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Global positioning system

What is GPS.docx (Size: 115.37 KB / Downloads: 21) 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. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS. How it works 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. A GPS receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least three satellites to calculate a 2D position (latitude and longitude) and track movement. With four or more satellites in view, the receiver can determine the user's 3D position (latitude, longitude and altitude). Once the user's position has been determined, the GPS unit can calculate other information, such as speed, bearing, track, trip distance, distance to destination, sunrise and sunset time and more. How accurate is GPS? Today's GPS receivers are extremely accurate, thanks to their parallel multi-channel design. Garmin's 12 parallel channel receivers are quick to lock onto satellites when first turned on and they maintain strong locks, even in dense foliage or urban settings with tall buildings. Certain atmospheric factors and other sources of error can affect the accuracy of GPS receivers. Garmin GPS receivers are accurate to within 15 meters on average. Newer Garmin GPS receivers with WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) capability can improve accuracy to less than three meters on average. No additional equipment or fees are required to take advantage of WAAS. Users can also get better accuracy with Differential GPS (DGPS), which corrects GPS signals to within an average of three to five meters. The U.S. Coast Guard operates the most common DGPS correction service. This system consists of a network of towers that receive GPS signals and transmit a corrected signal by beacon transmitters. In order to get the corrected signal, users must have a differential beacon receiver and beacon antenna in addition to their GPS.

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. Here are some other interesting facts about the GPS satellites (also called NAVSTAR, the official U.S. Department of Defense name for GPS): o The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978. o A full constellation of 24 satellites was achieved in 1994. o Each satellite is built to last about 10 years. Replacements are constantly being built and launched into orbit. o A GPS satellite weighs approximately 2,000 pounds and is about 17 feet across with the solar panels extended. o Transmitter power is only 50 watts or less. What's the signal? GPS satellites transmit two low power radio signals, designated L1 and L2. Civilian GPS uses the L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz in the UHF band. The signals travel by line of sight, meaning they will pass through clouds, glass and plastic but will not go through most solid objects such as buildings and mountains. A GPS signal contains three different bits of information - a pseudorandom code, ephemeris data and almanac data. The pseudorandom code is simply an I.D. code that identifies which satellite is transmitting information. You can view this number on your Garmin GPS unit's satellite page, as it identifies which satellites it's receiving. Ephemeris data, which is constantly transmitted by each satellite, contains important information about the status of the satellite (healthy or unhealthy), current date and time. This part of the signal is essential for determining a position. The almanac data tells the GPS receiver where each GPS satellite should be at any time throughout the day. Each satellite transmits almanac data showing the orbital information for that satellite and for every other satellite in the system. Sources of GPS signal errors Factors that can degrade the GPS signal and thus affect accuracy include the following: o Ionosphere and troposphere delays - The satellite signal slows as it passes through the atmosphere. The GPS system uses a built-in model that calculates an average amount of delay to partially correct for this type of error.

o Signal multipath - 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. o 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. o Orbital errors - Also known as ephemeris errors, these are inaccuracies of the satellite's reported location. o 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 units typically will not work indoors, underwater or underground. o Satellite geometry/shading - This refers to the relative position of the satellites at any given time. Ideal satellite geometry exists when the satellites are located at wide angles relative to each other. Poor geometry results when the satellites are located in a line or in a tight grouping. o Intentional degradation of the satellite signal - Selective Availability (SA) is an intentional degradation of the signal once imposed by the U.S. Department of Defense. SA was intended to prevent military adversaries from using the highly accurate GPS signals. The government turned off SA in May 2000, which significantly improved the accuracy of civilian GPS receivers.

Reference: http://www.seminarprojects.com/Thread-global-positioning-system-report-andppt?pid=41600#ixzz1QToH2BP2

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM INTRODUCTION GPS is a Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS). Uses a constellation of at least 24 satellites orbiting around the earth. Transmits precise microwave signals, enabling GPS receivers to determine their location, speed, direction and time. First developed by United States Department of Defense- official name is NAVSTAR-GPS. GPS satellite navigation system includes * Russian GLONASS * European Galileo positioning system. * Compass navigation system of China.

* IRNSS of India. Fig: GPS Navigation 2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 2.1 System Segmentation GPS consists of three major segments: SpaceU Segment(SS) Control Segment(CS)U User Segment(US)U Fig: Segments of Navigation 2.1.1 Space Segment: Comprises the orbiting GPS satellites or Space Vehicles(SV) in GPS parlance. GPS design originally called for 24 SVs, 8 in each three circular orbital planes. Now modified to 6 planes with 4 satellites each. Orbiting at an altitude of approx. 20,200 km, each SV makes two complete orbits. 2.1.2 Control Segment: The flight paths of the satellites tracked by US Air Force monitoring stations in Hawaii, Kwajalein, Ascension Island, Diego Garcia, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. The tracked information sent to the Air Force Space Commands master control station at Schriever Operation Squadron(2 SOPS) of USAF. SOPS contacts each GPS satellites regularly with a navigational updates which are created by a Kalman filter using inputs from the ground monitoring stations, space weather information. 2.1.3 User Segment: GPS receiver is the user segment of GPS. GPS receivers are composed of an antenna, tuned to the frequencies transmitted by the satellites, receiver-processors, and a highly-stable clock. It include a display for providing location and speed information to the user. A receiver is often described by its number of channels: signifies how many satellites it can monitor simultaneously. 2.2 Navigation Signals: Each GPS satellites broadcasts a Navigation Message at 50 bits/sec giving the time-of-week, GPS week number and satellite * health information (all transmitted in the first part of the message). * ephemeris( transmitted in the second part of the message). * almanac(later part of the message). The messages are sent in frames, each taking 30 sec to transmit 1500 bits. The first 6 sec of every frame contains data describing the satellite clock & its relationship to GPS time. The next 12 sec contain the ephemeris data, giving the satellites own precise orbit. The almanac consists of coarse orbit and status information for each satellite in the constellation, an ionospheric model & information to relate GPS derived time to Coordinated Universal Time(UTC). 2.2 Navigation Signals Each satellite transmits its navigation message with at least two distinct spread spectrums codes: * Coarse/Acquisition (C/A) code. * Precise(P) code. (C/A) code: It is freely available to the public.U

C/A code isU 1023 chip pseudo-random number(PRN) code at 1.023 million chips per second so that it repeats every millisecond. Each satellite has its own C/A code soU that it can be uniquely identified and received separately from other satellites transmitting on the same frequency. 2.2 Navigation Signals: Precise(P) code: It is encrypted andU reserved for military applications. It is a 1023 mega chip per second PRNU code that repeats only every week. P code is encrypted by the Y-code toU produce the P(Y) code, which can only by decrypted by units with a valid decryption key. Both C/A and P(Y) codes impart the precise time-of-day toU the user. 2.3 GPS Frequencies: 2.4 Accuracy and error sources: 2.4.1 Atmospheric Effects: * The travel time of GPS satellite signals can be altered by atmospheric effects; when a GPS signal passes through the ionosphere and troposphere it is refracted, causing the speed of the signal to be different from the speed of a GPS signal in space. Sunspot activity also causes interference with GPS signals. 2.4.2 Multipath Effects: * It arises when signals transmitted from the satellites bounce off a reflective surface before getting to the receiver antenna. When this happens, the receiver gets the signal in straight line path as well as delayed path (multiple paths). The effect is similar to a ghost or double image on a TV set. 2.4.3 Ephemeris and Clock errors: * Errors in the ephemeris data (the information about satellite orbits) will also cause errors in computed positions, because the satellites weren't really where the GPS receiver "thought" they were (based on the information it received) when it computed the positions. * Small variations in the atomic clocks (clock drift) on board the satellites can translate to large position errors; a clock error of 1 nanosecond translates to 1 foot or 0.3 meters user error on the ground. 2.4.4 Selective Availability: Selective Availability, or SA, occurred when theU DoP(Dilution of Precision) intentionally degraded the accuracy of GPS signals by introducing artificial clock and ephemeris errors. When SA wasU implemented, it was the largest component of GPS error, causing error of up to 100 meters. SA is a component of the Standard Positioning Service (SPS), which was formally implemented on March 25, 1990, and was intended to protect national defense. SA was turned off on May 1, 2000. 2.4 Accuracy & error sources: 2.4.5 Sagnac Distortion GPS observation processing must also compensate for theU Sagnac effect. Ignoring this effect will produce an east-west error on the order of hundreds of nanoseconds, or tens of meters in position. *Potential errors are one of several accuracy-degrading effects outlined in the table below: 2.5 GPS Interference & Jamming: 2.5.1 Natural sources:

Since GPS signals at terrestrialU receivers tend to be relatively weak, it is easy for other sources of electromagnetic radiation to desensitize the receiver, making acquiring and tracking the satellite signals difficult or impossible. Solar flares areU one such naturally occurring emission with the potential to degrade GPS reception, and their impact can affect reception over the half of the Earth facing the sun. GPS signals can also be interfered with by naturallyU occurring geomagnetic storms, predominantly found near the poles of the Earth's magnetic field. 2.5.2 Artificial sources: In automotive GPS receivers, metallic features inU windshields such as defrosters, or car window tinting films can act as a Faraday cage, degrading reception just inside the car. Man-made EMIU (electro-magnetic interference) can also disrupt, or jam, GPS signals. U Stronger signals can interfere with GPS receivers when they are within radio range, or line of sight. 3.Techniques to improve accuracy: 3.1 Augmentation: This method of improving accuracy rely on external information being integrated into calculation process. Examples of augmentation systems include the Wide Area Augmentation System, Differential GPS, Inertial Navigation Systems and Assisted GPS. 3.2 Precise Monitoring: This method uses two approaches: Carrier-Phase Enhancement(CPGPS) Relative Kinematic Positioning(RKP) 3.Techniques to improve accuracy: CPGPS: * This technique resolve the uncertainty that arises in GPS due to pulse transition of PRN is not instantaneous & thus correlation operation is imperfect. * It utilizes the L1 carrier wave to resolve the uncertainty. RKP: *In this approach, determination of range signal can be resolved to a precision of less than 10cm. This is done by resolving the number of cycles in which the signal is transmitted and received the receiver. 3.Techniques to improve accuracy: 3.3 GPS time and date: * While most clocks are synchronized to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the atomic clocks on the satellites are set to GPS time. The difference is that GPS time is not corrected to match the rotation of the Earth, so it does not contain leap seconds or other corrections which are periodically added to UTC. * To determine the current Gregorian date, a GPS receiver must be provided with the approximate date (to within 3,584 days) to correctly translate the GPS date signal. 3.4 GPS modernization: *This approach aims to improve the accuracy and availability for all users and involves new ground stations, new satellites & four additional navigation signals. 4.Applications: GPS has significant applications for both military and civilian industry. Military Applications: Navigation

Target tracking Missile and projectile guidance Search and rescue Map creation 4.Applications: Civilian: GPS receivers act as a surveying tool to determine the absolute location. GPS enables researchers to explore the Earth environment including the atmosphere, ionosphere & gravity field. The capacity to determine relative movement enables a receiver to calculate local velocity & orientation, useful in vessels or observations of the Earth. 5.Conclusion GPS continues to perform as the worlds premier space-based positioning, navigation and timingservice. Endeavors such as mapping, aerial refueling, geodetic surveying, search & rescue operations have all benefitted greatly from GPSs accuracy. GPS receivers are incorporated into every type of system used by aircraft, ground vehicles and ships. Reference: http://www.seminarprojects.com/Thread-global-positioning-system-report-andppt?pid=41600#ixzz1QTosJvtY