8/8/2019 Important notice about the GPS Week-Number Roll-Over problem

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GPS Week-Number Roll-Over

problem

Important notice
about the GPS
Week-Number
Roll-Over
problem
The details in this announcement are believed correct at the time of
writing (April 9th, 2019) but there have been a number of recent,
unexpected developments. Because of this, there may be further
updates to come.

April 30thUpdate: The NMEA analysis technique described below only

works well when the GPS receiver under test has a 3D fix. The text below
has been modified accordingly.

May 3rdUpdates:

1. A new firmware build is available for most DM24 Mk3 digitisers,

DM24SxEAM data acquisition units and all digital instruments (*TD,
*TDE) which incorporate DM24 Mk3s. This firmware can correct
timestamps from affected receivers. Details are given in the
"Mitigation" section, below.
2. A new receiver identification tool is available for use with DM24SxEAM
data acquisition units in cylindrical casings and *TDE instruments.
Click here for information about this tool (/howtos/tsip-test.shtml).
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8/8/2019 Important notice about the GPS Week-Number Roll-Over problem

Güralp Equipment
April 2019

Güralp have been advised that problems will arise with the Trimble Lassen GPS
receiver modules used in Güralp receivers supplied between 2003 and 2015. Both
Lassen iQ modules and Lasssen SQ modules are affected.

Guralp Systems have used four suppliers of GPS equipment to date: Garmin,
Motorola, Trimble and u-blox. Garmin and Motorola receivers (which were sold
before 2003) cannot be supported and their status with respect to the Week
Number Roll Over Problem is unknown.

In general, older and larger GPS units contain Motorola or Garmin receivers.
Trimble receivers were used in the more compact GPS receivers. In the pictures
below, the Trimble-based units are the two to the far right. The body diameter of the
Trimble-based units is 55 mm compared to 95 mm for the Garmin model.

Trimble chip-sets were used in the compact GPS type, as seen in the far right.

More recent GPS receivers use u-blox modules. U-blox have confirmed in an
official Compliance Statement that “… the following u-blox GNSS chips and
modules have been tested and can handle the year 2019 GPS week number
rollover without issue: u-blox 7, u-blox 8, and u-blox M8 products.” A copy of this
statement can be found here (wnro-problems_img/u-blox_statement.pdf).

All black GPS receivers incorporate u-blox chip-sets and are unaffected.
All white GPS receivers with serial numbers beginning G3 (i.e. G30123)
incorporate u-blox chip-sets and are unaffected. These units were sold from
the 1st of February 2015 onwards.

Identifying affected GPS

receivers
There are a number of basic methods which can be used to identify affected
receivers; each detailed in a section below:

Supply date
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8/8/2019 Any GPS receivers shipped before
Important notice the 1sttheofGPS
about March, 2010, areRoll-Over
Week-Number one of problem
three types:
Motorola, Garmin or Trimble SQ. Receivers based on Motorola and Garmin chip-
sets can no longer be supported. Receivers based on Trimble SQ units should be
upgraded to avoid problems.

Physical inspection
Look first at the bottom of the receiver. There is normally a small, white engraved
plate giving the serial number. In this example, the serial number is G16096.

If your serial number begins G3…, you have a u-blox receiver and will be
unaffected by the roll-over.
If your serial number begins G1… or G2… (or your unit does not have a serial
number plate attached), you may have a Trimble-based receiver.

If you suspect that you may have a Trimble-based unit, the top of the GPS receiver
can be unscrewed to reveal the antenna, processor and associated electronics.
This is easiest if you brace the receiver's spike and connector against the top edge
of a desk:

Compare your unit to the photographs below, paying particular attention to the
antenna, which is the uppermost component and is identified by its silver top:
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8/8/2019 Important notice about the GPS Week-Number Roll-Over problem

u-blox module
Lassen SQ module Lassen iQ module Antenna has a brown casing and
Antenna has a cream casing Antenna has a black casing is significantly smaller than the
Lassen antennæ

In addition, receivers based on u-blox chip-sets have only one PCB assembly while
those based on Lassen chip-sets have two or three, stacked above each other. In
the illustration below, the receiver on the left uses a u-blox chip-set while the
receiver on the right uses a Trimble Lassen chip-set. Receivers based on the u-
blox chip-set, like that on the left, will be unaffected.

Receiver interrogation
In some cases, it is possible to directly interrogate the receiver to discover the
firmware release that it is running. This is possible on DM24SxEAM data
acquisition units in cylindrical casings and *TDE instruments. Please see the
Receiver Identification Tool web-page (/howtos/tsip-test.shtml) for information about
this technique.

NMEA analysis
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8/8/2019 If physical access is inconvenient,
Important noticereceivers can Week-Number
about the GPS often be identified byproblem
Roll-Over subtle
differences in the NMEA messages that they produce as output.

Guralp Systems’ Trimble Lassen GPS receivers can be distinguished from earlier
types by their use of the GPZDA NMEA sentence in their output stream. Earlier
types used the GPRMC sentence instead. There are also differences in the output
between Lassen iQ models and Lassen SQ models which can sometimes be seen
in the NMEA data.

You can access the NMEA in a number of ways. (The simplest way is to connect
the receiver directly to a PC running terminal emulator software. A standard Güralp
grey/blue power/data cable (CAB-BDA-0036) can be used for this purpose and the
emulator should be set to 4800 Baud, 8N1 with no flow control. We shall ignore this
option for now because a visual inspection is quicker if you have physical access.)

There are methods which can capture NMEA from a receiver while it is still in use.
Each involves reconfiguring the attached digitiser temporarily, so that it copies the
incoming NMEA from the GPS receiver directly into its status stream, from where it
can be inspected.

Note: These techniques require that the GPS receiver under test
has a 3D fix, so that the NMEA sentences being analysed are fully
populated. If you are using this technique to test a number of
receivers using a single digitiser, please ensure that each receiver
has a good view of the sky and allow a few minutes for it to
achieve a fix before capturing the NMEA output.

If you are using a Guralp DM24 or CD24 digitiser, either stand-alone, combined
with an EAM or as part of a 3TD, 3ESPD, 40TD or 3ESPCD or any *TDE
instrument, instruct it to output NMEA sentences as follows:

1. Open a connection to the command line of the digitiser:

If you are using Scream, right-click on the digitiser icon in the source tree
and select "Terminal" from the context menu.
If you are using the web interface of an EAM, DM24SxEAM or *TDE
instrument, choose "FORTH terminal access" from the left-hand menu.
If you are using the command line of an EAM, DM24SxEAM or *TDE
instrument, run the command data-terminal and choose the correct
digitiser from the list.
2. Type OK-1 and press ENTER to enable the extended command set.
3. Type 2 MON ! (2_space_MON_space_exclamation-mark; the space before
the last character is important) and press ENTER. Now wait:
For a DM24, wait for 20 seconds.
For a CD24, wait for 10 minutes.
4. Type 1 MON ! (1_space_MON_space_exclamation-mark) and press ENTER.
5. Type FLUSH-STATUS and press ENTER.
6. Type [SEAL] and press ENTER.
7. Leave command mode by closing the terminal window or issuing GO.

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8/8/2019 The following screen-shots show
Important theabout
notice procedure
the GPS being caried Roll-Over
Week-Number out in (a)problem
Scream, (b)
an EAM's command line and (c) and EAM's web interface.

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8/8/2019 Now look at the statusImportant
stream notice
produced
about by
the the
GPSdigitiser:
Week-Number Roll-Over problem

If you are using Scream, open the main window, select the digitiser in the
source tree (the left-hand list) and then double-click the status stream (the one
with an ID ending 00) in the right-hand window.
If you are using the EAM's web interface, navigate to the main status display
using the top entry on the left-hand menu. Tick the "Show hidden values"
check-box at the bottom of the resulting screen. Select the tab for your
digitiser: the NMEA strings will be displayed among the status messages here.
If you do not see the NMEA, wait a few minutes and then refresh the page.
If you are using the command line of an EAM, type the command

grep NMEA /var/log/messages | less

and then use the space-bar to scroll through the output, page by page.

Whilst 2 MON ! was active, the digitiser will have copied all of the NMEA
sentences it received — several every second — into the status stream.

You can recognise NMEA from its similarity to the sample below. Each NMEA
sentence begins $G and ends with an asterisk (*) folowed by two hexadecimal
digits.

Note: the NMEA you see may have extra information at the
beginning of each line, depending on the technique you used to
view it. This does not cause any problems.

$GPZDA,110432.48,17,08,2005,,*66
$GPGGA,110432.00,5121.6536,N,00109.8180,W,1,06,1.83,00125,M,04
7,M,,*7A
$GPGSA,A,3,21,10,28,08,26,29,,,,,,,2.55,1.83,1.78*0B
$GPGSV,2,1,08,27,39,059,31,21,16,322,36,10,72,211,45,28,29,13
8,36*78
$GPGSV,2,2,08,02,07,208,,08,72,084,39,26,33,280,41,29,49,284,4
3*71
$GPZDA,110433.47,17,08,2005,,*68
$GPGGA,110433.00,5121.6536,N,00109.8180,W,1,06,1.83,00125,M,04
7,M,,*7B
$GPGSA,A,3,21,10,28,08,26,29,,,,,,,2.55,1.83,1.78*0B
$GPGSV,2,1,08,27,39,059,32,21,16,322,35,10,72,211,45,28,29,13
8,36*78
$GPGSV,2,2,08,02,07,208,,08,72,084,38,26,33,280,41,29,49,284,4
3*70

Look out for the sentences beginning $GPGSA. These sentences should continue
$GPGSA,A,3, as shown above. This means that the receiver has an automatic 3D
fix, which is necessary for this technique to work. If these sentences begin
$GPGSA,M,, $GPGSA,A,1, or $GPGSA,A,2,, check that the receiver has a good
view of the sky and, if necessary, wait until you see $GPGSA,A,3, before
proceeding.

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8/8/2019 Once you are satisified that thenotice
Important receiver
about has a 3D
the GPS fix, copy a Roll-Over
Week-Number sample of the NMEA
problem

output sentences into

our on-line analyser (/apps/NMEA_Discriminator.html) in order to identify the
model of your receiver.

Mitigation
Note: This information applies to users of:
stand-alone DM24 digitisers;
DM24 Mk3 and DM24 Mk2 digitisers integrated into 3TD,
3ESPCD and 40TD instruments;
DM24 Mk3 and DM24 Mk2 digitisers integrated into data
acquisition systems, such as the DM24S3EAM; and
CD24 digitisers integrated into 6TD, 3ESPCD and 3ESPCDE
instruments.

DM24 Mk1 digitisers can no longer be supported.

Users of other Güralp digitisers and instruments should contact

support@guralp.com (mailto:support@guralp.com) for advice.

If you have a Lassen SQ, you should take remedial action before the 28th of
July, 2019.
If you have a Lassen iQ, you should take remedial action before the 29th of
May, 2021.
If you have a u-blox, no remedial action is required: your receiver will not be
affected by the 2019 WNRO. If you are using it in conjunction with a DM24
Mk3 digitiser, a digitiser firmware upgrade is recommended. See below for
details.

If you need to take remedial action, the following options are available:

The entire receiver can be replaced with a new model which is unaffected by
the WRNO problem.
Güralp can upgrade your receiver with a new PCB assembly. This will involve
returning your receiver to the factory.
Your local distributor may be able to upgrade your receiver with a new PCB
assembly. This will involve returning your receiver to your distributor. Please
contact your distributor to see whether they offer this service.
You can purchase a "field upgrade kit" for your receiver, which will allow you to
replace its existing PCB assembly with a new one which is immune to the
WNRO problem. The procedure is straightforward and requires only a few
standard tools. You can browse the GPS receiver upgrade procedure in an on-
line HTML version (/documents/html/PRC-GPS-0001) or download a PDF
copy version (/documents/PRC-GPS-0001.pdf).

In addition to upgrading the hardware, a firmware upgrade for DM24 Mk3 digitisers
is available which should be applied in most cases. The upgrade allows the manual
setting of a "pivot date". If a connected GPS receiver reports a date earlier than the
configured pivot date, the firmware will add 1024 weeks to the reported date -
possibly repeatedly - until the resulting date is later than the pivot date. This
upgrade allows
www.guralp.com/howtos/gps-wnro.shtml the DM24 to handle all future GPS WNRO events. 8/12
8/8/2019 Although this upgradeImportant
addresses the
notice problems
about the GPSanticipated
Week-Numberover the next
Roll-Over few
problem

months and years, we still recommend performing the hardware upgrade as well.

Note: We are not able to provide an equivalent firmware update for CD24
digitisers, DM24 Mk2 digitisers or the corresponding integrated
instruments. For these types of systems,a GPS receiver hardware upgrade
is the only solution.

The new receivers offer the following advantages:

Improved leap-second support. With older receivers, the digitiser should be

manually notified in advance of each leap-second. The new receivers do this
automatically using a custom NMEA sentence.
Field upgradeable. The operation of the GPS system and the receiver chip-set
are beyond our control and there have already been unpredicted problems,
such as the GPS WNRO issue and the Trimble leap-second bug. The
supervisory processor can be reprogrammed in the field to adapt the receiver
should any new problems appear, offering a high degree of future-proofing.
Lower power consumption: reduced by >50% for ten-pin units with a 15 V
supply and by >30% for six-pin units from a 5 V supply (as provided by a
CD24).
Interchangeability. Unlike earlier receivers, the CD24 and DM24 models of the
new receivers are identical other than the connector, allowing inventories to be
simplified by the use of adapter cables.
No lithium cell. Earlier receivers relied on built-in lithium cells to maintain
settings when powered down. Degraded cells could corrupt the configuration
or leak and damage the receiver.
More channels. The new receivers support 56 channels, compared to 12 for
the Trimble iQ or 8 for the Trimble SQ modules.
Faster start-ups. The new receivers can obtain a fix in a fraction of the time
taken by the older models.

A list of applicable systems, a detailed description of the upgrade procedure and a

link from which to download the new firmware are available at the WNRO firmware
update web page (/sw/WNRO-firmware-upgrade-for-the-dm24-mk3.shtml). For
more information, please contact support@guralp.com
(mailto:support@guralp.com) or sales@guralp.com (mailto:sales@guralp.com) for
further advice.

Background information
Note: The use of the term "GPS" in this document refers to the US-
operated NavStar/GPS (https://www.gps.gov/) Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS). Other GNSSs, such as GLONASS
(https://web.archive.org/web/20111020035436/http://www.glonass-
ianc.rsa.ru/en/), Galileo (http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/space/galileo/)
or BeiDou (http://en.beidou.gov.cn/), are not affected by the problem
described in this article.

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8/8/2019 Although the GPS system cannotice
Important be used
abouttothe
determine the dateRoll-Over
GPS Week-Number and timeproblem
with
extreme accuracy, the GPS satellite constellation does not actually transmit the full
date to GPS receivers. Instead, a ten-bit value called "Week Number" is
transmitted every thirty seconds, as part of each subframe of the "Navigation
Message". It is the responsibility of the receiver to calculate the date from this
value. (The time within the week is transmitted as the number of seconds since
midnight on Saturday/Sunday.)

GPS week zero started at the beginning of 00:00:00 UTC on January the 6th, 1980.
A ten-bit field can only hold 1024 different values so this system was never going to
last forever. Indeed, week 1023 was first reached on August the 15th, 1999. The
following week, the GPS satellites populated the Week Number field with a value of
zero. (Because GPS time does not recognise leap-seconds, the "roll-over" from
week 1023 to week zero actually took place at the end of 23:59:47 UTC on August
the 21st.)

The next roll-over will occur on April the 6th, 2019, when the Week Number field will
again change from 1023 to zero.

Historic problems
Manufacturers of GPS receivers must each choose a way to determine the correct
date from the GPS Week Number. If the chosen method fails, the announced date
will be 1024 weeks - about 19.7 years - in the past or, possibly, the future. One
common method uses the date of the version of the firmware as a hint, which
works well if the receiver is new or regularly updated. A significant problem with this
method arises when the firmware is not updated: the receiver can start producing
incorrect dates at the 1024-week anniversary of the firmware date. This means that
problems can actually appear at any time, irrespective of the actual roll-over date.

Many significant problems were reported after the 1999 roll-over and this became
known as the GPS "week-number roll-over" or "WNRO (https://duckduckgo.com/?
q=gps+wnro&ia=web)" problem. Many manufacturers had to update their receiver
firmware as a result but some of these solutions were time-limited, leading to the
current problems.

Predictability and notice

Given that the week-number roll-over was entirely predictable, it is reasonable to
ask why we were unable to alert customers to this issue any earlier than we did.

Güralp Systems researched this issue last year and we saw a published technical
specification manual that indicated that there would not be a problem. There was
no other public information available at that time. This was the evidence behind the
first version of this web page.

However, on the 27th March this year, a customer from Germany told us that they
had just seen unpublished supplier documents that indicated that there could, in
fact, be a problem. We investigated again and, on the 1st of April, we also saw – for
the first time – unpublished supplier documents that showed that there would be a
problem. These documents were updated on both the 2nd and 3rd of April, with
some additional information and some changed information.
www.guralp.com/howtos/gps-wnro.shtml 10/12
8/8/2019 Since then, we have been trying
Important both
notice to understand
about the issueRoll-Over
the GPS Week-Number and to keep our
problem

customers updated. We sent out our first messages on Friday the 5th and Monday
the 8th of April.

Accurate information is still emerging slowly; we have given as much warning as

we were able to and will continue to update our distributors and customers as we
know more.

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Address

Guralp Systems Limited

Midas House
Calleva Park
Aldermaston
Reading
RG7 8EA, UK

Tel: +44 118 981 9056

Fax: +44 118 981 9943
E-Mail: sales@guralp.com (mailto:sales@guralp.com)

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