Monday, May 18, 2020

What is GPS, How it works

GPS(Global Positioning System) is a satellite-based navigation system. It provides time and location-based information to a GPS receiver, located anywhere on or near the earth surface. GPS works in all weather conditions, provided there is an unobstructed line of sight communication with 4 or more GPS satellites. GPS is managed by the US Air Force

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a network of about 30 satellites orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 20,000 km. The system was originally developed by the US government for military navigation but now anyone with a GPS device, be it a SatNav, mobile phone or handheld GPS unit, can receive the radio signals that the satellites broadcast.

Wherever you are on the planet, at least four GPS satellites are ‘visible’ at any time. Each one transmits information about its position and the current time at regular intervals. These signals, travelling at the speed of light, are intercepted by your GPS receiver, which calculates how far away each satellite is based on how long it took for the messages to arrive.






Any instant of time, there are at least 4 GPS satellites in line of sight to a receiver on the earth. Each of these GPS satellites sends information about its position and the current time to the GPS receiver at fixed regular instants of time. This information is transmitted to the receiver in the form of signal which is then intercepted by the receiver devices. These signals are radio signals that travel with the speed of light. The distance between a GPS receiver and the satellite is calculated by finding the difference between the time the signal was sent from GPS satellite and the time the GPS receiver received the signal.

Once the receiver receives the signal from at least three satellites, the receiver then points its location using trilateration process. A GPS requires at least 3 satellites to calculate 2-D position(latitude and longitude on a map). In this case, the GPS receiver assumes that it is located at mean sea level. However, it requires at least 4 satellites to find receivers 3-D position(latitude, longitude, and altitude).




Click to get Yor GPS Coordinates.

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1 comment:

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