HRogge Wrote:I am not sure it makes much sense to use Interwave for this... the precision of the GPS depends on the accuracy of the clocks of the satellites and not of the signal transmission speed. Higher transmission speed makes it even more difficult to get your position right.The reason for using FTL comms for this is to ensure you can receive it anywhere in the Solar System, probably all the way out to the Oort Cloud. Yes, you get less accuracy than if you can be sure to pick-up EM signals (maybe you could do accurate local positioning using EM radiation?), but I was working on it being universal. It would require a really accurate measurement of the speed of FTL comms, and an assurance that it isn't going to drift.
So I would guess SPS sounds good, but with normal radio waves... or make it a PPS (Pulsar positioning system), which use some specialized waved antennas to listen to some known pulsars in our galaxy.
The only problem I could see with using FTL comms might be causality issues if people tried to be too clever. Having an accurate clock anywhere in the Solar System would be nice, and likely useful for a number of scientific as well as commercial purposes.
Mind you, if you can 'see' the stars, which might not be possible everywhere, PPS sounds good.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind