Concept of Global Positioning System

Fundamentals:
The GPS concept is based on time. The satellites carry very stable atomic clocks that are synchronized to
each other and to ground clocks. Any drift from true time maintained on the ground is corrected daily.
Likewise, the satellite locations are monitored precisely. GPS receivers have clocks as wellhowever,
they are not synchronized with true time, and are less stable. GPS satellites continuously transmit their
current time and position. A GPS receiver monitors multiple satellites and solves equations to determine
the exact position of the receiver and its deviation from true time. At a minimum, four satellites must be in
view of the receiver for it to compute four unknown quantities (three position coordinates and clock
deviation from satellite time).
Other detailed description:
Each GPS satellite continually broadcasts a signal (carrier frequency with modulation) that includes:

A pseudorandom code (sequence of ones and zeros) that is known to the receiver. By timealigning a receiver-generated version and the receiver-measured version of the code, the time of
arrival (TOA) of a defined point in the code sequence, called an epoch, can be found in the receiver
clock time scale

A message that includes the time of transmission (TOT) of the code epoch (in GPS system time
scale) and the satellite position at that time

User Satellite geometry:

Usually not formed explicitly in the receiver processing, the conceptual time differences of arrival
(TDOAs) define the measurement geometry. Each TDOA corresponds to a hyperboloid of revolution
(see Multilateration). The line connecting the two satellites involved (and its extensions) forms the
axis of the hyperboloid. The receiver is located at the point where three hyperboloids intersect.
Receiver in continuous operation:
The description above is representative of a receiver start-up situation. Most receivers have a track
algorithm, sometimes called a tracker that combines sets of satellite measurements collected at different
timesin effect, taking advantage of the fact that successive receiver positions are usually close to each
other. After a set of measurements are processed, the tracker predicts the receiver location corresponding
to the next set of satellite measurements. When the new measurements are collected, the receiver uses a
weighting scheme to combine the new measurements with the tracker prediction. In general, a tracker
can (a) improve receiver position and time accuracy, (b) reject bad measurements, and (c) estimate
receiver speed and direction.

Non-navigation application:

In typical GPS operation as a navigator, four or more satellites must be visible to obtain an accurate
result. The solution of the navigation equations gives the position of the receiver along with the
difference between the time kept by the receiver's on-board clock and the true time-of-day, thereby
eliminating the need for a more precise and possibly impractical receiver based clock. Applications
for GPS such as time transfer, traffic signal timing, and synchronization of cell phone base stations,
make use of this cheap and highly accurate timing. Some GPS applications use this time for display,
or, other than for the basic position calculations, do not use it at all.

Principles and Application:

While originally a military project, GPS is considered a dual-use technology, meaning it has
significant military and civilian applications.
GPS has become a widely deployed and useful tool for commerce, scientific uses, tracking, and
surveillance. GPS's accurate time facilitates everyday activities such as banking, mobile phone
operations, and even the control of power grids by allowing well synchronized hand-off switching.
Principle of Operation
GPS is a satellite based navigation system. It uses a digital signal at about 1.5 GHz from each satellite to
send data to the receiver. The receiver can then deduce its exact range from the satellite, as well as the
geographic position (GP) of the satellite. The GP is the location on the Earth directly below the satellite.
This establishes a line of position (LOP) on the Earth, as illustrated in figure 1.

Figure 1. Line of position on the surface of the Earth from a single satellite.
A second LOP will provide for two possible locations, as shown in figure 2., and a third LOP will resolve
that to a single position on the Earth.

Figure 2. Fix from two lines of position on surface of Earth (2-D mode).
The range from the satellite is determined by the time the signal is received. The satellite signal includes
the time at which it was sent. By comparing that to the receiver clock, the time delay and hence the range
can be determined. The satellites contain precise atomic clocks and are updated from the master station.
On the other hand, you typical inexpensive GPS receiver does not contain a precise atomic clock.
However, the signal from a fourth satellite can be used to solve for any error in the receiver's clock. As a
result, the receiver obtains an accurate navigational fix, including altitude, as well as a precise clock
update.
In order for the system to work, there must be at least four satellites visible to the receiver at all times. In
fact there are 21 operational satellites, and three spares, in orbit at about 20,000 km, which circle the
globe every twelve hours. A rough calculation will show this to be sufficient.
Assume 21 satellites, evenly spaced over the 4p steradians of the Earth's sphere. That gives about 4p/21
= 0.6 steradians per satellite. If you can see about of the sky at any one time, that would
be p steradians, which would involve p/0.6 5 satellites on average.
System Components
The basic system is divided into three segments:

Figure 3. Segments of GPS.

Spaced-based segment
The space-based segment consists of the 24 satellites. They travel on polar orbits around the Earth once
every twelve hours at an altitude of about 20,000 km. The position directly beneath the satellite is called
its geographic position. For a polar orbit the geographic position travels roughly along a particular

meridian.

Figure 4. Polar orbit.

The orbits of the various satellites are spaced at 55 o intervals. A typical satellite is shown below.

Control segment
The master control station (MCS)is in Colorado Springs, and run by the Air Force. There are also five
unmanned stations in Hawaii, Kwajalein, Diego Garcia, and Colorado, which track the satellites and relay
information to the MCS. There are three uplink antennas at Diego Gargcia, Kwajelein and Ascension.
The control segment tracks the satellites and updates their orbital parameters and clocks.
User segments
These are the GPS receivers. They receive the satellite transmissions and perform calculations to
determine the position, altitude and time outputs. The antenna is designed to receive the circularly
polarized satellite signal at either 1575.42 (L1) or 1227.60 (L2) MHz. The difference between these
signals will be discussed below. The signal is basically comprised of a 50 bps bi-polar phase shift keyed
(BPSK) digital signal containing the navigation data, which is carried on a 1,023 MHz spread spectrum
signal which serves two purposes:
To encode the identity of the satellite.
To widen the signal bandwidth which reduces the threat of interference from narrowband sources.
Performance
The GPS system is accurate to within of about 53 ft. in position, 0.3 fps in velocity and 100 nsec in time.
However, for the purpose of denying a precise navigational system to possible hostile forces, a random
error of anywhere between 130 and 330 feet is intentionally inserted. The degraded signal is used in the
Standard Positioning System (SPS). The unadulterated signal is known as the PPS (precise positioning
system) and is only available to government approved users. The PPS requires decryption to be useable.
To compensate for the injected errors, a system has been developed, outside of the government program,
to measure and correct for the error. This is known as Differential GPS or DGPS. The principle of
operation is that a fixed site, with well-known position, obtains a SPS fix, measures the error and
broadcasts the correction to other DGPS users.

Application:
The Global Positioning System (GPS) can be used to determine position and velocity on the Earth or
even in space. There are therefore many possible uses ("applications") of GPS.
Design an application of GPS. You can use some of the suggestions below, or think of your own. Draw a
picture showing how GPS is to be used. You pictures should indicate where the GPS receiver should be
located. Also show the locations of any human operators or computers, and any other equipment that is
required.
For example, you might want to design a car that drives itself. Maybe you'll put the GPS receiver on the
top of a car. The GPS receiver needs to be connected to a computer inside the car that a person gives
commands to. Draw a picture showing these connections, and explain how the system is to be used.
Here are some other suggestions. Use one of these or think up your own.

A space shuttle that navigates by itself using GPS

A tractor that plows fields by itself using GPS

An airplane that lands itself using GPS

A football coach who tracks players on the field using GPS

A hiker who loses her way and returns to safety using GPS

Tracking a species of animal using GPS

Global information system

Principles:

Application: