Muhammad Mahad Arshad

SS08
190601010

GPS
Description:
GPS (Global Positioning System) is a constellation of more than 24 low
orbiting satellites, 20200 km high, covering the entire earth called NAVSTAR. This
gives enough coverage to have 3 or 4 satellites visible anywhere. Basically, it is
used to locate the position of any point on the earth using a GPS receiver with an
accuracy of 3 to 4 meters.

Working:
GPS works by using a method called “trilateration” or “triangulation”.
1) It needs to get a message from at least three satellites.
2) Each satellite emits radio waves at the speed of light.
3) To “Triangulate”, a GPS receiver measures the distance between itself and
each satellite by using distance = time taken / speed of light.
4) To measure time travel, GPS needs very accurate timing which it achieves
with atomic clocks on each satellite.
5) Along with distance, the device needs to know exactly where the satellites are
in space at any given time. This information is held in the GPS receiver itself.
6) We can easily understand it by the given example.
Imagine you are standing somewhere on Earth with three satellites in the sky above
you. If you know how far away you are from satellite A, then you know you must be
located somewhere on the red circle. If you do the same for satellites B and C, you
can work out your location by seeing where the three circles intersect. This is just
what your GPS receiver does, although it uses overlapping spheres rather than
circles.
Errors:
Generally there are three types of errors:
1) Multipath
2) PDOP
3) SNR

Multipath:
Multipath occurs when a radio wave signal, emitted by the satellite, is reflected
off an object, such as the wall of a building, travels farther to reach the antenna. The
reflected signal arrives at the receiver slightly delayed. This delayed signal can
cause the receiver to calculate an incorrect position.

PDOP:
 PDOP (position dilution of precision) describes error caused by the relative
position of the GPS satellites.

If the satellites are spread apart in the sky, then the GPS receiver has a good
PDOP.

But if the satellites are physically close together, then you have poor PDOP. This
lowers the quality of your GPS positioning potentially by meters.

SNR:
SNR (signal to noise ratio) determines the signal strength relative to noise. GPS
position is degraded if the SNR of one or more satellites in the constellation falls
below a certain range.
Signal strength indicator.

Advantages of GPS
Navigation:
The most common use of GPS is in navigation systems. When it is
combined with map technology, it is a powerful tool for road vehicles, boats and
ships.

Low cost:
Smartphone apps, such as Google Maps, that use GPS are usually free.

Easy to use:
Navigation using GPS is generally very easy and requires minimal skills
or effort.

Crime and security:

GPS can be used as a valuable tool by law enforcement agencies to
track the criminals or terrorists by tracking the devices attached to their vehicles or
by tracking their smartphones.

Available anywhere:
It works through satellite technology that is why it is available across the
entire world.

Military usage:
 As being useful for navigation and other general uses, military uses GPS
when setting targets for guided missiles.

Surveying:
Land surveying takes place before construction or development.

Unlimited user capacity:

It has unlimited user capacity.
It is also used in GIS data collection, mapping, recreation, farmland etc.
GPS has revolutionized our lives. Now, it is an important part of our lives.