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

Selective Availability (S/A)

The Defense Department dithered the satellite time

message, reducing position accuracy to some GPS
users.
S/A was designed to prevent Americas enemies
from using GPS against us and our allies.
In May 2000 the Pentagon reduced S/A to zero
meters error.
S/A could be reactivated at any time by the
Pentagon.

More about GPS satellites

Constellation of 27 satellites
(24 active + 3 spare)
Orbit 12,600 miles above earth
(10,900 nautical miles)
6 orbital planes 55 inclination

The Global Positioning System is a constellation of 27

satellites that is used to calculate your position.

How do you use these satellites to calculate your position?

Instead of satellites, lets use transmitters on the ground.

Grand Junction sends a signal to Radons GPS.

What kind of signal? it puts the time on the signal.
GPS

Grand Junction
Transmitter

Radon in Boulder

For this to work, well need for both the transmitter and Radon to have
clocks.

When Radons GPS receiver gets the signal, he

compares the time on the signal with the time on his
clock.
Time Difference (in seconds) * 2.99792458 108 meters/second =
Distance (in meters)
So, a GPS signal tells you how far you are from the transmitter.

If the distance from the GPS transmitter is 250 miles, that means
you are somewhere on a circle of radius 250 miles.

Now add a 2nd transmitter in Ft. Collins.

And a third transmitter in Pueblo

Radon is at the intersection

of the 3 circles

This only works if:

You know where the transmitters are.
GPS signals also transmit the satellite

locations.
Everyone has good clocks.
The GPS satellites have very good clocks
Having atomic time machine
The signals are made in a way so that you
can tell which transmitter sent them.
For real problems, we use the intersection of
three spheres, not three circles.

A 2 Dimensional Example
Time for the signal to reach

GPS receiver is determined.

Distance is computed by
multiplying by the speed of light.
Distance from two satellites defines 2 points
(in 2 dimensional space.)

A 2 Dimensional Example
The distance from a third

satellite narrows the

location to an
error triangle.

A 2 Dimensional Example
Assume the error in each of our

measurements is a constant, k.
Solve for k, so that the
error triangle is as
small as possible.

Signal From One Satellite

The receiver is
somewhere on
this sphere.

Signals From Two Satellites

Three Satellites (2D

Positioning)

When a GPS receiver is turned on it

immediately begins searching the sky
for satellite signals.

How a Receiver Determines Its Position

Traveling at the speed of light each satellite PRN signal takes a
brief time,
but measurable amount of time to reach a GPS receiver
The difference between when the signal is sent and the time it is
received,
multiplied by the speed of light,
enables a GPS receiver to accurately calculate the distance
between it
and each satellite, provided that several factors are met.
Those factors are:
Good satellite signal lock by the GPS receiver
A minimum of four satellite signals
Good satellite geometry

When GPS receives a

signal
It compares that signal with all the known
codes (there are currently 37).
The receiver determines which satellite it
is.
It decodes the timing information,
multiplies by the speed of light to find the
radius of the sphere.
Once it has done that for 3 satellites, it can
determine the location.

How do GPS signals

send all this
They use codes! Binary codes.
information?

Each satellite has a different code.

Introduction--cont.
GPS provides specially coded satellite signals

that can be processed with a GPS receiver,

enabling the receiver to compute position,
velocity and time.
A minimum of four GPS satellite signals are

required to compute positions in three

dimensions and the time offset in the receiver
clock.
Accuracy and precision of data increases with

more satellites.
23

Now for 3 Dimensions

Distance from a single satellite locates a

position somewhere on a sphere.

Now for 3 Dimensions

Two measurements put the

location somewhere on a
circle at the intersection
of the two spheres.

Now for 3 Dimensions

Three measurements put

the location at one of two

points at the intersection
of the three spheres.

Now for 3 Dimensions

A fourth measurement selects

one of the two points, and

provides enough
information to solve for
the constant error.

Three Dimensional (3D) Positioning

Spread Spectrum Radio

Imagine that a radio transmitter

can transmit on 6 channels.

Every second the channel
is changed according to a
predetermined sequence.

Spread Spectrum Radio

To receive the signal, the receiver must listen

to the same sequence of channels.

The transmitter and receiver must also be
synchronized.
The closer the receiver is to being
synchronized, the more of the conversation
will be heard.

The Coarse Acquisition

Code
Each satellite uses a unique Pseudo Random

Noise (PRN) code for spread spectrum

modulation.
The C/A code is 1024 bits in length, and is sent
at a 1 MHz rate. Thus the code repeats every
millisecond.

The Coarse Acquisition

Code
Your GPS syncs with each satellite by
shifting the timing of the start of an
internally generated PRN code.

Time Difference is
Timing of the signals transmitted by the
Distance
satellites is very accurate due to the dual

atomic clocks on board each satellite.

The time difference between the two PRN
codes represents the time it took the radio
signal to travel from the satellite to the GPS
receiver.
The distance or range to the satellite is given
by the equation
range = time difference X speed of light

Satellite Position is
Known
The position of each satellite is known with great
accuracy. Current orbital position data is
transmitted by each satellite.
Orbits are monitored by ground control stations.
Corrected orbital information is uploaded several
times a day.
Given the position of each satellite and the
distance from the GPS receiver to each satellite,
the position of the GPS receiver can be computed.

GPS Limitations
Its
ancould
electronic
Failure
result from
Low battery
gadget
Too cold
Got wet
Got dropped
Forgot how to use it!

Dont rely on your GPS as your only means of

navigation!

GPS Limitations
Fewer
than
4 satellites
Your GPS needs
to be able
to receive a strong
signal from at least 4 satellites to report an
visible
accurate position
Problems could be caused by

The sky is obscured by canyon walls, mountains, or tall

buildings.
Dense tree canopy. Especially if its wet.
Antenna is shielded by metal from a car, aircraft or
building.
Low batteries may reduce receiver sensitivity.

GPS Limitations
Poor satellite geometry
A small cluster of satellites can result in a large position error.
Similar to triangulating with mountain peaks that are
close to one another.

Three Segments of the GPS

Space Segment

User Segment
Control Segment
Ground
Antennas
Master Station

Monitor Stations

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

Control Segment
US Space Command

Cape Canaveral
Hawaii
Kwajalein Atoll
Ascension
Is.

Master Control Station

Diego Garcia

Monitor Station

Ground Antenna

Space Segment

constellation of 24 active and three spare GPS satellites c

earth in six orbital planes.
Each satellite is oriented at an angle of 55 degrees to th
The nominal circular orbit is 20,200-kilometer (10,900 na
altitude.
Each satellite completes one earth orbit every twelve ho
(two orbits every 24 hours).
That's an orbital speed of about 1.8 miles per second, so
satellite
travels from visible horizon to horizon in about 2 hours.

Space Segment
Each satellite has a design life of approximately 10 years,
weighs about 2,000 pounds, and is about 17 feet across
with its
solar panels extended. Older satellites, still functioning
are equipped with 2 atomic clocks.
Newer satellites are equipped with rubidium atomic
clocks. All satellites also contain 3 nickel batteries for
backup power when a
satellite is in earth eclipse (out of view of the sun).
Each satellite transmits as part of its signal to ground
stations
and all users the following information.

Space Segment
-Coded ranging signals (radio transmission time signals
that
allow receivers to triangulate their positions).
-Ephemeris position information (a message
transmitted
every 30 seconds containing precise information on
the
location of the satellite in space).
-Atmospheric data (necessary to help correct signal
interference from the satellites to the receiver).
-Clock correction information defining the precise time
of
satellite signal transmission (in GPS Time), and a
correction
parameter to convert GPS Time to UTC

Space Segment
-An almanac containing information on the GPS
constellation,
which includes location and health of the satellites.
Whenever a
GPS receiver is operating outdoors it automatically
downloads an
almanac from the satellites.
This almanac is stored in the receivers memory until
the next time it is turned. The stored almanac allows a
receiver to more quickly acquire GPS satellite signal
because it already knows the general location, and
other information, about the satellites
in the constellation.

Space Segment

However, if a GPS receiver is left turned off

for several months, or is moved more than 300 miles while
turned off
(or turned on but not picking up satellites), the stored
almanac may
not be of any use to the receiver when it is finally turned
back on.
A new almanac will be need to be downloaded to the
receiver for it
to be able to quickly acquire satellite signals again.

User Segment

Military.
Search and rescue.
Disaster relief.
Surveying.
Marine, aeronautical and terrestrial navigation.
Remote controlled vehicle and robot guidance.
Satellite positioning and tracking.
Shipping.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Recreation.

Four Primary Functions of

GPS
Position and coordinates.

The distance and direction between any two

waypoints, or a position and a waypoint.

Travel progress reports.

Accurate time measurement.

Space Segment--Satellite
Signals--Code-Phasing
Ranging
Distance is calculated using the velocity
equation.
Distance
Velocity =
cont.
Time
Rearranging the equation for
distance:

Distance = Velocity x Time

If the system knows the velocity of a signal and the time

from the sender to the
it takes for the signal to
travel

receiver, the distance

between the sender and the

receiver can be determined.

49

Distance ExampleCode Phase

The signals from the GPS satellites travel at the speed
Ranging
of light--186,000 miles/second.
How far apart are the sender and the receiver if the

signal travel time was 0.23 seconds?

Distance (ft)=Velocity (mi/sec) x Time (sec)
=186,000

50

mi
ft
x 5208 0.23 sec=2,257,8400 ft
sec
mi

Trilateration

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.

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.