[ARC5] And then there were none

[frledda at att.net]

The telecom network will not dark without GPS timing, as timing can be distributed without GPS. We like to have an external timing like GPS, but we can live without, as elastic buffer and  moving pointers can absorb timing differences.  The IP network doesn't care about timing, as the protocol takes care of loss packets.  

We designed the network to work with outages, including timing outages.  I don't know much about microwave point to point radios, but I assume they have the same techniques and requirements.  We have had a telecom network, including microwave links, before GPS!

Best, Francesco K5URG



-----Original Message-----
From: arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net <arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of David Stinson
Sent: Saturday, December 7, 2019 6:55 PM
To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [ARC5] And then there were none

As a Railway person:

With the new Positive Train Control system taking charge on the railroads, if anything happens to GPS, rail traffic vital to communities all over the nation will come to a screeching halt. Trains may run at restricted speed, but that backs-up the following trains with compounding delays until the whole system becomes paralysed.  Knowledge of the previous, successful systems, which are being destroyed, is aging-out of the work force which maintains train control systems.   It will take many days or longer to "remember" that we could successfully run trains without GPS-dependent computers and networks.

That's just one system vital to national welfare.   Many digital microwave backbones which connect and coordinate across the country will go dark without GPS timing at every station.  A lot of the power grid is dependant on GPS timing to run their networks.  Once you have extensive and wide-spread power outages, you can soon find yourself in a "you don't have the tools, to enable the tools needed to use your tools" 
situation.  If I wanted to bring The West to its knees, GPS would be a priority target.
Placing so much dependence on the fragile spider-web of GPS is just the kind of smug, self-congratulating complacence that eventually gets us bit.

Dave S.


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