Seminar on GPS

By,
Pruthwin
Why do we need GPS?
• Trying to figure out where you are
is probable man’s oldest pastime.

• Finally US Dept of Defense

decided to form a worldwide
positioning system.

• Also known as NAVSTAR

( Navigation Satellite Timing and
Ranging Global positioning system)
provides instantaneous position,
velocity and time information.
 Components of the GPS

G PS

S pace S egm ent C o n tro l S e g m e n t U ser S egm ent

 Space Segment:
• 24 GPS space
vehicles(SVs).
• Satellites orbit the
earth in 12 hrs.
• 6 orbital planes
inclined at 55 degrees
with the equator.
• This constellation
provides 5 to 8 SVs
from any point on the
earth.
 Control Segment:

• Monitor stations constantly receive data from the

satellites and then send that information to master control
station.
• Master control station “corrects” the satellite data and,
together with two other antenna sites, sends the
information to the GPS satellites (uplinks).
 User Segment:
• It consists of receivers that decode the
signals from the satellites.

• The receiver performs following tasks:

– Selecting one or more satellites
– Acquiring GPS signals
– Measuring and tracking
– Recovering navigation data
 Satellite Signal
• Use L-band which is a nominal portion of the
microwave electromagnetic spectrum ranging from 1 to 2
GHz
• Two Types of L-Band in satellite: L1 and L2
• L1 and L2 are designations of the two basic carrier
frequencies transmitted by GPS satellites that contain the
navigation signals.
• The L1 frequency is 1,575.42 MHz, while the L2
frequency is1,227.60 MHz
• Low power signal, 20-50 watts, it is the reason of why
important to have clear view of the sky.
 Digital code in signal

• Protected (P) Code

– The P-code is modulated on both the L1
and L2 carrier frequencies.
• 10.23MHz bit rate.
• High bit rate, not easy to interfere.
• Restricted by U.S. Military
 Digital code in signal
• Clear Acquisition (C/A) Code
– The C/A-Code modulates only the L1
carrier frequency on GPS satellites.
• 1.023MHz bit rate
• allows a receiver to quickly lock-on to a
satellite.
• For civil use
 How does the GPS work?

• Triangulation from satellite

• Distance measurement through travel time
of radio signals
• Very accurate timing required
• To measure distance the location of the
satellite should also be known
• Finally delays have to be corrected
 How does the GPS work?
• Each satellite continually transmits
messages which include
• The time message was sent.
• Precise orbital information (the
ephemeris).
• The general system health and rough orbits
of all GPS satellites (the almanac).
 Measuring Distance
• Distance to a satellite is determined by
measuring how long a radio signal takes to
reach us from the satellite
• Assuming the satellite and receiver clocks
are sync. The delay of the code in the
receiver multiplied by the speed of light
gives us the distance
Triangulation
• Position is calculated
from distance
measurement.
 Getting Perfect timing
• If the clocks are perfect sync the satellite
range will intersect at a single point.
• But if imperfect the four satellite will not
intersect at the same point.
• The receiver looks for a common
correction that will make all the satellite
intersect at the same point
 Sources of GPS signal errors
• Ionosphere and troposphere delays
• Signal multipath
• Receiver clock errors
• Orbital errors
• Number of satellites visible
• Intentional degradation of the satellite
signal
 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.
 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.
 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.
 Number of satellites visible

• The more satellites a GPS receiver can

“see” (Line-Of-Sight) , the better the
accuracy. Buildings, terrain,electronic
interference, or sometimes even dense
foliagecan block signal reception, causing
position errors or possibly no position
reading at all.
• GPS units typically will not work indoors,
underwater or underground
 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 2 May
2000, which significantly improved the
accuracy of civilian GPS receivers
 Applications
• Vehicle state/parameter estimation
- Velocity, attitude, etc
• (Precision) Navigation
• Surveying unknown areas
• Studying the atmosphere
• Global time reference
• Used in military
Thank you