Introduction to the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS)

Agenda
- GPS Lineage
- What is GPS
- How Does It Work
- Errors and Accuracy’s in the GPS system
- Future Initiatives

GPS Lineage
Ø Phase 1: 1973 – 1979
CONCEPT VALIDATION
1978 – First Launch of Block 1 SV
Ø Phase 2: 1979 – 1985
FULL DEVELOPMENT AND TESTS
Ø Phase 3: 1985 – present
Production and deployment
1993 – IOC 1994 – FOC

What is GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a Constellation of Earth – Orbiting Satellites
Maintained by the United States Government for the Purpose of Defining Geographic
Positions On and Above the Surface of the Earth. It consists of Three Segments:
- Space Segment
- Control Segment
- User Segment

Space Segment Description

Ø 24+ Satellites
- 6 planes with 55° Inclination.
- Each plane has 4 or 5 satellites.
- Broadcasting position and time
information on 2 frequencies.
- Constellation has spares

Ø Very high orbit

- 20, 200 km
1 Revolution in approximately 12 Hrs.
- For accuracy
- Survivability
- coverage

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Control Segment

Use Segment
Ø over $19 Billion invested by DoD
Ø Dual Use System Since 1985
(civil & military)
Ø Civilian community was quick to take
advantage of the system
- Hundreds of receivers on the market
- 3 billion in sales, double in 2 years
- 95% of current users
Ø DoD/DoT Executive Board sets GPS policy PLGR

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Common Uses for GPS

Military Specific:
Ø Navigation
Ø Surveying
Ø Target acquisition and destruction
Ø Missile Guidance Systems
- Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)
- Tomahawk III
- Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW)
Ø Data Collection
Ø Integration with INS for High dynamic environment
Ø Search & Rescue Ops

How the system works

Distance Measuring
The whole system revolves around time!
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 = 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 × 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆
- Rate = 186, 000 miles per second (Speed of Light)
- Time = time it takes signal to travel from the SV to GPS receiver

Triangulation

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Distance Measuring

Signal Structure

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Measuring Travel Time
SV Clocks
! 2 Cesium & 2 Rubidium in each SV
! $100,000-$500,000 each
Receiver Clocks
! Clocks similar to quartz watch
! Always an error between satellite and receiver clocks ( D t)
! Require 4 satellites to solve for x, y, z, and D t

3 vs 4 Satellites

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Satellite Locations

Cartesian Coordinate System

- Three dimensional right coordinate system with an origin at the center of
the earth and the X axis oriented at at the Prime Meridian and the Z at
the North Pole
Ø X Axis Coordinate Distance in meters from the
the prime meridian at the origin; positive from
90º E Long to 90º W Long
Ø Y Axis Coordinate Distance in meters
from 90º E longitude at the origin;
positive in the eastern hemisphere
and negative in the western
Ø Z Axis Coordinate Distance in meters
from the plane of the equator;
positive in the northern Hemisphere
negative in the southern

Common Problems – Errors

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Selective Availability (S/A)
! Implemented on Block II satellites, but turned off 2 May 2000 for the
foreseeable future:
l Requires military to develop Direct Y Code receivers and local
jamming capability
! Introduces deliberate errors into satellite ephemeris (SV location) and
clock parameters on the C\A code
! Degrades horizontal positional accuracy to 100m 2DRMS (95% of the
time.)

Anti-Spoofing (A-S)
• Protects military receivers from receiving a “fake” P-Code
• P-Code modulation on both L1 and L2
P-Code
+W-Key
Y-Code
• No plans to phase out
• Continuously on since January 31, 1994

Resistance to Jamming
• Low power signal is vulnerable to jamming
– Intentional or unintentional jamming
– Theater wide jamming
– Local area jamming
• The P-Code is phase modulated to provide better resistance to
jamming
• DoD working on electronic warfare enhancements to deny disruption
and spoofing.
– Direct Y-Code Receivers
– Theater jamming capability

Common Problems – Errors

Pseudo-Ranging Errors
! Satellite clock (S/A)
! Ephemeris/orbit (S/A)
! Atmospheric delays
Ionosphere
Troposphere
! Receiver computation & noise

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Common Problems – Errors
! Errors Caused By GPS Multipath Reflections
l Use Ground Plane On Antenna
l Move Away From Reflective Surfaces
! Influences on the GPS Signal
l Radar
l Microwave
l ILS or Radio NDB Equipment
l ATC Radio Traffic
! Misidentification of Thresholds and Other Features

GPS Multipath Errors

Effects of Multipath on the

GPS Signal
• Avoid Reflective
Surfaces
• Use A Ground Plane
Antenna
• Use Multipath
Rejection Receiver

Dilution Of Precision (DOP)

A Measure of The Geometry Of The Visible GPS Constellation

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Dilution Of Precision (3)
! PDOP = Position Dilution Of Precision (Most Commonly Used)
! VDOP = Vertical Dilution Of Precision
! GDOP = Geometric Dilution Of Precision
! HDOP = Horizontal Dilution Of Precision
! TDOP = Time Dilution Of Precision

QUALITY DOP
Mission Planning
Very Good 1-3 Is Critical to Obtain
Good 4-5 Good DOP
Fair 6
Suspect >6

sa
System Accuracy
Standard Positioning Service (SPS)
! Available to all users
! Accuracy was degraded by Selective Availability until 2 May 2000
l Horizontal Accuracy: 100 meters 2 DRMS (40 meters CEP)
! Now has roughly the same accuracy as PPS
! Used by military receivers before Y-code lock is established

Scatter plot of horizontal accuracy 2 May 2000

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System Accuracy
Precise Positioning Service (PPS)
! Only available to authorized DoD users
! Decryption device and crypto key are required to decode A-S and remove
SA
l GUV Key (1 year)
l CVW Key (1 week)
! Accurate to 21m 2DRMS (8 m CEP)
l 95% of the time, a receiver's computed horizontal position will be
within 21 meters of its actual location

GPS Accuracy – PPS

Specifications and Derived Values

Error and Map Problems

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Error and Map Problems
Types of Differential Coverage
! Coverage:
l Local Area (Coast Guard)
l Wide Area (INMARSAT)
! Methods:
l Real-Time
(navigation/mapping)
l Post Processing (survey)

DGPS Positioning

DGPS Navigation
Coast Guard Differential GPS System
! Initial Operational Capability on 30 Jan 96
! Provides pseudo-range corrections over existing radio beacons
! Corrections to NAD-83 (WGS-84)
! Observed accuracy 1 to 3 meters out to 150 nautical miles from
base station
! Station sites available on the internet
(WWW.NAVCEN.USCG.MIL)

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DGPS Positioning

Future Developments
Planned Replenishments - Block IIR
• Some IIR improvements over Block II/IIA SVs:
– More power/better batteries (Life EST 7.8 years)
– More fuel
– Two Atomic clocks on at all times
– Re-programmable CPU, more autonomous
– Cross Link Ranging - 180 day autonomy with no
degradation
• 21 SVs purchased from Lockheed Martin at $30M each
• Launches began Jan 97

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GLONASS
! 8 SVs in each of 3 inclined circular orbits
l 11.25 hour period
l 19,900 km altitude
! Life time of SVs is 3 years
! Uses SGS-85 Datum (within 20m of WGS-84)
! Five Satellites visible at all points on the globe
! Satellites broadcast 2 signals
l Standard Precision Navigation Signal (Civil)
l High Precision Navigation Signal (military)

Summary
– History
– GPS Applications
– Three Segments of GPS
– 5 Principles of GPS Operations
– System Accuracy
– Other Satellite Navigation Systems
– Future Developments

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