A Seminar Report on

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM

Submitted by:

10ECS-35 MOHD YASIR KHAN

10ECS-43 PRANJAL PATNI

ECS 612 (6th Semester Examination)

Department of Electronics & Comm. Engg.
Faculty of Engineering & Technology
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
EVOLUTION OF GPS
WHAT IS GPS?
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
(PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION)
INFORMATION IN A GPS SIGNAL
GPS ELEMENTS (GPS SEGMENTS )
TRACKING
APPLICATIONS OF GPS
COST OF THE SYSTEM
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I extend my sincere gratitude towards Prof. M.T.Beg, Head of

Department for giving us his invaluable knowledge and wonderful
technical guidance.
I express my thanks to all the other faculty members of Electronics &
Communication Engineering Department, Jamia Millia Islamia for
their kind cooperation and guidance for preparing and presenting this
seminar.
I also thank all my family members and friends for their help and
support.

ABSTRACT

Where am I? Where am I going? Where are you? What is the best way to get
there? When will I get there? GPS technology can answer all these questions.
GPS satellite can show you exact position on the earth any time, in any weather,
no matter where you are! GPS technology has made an impact on navigation
and positioning needs with the use of satellites and ground stations the ability to
track aircrafts, cars, cell phones, boats and even individuals has become a
reality.
A system of satellites, computers, and receivers that is able to determine the
latitude and longitude of a receiver on Earth by calculating the time difference
for signals from The Global Positioning different satellites to reach the receiver.
System (GPS) is a worldwide radio-navigation system formed from a
constellation of 24 satellites and their ground stations. GPS uses these "Manmade stars" as reference points to calculate positions accurate to a matter of
meters. In fact, with advanced forms of GPS you can make measurements to
better than a centimetre! In a sense it's like giving every square meter on the
planet a unique address. GPS receivers have been miniaturized to just a few
integrated circuits and so are becoming very economical. And that makes the
technology accessible to virtually everyone. Navigation in three dimensions is
the primary function of GPS. Navigation receivers are made for aircraft, ships,
ground vehicles, and for hand carrying by individuals. Precise positioning is
possible using GPS receivers at reference locations providing corrections and
relative positioning data for remote receivers. Surveying, geodetic control, and
plate tectonic studies are examples. Time and frequency dissemination, based
on the precise clocks on board the SVs and controlled by the monitor stations, is
another use for GPS. Astronomical observatories, telecommunications facilities,
and laboratory standards can be set to precise time signals or controlled to
accurate frequencies by special purpose GPS receivers.

EVOLUTION OF GPS
The technology evolved from, Mr.
Marconis transmission of radio
waves. This was applied for society
during
the
1920's
by
the
establishment of radio stations, for
which you only needed a receiver.
The same applies for GPS- you only
need a rather special radio receiver.
Significant advances in radio were
bolstered by large sums of money
during and after the Second World
War, and were even more advanced
by the need for communications
with early satellites and rockets, and
general space exploration. The
technology to receive radio signals
in a small hand-held, from
20,000kms away, is indeed amazing.
Throughout the 1960s the U.S. Navy
and Air Force worked on a number
of systems that would provide
navigation capability for a variety of
applications In 1973 finally, the U.S.
Department of Defense decided that
the military had to have a super
precise
form
of
worldwide
positioning. And fortunately they
had the kind of money ($12 billion!)
it took to build something really
good. In short, development of the
GPS satellite navigation system was
begun in the 1970s by the US
Department of Defense. The basis
for the new system was atomic
clocks carried on satellites, a
concept successfully tested in an

earlier Navy program called

TIMATION. The Air Force operated
the new system, which it called the
Navstar Global Positioning System.
It has since come to be known
simply as GPS. The first GPS
satellite was launched in 1978 and a
second-generation set of satellites
("Block II") was launched beginning
in 1989. Today's GPS constellation
consists of at least 24 Block II
satellites. A full constellation of 24
satellites was achieved in 1994.
GPS was originally intended for
military applications, but in the
1980s, the government made the
system available for civilian use.
After the downing of Korean Flight
007 in 1983 -a tragedy that might
have been prevented if its crew had
access to better navigational toolsPresident Ronald Reagan issued a
directive that guaranteed that GPS
signals would be available at no
charge to the world. That directive
helped open up a commercial
market. Deployment of GPS
continued at a steady pace through
the 1990s, with growing numbers of
civilian and military users. GPS
burst into public awareness during
the Persian Gulf War in 1991. GPS
was used extensively during that
conflict, so much so that not enough
military-equipped GPS receivers
were available.

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 Defence that
continuously
transmit
coded
information, which makes it possible
to precisely identify locations on
earth by measuring the distance
from the satellites. The satellites
transmit very low power specially
coded radio signals that can be
processed in a GPS receiver,
enabling the receiver to compute
position, velocity and time thus
allowing anyone one with a GPS
receiver to determine their location
on earth. Four GPS satellite signals
are used to compute positions in
three dimensions and the time offset
in the receiver clock. The system

was designed so that receivers did

not require atomic clocks, and so
could be made small and
inexpensively.
The gps system consists of three
pieces. There are the satellites that
transmit the position information,
there are the ground stations that are
used to control the satellites and
update the information, and finally
there is the receiver that you
purchased. It is the receiver that
collects data from the satellites and
computes its location anywhere in
the world based on information it
gets from the satellites. There is a
popular misconception that a gps
receiver somehow sends information
to the satellites but this is not true, it
only receives data.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION (PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION OF GPS)

The principle behind GPS is the
measurement of distance (or
"range") between the receiver and
the satellites. The satellites also tell
us exactly where they are in their
orbits above the Earth. It works
something like this-If we know our
exact distance from a satellite in
space, we know we are somewhere
on the surface of an imaginary
sphere with radius equal to the
distance to the satellite radius. By
measuring its distance from a second
satellite, the receiver knows it is also
somewhere on the surface of a
second sphere with radius equal to
its distance from the second satellite.
Therefore, the receiver must be
somewhere along a circle which is

formed from the intersection of the

two spheres. Measurement from a
third satellite introduces a third
sphere. Now there are only two
points which are consistent with
being at the intersection of all three
spheres. One of these is usually
impossible, and the GPS receivers
have mathematical methods of
eliminating the impossible location.
Measurement from a fourth satellite
now resolves the ambiguity as to
which of the two points is the
location of the receiver. The fourth
satellite point also helps eliminate
certain errors in the measured
distance due to uncertainties in the
GPS receiver's timing as well.

Here's how GPS works in five logical steps:

The basis of GPS is
"triangulation" from satellites.
To "triangulate," a GPS
receiver measures distance
using the travel time of radio
signals.
To measure travel time, GPS
needs very accurate timing,
which it achieves with some
tricks.

Along with distance, you need

to know exactly where the
satellites are in space. High
orbits and careful monitoring
are the secret.
Finally you must correct for
any
delays
the
signal
experiences as it travels
through the atmosphere.

INFORMATION IN A GPS SIGNAL

The GPS signal contains ephemeris
and almanac data. Ephemeris data is
constantly transmitted by each
satellite and contains important
information such as status of the
satellite (healthy or unhealthy),
current date, and time. Without this
part of the message, your GPS
receiver would have no idea what
the current time and date are. This

part of the signal is essential to

determining a position, as well see
in a moment. 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.

GPS ELEMENTS ( GPS SEGMENTS )

Space Segment:
The GPS technology is based on the
NAVSTAR (NAVigation Satellite
Timing And Ranging) constellation
composed of 24 satellites in space,
the space segment of the GPS
system. There are often more than
24 operational satellites as new ones
are launched to replace older
satellites. The satellite orbits repeat
almost the same ground track (as the
earth turns beneath them) once each

day. These 24 satellites (21

navigational satellites and 3 active
spares) are in 6 circular orbits (with
nominally four SVs in each), equally
spaced (60 degrees apart), at an
inclination angle of 55 degrees.
These satellites weigh 1900 lbs in
orbit, travel at speeds of about
14,000 kilometres per hour or 8700
miles per hour with a 12hr period
(precisely 11hr 58 min).

Control Segment:
It consists of a system of tracking
stations located around the world.
The control segment is composed of
all the ground-based facilities that
are used to monitor and control the
satellites. This segment is usually
unseen by the user, but is a vital part
of the system. The NAVSTAR
control
segment,
called
the
operational control system (OCS)
consists of 5 monitor stations, a
master control station (MCS) and 3
uplink antennas. The satellites send
down subsets of the orbital

ephemeris data. The monitor stations

track GPS satellites in view, collect
and send information from the
satellites back to the master control
station that computes the precise
orbits. The master station uploads
the data which is necessary for
proper operation of the satellite, like
ephemeris and clock data to the
satellites. Then the information is
formatted into updated navigation
messages that are transmitted
through ground antennas.

User Segment:
The user segment is composed of
GPS
receivers composed of
processors and antennas that allow
for sea, land and airborne operators
to receive the broadcast. The
receivers convert space vehicle
signals into position, velocity and
time. A total of 4 satellites are
required
to
compute
these
calculations. In order to make this
simple calculation, then, the GPS
receiver has to know two things:
The location of at least three
satellites above you
The distance between you and each
of those satellites.
The GPS receiver figures both of
these things out by analyzing highfrequency, low-power radio signals
from the GPS satellites. Better units
have multiple receivers, so they can

pick up signals from several

satellites simultaneously. Most
modern receivers are parallel multichannel design. Parallel receivers
typically have five to twelve
receiver circuits, each devoted to
GPS 72 handheld rxr one particular
satellite at all times. Parallel
channels are quick to lock onto
satellites when first turned on and
they are able to receive the satellite
signals even in difficult conditions
such as dense foliage or urban
settings. If you want to have
continuous
real-time
position
measurements, then the receiver has
to have at least four channels. If it
does, then it can devote one channel
to each of the four satellites at the
same time.

TRACKING
GPS tracking means to trace
something or someone with the
Global Positioning System. The
below diagram illustrates the basic
AVL system. It shows the GPS
signal arriving from satellite to
vehicle. The vehicle location is
communicated to the PC (Control
Center) via wireless network. But
for thousands of years Homosapiens
has had the opportunity to observe
the movement and general habits of
members of his own species as well
as of wildlife, particularly by
following their tracks. It was a hard
and particular unsafe affair. Hence
the development of satellite tracking
by the Argos consortium was a
quantum leap in the human Tracking
business. Since 1994 the Global
Positioning System has been
available for civilian use at no cost.
Nowadays GPS makes it available to
everyone to track nearly everything.
Objects as well as persons can be
.

tracked if they are fitted out with a

GPS receiver estimating the
respective location. The GPS
location data is stored on board of
the GPS receiver. Modern GPS
tracking systems are able to send
such GPS position data from the
object directly to a receiving station.
A receiving station can be a
stationary receiver of a tracking
service company (in case of car
tracking f. ex.) or provider of a
mobile phone company, or just a PC.
Nowadays the GPS location data can
be also received by small mobile
gadgets like laptops, handsets etc.
The AVL tracking system consists
of a GPS receiver inside the vehicle
and a communications link between
the vehicle and the control Center as
well as pc-based tracking software
for dispatch. The communication
system is usually a cellular network
similar to the one used by your cell
phone.

APPLICATIONS OF GPS

GPS in marine system:

Marine GPS receivers feature waterproof casings, marine chart plotter maps,
and even fishing tables and celestial schedules. Most can also store highway
map information, so you can use your marine GPS to get you to the marina and
then out to the fish.

GPS for Private and commercial Use:

The GPS system is free for everyone to use, all that is needed is a GPS receiver,
which costs about $90 and up (March 2005). This has led to widespread private
and commercial use. An example of private use is the popular activity
Geocaching where a GPS unit is used to search for objects hidden in nature by
traveling to the GPS coordinates. Commercial use can be land measurement,
navigation and road construction.

GPS on Air Planes

Most airline companies allow private use of ordinary GPS units on their flights,
except during landing and take-off, like all other electronic devices. The unit
does not transmit radio signals like mobile phones, it can only receive. Note,
however, that some airline companies might disallow it for security reasons,
such as unwillingness to let ordinary passengers track the flight route.

GPS For Visually Impaired

The projects of the navigation system using GPS for the visually impaired have
been conducted quite a few times. GPS was introduced in the late 80s and since
then there have been several research projects such as MoBIC, Drishti, and
Brunel Navigation System for the Blind, NOPPA, Braille Note GPS and
Trekker.
MoBIC
MoBIC means Mobility of Blind and Elderly people interacting with
Computers, which was carried out from 1994 to 1996 supported by the
Commission of the European Union. It was developing a route planning system,
which is designed to allow a blind person access to information from many
sources such as bus and train timetables as well as electronic maps of the
locality. The planning system helps blind people to study and plan their routes
in advance, indoors.

GPS for Horticulture

In orchards, GPS is used mainly for orchard mapping or electrical mapping. The
GPS system allows orchardist's to accurately keep records of chemical
applications, which is extremely important where the government is concerned.
It can keep track of orchard costs, record and track yields. GPS also allows for
the fine-tuning of orchard management techniques for the grower.

COST OF THE SYSTEM

This remarkable system was not
heap to build. Development of the
$10 billion GPS satellite navigation
system was begun in the 1970s by
the US Department of Defense,
which continues to manage the
system, to provide continuous,
worldwide
positioning
and
navigation data to US military forces
around
the
globe.
Ongoing
maintenance, including the launch of
replacement satellites, adds to the
cost of the system. Amazingly ,GPS
actually predates the introduction of
the personal computer. Its designers
may not have foreseen a day when
we would be carrying small portable
receivers, weighing less than a
pound, at a price as less as $300, that
would not only tell us where we are
in
position
coordinates
(latitude/longitude), but would even
display our location on an electronic
map along with cities, streets and

more. A commercial receiver used

for navigation purposes will be able
to measure only the coarse pseudo
range distances coded on one of the
two frequencies. Such receivers are
available from 1500 FF or 300 USD.
On the opposite, dual frequency
receivers able to measure both
pseudo-range and phase data on both
carrier waves cost up to 150,000 FF
or 30,000 USD. There is an
intermediate category of receivers
which allow relatively precise
positioning
without
being
excessively costly. Those are the
single frequency receivers, which
measure pseudo-range and phase
data on only one of the two
wavelength. Acquiring data only on
the frequency with the higher
signal/noise ratio, those receivers are
built
with
relatively
cheap
electronic.

CONCLUSION

Imagine being an archaeologist on an expedition to the Yucatan Peninsula in

Mexico. After preparing for your trip for months, you are certain that
somewhere close by are the ruins of villages once populated by Mayan Indians.
The forest is dense, the sun is hot, and the air is humid. The only way you can
record where you have been, or find your way back to civilization, is by using
the almost magic power of your GPS receiver. Or let's suppose you are an
oceanographer for the International Ice Patrol. You may be responsible for
finding icebergs that form in the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Some
of these icebergs are 50 miles long. They are a major threat to the ships that
travel those waters, and more than 300 of them form every winter. Using a GPS
receiver, you are able to help ships avoid disaster by zeroing in on the position
of the icebergs and notifying ship captains of their locations, perhaps averting
disaster.
There will probably be a time soon when every car on the road can be equipped
with a GPS receiver, including a video screen installed in the dashboard. The
indash monitor will be a full-color display showing your location and a map of
the roads around you. It will probably monitor your car's performance and your
car phone as well. Systems as amazing as this one are already being tested on
highways in the United States. GPS is rapidly changing the way people are
finding their way around the earth. Whether it is for fun, saving lives, getting
there faster or whatever use you can dream of, GPS navigation is becoming
more common every day. GPS will figure in history alongside the development
of the sea-going chronometer. This device enabled seafarers to plot their course
to an accuracy that greatly encouraged maritime activity, and led to the
migration explosion of the nineteenth century. GPS will affect mankind in the
same way. There are myriad applications that will benefit us individually and
collectively.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:
Outdoor Navigation with GPS by Stephen W. Hinch
The GPS Handbook by Robert I. Egbert
WebPages:
http://www.gpsinformation.net
http://www.AllGPS.com
http://garmin.com
http://colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps
http://trimble.com