A SEMINAR ON

GLOBAL POSITIONING
SYSTEM [GPS]
TOPICS:
1. GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
2. LAUNCH HISTORY
3. NAVSTAR GLOBAL POSITIONING
SYSTEM
-SPACE SEGMENT
-CONTROL SEGMENT
-USER SEGMENT
4. BLOCK I SATELLITES
5. BLOCK II SATELITES
6. BLOCK IIR SATELLITES
7. FIXING POSITON
8. RECEIVER DESIGN
9. GPS ERRORS AND LIMITATIONS
10.GPS TECHNIQUES AND PROJECT
COSTS.
GLOBAL POSITIONING
SYSTEM(GPS)
In 1961 studies were put in hand in the
USA for a Satellite Navigation System
that would be suitable for both marine
and air use ,under the title of The
Defence Navigation Satellite
System.Although the Transit system
was already in partial operation ,its
limited usability,particularly for
aircraft,was recognised and the need
for a more comprehensive system was
seen.There were two main objectives of
the new system:
1.PRECISION WEAPON DELIVERY
2.A REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF
NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

r

LAUNCH HISTORY
GPS satellites ,like all other satellites ,are
allocated an international scientific
designator of the form year;number in year
of the launch;piece of launch;eg.1987-
26b,indicating the second object that was
launched by launch number 26 in 1987.the
US DoD lists them serially in order of
production as Navstar numbers,and then
by reference to the PR code they use.The
Block I satellites had different Navstar and
PR numbers,which led to some confusion
,so in the Block II units this was rationalised
as far as possible by allocating the same
numbers for both Navstar and PR.This
could only be maintained upto PRN 32
,since the system only allows for 32 PRN
numbers,so subsequent satellies have had
to revert to different Navstar and PR
numbers.
What is GPS?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a
satellite-based navigation system made up
of a network of 24 satellites placed into
orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The GPS satellite system
The 24 satellites that make up the GPS space segment
are orbiting the earth about 12,000 miles above us.
They are constantly moving, making two complete
orbits in less than 24 hours. These satellites are
travelling at speeds of roughly 7,000 miles an hour.
GPS satellites are powered by solar energy. They have
backup batteries onboard to keep them running in the
event of a solar eclipse, when there's no solar power.
Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying
in the correct path.

The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978.
A full constellation of 24 satellites was achieved in
1994.
Each satellite is built to last about 7-10 years.
Replacements are constantly being built and launched
into orbit.
A GPS satellite weighs approximately 2,000 pounds
and is about 17 feet across with the solar panels
extended.
Transmitter power is only 50 watts or less.
NAVSTAR Global
Positioning System
The NAVSTAR GPS has three functional elements:
a space segment,
a control segment , and
a user segment (the airborne receivers)

SPACE SEGMENT
The Space Segment of the system consists of the GPS
satellites. These space vehicles (SVs) send radio
signals from space.
The space segment consists of a constellation of 24
satellites orbiting the earth at an altitude of just over
20,200 km(10,900 nm) in six strategically defined
orbital planes. Three of the satellites are operating as
spares with the remaining 21 in the constellation
sufficient to provide global navigation coverage.The
objective of the GPS satellite configuration is to provide
a window of at least 5 satellites in view from any point
on earth.
The satellites orbit at an inclination angle of 55*,taking
approximately 12 hours to complete an orbit.The orbital
position of each satellite is known precisely each time.
NOTE:The GPS space segment consists of so-called
Block II and IIA satellites(as in 1995) and upgraded
versions known as Block IIR satellites.

-CONTROL SEGMENT
The controlling authority is the United States
Department of Defence.By letter of agreement
between the United States Government and,the
International Civil Aviation
Organisation(ICAO),civilian access via the C/A
code only is permitted on a no-cost basis for the
foreseeable future.
The control segment include monitoring stations
at various locations around the world.Ground
antennas and up-links,and a master station.The
station track all satellites in view passing
information to a master control station which
controls the satellites clock and orbit states,and
the currency of navigation messages.
Satellites are frequently updated with new data for
compilation of the navigation messages
transmitted to system users.Assuming the current
level of space vehicle technology ,the planned
lifespan of a GPS satellite is around 7-8 years.
-USER SEGMENT(THE RECEIVER)
As previously mentioned ,the receiver
identifies each satellite being received by
its unique pseudo-random code,i.e the
C/A-code for civilian operations.It then
starts to receive and process navigation
information .
From this information and stored almanac
data ,the receiver determines which
satellites should be in view and then
searches for their respective C/A-codes.It
then establishes ranges to the satellites
and by knowing their position ,computes
aitcraft position ,velocity and time.This
process is known as pseudo-ranging.
Synchronized high-precision atomic
clocks in the satellites are used to
establish the time interval which is latter
used for range determination.
BLOCK I(Test and
Development) Satellites
As already mentioned ,the first GPS navigation
signals were broadcast from NTS-2 in June
1977,continuing until it failed in February
1978.The construction of 4 pre-operational GPS
satellites ,known as Block I series and built by
Rockwell.

Two more satellites were then authorised and in
1980 5(1980-11A) and 6(1980-32A) were
sucessfully launched.

By then,6 more had been ordered,but Navstar 7
was destroyed on lift-off through a launcher failure
in Dec1981.The others were launched between
1983-1985.

Initial testing was done using ground transmitters
available from the Project 621B trials and linking
real satellites with them as they were
launched.When 4 satellites were in orbit the
ground system was decommissioned.
BLOCK II(First
Operational Series)
The Block II satellites were designed as
the first operational series and are
considerably bigger and heavier than the
Block Is-846 kgs v. 450 kgs.
They incorporate the ability to selectively
provide different levels of accuracy as
well as many detail
improvements,including a design life of 7
years as against the 5 years of Block I.In
the interests of lower costs a single
contract for building of 28 satellites was
awarded to Rockwell in 1984.
It was decided in 1987 to launch BIIs
only on the revised Mcdonnell Douglas
Delta II launcher.
Some of the later Block II satellites
,designated Block IIA,incorporate
changes in the navigational payload and
have some additional facilities.
BLOCK IIR SERIES.
Block IIR are the replacements for Block
II,with several new features.A contract for
20,with options for 6 more ,was let to
Martin Marietta(formerly GE-Astro) in
June 1989,for deliveries starting in 1995.
Amongst their new features will be the
ability to function for up to 180 days with
upload from the ground,and increased
radiation hardening.
In order to achieve the 180 day
autonomous capability,they will be able to
communicate with each other for orbit-
determination purposes.
The procurement of these BIIR satellites
means that the future operation of GPS is
assured.
Going by past history many of the
satellites will exceed 7 years life.
FIXING POSITION
GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a
very precise orbit and transmit signal information
to earth. GPS receivers take this information and
use triangulation to calculate the user's exact
location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares
the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite
with the time it was received. The time difference
tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite
is. Now, with distance measurements from a few
more satellites, the receiver can determine the
user's position and display it on the unit's
electronic map.
Timing errors are detected and eliminated by the
receivers computer.
Receivers computer senses this and immediately
begins a trimming process until it arrives at an
answer which allows all ranges to arrive at the
one and only position possible.This process
automatically eliminates the effect of receiver
clock error for subsequent tracking and position
fixing.
RECEIVER DESIGN
The capability of making range
calculations to 3,4 or more satellites has
an impact on the design,cost and
accuracy of GPS receivers,i.e. whether
they are single channel receivers
operating sequentially or the more
expensive and accurate receivers
providing multiple channels operating
simultaneously.
GPS receivers approved as a
supplemental or primary means
navigation aid have multiple channels
and come under the provisions of an FAA
Technical Service Order(TSO C129).
IFR/primary navigation certification
specifications for GPS equipment include
a requirement for multiple receiver
channels and a navigation integrity
monitoring system known as Receiver
Autonomous Integrity Monitoring(RAIM).
GPS ERRORS AND
LIMITATIONS
Receiver clock errors
A receiver's built-in clock is not as
accurate as the atomic clocks onboard
the GPS satellites. Therefore, it may have
very slight timing errors.
Orbital errors
Also known as ephemeris errors, these
are inaccuracies of the satellite's reported
location.

Multi-path error
This occurs when the GPS signal is
reflected off objects such as tall buildings
or large rock surfaces before it reaches
the receiver. This increases the travel
time of the signal, thereby causing errors.
GPS ERRORS AND
LIMITATIONS
Contd..1
Ionospheric Propagation Effects
The ionosphere ,which we know is a band of
charged particles which lies between 80 and 120
miles above the surface of the earth,affects the
propagation speed and the travel time of the GPS
signals thereby degrading the accuracy of the
position solution.Ionospheric propagation effects
can be offset by the receiver with data received
from the satellites.
Tropospheric Propagation Effects
The lower region of the atmosphere ,the
troposphere ,contains significant amount of water
vapour.The effect of this is to low down the
satellite signals,thus inducing ranging errors.This
tends to degrade position accuracy.

The GPS system uses a built-in model that
calculates an average amount of delay to partially
correct for this type of error.
GPS ERRORS AND
LIMITATIONS
Contd2
Interference
Because GPS signals are relatively weak ,harmful
interference can cause significant degradation in
navigation or complete loss of navigation
capability.With more and more extensive use of
all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum,the
potential for interference problems to occur has
increased.The trend is likely to continue.To offset
these problems,appropriate mitigation techniques
and shielding systems are employed.


Number of satellites visible
The more satellites a GPS receiver can "see," the
better the accuracy. Buildings, terrain, electronic
interference, or sometimes even dense foliage
can block signal reception, causing position errors
or possibly no position reading at all.

GPS Techniques and
Project Costs

Receiver costs vary depending on capabilities.
Receivers that can store files for post-procesing
with base station files cost more ($2000-5000).
Receivers that can act as DGPS reference
receivers (computing and providing correction
data) and carrier phase tracking receivers (and
two are often required) can cost many thousands
of dollars ($5,000 to $40,000). Military PPS
receivers may cost more or be difficult to obtain.

Project tasks can often be categorized by required
accuracies which will determine equipment cost.
Low-cost, single-receiver SPS projects (100 meter
accuracy)
Medium-cost, differential SPS code Positioning (1-
10 meter accuracy)
High-cost, single-receiver PPS projects (20 meter
accuracy)
High-cost, differential carrier phase surveys (1 mm
to 1 cm accuracy)

THANK YOU
SEMINAR PRESENTED BY:

SHILADITYA BHOWMICK
A.M.Ae.S.I
SEC-B(AVIONICS)
nickshail@msn.com