Originally Posted by
BEagle
For any GPS to 'communicate' with another GPS would require:
Your position to become a floating waypoint.
This information is somehow uplinked. How do you propose to do that?
The information is downlinked. How do you propose to receive it?
The information is displayed. For it to be of any use, it would require a rapid refresh rate.
Now think about the bandwidth needed for several 'GPS' transponders to do this.
Or just LOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW!
There must be something better than the mark one eyeball! You're thinking about it in the context of current GPS receivers, but why would you want to start from there, when it has all the problems you listed?
The kind of device that's required would simply have to broadcast its GPS position, using the same technology as wireless broadband. The amount of data involved (ID +coordinates) is tiny, and by transmitting at low power, so that only nearby aircraft could pick it up, the bandwidth should not get saturated and the current consumption should be low. The back end processing would involve keeping a list of the most recent positions and using that to calculate the track of each aircraft, so that conflicts could be identified. Such a device should be able to operate on rechargeable lithium cells, so there would be no excuse for even gliders not to install it.
Hopefully, by publishing the idea here first, nobody should be able to patent it, so competition should keep the price low.
