the world relies on receiving precise GPS timing and positioning data," said Mark Pisani, vice president and general manager, Precision Instruments and Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Systems, ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems.

"As GPS jamming devices become cheaper and more accessible, there is a greater need to protect military, commercial and industrial systems from a diverse range of threats.

This technology is a major step forward in delivering actionable interference intelligence to an array of GPS users." IDG technology is based upon a network of threat detection sensors that are networked to a centralized server running Exelis-developed geolocation algorithms.

These sensors would be strategically located around high-risk areas, such as airports or utility grids, to instantaneously sense and triangulate the location of the jamming source.

Should a threat be detected, users would receive pin-point geolocation information and actionable intelligence in order to respond. The Exelis solution would benefit a broad range of GPS customers and users.

Jamming devices can send out signals capable of disrupting the synchronization of a utility power grid and creating significant infrastructure and economic damage.

In each of these scenarios, IDG would detect, analyze and geolocate the hostile signal, sending the intelligence through a secure network in order for the user to mitigate the threat.

IDG builds on the rich legacy Exelis has established in the field of GPS and PNT.

Exelis payloads and payload components have been aboard every GPS satellite for almost 40 years. Today, Exelis is involved in building tomorrow's Global Positioning System, developing and integrating the navigation payloads for GPS III.

Exelis is also providing navigation processing components, precision monitor station receivers, and key components of the system security design for the GPS Operational Control System, also known as GPS OCX.