Global Positioning System - Essay Example

Name) (Instructors’ name) (Course) (Date) Global Positioning System This is a system of navigation that relies on satellites and is made up of a network of twenty-four satellites placed into the orbit (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). Andrews It provides worldwide positioning on a continuous basis despite the weather condition, time of day and distance from the earth. The GPS uses principles of general relativity to correct the satellites’ atomic clocks. The GPS is made up of three principal segments, which are space, control and benefeciaraies (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). A GPS uses its receivers use to provide a position that is three-dimensional, and it includes latitude, longitude, and altitude, together with the exact time. The position of the satellite si required and then measured delay of the received signal and current time. The aim of this write up is to write a report on Global Positioning System, its history of development, how it works, benefits and limitations, and its application. The position accuracy fundamentally depends on the position of the satellite and the delay of the signal. The Global Positioning System, meant for a project of the military, is deemed a twofold-use technology, meaning it has noteworthy relevance for both the civilian and the military business (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). GPS based time reference provides economical but extremely precise moment in time and synchronization ability and meets prerequisites in monitoring, locating and controlling. In the present era, of streamlining and innovation, the applications of GPS technology on various industries are growing and covering several technological and organization activities. As a result, it is indispensable to remove the GPS signal errors (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). The United States Department of Defense, to assist in guiding missiles, navigating aircrafts and controlling ground troops first developed the GPS between the 70s and 80s. It was called the Navstar Global Positioning System previously, and was first brainstormed at the Pentagon in 1973. This was because they looked for a satellite system that was error free. The first useful GPS was launched in the year 1978 (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). The 24 satellites were operational by the mid 1990s. In the mid sixties, the United States Navy conducted a test with satellite navigation. The Transit System was developed for submarines carrying Polaris nuclear missiles. Navigation system that is radio based was created in the early periods of the twentieth century that were used in the Second World War. As the technology progressed, airplanes and ships used ground-based radio-navigation systems (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). This technology had a disadvantage of making a decision between a frequency that is high and precise, but does not cover up a large area, and a system with a low frequency that covers up a vast area, but not extremely precise. The GPS satellites broadcast radio signals to facilitate receivers that are near or on the face of the earth (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). This enables to establish location and a synchronized time. Its signals include ranging signals that are used to gauge the space to the satellite and navigation messages (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). The messages of navigation include the ephemeris data, which is used to estimate the details about the status and time of the entire assemblage. It displays the location of every satellite in orbit and the original codes of the GPS design include the Acquisition or Coarse code that uses the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), which lets the receiver identify several satellites that are on similar frequency. The other code is the Precision code whereby increase in its correlation gain and eliminates any range of ambiguity in the Solar System (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). The Navigation message ensures that the receiver knows the detailed information about the position and the network of each satellite. This has been modulated by the GPS design and is made up of three principal components (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). These include the GPS date and time, status of the satellite and indication of its health (first component). The second one includes information of the orbit (ephemeris) and allows the receiver to calculate the satellite position. The third part, the almanac, has the status and information concerning all the satellites, Pseudorandom Binary Sequence (PRN) numbers and locations. The almanac comprises of status information and the course of the orbiting, the GPS derived time, to the UTC, Coordinated Universal Time (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). The other basic signals are the data updates and the frequency information signals. There are two general improvements on the signals of the GPS, which include a forward error correction and dataless cipher of the NAV message. The civilian signal, L2C, was added to be transmitted on a frequency, and it has improved the accuracy of navigation, easy tracking The GPS satellites work with a network of other satellites that are placed into orbit, around the planet (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). These satellites circle the earth twice in a day in a remarkably accurate orbit. The receiver of the GPS takes this information and uses the method of triangulation to gauge the exact location of the user. In essence, the receiver of the GPS compares the time that an indicate was broadcasted by a satellite with the period that it was received. The difference of the time notifies the receiver of GPS and how far the satellite is. With the measurements of the distance it can establish the position of the user and show it on the electronic map of the unit. The receiver of the GPS needs be locked on to the indicator of not more than three satellites to determine the latitude and the longitude position, two-dimensional and movement of the track (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). With more than three satellites in sight, the receiver can establish the three-dimensional position of the user, which is the longitude, latitude and altitude. Once the position of the user has been established, the GPS unit can then work out other information, such as bearing, speed, track, distance, trip, sunrise and sunset time, distance to destination, and more. GPS receivers of today are exceptionally exact; this is due to their parallel design of the multichannel. The channel receivers are rapid to lock onto satellites when they are first turned on and maintained strong locks, even in dense plant life or settings of the urban that has tall buildings (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). Various factors of the atmosphere and other causes of error can change the preciseness of the receivers of GPS, but there are measures set curb these issues. The GPS receivers with Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) improves the precision to not more than three meters. No, extra paraphernalia, or fees are required to take the benefit of WAAS. (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). The users can also acquire a better precision with the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), which proper’s GPS indicators to a typical of three to five meters. The United States Coast Guard controls the most usual DGPS improvement services (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). This structure comprises of a set of connections of towers that get the signals of GPS and broadcast a corrected signal-by-signal transmitters A GPS system has benefits to both the civilian and the military. The GPS system can be use attract attention to panics like accidents or hijacks, track a stolen car, show the direction and location of a place, thus; one will never get lost (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). Another benefit is that it streamlines the truck movement and supply chain of goods accurately and predict when it will arrive at its destination it can be used to locate a lost person, if placed on them before. A small GPS device is also helpful in exercising, as a monitor, which will keep track of the speed. Other benefits include working in all weather conditions, it is cheaper, compared to other navigation systems, covers the whole planet, and easy to use alongside other technologies like the phone (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). Every benefit has its downside and, therefore, the disadvantages of GPS include weaker signals, when compared to signals of the cellular phones. It does not work well in urban areas because it requires a direct line of sight, which is not available in these areas (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). The Department of Defense can restrict acces and use to th4 system at will, thus being unreliable. The application of the GPS can be broadly categorized into two main categories being Navigation systems and tracking devices. In navigation, when a user is located through the GPS, the location can be identified on the map (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). This is helpful in tasks like finding a route from one point to the other, locating a unit and selecting a route in real time. Navigation needs a map work that is not part of it. Mapping, therefore, has to be done using the associated technologies that usually necessitate the use of portable computers. The application in this case ranges from a simple navigation of a car system to a highly sophisticated package of marine navigation and aviation navigation. In the tracking, of the system, the GPS devices are the simplest form of this technology; this is because they can be used together with the communication technologies like the transmission and telephony radios (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). With the tracking system, the movements of a car are monitored using real time. Other things that can be tracked include military and police personnel or young children and criminals. In all these case, the tracking system has set up a GPS receiver, software and device to transmit the resulting co-ordinates (Grewal, Lawrence, Angus 2). It also has issues that cause errors or low signals include troposphere and ionosphere, signal multi-path, orbital errors, receiver clock errors, satellite geometry or shading and intentional degradation of the satellite signal. In conclusion, there are about 2,500 satellites of different types that go round the earth in a constellation. The GPS has contributed to the advancement of life and made it easier, than before. Its reliability has enabled the military to curb various threats and civilians, in their day-to-day life. Its integration with other technologies like mobile phones, on the golf course and tracking machines, are of a great benefit to the human kind. With future improvements in the systems, better and quality, signals are guaranteed, than before. The uses of the GPS will also increase with its advancement with time. Works Cited Grewal, Mohinder S, Lawrence R. Weill, and Angus P. Andrews. Global Positioning Systems, Inertial Navigation, and Integration. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley-Interscience, 2007. Internet resource. Read More