BASICS OF GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION

 Global positioning system(GPS) is satellite-based navigation and positioning system built

and run by the US DoD (US Department of defence) initially develop for defence
purpose but later make avaible to the civilians.
 GPS is an weather, global, continuous navigation positioning and timing system. GPS is
shortened form of NAVSTAR GPS.
 GPS is defined as the geographic coordinates of a point anywhere on the surface of
the earth. But one cannot define a position precisely and easily using the conventional
methods. Hence to overcome the difficulties, in early seventies, a new project was
devised by the US DOD; the GPS. The system is found successful in sudden calculation
of positional value of any point on the surface of earth, accurately at any time, and in
all weather conditions.
 GPS can be used to achieve all of these accuracies in all of these applications, the
difference being the type of GPS receiver used and the technique employed. To
define any point (in two dimensions) on the surface of earth, we require two
parameters, the latitude and longitude, known as geographical coordinates.
OVERVIEW OF GPS
 The GPS consists of a constellation of 24 operational satellites that revolve
around the globe once every 12 hours, to provide worldwide position, time and
velocity information. GPS makes it possible to precisely identify locations on
the earth by measuring distance from the satellites.
 First, GPS satellite was launched in 1978 and a constellation GPS satellites for
initial operation capability was achieved in 1993 and US DOD made official
announcement about initial operational capability of the system in December 8,
1993. The GPS system was officially declared to have achieved full operational
capability on July 17, 199#ensuring the availability of 24 fully operational,
non-experimental, GPS satellites worldwide.
 Even though GPS was originally designed for military purpose, the US DOD
had made clear that the civilians could also use GPS for various scientific or
civilian applications. The first major civilian applications to emerge were
Marine Navigation and Surveying.
Some of the advantages of GPS systems are:
• It is a worldwide, all weather system and continuously available 24 hours a day.
• GPS is designed to achieve relative high positioning accuracies from a few meters down
to millimeter level.
• GPS is a positioning system with no user charges and uses relatively low cost hardware
and software.
• Signal availability is guaranteed to users anywhere on the globe, whether it is in the air, on
the ground or at sea.
• Capability of determining velocity and time. Able to provide service to unlimited number
of users.
• Redundancy provisions to ensure the survivability of the system. Real-time positioning,
velocity and time determination capability with good accuracy.
• Suitable for all platforms such as land, ship, aircraft and space. Able to handle a wide
range of dynamics.
• Three-dimensional position information is provided by the system (in x, y and z
coordinates). Passive positioning system or one way ranging system.
GPS SEGMENT
GPS is a satellite-based system that uses a constellation of 24 satellites to give a user an accurate
Position on earth, The full GPS consists of three distinct segments:
 Space Segment
 Control Segment
 User Segment
 THE SPACE SEGMENT

• The space segment is also known as satellite segment. The space-segment is designed to
have 24 fully operational satellites well placed at an altitude of 20,200 km above earth's
surface. The orbits are nearly circular and equally spaced about the equator at 60
degrees
• The satellites are revolving around the earth with a velocity of 3.9 km/sec and a nominal
period of 12-hour sidereal timef1hr hour-58 the geometry each sidereal day.
• the satellites are well arranged on six orbital planes so that each orbit is having at least
four slots. There are spare satellite slot in- each orbital plane
• The following points-have been taken into account for the design consideration of
satellite segment.
• Higher the satellites, the longer it is visible above horizon
• The higher a satellite, the less the rate of change of distance and lower the Doppler
frequency of a transmitted signal.
• The greater the angle of inclination, the more northerly the track of the sub-satellite point
across the surface of earth.
• No satellite can be seen simultaneously from all locations on the earth.
CONTROL SEGMENT
• The control segment comprises three physical components, the master control station,
monitoring stations and the ground antennas. It consists-of-the ground facilities carrying
out the task of satellite orbit computations, data telemetry and supervision necessary
for the daily control of space segment. The control segment consists of one master
control station, five monitoring stations and 4 ground antennas distributed amongst five
locations near the earth's equator
Basic Operation: The control segment has the responsibility for maintaining the satellites
and their proper functioning this includes maintaining the satellites in their proper positions
and monitoring satellite sub-system health and status. The control segment tracks the GPS
satellites, updates their orbiting position and calibrates and synchronies the satellite clocks
A further important function is to determine the orbit of each satellite and predict its path
for the following 24 hours.
Some facility stations; Hawaii, Colorado Spring and, Garcia and Kwajalein.
 USER SEGMENT
 The user segment comprises anyone using a GPS receiver to receive the GPS signal for
navigation or determine their position and time. It includes the entire spectrum of applications,
equipment and computational techniques that are available to the users. Typical applications
within the user segment are marine navigation, surveying, aerial navigation, recreational
activities, machine control and GIS application. GPS has a lot of applications on land, sea and in
the air. GPS can be used anywhere on the surface of the earth, except where it is impossible to
receive direct signal from the satellite, such as underside of bridge, caves, enclosed parking
areas, very thick forest, other sub-terrain locations and underwater. Land-based application of
GPS is more diverse.
 At the survey site and also gives amazing accuracy. The important aspect of GPS-based surveys
is that it does not depend on line of sight between the survey points. GPS receivers provide
millimeter accuracy by employing special methods such as Differential Global Positioning
System (DGPS), Real Time Kinematic DGPS (RTK DGPS), etc.
 The applications are of relatively high accuracy, for positioning in both the static and moving
receiver mode, and generally require specialized receivers and software. Military Receivers: The
military grade GPS systems are developed according to military specifications and they are
capable of tracking encrypted codes such as precision code (P-code).GPS Receivers for
Recreational Activities: Used for recreational purposes on land, sea and in the air. The
requirement is low-cost equipment that are easy to use.
 A general classification of various types of GPS receivers for various GPS
applications are listed below.
 Navigations Receivers: Used for land air and sea (marine) navigation and tracking including
enroute as well as precise navigation, collision avoidance, cargo monitoring, vehicle tracking,
search and rescue operation, etc. This kind of applications require modest accuracy and the user
hardware is comparatively of low cost, and the integrity and speed with which the results are
needed is generally high.
 Surveying Receivers: Used for surveying and mapping on land, at sea and from air, and the
applications include geophysical and resource mapping, GIS data capture, surveying and
positioning, and general engineering applications. The applications are of relatively high
accuracy, for positioning in both the static and moving receiver mode
 Military Receivers: The military grade GPS systems are developed according to military
specifications and they are capable of tracking encrypted codes such as precision code (P-code).
 GPS Receivers for Recreational Activities: Used for recreational purposes on land, sea and in the
air. The requirement is low-cost equipment that are easy to use.
 Receivers for Scientific Applications: Used for scientific applications such as time transfer, alti•
tude determination, spacecraft applications, atmospheric studies, crustal deformation studief
geodetic studies, etc. Such applications require special type of costly receivers.
 SATELLITE RANGING
 GPS is known as an one way or passive system in the sense that only the satellites transmit signals and
the users simply receive them and the user can not communicate to the satellite. The fundamental
observable is the signal travel time between the satellite antenna and the receiver antenna. The signal
travel time is scaled into range measurements using the signal propagation velocity. They GPS positions
are based on measuring the distance from the to the GPS receiver on the earth. These distances to each
satellite are determined by the GPS receiver itself.
 The basic principle behind the determination of position is trilateration or resection. That is, if the
distance to three points relative to a single point (point occupied by the instrument) is known, then the
position occupied by the instrument can be defined relative to those three points and determine your own
position relative to those three points. From the distance to one satellite it is known that the received
must of at some point on the surface of an imaginary sphere of radius equal to that distance with origin at
the satellite. By intersecting three imaginary spheres the receiver position can be determined accurately.
 To calculate the distance to each satellite, Sir Isaac Newton 's equation can be used
Distance = Velocity x Time
GPS receiver calculates the distance from the receiver to the satellite using the above
equation, where velocity is the velocity of the radio signal which is equal to the velocity of light,
that is, 290,000 km/sec, and time is the time taken by the radio signal to travel from the satellite to the
receiver. This time calculation is diffcult, because it requires the precise time at which the radio signal leaves
the satellite and the time it reaches the receiver.
 PSEUDO-RANGE AND PSEUDO-RANDOM CODE

 The measurement of apparent signal propagation time from GPS satellite to the
GPS receiver antenna, Sealed into distance by speed of light, is known as
PSEUDO-RANGE, and the process of measurement is called pseudo-ranging. The
apparent propagation time is the difference between the time of signal
transmission (or emission) and the time of signal reception (at the antenna of the
GPS receiver). When the position of a satellite is right overhead of an observer,
the travel time of signal would be about 0.06 sec. This time difference gives the
range measurements, but is called a pseudo-range because at the time of
measurement the receiver clock is not precisely synchronized to the satellite
clock. Pseudo-ranges differ from the actual range due to e influences of satellite
orbit errors' user clock error, ionospheric delays, tropospheric delays, etc.
 GPS codes are binary stings of zeros and ones. The three basic codes in GPS are
the C/A code, the P-code and the navigation code (navigation message).
These codes modulated within the carrier waves are known as pseudo-random
noise (PRN) code.
Time Calculation
The GPS is a one-way-ranging system in
which a clock reading at the transmitter
is compared with a clock reading at the
receiver antenna. But the satellite clock
and the receiver clock will not be in
perfect management. The observed
travel time thus contain a systematic
synchronization error which is known as
time bias. Biased ranges are called
pseudo-ranges. Hence, the basic
observation principle of GPS can be
regarded as the determination of pseudo-
ranges.
Positioning Calculation
 There are four unknown to be determined for the calculation of a position. They
are the coordinates (X, Y, Z) and the precise time of travel of the signal.
Observation of four satellites produces four equations, enabling these to be
determine,

 Precise Positioning Service (PPS)

To provide services to civil users while ensuring that the national security interests of
the US DOD, two types of GPS services are provided: the Standard Positioning
Service (SPS) and the Precise Positioning Service (PPS)

 Standard Positioning Service (SPS)

The SPS is designed to provide a less accurate positioning capability than PPS for
civil and all other users throughout the world The SPS uses the less precise pseudo-
ranges for position calculation and for real-time GPS navigation. The SPS is freely
available to all users worldwide. There are no restrictions on SPS usage.
Satellite Pseudo-Random Satellite Vehicle Date of Launch Type of Orbital Plane and Slot
Number(PRN) Number(SVN) Oscillator(Atomic
Clock)

IIR-2 13 43 Jul 23, 1997 Rubidium F6

IIR-3 11 46 Oct 7, 1999 Rubidium D5
IIR-4 20 51 May 11, 2000 Rubidium B6
IIR-5 28 44 Jul 16, 2000 Rubidium B3
IIR-6 14 41 Nov 10, 2000 Rubidium F1
IIR-7 18 54 Jan 30, 2001 Rubidium E4
IIR-8 16 56 Jan 29, 2003 Rubidium B1
IIR-9 21 45 Mar 31, 2003 Rubidium D3
IIR-10 22 47 Dec 21, 2003 Rubidium E2
IIR-11 19 59 Mar 20, 2004 Rubidium C3
IIR-12 23 60 Jun 23, 2004 Rubidium F4
IIR-13 02 61 Nov 6, 2004 Rubidium D1
IIR-14M 17 53 Sep 26, 2005 Rubidium C4
IIR-15M 31 52 Sep 25, 2006 Rubidium A2
IIR-16M 12 58 Nov 17,2006 Rubidium B4
IIR-17M 15 55 Oct 17,2007 Rubidium F2
IIR-18M 29 57 Dec 20,2007 Rubidium C1
Detail of GPS Errors
GPS also contains random observation errors, such as unexplainable and
unpredictable time variation. These errors are impossible to model and
correct. Many of the errors are either eliminated or significantly minimized
when GPS is used in differential mode
1. orbit error
2. Clock stability
3. Ionospheric delays
4. Tropospheric delays
5. Multi-path
6. Satellite and receiver clock errors
7. Selective availability
8. Anti spoofing
9. Receiver noise
Detail of above can be found in chapter uploaded (some has been defined
here as well)
Signal Multipath
 Signal Multipath is an error affecting positioning that occurs when the signal arrives
at the receiver from more than one path due to reflection of signals, This occurs
when the GPS receiver is positioned close to large reflecting surfaces such as a
lake, a big rock, a building or other manmade structures. In the case of reflected
signal, the satellite signal does not travel directly to the antenna but hits the
nearby object and is reflected into the receiver's antenna creating a false
measurement.
 Multipath effect depends on the antenna closeness to the reflecting structures,
and it is important when the signal comes from the satellite with low elevation.
Anti-spoofing: Anti-spoofing (AS) of the GPS system is designed for an anti potential spoofer (or
jammer). A spoofer on generates a signal that is similar to the GPS signal and attempts to cause
the receiver to frack the wrong signal. When the AS mode of operation is activated, the P-code
will be replaced with a secure Y code which is available only to military grade receivers, and other
receivers become a single Ll frequency receiver. Anti-spoofing is made to deny the civilian access
to the p-code part of the GPS signal.
Receiver Noise: GPS receivers are not perfect device. They cannot measure the GPS observables
with infinite precision. They are always subjected to some level of noise that contaminates the
observations. The more the noise, the worse the performance of the receiver is.
User Equivalent Range Error (UERE)
 The ranging errors described above are principal contributors to the overall GPS error. UERE is the summary
of the total error budget affecting a pseudo-range summarized above. User Equivalent Range Error refers to
the error of a component in the distance from receiver to a satellite. These UERE errors are given as ± errors
thereby implying that they are unbiased or zero mean errors.

Dilution of Precision
 Dilution of Precision (DOP) is a term used to measure the strength of satellite geometry or
the strength of a satellite configuration and is related to the spacing and position of GPS
satellites in the sky. The arrangement of satellites in the sky also affects the accuracy of
GPS positioning. The relative 'satellite-receiver geometry is important in determining the
accurate positions. When satellites are clustered close together in the sky, the geometry is
said to be weak and the DOP value is high, and when the satellites are well arranged
apart, the geometry becomes strong and the DOP value will be low. Hence it should be
noted that the DOP factor multiplies the uncertainty associated with UERE. Let us say that
the DOP for an ideal arrangement of the satellite constellation gives a lesser value (say
DOP value of I), which will not magnify UERE., then a DOP value of 2 can doubles the
uncertainty associated with UERE. The DOP values for various types of observations . GPS
receivers report several components of DOP, including horizontal dilution of precision
(HDOP) and vertical dilution of precision (VDOP).
 Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP)
 Geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) is a quantity which is used to determine the
information content due to satellite geometry and results in a measure of the overall geometrical
strength to the navigation solution. It provides a method of quantitatively determining whether
particular satellite geometry is good or bad. To achieve high accuracy in GPS positioning
systems, both accurate measurements and good geometric relationship between the satellite
geometry and the receiver are required. The general object of the GPS satellite selection
algorithm is to minimize the GDOP to improve the position accuracy. The smaller value of
GDOP is the better geometric configuration we will have. The main form of DOP used for
absolute GPS positioning is the GDOP. As mentioned earlier, it is a measure of accuracy in a
three-dimensional position and time.
Positional Dilution of Precision (PDOP)

 When both horizontal and vertical components are combined, the uncertainty of
three-dimensional positions is called position dilution of precision (PDOP).
 PDOP error is generally given in unit of meters of error per 1m error in the pseudo-
range measurements.
 High values of PDOP and GDOP over a period of time are associated with satellites
in a constellation of poor geometry. Higher the values of PDOP or GDOP, makes the
solution poorer for that instant of time.
Horizontal Dilution of Precision (HDOP)
HDOP is in evaluating GPS surveys intended for establishing horizontal control HDOP
relates to the horizontal position measurements suggested by GPS data. HDOP is
basically the error determined from the final variance-covariance matrix divided
by the standard error of the range measurements.
HDOP will be high when GPS receiver is observing a partial satellite constellation.
Vertical Dilution of Precision (VDOP)

 VDOP tends to be larger at higher altitudes (NORTH OR SOUTH). The reason is that the
inclination of the GPS orbits is 55 degrees, and at higher altitudes there are no
satellites overhead. A low VDOP require a satellite neat zenith and good coverage in
azimuth with satellites that are close to the horizon.
 VDOP would be lower if a receiver could track satellites below the horizon.
 GDOP is a combination of all Dilution of Precisions Hence it is the most useful DOP.
Some receivers are capable of calculating PDOP and HDOP. The best way to
minimize GDOP is to observe as many as satellites possible.

PSEUDO-RANGE OBSERVATION EQUATION

GPS is primarily a navigation system. The fundamental navigation principle is based on
the measurement of so called pseudo-ranges between the used and four satellites. The
GPS receiver computes its three-dimensional coordinates and its clock offset from four
or more simultaneous pseudo-range measurements or biased ranges between the
receiver and each of the satellites being tracked. The pseudo-range is calculated by
cross-correlating the pseudo-random noise code received from the satellite and with a
replica generated by the receiver.
PSEUDO-RANGE OBSERVATION EQUATION
GPS is primarily a navigation system. The fundamental navigation principle is based on
the measurement of so called pseudo-ranges between the used and four satellites.
The GPS receiver computes its three-dimensional coordinates and its clock offset from
four or more simultaneous pseudo-range measurements or biased ranges between the
receiver and each of the satellites being tracked. The pseudo-range is calculated by
cross-correlating the pseudo-random noise code received from the satellite and with
a replica generated by the receiver. the equation given below
 Mask Angle

 Mask angle is the minimum acceptable satellite elevation above the horizon to avoid blockage of line of-
sight. Mask angle is an elevation mask filter to ignore satellites that are below a certain angle on the
horizon. The angle is modifiable by the user of a GPS receiver, depending on the type of receiver used.
For example, if the elevation mask on a GPS receiver is set to 15 degrees, the GPS receiver would be
unable to use the satellite that are rising or setting <15 degrees elevational cone around the position Of
GPS receiver. Signals from low-elevations satellites are generally influenced to a great extent by noise
sources. As a general rule it is best to observe satellites that are >15 degrees above the horizon for
surveying using GPS. This is known as mask angle