Global Navigation Satellite

Systems
• Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) refers to the
multiple satellite systems used for worldwide navigation.
• The original GNSS was the U.S.’s Global Positioning System
(GPS) and still is the most widely used across the globe. Other
countries now have separate systems.
• The GPS also known as Navstar, is a satellite-based navigation
system that can be used by anyone with an appropriate receiver
to pinpoint her or his location on earth.
• The GPS Navstar system is an
open navigation system i.e.,
anyone with a GPS receiver can
use it.
• The system is designed to provide
a base navigation system with a
horizontal accuracy to within 3 m.
• This precision is available to any
GPS user. As a result, GPS is
gradually replacing older military
systems and civilian land-based
navigation systems.
GPS Receivers

• A GPS receiver is a complex superheterodyne microwave

receiver (amplification with frequency mixing) designed to pick up
the GPS signals, decode them, and then compute the location
of the receiver.
• The output is usually an LCD display giving latitude, longitude,
and altitude information and/or a map of the area.
• There are many different types of GPS receivers. More than 40
manufacturers now make some form of GPS receiver.
• The larger and more sophisticated units are used in military
vehicles.
• There are also sophisticated civilian receivers for use in various
kinds of precision applications such as surveying and map
making.
• Different models are available for use in aircraft, ships, and
trucks. Handheld units are also available.
• The most widely used GPS receiver is the popular handheld
portable type, not much larger than a handheld calculator.
• Most of the GPS receiver circuit has been reduced to
integrated-circuit form, so entire GPS receiver is now extremely
small, portable battery-operated unit.
• As all GPS receivers are not only superheterodyne
communication receivers but also sophisticated computers.
• A high amount of high-level mathematics must be carried out to
compute the receiver position from the received data.
• The receiver consists of the antenna, the RF/IF amplifier and
filter, frequency synthesizer attached to a mixer and clock
oscillator.
• Other sections of the receiver include a digital signal processor
(DSP) and a control and data processor along with its related
RAM and ROM.
• Interface circuits provide connection to the LCD or other type of
display.
• The antenna system is a type of patch antenna made on a
printed-circuit board (PCB).
• In the handheld units, the antenna is part of the single physical
structure and is connected directly to the receiver front end.
• In some larger and more complex GPS receivers, the antenna
is a separate unit and may be mounted at a high clear point and
connected to the receiver with coaxial cable.
• The receiver can determine its exact position only by
computing the position information obtained from four
satellites.
• The receiver picks up signals from four satellites. R1
through R4 are the ranges to the satellites from the ship.
• The receiver ignores all the signals except the one whose
pseudocode has been entered and used to obtain lock.
Enhanced GPS

• Over the years, several services have been created to improve

the accuracy of the GPS.
• The usual accuracy is less than 10 m which is insufficient.
• Errors caused by signal propagation in the ionosphere and
troposphere, minor variations in satellite position, multipath
signals, and even timing differences caused by clock
corrections add up to loss of position accuracy.
 • Vanilla GPS is one of the car tracking company in India.
• One of the enhanced services is differential GPS (DGPS).
• This service is implemented by the U.S. Coast Guard and is
available only in the United States, mostly on the coasts and
along major waterways.
• DGPS uses a fixed station (commander) whose precise location
is known.
• This station then monitors all satellites and compares location
data from the satellite to its known position (figure ahead).
• It determines any errors in position that they create and
transmits these errors to GPS receivers, where the error data
updates the received data to give a more accurate position.
• The error signals are transmitted on a separate radio frequency
to the GPS receiver to update the error correction information.
• Another enhanced GPS is called the Wide-Area Augmentation
System (WAAS).
• It was developed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
and the Department of Transportation (DoT) so that aircraft
could use GPS for blind instrument control landings.
• Currently the error even with DGPS is just too great to assume
that a plane will be able to precisely identify the end of the
runway and its extremities.
• The WAAS consists of about 25 ground stations around the
United States with precisely known locations and two coastal
stations that collect all the data from the other stations.
• The collected data is used to determine all errors, and then
differential correction signals are transmitted up to one of two
geosynchronous satellites.
• These satellites in turn transmit the correction signals to GPS
receivers.
• As with DGPS, the receiver must be WAAS-enabled to receive
the corrective data.
• Use of WAAS improves the accuracy with an error of less than
3 ft.
GPS Applications

• The primary application of GPS is military and related

navigation.
• GPS is used by ships, aircrafts, and ground troops.
• Civilian uses have also increased because of the availability of
many low-cost portable receivers (less than $200).
• Most civilian applications involve navigation, which is usually
marine-or aviation-related.
• GPS is also used in hiking, camping and other outdoors sports
activities.
• Commercial applications include surveying, mapmaking, and
construction.
• Vehicle location is a growing application for trucking and
delivery companies, taxi, bus, and train transportation.
• Police, fire, ambulance, and forest services also use GPS.
• GPS based navigation systems are now widely available as
accessories in cars to provide a continuous readout of current
vehicle location.
Worldwide GNSS

• The success of GPS encouraged other countries to build their

own GNSS.
• Over the years, several similar systems have been deployed.
The largest is Russia’s GLONASS. It was initially functional in
1995 and was updated and restored in 2011.
• It uses 24 satellites at a height of 11,890 miles.
• Operational frequencies are 1.602 GHz and 1.246 GHz.
• China is building its own system, called Compass. It is an
expansion of its regional system called Beidou.
• It is made up of 30 satellites at an altitude of 13,140 miles and 5
geostationary satellites.
• It also uses L-band frequencies of 1.561098, 1.589742,
1.20714, and 1.26852 GHz.
• The European Union (EU) navigation system is called Galileo.
The system is expected to be more accurate than GPS.
• It uses L-band frequencies of 1.164–1.215 GHz, 1.26–1.3 GHz,
and 1.559–1.592 GHz.
• Japan is building a three-satellite system called QZSS that is a
supplement to GPS.

• India also plans its own GNSS, called IRNSS. It will use 7
geostationary satellites, for coverage mainly around India and
the surrounding area.