Global Positioning

System
By Travis Howard
Wireless Networks

Overview
Official name of GPS is NAVigational Satellite

Timing And Ranging Global Positioning System

(NAVSTAR GPS)
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) is a form of
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
Only completely functional one of its kind at

this time

First developed by the United States

Department of Defense
Consists of two dozen GPS satellites in
medium Earth orbit (The region of space
between 2000km and 35,786 km)

Overview (continued)
Made up of two dozen satellites working in

unison are known as a satellite constellation

This constellation is currently controlled by
the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing
It costs about $750 million to manage and
maintain the system per year
Mainly used for navigation, map-making and
surveying

Operation Overview
A GPS receiver can tell its own position by using the

position data of itself, and compares that data with 3 or

more GPS satellites.
To get the distance to each satellite, the GPS transmits a
signal to each satellite.
The signal travels at a known speed.
The system measures the time delay between the signal

transmission and signal reception of the GPS signal.

The signals carry information about the satellites location.
Determines the position of, and distance to, at least three
satellites, to reduce error.
The receiver computes position using trilateration.

Trilateration

Operational Overview
Video
NASA produced short film that sumarizes GPS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi_3XwkA8c
Q

GPS Functionality
GPS systems are made up of 3 segments
Space Segment (SS)
Control Segment (CS)
User Segment (US)

Space Segment
GPS satellites fly in circular orbits at an

altitude of 20,200 km and with a period of 12

hours.
Powered by solar cells, the satellites
continuously orient themselves to point their
solar panels toward the sun and their antenna
toward the earth.
Orbital planes are centered on the Earth
Each planes has about 55 tilt relative to
Earth's equator in order to cover the polar
regions.

Space Segment
(Continued)
Each satellite makes two complete orbits each

sidereal day.
Sidereal - Time it takes for the Earth to turn 360

degrees in its rotation

It passes over the same location on Earth

once each day.

Orbits are designed so that at the very least,
six satellites are always within line of sight
from any location on the planet.

Space Segment
(Continued)
There are currently 30 actively broadcasting

satellites in the GPS constellation.

Redundancy is used by the additional
satellites to improve the precision of GPS
receiver calculations.
A non-uniform arrangement improves the
reliability and availability of the system over
that of a uniform system, when multiple
satellites fail
This is possible due to the number of
satellites in the air today

Control Segment
The CS consists of 3 entities:
Master Control System
Monitor Stations
Ground Antennas

Master Control Station

The master control station, located at Falcon

Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado,

is responsible for overall management of the
remote monitoring and transmission sites.
GPS ephemeris is the tabulation of computed
positions, velocities and derived right
ascension and declination of GPS satellites at
specific times for eventual upload to GPS
satellites.

Monitor Stations
Six monitor stations are located at Falcon Air

Force Base in Colorado, Cape Canaveral,

Florida, Hawaii, Ascension Island in the
Atlantic Ocean, Diego Garcia Atoll in the
Indian Ocean, and Kwajalein Island in the
South Pacific Ocean.
Each of the monitor stations checks the exact
altitude, position, speed, and overall health of
the orbiting satellites.

Monitor Stations
(continued)
The control segment uses measurements

collected by the monitor stations to predict

the behavior of each satellite's orbit and
clock.
The prediction data is up-linked, or
transmitted, to the satellites for transmission
back to the users.
The control segment also ensures that the
GPS satellite orbits and clocks remain within
acceptable limits. A station can track up to 11
satellites at a time.

Monitor Stations
(continued)
This "check-up" is performed twice a day, by

each station, as the satellites complete their

journeys around the earth.
Variations such as those caused by the
gravity of the moon, sun and the pressure of
solar radiation, are passed along to the
master control station.

Ground Antennas
Ground antennas monitor and track the

satellites from horizon to horizon.

They also transmit correction information to
individual satellites.

User Segment
The user's GPS receiver is the US of the GPS

system.
GPS receivers are generally composed of an
antenna, tuned to the frequencies transmitted
by the satellites, receiver-processors, and a
highly-stable clock, commonly a crystal
oscillator).
They can also include a display for showing
location and speed information to the user.
A receiver is often described by its number of
channels this signifies how many satellites it
can monitor simultaneously. As of recent,

User Segment
(continued)
Using the RTCM SC-104 format, GPS receivers

may include an input for differential

corrections.
This is typically in the form of a RS-232 port at

4,800 bps speed. Data is actually sent at a

much lower rate, which limits the accuracy of
the signal sent using RTCM.

Receivers with internal DGPS receivers are

able to outclass those using external RTCM

data.

Navigational Systems
GPS satellites broadcast three different types

of data in the primary navigation signal.

Almanac sends time and status information

about the satellites.

Ephemeris has orbital information that allows
the receiver to calculate the position of the
satellite.

This data is included in the 37,500 bit Navigation

Message, which takes 12.5 minutes to send at 50
bps.

Navigational Systems
(contd)
Satellites broadcast two forms of clock

information
Coarse / Acquisition code (C/A) - freely available

to the public. The C/A code is a 1,023 bit long

pseudo-random code broadcast at 1.023 MHz,
repeating every millisecond.
Restricted Precise code (P-code) - reserved for
military usage. The P-code is a similar code
broadcast at 10.23 MHz, but it repeats only
once a week. In normal operation, the antispoofing mode, the P code is first encrypted
into the Y-code, or P(Y), which can only be
decrypted by users a valid key.

GPS Frequencies
L1 (1575.42 MHz) - Mix of Navigation

Message, coarse-acquisition (C/A) code and

encrypted precision P(Y) code.
L2 (1227.60 MHz) - P(Y) code, plus the new
L2C code on the Block IIR-M and newer
satellites.
L3 (1381.05 MHz) - Used by the Defense
Support Program to signal detection of missile
launches, nuclear detonations, and other
applications.

GPS Proposed
Frequencies
L4 (1379.913 MHz) - Being studied for

additional correction to the part of the

atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation.
L5 (1176.45 MHz) To be used as a civilian
safety-of-life (SoL) signal.
Internationally protected range for aeronautical

navigation.
The first satellite that using this signal to be
launched in 2008.

Position Calculation
The coordinates are calculated according to

the World Geodetic System WGS84 coordinate

system.
The satellites are equipped with atomic clocks
Receiver uses an internal crystal oscillatorbased clock that is continually updated using
the signals from the satellites.
Receiver identifies each satellite's signal by
its distinct C/A code pattern, then measures
the time delay for each satellite.

Position Calculation
(contd)
The receiver emits an identical C/A sequence

using the same seed number the satellite

used.
By aligning the two sequences, the receiver
can measure the delay and calculate the
distance to the satellite, called the
pseudorange.
Orbital position data from the Navigation
Message is used to calculate the satellite's
precise position. Knowing the position and the
distance of a satellite indicates that the
receiver is located somewhere on the surface

Position Calculation
(contd)
When four satellites are measured at the

same time, the point where the four imaginary

spheres meet is recorded as the location of
the receiver.
Earth-based users can substitute the sphere
of the planet for one satellite by using their
altitude. Often, these spheres will overlap
slightly instead of meeting at one point, so the
receiver will yield a mathematically mostprobable position.

Issues That Affect

Accuracy
Changing atmospheric conditions change the

speed of the GPS signals as they pass through

the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere.
Effect is minimized when the satellite is directly

overhead
Becomes greater for satellites nearer the
horizon, since the signal is affected for a longer
time.
Once the receiver's approximate location is
known, a mathematical model can be used to
estimate and compensate for these errors.

Issues That Affect Accuracy

(contd)
Clock Errors can occur when, for example, a

GPS satellite is boosted back into a proper

orbit.
The receiver's calculation of the satellite's

position will be incorrect until it receives

another ephemeris update.
Onboard clocks are accurate, but they suffer
from partial clock drift.

Issues That Affect Accuracy

(contd)
GPS Jamming can be used to limit the

effectiveness of the GPS signal

For example, it is believed GPS guided missles

have been misled to attack non-target locations

in the war in Afghanistan.
The stronger the jamming signal, the more
interference can be caused to the GPS signal.

Issues That Affect Accuracy

(contd)
GPS signals can also be affected by multipath

issues
Radio signals reflect off surrounding objects at a

location. These delayed signals can cause

inaccuracy.
Less severe in moving vehicles. When the GPS
antenna is moving, the false solutions using
reflected signals quickly fail to converge and
only the direct signals result in stable solutions.

Methods of Improving
Accuracy
Precision monitoring
Dual Frequency Monitoring
Refers to systems that can compare two or more
signals
These two frequencies are affected in two different
ways. How they are affected can be predicted
however
After monitoring these signals, its possible to
calculate what the error is and eliminate it
Receivers that have the correct decryption key can
decode the P(Y)-code transmitted on signals to
measure the error.

Methods of Improving Accuracy

(contd)
Carrier-Phase Enhancement (CPGPS)
CPGPS uses the L1 carrier wave, which has a period
1000 times smaller than that of the C/A bit period, to
act as an additional clock signal and resolve
uncertainty.
The phase difference error in the normal GPS
amounts to between 2 and 3 meters (6 to 10 ft) of
ambiguity.
CPGPS works to within 1% of perfect transition to
reduce the error to 3 centimeters (1 inch) of
ambiguity.
By eliminating this source of error, CPGPS coupled
with DGPS normally realizes between 20 and 30
centimeters (8 to 12 inches) of absolute accuracy.

Methods of Improving Accuracy

(contd)
Relative Kinematic Positioning (RKP)
Determination of range signal can be resolved to an
accuracy of less than 10 centimeters (4 in).
Resolves the number of cycles in which the signal is
transmitted and received by the receiver.
Accomplished by using a combination of DGPS
correction data, transmitting GPS signal phase
information and ambiguity resolution techniques via
statistical tests possibly with processing in realtime.

Methods of Improving Accuracy

(contd)
Augmentation
Relies on external information being integrated
into the calculation process.
Some augmentation systems transmit
additional information about sources of error.
Some provide direct measurements of how
much the signal was off in the past
Another group could provide additional
navigational or vehicle information to be
integrated in the calculation process.

Applications Military
Military GPS user equipment has been

integrated into fighters, bombers, tankers,

helicopters, ships, submarines, tanks, jeeps,
and soldiers' equipment.
In addition to basic navigation activities,
military applications of GPS include target
designation of cruise missiles and precisionguided weapons and close air support.
To prevent GPS interception by the enemy,
the government controls GPS receiver exports
GPS satellites also can contain nuclear
detonation detectors.

Applications Civilian
Automobiles are often equipped GPS

receivers.
They show moving maps and information about

your position on the map, speed you are

traveling, buildings, highways, exits etc.
Some of the market leaders in this technology
are Garmin and TomTom, not to mention the
built in GPS navigational systems from
automotive manufacturers.

Applications Civilian
(contd)
For aircraft, GPS provides
Continuous, reliable, and accurate positioning
information for all phases of flight on a global
basis, freely available to all.
Safe, flexible, and fuel-efficient routes for
airspace service providers and airspace users.
Potential decommissioning and reduction of
expensive ground based navigation facilities,
systems, and services.
Increased safety for surface movement
operations made possible by situational
awareness.

Applications Civilian
(contd)
Agriculture
GPS provides precision soil sampling, data
collection, and data analysis, enable localized
variation of chemical applications and planting
density to suit specific areas of the field.
Ability to work through low visibility field
conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness
increases productivity.
Accurately monitored yield data enables future
site-specific field preparation.

Applications Civilian
(contd)
Disaster Relief
Deliver disaster relief to impacted areas faster,
saving lives.
Provide position information for mapping of
disaster regions where little or no mapping
information is available.
Example, using the precise position information
provided by GPS, scientists can study how
strain builds up slowly over time in an attempt
to characterize and possibly anticipate
earthquakes in the future.

Applications Civilian
(contd)
Marine applications
GPS allows access to fast and accurate position,
course, and speed information, saving
navigators time and fuel through more efficient
traffic routing.
Provides precise navigation information to
boaters.
Enhances efficiency and economy for container
management in port facilities.

Applications Civilian
(contd)
Other Applications not mentioned here

include
Railroad systems
Recreational activities (returning to the same

fishing spot)
Heading information replacing compasses
now that the poles are shifting
Weather Prediction
Skydiving taking into account winds, plane
and dropzone location
Many more!