Lecture 6

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Dr. Ahmed Said Eltrass

Electrical Engineering Department

Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
Spring 2022

Email: ahmed4@vt.edu
Office hours: Saturday 12:30 p.m. to 02:30 p.m.
4th floor, Electrical Engineering Building
GPS (Global Positioning System)
 GPS (Global Positioning System)

GNSS and GPS

– GPS refers to the constellation of
navigation satellites associated with the
American System (which is a global
system).
– For a long time, GPS was the ‘only
game in town’, so everything (satellites,
receivers, etc.) was referred to as “GPS”
– Times are changing… other options
(besides GPS) are quickly developing
such as GLONASS, Galileo, and
BeiDou
 GNSS = Global
GNSS Navigation
(Global Navigation Satellite Satellite
System)
• GNSS is an umbrella term that includes any satellite navigation
system. System
• It includes constellations of Earth-orbiting satellites that broadcast
their locations in space and time.
• Options include:
– GPS (U.S. | operational since 1994)
– GLONASS (Russian | ‘re-operational’ since 2010)
– Galileo (European Union | anticipated operation: 2022)
– BeiDou/Compass (China | Operational in Asia/Pacific since
2012 / anticipated global operation: 2022)
• France, India, and Japan are in the process of developing regional
navigation systems.
• Once all these regional and global systems are working the GNSS
technology will provide a user with access to positioning,
navigation and timing signals from more than 100 satellites.
 Why GNSS/GPS?

Location, Location, Location

and
INFORMATION!!!
APPLICATIONS OF GPS
 Military Applications
• Digital Assistant for soldiers (personal navigation)

• Target tracking and missile guidance

 Civilian Applications
• Vehicle navigation (for cars, airplanes, and ships)
• Used in map-making and land surveying
Different services which depend on GPS.
 Segments of the GPS
There are three major segments in GNSS/GPS system:
1. Space segment (Satellites)
2. Control Segment (Ground Control Stations)
3. User Segment (GNSS Receivers or units)

Space Segment

User Segment
Control Segment
Ground
Monitor Stations Antennas
 1- Satellites
• 24-32 MEO satellites

• Obital period of 11 hr 55 min

• 20,200 km Altitude above Earth

• 5 to 8 satellites visible at all times from any

location any where in the world

• These satellites have VERY accurate clocks on

board.

• The satellites continuously send radio signals

towards earth.

• These radio signals are picked up by GPS

receivers
Satellites: “A Beehive of Activity”
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1283.html
 2- Control Segment

• There are five control stations that monitor the satellites.

• Control stations enable information on Earth to be

transmitted to the satellites (updates and fine turning).

• Control stations continuously track satellites, and update the

positions of each satellite.

• Without control stations, the accuracy of the system would

degrade in a matter of days
 Control Stations

US Space Command

Cape Canaveral
Hawaii
Kwajalein Atoll

Diego Garcia
Ascension Is.

Master Control Station Monitor Station Ground Antenna

 3- User Segment
• GPS units are referred to as “receivers”.
• They receive information (radio signals) from satellites.
• They calculate current position and speed/direction
How GPS (or GNSS) Works

One satellite…
Position is Based on Time
Signal leaves satellite at
time “T”

Signal is picked up by the

T+t receiver at time “T + t”

Distance between satellite and

receiver = “t × the speed of light”
 Finding Range
• Measure time of flight of pulse from satellite to receiver = t
seconds
• Calculate distance from satellite to receiver
• R = t × c meters
• We need three GPS satellites to solve for x, y, z
• We must know where the satellite was when pulse was
transmitted
If the GPS receiver obtains signals from 3 satellites, then it
“knows” that it is located where these 3 spheres intersect
 Position Location with GPS
• Solve three ranging equations for Ux, Uy, and Uz
• Satellite locations ( Xi, Yi, Zi ) are known from calculation of their
orbits using ephemeris data
• However, works only if your clock agrees exactly with satellite clocks
• Measured range will be in error unless clocks are completely
synchronized
• Receiver clock has clock bias τ seconds
• Measured propagation time delay Ti between the satellite (i ) and
receiver is Ti = t + τ
t = Ri / c : actual propagation time where Ri : true range
Pseudo range : PRi = Ti × c
• Pseudo range = true range Ri + range error RE
• PRi = Ri + RE
Where : RE = τ × c and Ri = t × c
• PRi = Ri + RE = c × ( t + τ )
• Ri = PRi - τ c
• We cannot use three ranging equations unless satellite and
receiver clocks are synchronized
 GPS Timing Solution

• Each GPS Satellite carries four highly accurate atomic clocks

which provide GPS time (about $ 100,000 each)
• Civil receivers do not have atomic clocks (moderately
accurate quartz clocks)
• Receiver clock must be synchronized to GPS time
• Requires 4th satellite (fourth equation) to solve for clock
bias/error
• Four unknowns are Ux, Uy, Uz, and τ
 GPS Timing Solution
• Receiver clock must be synchronized to GPS time
• Requires 4th satellite (fourth equation) to solve for clock
bias/error
• Four unknowns are Ux, Uy, Uz, and τ

Navigation Solution : (x, y, z )

Navigation Solution : (x, y, z)
 Summary: GPS Organization

i) Ranging signal
i) Orbit information GPS Satellites ii) Satellite orbit information
ii) Time information (precision clocks,
Radio signal)

Space Segment
Ground Stations

Master Control Antennas, receivers

(position determination)
Monitor Stations
User Segment
Control Segment
 GPS Basic Signal Structure
• Reference clock f0 =10.23MHz (The atomic clocks aboard the GPS
satellites produce a fundamental frequency )
• Two carrier frequencies:
L1 = 154 f0 = 1.57542 GHz
L2 = 120 f0 = 1.22760 GHz

• L1 and L2 are the two carrier frequencies used to transmit timing

information by the GPS satellites

• Each satellite transmits its data with at least two distinct spread
spectrum codes: the Coarse / Acquisition (C/A) code, which is
freely available to the public, and the Precise (P) code, which is
usually encrypted and reserved for military applications (CDMA).
Two basic codes exist
1- C/A code (course acquisition)- for civilian use on L1 - Standard
Positioning System (SPS)

- The Standard Positioning Service (SPS), is a positioning and timing

service provided on GPS L1 frequency and available to all GPS users.

2 - P/Y code (Precise Code on L1 and L2) - The P code is encrypted and
transmitted as Y code - used by the military - provides 3 m resolution-
Precise Positioning System (PPS)

- The Precise Positioning Service (PPS), is a highly accurate military

positioning, velocity and timing service broadcasted at the GPS L1 and L2
frequencies. Both frequencies contain a precision (P/Y) code ranging signal
with an encrypted navigation data message that is reserved for authorized
users.
 Error Sources for GPS/GNSS
• There are fundamental limitations on positioning accuracy using any GNSS
technique.
• These limitations are defined by the error budget for the GNSS pseudorange
observable:
P = R + c (τ ) +  ion +  trop +  mult +  + other satellite errors
Where P = measured pseudorange
R = the true range to the satellite
c = speed of light in a vacuum
τ = error in the receiver clock
ion and trop = ionospheric and tropospheric signal delays
mult = errors introduced by multipath
 = receiver noise.
Other errors at the satellite level: Satellite location Errors, Relativistic Errors
(due to satellite acceleration, frequency shift), and Selective Availability (SA).
• GNSS positioning accuracy ultimately depends on how well
all of the potential sources of error can be measured,
estimated and/or eliminated.

Receiver Noise
• All electronic devices will have a certain amount of noise.

• SNR determines the signal strength relative to noise

• GPS position is degraded if the SNR of one or more satellites in

the constellation falls below certain range
 Multipath Errors
• GPS assumes that the signal travels directly from the satellite to the
receiver.
• Multipath results from signal reflecting off of surface before entering
the receiver: Adds additional (erroneous) path length to the signal

Multipath errors through indirect path delay

Multipath effect can be reduced by improved site selections and

hardware (receiver/antenna) designs
 Tropospheric Signal Delay
• The Tropospheric delay can vary from
2.0 - 2.5 m in the zenith, to 20 - 28 m at a
5o angle.

• The delay depends on the temperature,

humidity, and pressure.

• Troposphere is non-dispersive medium

below 30 GHz affecting the GPS signal
the same way. So all GNSS signals
regardless of frequency are slowed
equally.
• There are many models which estimate
tropospheric delay.
 Ionospheric Delay
• Currently, the source of the largest error in civil GPS positioning is the
ionospheric delay

• Ionospheric delays are normally 2-5 times greater than tropospheric

delays

Diagram showing propagation delays introduced on GPS signals by

the Earth's ionosphere.
GPS C/A code accuracy: No Selective Availability (SA)

SA: Selective Availability

 Selective Availability (SA)
• The US military can introduce intentional errors to limit accuracy for
civil GPS users.

• SA introduces an artificial clock error into the radio signal and writes
an error in the satellite status information

• If SA is ‘on’ a potential horizontal accuracy of ± 20 meters

will be reduced to ± 100 meters.

• This was intended to deny an enemy the use of civilian GPS receivers
for precision weapon guidance.

• SA is currently disabled but it can be re-implemented at any time if

President of US declares a national emergency
Geometric Errors: Dilution Of Precision (DOP)
• The strength of figure of the satellites is taken into consideration
by the Dilution Of Precision (DOP) factor:
- Depends on number of satellites
- Depends on location of satellites

• Output of the GPS receiver combines four path errors

• Not necessarily equal because of geometry of satellites
• Errors are different in x, y, z directions
Good Geometric DOP:
- When the angles are different
- Satellites occupy a large
volume in the sky
- Low DOP
- Good Geometry
- Smaller Error

Bad Geometric DOP:

- When the angles are similar.
- Satellites occupy a small
volume in the sky
- High DOP
- Bad Geometry
- Larger Error
 Good Geometric DOP

We’re somewhere
in this box

Bad Geometric DOP

At close angles
the box gets bigger
 Good GDOP and Bad Visibility
• Good computed GDOP and bad visibility results in poor GDOP
• Good visibility may not always be possible
 Differential GPS (DGPS)
• Many applications require sub-meter ( under 1 m) accuracy.
Differential GPS (DGPS) provides such accuracy.

• The concept is to use reference stations to calculate various errors in

Pseudorange, satellite ephemeris, clock offsets, and propagation errors
due to ionospheric and tropospheric effects.

• These errors are then broadcast to users and used to correct their
positions. Corrections done either in post-processing or real-time with
Real Time Kinetic (RTK) navigation.

• The broadcast may be ground-based (e.g. U.S. Coast Guard National

DGPS (NDGPS) at 285-325kHz) or space-based (e.g. FAA Wide
Area Augmentation System (WAAS)).
Differential GPS (DGPS):
- Improves accuracy and correct bias errors at one location using
measured bias errors at known position (base or reference station)
- Requires software in reference receiver that can track all SVs in view
and form individual pseudo-range corrections for each
 Types of DGPS
• Local Area
– May use a single reference receiver station
– Calculates Pseudrorange errors
– Broadcast to user for Pseudorange correction
– Also called scalar DGPS

• Wide Area
– Uses a network of reference stations (at least 4 !)
– Calculate satellite ephemeris errors, clock offset, propagation
errors
– Broadcast to users for satellite position correction
– Also called vector DGPS
– Examples: Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for
aviation which is a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS).
 1- Local Area DGPS

• Fixed receiver is at known location (xk, yk, zk) found by

conventional surveying
• Fixed receiver calculates GPS coordinates (xg, yg, zg)
• Calculates differences : (xk, yk, zk) - (xg, yg, zg)
• Transmits differences to other GPS receivers
- Calculations must be made for same four satellites
- Works over short distances only
- Simple DGPS is not particularly accurate but will improve accuracy
somewhat
- Better method is to calculate errors in pseudo ranges for all visible
satellites
 2- Wide Area DGPS
• An example of Wide Area DGPS is Wide Area Augmentation System
(WAAS)
• WAAS is developed & operated by the FAA (Federal Aviation
Administration) for flight navigation but it’s available free to GPS users
• It provides FREE GPS differential correction data for visible satellites
• WAAS-enabled receivers can provide sub-meter level accuracy anywhere in
most locations of the US and southern Canada.
• 38 fixed stations in US at known locations: Observe all GPS satellites
• Send pseudo range error corrections for ephemeris, clock drifts, ionospheric and
tropospheric delay to two master stations

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• Master stations transmit pseudo range correction data to two GEO
satellites with L-band transponders
• GEO satellites transmit L1 signal with correction data in NAV
message
• Other countries are developing their own similar systems (Europe,
India, and Japan).

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 Summary of GPS Error Sources
Typical Error (in Meters) Standard GPS Differential GPS
Satellite Clocks 3.5 0
Orbit Errors 4.3 0
Ionosphere Summary of GPS Error Sources 6.4 0.5
Troposphere 2 0.3
Receiver Noise 2.4 2.4
Multipath 3 3
• Receiver Errors:
- Clock differences corrected in DGPS
- Satellite Positional Errors (Ephemeris): Corrected in DGPS
• Atmospheric Delay: mostly corrected in DGPS
• Multi-path: better receivers are able to reduce multipath effect
 DGPS Errors
• DGPS errors increase with:

– Increasing age (or latency) of the corrections

– Increasing distance between the reference station and user

– Quoted values are typically error increases of 0.5 m per

100 km of separation distance

• Typically one would like corrections within 10s and

separation distance within 50 km.
 GPS Modernization and GNSS Systems
• Currently operational GNSS constellations include the United States’ Global
Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Federation’s GLObal NAvigation
Satellite System (GLONASS).

• Two other global GNSS systems are expected to be fully operational by 2022
at the earliest: the European Union/European Space Agency satellite
navigation system (Galileo) and China’s global navigation satellite system
(BeiDou/Compass).

• Once all these regional and global systems are working the GNSS technology
will provide a user with access to positioning, navigation and timing signals
from more than 100 satellites.

• GPS Modernization offers superb opportunity to satisfy both military

requirements and civil needs