The Role of LORAN Timing in Telecommunications

Published

May 8, 2006

Author(s)

Michael A. Lombardi, Chuck Norman, William J. Walsh

Abstract

The telecommunications industry in the United States has performance requirements for time synchronization and frequency control that must be met in order for land and mobile telephone services, wireless networks, and other applications to remain operational. Many of these services now heavily rely upon signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites as their time and frequency reference source, making them vulnerable to an extended GPS signal outage. This paper describes LORAN?s role as a backup or alternative timing reference source to GPS for wired and wireless telecommunications networks. It discusses GPS vulnerabilities and the possible consequence of a prolonged GPS signal outage. It explores how LORAN meets all of the required characteristics of a GPS backup system, not only the requirements for time and frequency performance, but also the requirements for signal coverage area, reliability, national security, and traceability to national and international time standards.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the 2006 Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) Symposium

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

LORAN, synchronization, telecommunications, UTC

Citation

Lombardi, M. , Norman, C. and Walsh, W. (2006), The Role of LORAN Timing in Telecommunications, Proceedings of the 2006 Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) Symposium, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=50352 (Accessed April 28, 2026)

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