Global Positioning System

Mohammad Hamza Naseem Khan

Abstract:
The United States Department of Defense has launched a space based global navigational
or positioning system called the GPS. It gives reliable information about any object on or near to the
earth. It works through a network of satellites linked together which calculate the latitude, longitude,
altitude and velocity of any object residing earth. It was initially developed for military usage but now it
also has wide applications in civil sector.

Introduction:
 BACKGROUND:

In my research I came across the history and need for the advent of a Navigation
system. During catastrophes or unfavorable conditions and even in normal routine we very often use to
hear about the misplacement of Army convoys, detracting of airplanes, ships, and ground vehicles in
rough and difficult terrains. Sometimes due to some factors if we need to change the course or need to get
to any address we’ve never went before we go through a lot of stress as well as waist our time in asking
people and locating the address manually, in short we need a guide to track the world so that we feel free
to go anywhere and to explore.

 OBJECTIVE:

While there were many needs for accurate navigation in military and civilian sectors, almost none of
those I mentioned above were seen as a justification for the billions of dollars that would cost in the
research, development, deployment, and operation for a constellation of navigation systems. However
during the Cold war’s, Arms race the nuclear threat to the very existence of America was the one that did
justify this cost in the view of the US Congress. This deterrent effect is why GPS was funded. Primarily it
was to be made for the use of the military and national security. The launch of the 1st SPUTNIK by the
Soviet Union 1957 was also a major cause for this invention. The U.S. scientists started monitoring
Sputnik’s radio transmissions. They discovered that, because of the Doppler Effect the frequency of the
signal transmitted by Sputnik was higher as the satellite approached, and lower as it continued away from
it. They realized that since they knew their exact location on the globe, they could pinpoint where the
satellite was along its orbit by measuring the Doppler distortion.
Proposed Work:
My job was to research the system that is being used today for navigation i.e. the
GPS, causes for its invention, its history and evolution.

History:

Different navigation systems were developed initially until 1940’s LORAN and DECCA
navigators which made huge success in WWII. They were ground based navigation systems until
TRANSIT was invented which is credited to be the first satellite/space based navigation system. It was
developed and tested by the U.S Navy in 1960. It used a constellation of five satellites and could provide
a navigational fix approximately once per hour. Since then many and many space based navigators came
into being which were more reliable and efficient as well.

The one that is in use now is the NAVSTAR GPS developed by the U.S Department of Defense and is
managed by U.S Air force 50th Air wing.

Structure of the system:

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully functional Navigational
system. The GPS uses a constellation of between 24 and 32 medium earth orbit satellites that transmit
precise signals that enable GPS receivers to determine their location, speed, direction, and universal time.
It consists of three basic segments:

 Space segment:

The space segment is composed of 24 to 32 satellites in medium earth orbit at an altitude of 20,200kms
above earth. GPS satellites broadcast microwave signals from space, which each GPS receiver uses to
calculate its three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) and the current time. You can
imagine its precision by knowing the fact that every object on the planet is under surveillance from a
minimum of four to eight satellites at each and every second and its broadcasting speed is just 40
nanoseconds.

 Control segment:

The control segment is the master control system that is composed of a master control station located in
schreiver AFB, Colorado. It contains an alternate master control station, a host of dedicated and shared
ground antennas and monitor stations. They are five in number namely; Hawaii monitor station,
Ascension Island monitor station, Diego Garcia monitor station and the Kwajalein monitor station. It also
constitutes four dedicated ground antennas and six dedicated monitor stations.

 User segment:
The user segment consists of the total gps receivers being operated in the world whether they are for
military or civilian uses. Tens of millions of receivers are being used now in the whole world for civil,
military (the secure GPS precise positioning system), or for commercial and scientific uses.

Applications:
As I have already mentioned previously that this system was primarily based on military
issues. So its main uses included defense and spying over the enemies as well as to take security into
account that is why this system was only available to military and not the general public. It was
September 1, 1983 when a Korean Airlines flight-007 was shot down by the Soviet interceptors near
Moneron Island near Russia. The flight contained 269 people out of which no body survived. The plane
also carried a sitting U.S congress man and other 61 Americans. The plane due to some navigational
errors slightly tilted its path towards Soviet Union. Soon after this incident President Ronald Reagan gave
directive orders for making GPS commercial and for the use of civilians.

Nowadays almost every individual is benefited from this technology both military and civilian sectors.
There are two types of GPS services one is the precise system that is only for the use of Army and a
standard system which is easily accessible by anyone having a GPS receiver throughout the World.

Standard Positioning System:

• 9 meters horizontal accuracy

• 15 meters vertical accuracy

• 40 nanoseconds

• Designed for civilian use

Precise Positioning System:

• 2.7 meters horizontal accuracy

• 4.9 meters vertical accuracy

• 40 nanoseconds

• Designed for military use

Other applications include:

Location - determining a basic position

Navigation - getting from one location to another

Tracking - monitoring the movement of people and things

Mapping - creating maps of the world

Tectonics - GPS enables direct fault motion measurement in earth quakes

Cellular telephony - position detection for emergency calls

Missile & Projectile guidance - ICBMs, cruise missiles & Artillery projectiles

Nuclear Detonation System

GPS Tracking - Location determines which content to display; for instance, information about an
approaching point of interest is displayed.

Geo fencing - Vehicle tracking systems, person tracking system and pet tracking systems use GPS to
locate a vehicle, person, or pet. These devices attach to the vehicle, person, or the pet collar. The
application provides 24/7 tracking and mobile or Internet updates should the trackee leave a designated
area.

GPS Aircraft tracking.

Geotaging - Applying location coordinates to digital objects such as photographs and other documents
for purposes such as creating map overlays.

Phasor measurement units - GPS enables highly accurate time stamping of power system
measurements, making it possible to compute phasors.

Conclusion:
The GPS is a modern day necessity for many professions. It has reshaped the entire infra
structure of modern warfare. Ensuring safety and accuracy. It is proving itself to help us make our lives
easy and fast as well. It is GPS that is building a smarter planet for us. We can access any place just by
touching our GPS equipped cell phones e.g. Apple’s i-phone. It’s due to the forever increasing demand of
such systems that many countries are now developing their own space based tracking systems out of
which the Russian GLONASS stands at the top. China is also planning for its own navigation system
called THE COMPASS. Europe is developing GALELIO and India is believed to develop IRNSS.
Future work:
 Modernization
 Position calculation
 Navigational equations
 Accuracy enhancement

References:
USNO NAVSTAR Homepage

(Info on the GPS constellation)

• http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/gps.html

How Stuff Works GPS

• http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/travel/gps.htm

Trimble GPS tutorial

• http://www.trimble.com/gps/index.shtml

GPS Waypoint registry

(Database of co-ordinates)

• http://www.gpseducationresource.com/gpsnews.html

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System