Frank van Diggelen

Dr. Frank van Diggelen is an electrical engineer best known as a pioneer of Assisted GPS/GNSS, the technique that allows GPS and GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) to work in phones. He is a Distinguished Engineer at Google, where he works on precise location for Android. He is president of the Institute of Navigation. He serves on NASA’s Position, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board, which advises the U.S. government on GPS-related policy and planning. He also teaches GPS/GNSS: for many years at Stanford University, and online for Coursera. He has written and contributed to several books on GPS/GNSS“Position, Navigation, and Timing in the 21st Century”, J. Morton, F. van Diggelen, J. Spilker, and B. Parkinson; Two volume, Wiley-IEEE Press, 2020, See "A-GPS, Assisted GPS, GNSS and SBAS”, F. van Diggelen, Artech House publishers, 2009“Assisted GPS and location-based services”, Chapter of McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology 2009, pp 33-36, McGraw-Hill publishers, 2009. He holds over one hundred issued US patents on GNSS, and has published over one hundred technical papers and articles
== Inventions ==
Van Diggelen and his colleagues created methods that form the cornerstones of Assisted GNSS technology, enabling GNSS to work in a phone. Specifically, these techniques enable a GNSS receiver to get a position fix faster than using traditional techniques; and they provide greater sensitivity: allowing acquisitions and use of weak signals that are invisible with traditional techniques.
* “Time-free GNSS”, computing position before the broadcast satellite time has been decoded by the receiver. This technique simultaneously computes the receiver position and the satellite positions“Time-free GPS” US 6417801 Method and apparatus for Time-free processing of GPS signals. Also US 6734821; US 6937187; US 7245253; US 7245255; US 7701389; US 7940214; US 8692712..
* “Long term orbits”, providing pre-computed data so that receivers can compute accurate position without decoding the broadcast orbits“Long term orbits” US 6542820 Method and apparatus for generating and distributing satellite tracking information. Also US 6411892; US 6487499; US 6510387; US 6560534; US 6587789; US 6651000; US 6703972; US 6704651; US 6813560; US 6829535; US 6853916; US 6958726; US 7158080; US 7443340; US 7548816; US 7589667; US 7693660; US 8032301; US 8090536; US 8164518; US 8212719; US 8358245; US 8514126; US 8930137; US 8963773; US 9274225; US 9599720..
* “Doppler navigation”, using instantaneous Doppler measurements to compute position of a receiver without measuring range from satellites“Doppler navigation” US 7133772 Method and apparatus for navigation using instantaneous Doppler measurements from satellites. Also US 7595752; US 7944394; US 7987048; US 8134500; US 8581779; US 8643541.
He also pioneered the use of reflected GNSS signals, such as occur in cities, to compute accurate location of GNSS receivers, particularly in smartphones“Reflected signals” US 11428822 Methods and systems for location determination. Also US 11391848; US 11275179..
== Education ==
Van Diggelen studied electrical engineering at The University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (BSc) and did his PhD at Cambridge University, England. He is also a graduate of the South African Naval College, Gordon’s Bay, where he studied Navigation before being appointed a Navigation Officer in the South African Navy.
== Career ==
Following his PhD, van Diggelen has worked exclusively in location:
* Navsys Corporation, Colorado: GPS Research work for the US Coast Guard, and US Air Force.
* Ashtech, California: GPS receivers for Differential GPS and Real Time Kinematic (centimeter accurate) location.
* Global Locate, California: GPS chips for Assisted GPS. First GPS in any Smartphone, 2005. Acquired by Broadcom Inc.
* Broadcom Inc., California: First GPS in iPhone (iPhone 3G, 1998
* Google, California: Indoor and Outdoor location with WiFi and GNSS.
== Teaching ==
* Stanford University Consulting Professor, taught postgraduate class AA272C "Introduction to GPS", 2010–2019. Co-creator and lecturer for the first GPS MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in 2014, hosted on Coursera. Worldwide participation of 31,000 students from 192 countries. Now available on YouTube.
* GNSS Seminars, US (Navtech GPS, GIS World) Taught eight different courses over a 15 year period. Including: Introduction to GPS; RTK; GLONASS; Wireless Location; and A-GPS.
* Lyceum school program, San Jose Taught navigation to middle-school children, culminating in a project where students calculated latitude and longitude within one degree using only the sun, a compass, watch and protractor.
* Student Teaching and Education Program (STEP), Johannesburg, South Africa Volunteer-run weekend high school program, operated by students from Witwatersrand University. Van Diggelen ran the mathematics department and taught classes for 700 underprivileged students from Soweto and Alexandra.
== Awards ==
Van Diggelen is an (2022), “for contributions to assisted global navigation satellite systems for consumer applications”. He is also a Royal Institute of Navigation (2018), and an Institute of Navigation (2015). He received the RIN (2021), the(2015), and the (2010). All for his work in Assisted GNSS and related applications and technology. As an undergraduate he won the University of the Witwatersrand Chancellor's Gold Medal for the best academic results in all graduating classes, and the Chamber of Mines Gold Medal for the best results in the Engineering School (1988). At the South African Naval college he won the Midshipman Award, for placing 1st in the Officer’s Course, and the Navigation Prize (1982).
Category:1964 births
Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Category:Fellow Members of the IEEE
Category:Electrical engineers