To see the imapct on your car insurance rates have a look at car insurance coverage quote online. Each and every one of us must have already heard about Global Positioning System receivers. We hear about them whenever a new luxury vehicle is launched. We also often hear about them from our techie and adventurous friends. But while the term is so common, many of us really know nothing about the thing. So what really is a Global Positioning System receiver?
A Global Positioning System receiver, or simply Global Positioning System as other people would call it, is an electronic device that can determine one’s precise location on earth. Calling the device simply Global Positioning System, however, is incorrect because the receiver is but a single and small part of the Global Positioning System, which is a very large navigation system.
Global Positioning System in Brief
The abbreviation Global Positioning System stands for Global Positioning System. It is a very large navigation system that was developed and implemented by the United States’ Department of Defense (DOD). The system is composed of a network of 27 satellites, different ground stations around the world, and Global Positioning System receivers. 24 out of the 27 satellites in the Global Positioning System are active and they continuously send radio signals. These signals, in turn, are used by Global Positioning System receiver to determine their geographical location.
How Global Positioning System Receivers Work
The primary function of a Global Positioning System receiver is to calculate its actual location on earth using the signals it intercepts from Global Positioning System satellites. To do this, the Global Positioning System receiver must be able to locate three or more Global Positioning System satellites from where it will intercept signals. After intercepting the signals, it will use the basic principle of mathematics called trilateration or triangulation to compute its actual position.
Now, before any triangulation calculation can be implemented, the Global Positioning System receiver must first know 2 things:
- the position of at least 3 satellites, and
- the distance of each satellite to the receiver.
A Global Positioning System receiver can determine the location of at least three Global Positioning System satellites by decoding the signals it receives. The signals transmitted by Global Positioning System satellites are radio signals that contain three different bits of information: a pseudorandom code, ephemeris data, and almanac data. From the three, it is the ephemeris data that actually gives the actual position of the satellite transmitting the signal.
For the distance of a Global Positioning System satellite from the Global Positioning System receiver, the receiver simply measures the signal’s speed, or the time delay from the transmission of the signal to its reception. From this speed or time difference, it can determine the satellite’s distance.
With information about the location of at least three or four satellites and their individual distances, and by using the principle of triangulation, the Global Positioning System can calculate its actual position in terms of latitude, longitude, and altitude.
Accuracy of Global Positioning System Receivers
In general, Global Positioning System receivers are accurate to within 20 meters of radius. With the use of supplemental technologies, however, modern Global Positioning System receivers can increase this accuracy level. Global Positioning System receivers using multiple parallel channels, for example, can increase the accuracy level to 15 meters. More complex systems like WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) and DGlobal Positioning System (Differential Global Positioning System) can even reduce this range up to less than 3 meters.
Despite the use of these supplemental technologies, there are still a lot of factors that can cause even the best Global Positioning System receiver to broadcast inaccurate locations. Among these factors are:
- Radio signal delay as it passes through the ionosphere and troposphere
- Bouncing of signal as it hits an object (signal multipath)
- Inaccuracy of Global Positioning System receiver clock
- Ephemeris errors, or inaccuracy of the satellite’s reported location
- Number of satellites visible
- Poor positioning of satellites (satellites are in a linear position or in a tight grouping)
Although some of the Global Positioning System errors that these factors cause can be remedied by the software that comes along with the Global Positioning System receiver, others simply can’t. Nonetheless, Global Positioning System receiver manufacturers are continuously developing technologies to correct these inaccuracies.
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