Task 1

Objective: Understanding the principle of GPS Technology.

Theory:
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is and earth orbiting-satellite based navigation system. GPS is an
operational system, providing users worldwide with twenty-four hour a day precise position in three
dimensions and precise time traceable to global time standards. GPS is operated by the United States Air
Force under the direction of the Department of Defense (DoD) and was designed for, and remains under
the control of, the United States military. While there are now many thousands of commercial and
recreational civil user’s worldwide, DoD control still impacts many aspects of GPS planning, operation,
and use. Primarily designed as a land, marine, and aviation navigation system, GPS applications have
expanded to include surveying, space navigation, automatic vehicle monitoring, emergency services
dispatching, mapping, and geographic information system geo referencing. Because the dissemination of
precise time is an integral part of GPS, a large community of precise time, time interval, and frequency
standard users has come to depend on GPS as a primary source of control traceable through the United
States Naval Observatory to global time and frequency standards.
History of GPS :
Developed in the 1960s, the Navy Transit satellite navigation system still provides some service as a two-
dimensional (horizontal) positioning system. Good (200 meter) Transit positioning requires knowledge of
the user altitude as well as a model of user dynamics during the fix, a process of integrating satellite signal
Doppler shifts (the change in received signal frequency caused by the changing range) during the fly-over
of the satellite. Another Navy system, based on the Timation satellites carried stable clocks (quartz,
rubidium, and cesium) over the course of the program in the 1960s and 70s and was the precursor to the
precise time capabilities of GPS (Easton 1978). GPS began in 1973 as a test program using ground-based
transmitters at the U. S. Army
Proving Ground at Yuma, Arizona, later augmented with early versions of GPS satellites first launched in
1978. During the 1980s, GPS, although not yet fully operational and requiring careful planning for missions
during times of satellite availability, was increasingly used by both military and civilian agencies. Land,
air, and sea navigation, precise positioning, carrier phase survey techniques, and precise time and frequency
dissemination were all accomplished to a limited extent during the initial phases of GPS deployment
(Klepczynski 1983). By 1989 ten development satellites, termed Block I satellites, had been successfully
launched. By 1990, 43 laboratories requiring precise time were using GPS to synchronize their atomic
clocks (Clements 1990). By 1994, 24 Block II and IIA operational GPS space vehicles (SVs) had been
launched. The Block IIA SVs can store up to 14 days of uploaded data in case contact is lost with ground
stations and can operate for 180 days with degraded navigation receiver performance. The next generation
of space vehicles, the Block IIR SV s will incorporate changes to include the capability of maintaining
precise time keeping without Control Segment uploads for periods of up to 210 days by exchanging data
between GPS SVs (Rawicz, Epstein, and Rajan 1992).
In December of 1993, GPS reached Initial Operational Capability, with a minimum of 24 satellites in orbit.
On July 17, 1995 the Air Force announced that GPS had met all requirements for Full Operational
Capability with 24 Block II SVs in orbit. With over 50 companies supplying a selection of over 275 GPS
receivers to a global market, the well-established user community of navigators, surveyors, geologists,
geodesists, time and frequency users, and many thousands of recreational user has come to accept GPS as
a viable military and civilian system.
Civil and Military GPS:
While controlled and maintained by the DoD, the GPS user community has a large civil component. In the
1977 National Plan for Navigation, published by the U. S. Department of Transportation (DoT), the
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NAVSTAR GPS user community was planned to include 27,000 military receivers. While the potential for
a civil-sector user base was recognized, the document did not include plans for a civil GPS service (U.S.
DoT 19773-14; 3-15). A decade later the Federal Radio navigation Plan (FRP) (U.S. DoD and DoT 1986)
stated that GPS would be available to civil users, worldwide, on a continuous basis but with accuracy
limited to 100 meters (95 percent).
In these radio navigation documents position accuracy is usually specified as a two standard deviation (95
percent) radial error or 2drms (2 distance root mean squared) uncertainty estimate. For GPS the 95 percent
probability and 2drms accuracy are equivalent (DoD and DoT 1995, A-2). The 1985 Comprehensive Global
Positioning System User Policy defined both a military, encrypted, Precise Positioning Service and a "lower
level of accuracy" Standard Positioning Service (U.S. DoD and DoT 1986, B-32).

Standard Positioning Service:

The Standard Positioning Service (SPS) is defined in the most recent FRP as: the standard specified level
of positioning and timing accuracy that is available, without restrictions, to any user on a continuous
worldwide basis. The accuracy of this service will be established by the DOD and DOT based on U. S.
security interests. SPS provides a predictable positioning accuracy of 100 meters (95 percent) horizontally
and 156 meters (95 percent) vertically and time transfer accuracy to UTC within 340 nanoseconds (95
percent).
Precise Positioning Service:
The FRP defines the Precise Positioning Service (PPS) as: the most accurate direct positioning, velocity,
and timing information continuously available, worldwide, from the basic GPS. This service is limited to
users specifically authorized by the U.S. P(Y)-code capable military user equipment provides a predictable
positioning accuracy of at least 22 meters (95 percent) horizontally and 27.7 meters (95 percent) vertically
and time transfer accuracy to UTC within 200 nanoseconds (95 percent) (DoD and DoT 1995, A-36). By
the time the 1992 FRP was published, the projected 1995 estimate of 53,000 civil users of GPS exceeded
the projected number of military users estimated at 19,000 (U.S. DoD and DoT 1993, 3-41). Civil users
now constitute the majority of GPS users. The 1994 FRP estimates the current total number of GPS users
at over 500,000 in the United States alone (U. S. DoD and DoT 1995, 3-7).

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GPS Segments:
The Global positioning System (GPS) comprises three segments:
1. The Space segment (all function satellites)
2. The Control segment (all ground station involved in the monitoring of the system: master control
station, monitoring stations & ground control)
3. The User segment (all civil and military GPS users)

Space Segment:
The Space Segment is designed to consist of 24 satellites orbiting the earth at approximately 20200Km
every 12 hours. At time of writing there are 26 operational satellites orbiting the earth. The space segment
is so designed that there will be a minimum of 2 to 3 satellite visible above a 15deg cut off angle at any
point of the earth's surface at any time. Each GPS satellite has several very accurate atomic clocks on board.
The clocks operate at a fundamental frequency of 10.23MHz. This is used to generate the signals that are
broadcast from the satellite.
Control Segment:
The Control Segment consists of one master control station, 5 monitor stations and 4 ground antennas
distributed among 5 locations roughly on the earth equator. The Control Segment tracks the GPS satellites,
updates their orbiting position and calibrates and synchronizes their clocks.
A further important function is to determine the orbit of each satellite and predict its path for the following
24 hours. This information is uploaded to each satellite and subsequently broadcast from it. This enables
the GPS receiver to know where each satellite can be expected to be found. The satellite signals are read at
Ascension, Diego, Garcia & Kwajalein. The measurements are then sent to the master control station in

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Colorado Springs where they are processed to determine any errors in each satellite. The information is
then sent back to the four monitoring stations equipped with ground antennas and uploaded to the satellites.
User Segment:
The User Segment comprises of anyone using a GPS receiver to receive the GPS signal and determine their
position and / or time. Typical applications within the user segment are land navigation for hikers, vehicle
location, surveying, marine, navigation, aerial navigation, machine control etc.
Information Transmitted by the satellites?
The following is the key information transmitted by the satellites constellation on either a continuous or
periodical basis.
1. Satellite Health
2. Ephemeredes
3. Constellation Almanac
4. Time
5. Ranging Signals
6. Atmospheric Correctional Data
The Ephemeredes describe the detailed orbital characteristics of the satellite from which it is transmitted.
Simply this is the satellite's mechanism for describing where it is.
The satellites Almanac describe the course orbital data for all satellites in the constellation. Simply this data
describes where all the satellites are, roughly, allowing the receiver to know where to look, roughly, for a
satellite.
This data is broadcast to the User Segment so that it can be stored and employed for initial satellite
acquisition and for visibility prediction.
Satellites are identified by:
1. Space Vehicle Number (SVN), and
2. Pseudo Random Noise number (PRN)
The Space Vehic1e number indicates the chronological order in which the satellites were launched. Most
GPS Receivers employ the PRN to identify which satellite they are observing.
How does it Work?
Some Principles to Acknowledge
There are 24 operational satellites
They orbit the earth approximately every 12 hours
They are positioned in six (6) orbital planes
Therefore there will usually be something in the order of 6 to 8 satellites visible above the horizon at any
point in the world and at any time of the day.
1. Each satellite emits information relating to its position, relative to the earth and timing information.
This timing information is derived from extremely accurate atomic clocks (cesium or rubidium) that
are synchronized to all other satellite clocks and to the ground control stations.
2. GPS Receivers are equipped with quartz clocks that are synchronized to GPS time via the data
transmitted from the constellation.
3. Timing is the basis of location computation.
4. The satellite radiates coded signals that are received by the user’s GPS receiver.
5. The computation in its simplest form is triangulation. Space Based Triangulation.

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Producing Locations:
The determination of position is a simple as the following:
1. A signal is transmitted from a satellite containing the Time of Departure of the signal.
2. The signal is received by the GPS Receiver and the Time of Arrival is registered.
3. We know that Radio waves (the signal) travel at the Speed of Light.
4. We know where the satellite is from the information radiated from the satellite.
Therefore, we can determine the distance from our receiver to a particular satellite. This allows the
construction of a hemisphere, whose centre is the satellite and whose radius is the calculated distance from
a particular satellite to our receiver.
When this process is repeated for another satellite that is in view, then the two hemispheres with cut through
each other. Repeating this process again with a third satellite and the intersection of the three hemispheres
will form a point, which is where your receiver is located.
This all seems a bit top heavy, but remember that the satellites are constantly transmitting information and
the receiver is usually capable of producing a location result up to 10 times every second.
The accepted rule for most receivers is that the receiver must continuously track a minimum of four (4)
satellites to produce a location that contains a latitude, longitude and altitude. Of course most receivers
available today will track many more satellites than four (4).
This is important, as mentioned previously, the constellation operates on 12 hour orbits, therefore the
constellation that is visible (being used by the receiver) is always changing, and hence the receiver needs
to be looking for new satellites as the current in use satellites begin to disappear from view.

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Task 2
Objectives:
Understanding the principle of GPS Satellite, generation of L1 carrier frequency, operation
of GPS Receiver and establishing the link between the GPS Satellite and GPS Trainer.
GPS Satellite Block diagram:
On board the Satellite have four atomic clocks. The following time pulses and frequencies required for day-
to-day operation are derived from the resonant frequency of one of the atomic clocks shown in figure:
1. The 50Hz data pulse.
2. The C/A code pulse (Coarse/Acquisition code, PRN-Code, coarse reception code at a frequency of
1023 MHz), which modulates the data using an exclusive or operation (this spreads the data over a 1
MHz bandwidth).
3. The frequency of the civil L1 carrier (1575.42MHz) The data modulated by the C/A code modulates
the L1 carrier in turn by using Bi-Phase-Shift-Keying (BPSK). With every change in the modulated
data there is a 180 deg change in the L1 carrier phase.

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This is the simplest technique employed by GPS receivers to instantaneously give a position and height and
/ or accurate time to a user. The accuracy obtained is a better than 100m (usually around the 30-50m mark)
for civilian users and 5-15m for military users.
Task 3
Objective:
Understanding the shape of Earth and Measurement of latitude, longitude.
Earth Shape:
A significant problem when using the GPS system is that there are very many coordinate systems
worldwide. As a result, the position measured a calculated by the GPS system does not always coincide
with one's supposed position.
In order to understand how the GPS system functions, it is necessary to take a look at the basics of the
science that deals with the surveying and mapping of the Earth surface, geodesy. Without this basic
knowledge, it is difficult to understand why with a good portable GPS receiver the right combination has
to be selected from more than 100 different map reference systems. If an incorrect choice is made, a position
can be out by several hundred meters.
Different Earth Shapes like:
1. Geoids
2. Spheroid
3. Worldwide reference ellipsoid WGS-84
Format of latitudes and longitudes:
Where a numeric latitude or longitude is given, the two digits immediately to the left of the decimal point
are whole minutes, to the right are decimals of minutes, and the remaining digits to the left of the whole
minutes are whole degrees. Eg. 4533.35 is 45 degrees and 33.35 minutes. ".35" of a minute is exactly 21
seconds. Eg. 16708.033 is 167 degrees and 8.033 minutes. “.033” of a minute is about 2 seconds.

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Observations:

S. No. Latitude Longitude City Country

Conclusion:

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