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(U//FOUO) 'Can You See Me Now?' - GPS Enabled Technologies
FROM: Gary Davis
Technical Director, Joint Proforma Center (S2J34)
Run Date: 04/27/2004
FROM: Gary Davis
Technical Director, Joint Proforma Center (S2J34)
(U//FOUO) Almost everyone is familiar with the cell phone catch phrase, "Can you hear me
now?" The next era, "Can you see me now?", has arrived. Numerous devices using Global
Positioning Systems (GPS) for determining their location have proliferated across every part of
society. These devices are not only able to transmit their location information, but also receive
location information from similar devices. Imagine being able to see where all of your buddies
are located when planning a lunch. You could overlay the locations of Chinese restaurants in the
area, select the best or closest one, and send that location to your buddies. Well, that time is
already here.
(U//FOUO) GPS-based systems, and similar technologies, enable us to know many things such
as:
where am I;
where are my buddies;
where is my car;
where is my boat;
where are other boats in my area.
(U//FOUO) Obviously, these are just a few examples, and the amount of information from these
types of devices has exploded recently, resulting in an "Information Tsunami." This huge wave
of information is only going to grow larger. As costs of Global Positioning Systems become more
affordable, these devices will be integrated into our daily life and become an increasingly
invisible service that we come to rely on for even the simplest of tasks.
(S//SI) One of the first examples of the global use of this type of technology is the ITU-R
M.1371-1 recommendation jointly developed by the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) and known in the public domain as
Automatic Identification System (AIS). AIS is a standard that governs the means for
transmitting and receiving information on a ship's position, course, speed, name, type of cargo,
size, destination, etc. It also provides a framework for extending the basic capability to include
TELEX messages, ship way points, and gives vendors the capability to provide proprietary
services to ships outfitted with its equipment.
(S//SI) AIS-derived SIGINT is already available to the SIGINT production chain, with
dissemination limited under interim OGC (Office of the General Counsel) guidance. Although
significant legal and policy hurdles remain, SIGINT exploitation of AIS is already a success in
terms of grappling with widespread self-disclosure technologies. Exploitation of AIS exemplifies
how NSA, as a Combat Support Agency, can help assure information superiority by providing
precise and timely geopositions far beyond the range of most tactical sensors -- allowing not
only enhanced Force Protection but also setting the stage for automated correlation of
unidentified commercial radar intercepts to specific vessels.
(S//SI) And this is just the beginning. NSA's Joint PROFORMA Center (JPC) is the Executive
Agent for developing these new technologies. The JPC is responsible for the technical analysis,
oversight of the processor architecture, coordination of data dissemination, and is the
Intelligence Community's SIGINT focal point for these systems. JPC will help provide an
unprecedented level of detailed information on the location and movements of high value assets
including people, ships, cargo, etc. for support in the global war on terrorism and support to
military operations worldwide. For more detailed information please contact the Joint PROFORMA
Center ("go proforma" in your browser).
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108