GNSS Fundamentals

Introduction to GPS, Glonass

and Gallileo

GPS Fundamentals - Document History

C 01-14-03 TMM
D 10-22-03 TMM
E 04-12-05 TMM
F 06-21-06 TMM
G 04-10-07 KLH TMM

History Changes
A First issue
B New layout, changes to several slides
C New layout, changes to several slides
D Small changes, add Galileo system
E Add EGNOS
F Add new Glonass and sat navigation future
G Changes to Glonass, Gallileo and future

2
 Fundamentals - GPS Milestones

1960: NASA & DoD are interested in developing a satellite based

positioning system with the following characteristics:
global coverage
continuous/all weather operational
ability to serve high dynamic platforms
high accuracy

1962: The satellite based positioning system Transit becomes

operational for use on low dynamic platforms.
polar orbits
circling the Earth every 107 minutes
provided 2D position fixes for each orbital pass
time between position fixes, 35 to 100 minutes

Fundamentals - GPS Milestones

1969: The Office of Secretary of Defense establish the Defense

Navigation Satellite System program to work for a single
joint-use positioning system and from this the NAVSTAR GPS
was formed.

1978: The first 4 GPS satellites are launched.

1993: The Standard Positioning Service Initial Operating Capability

was attained (all 24 satellites in orbit).

1995: The Precise Positioning Service reached its Fully Operating

Capability.

2000: On May 1, the Selective Availability (which had degraded civil

position accuracy to 100 m) was switched off.

4
General information
Satellites
Today about 40 satellites are available (28 GPS and 12 GLONASS)
In 5 years about 80 satellites will be available

Frequencies
Today two frequencies are available
One tracked codeless with reduced tracking margin
In 5-8 years three frequencies will be available with full code tracking

Interoperability
There is coordination between GNSS operators to ensure
compatibility/interoperability (frequencies, modulation codes, coordinate
reference frames, timing reference)

Principle of
Operation

6
 All GNSS systems are working on the same principles,
with minor differences.

These differences are not visible to the daily user.

In the following, the principles of GPS are described.

Fundamentals - Principle of Operation GPS

The fundamental technique for GPS is to use one-way ranging from

the satellites.

The basis of the system is triangulation based on ranging from all

visible satellites.

GPS measures distances using the travel time of a radio message.

To measure travel time, timing is crucial and the GPS satellites

therefore need to have highly accurate clocks on board.

Every GPS satellite has up to 4 so-called atomic clocks and data

transmission from each satellite is synchronized with GPS system
time.

8
 Fundamentals - Principle of Operation

Travel time from the signal left the satellite until it is received at the
GPS receiver is measured.

By multiplying the travel time with the speed of light (300.000 km/s)
the distance can be computed.

Once you know the distance to each satellite, you need to know where
these satellites are in space.

GPS satellites are launched into pre-determined orbits and their

positions are transmitted to the user as part of the GPS signal.

Knowing the satellites position and distance to the user receiver, the
geographical position of the user receiver can be computed by
triangulation.

10
 Fundamentals - Principle of Operation

Timing is extremely important. Distance is calculated as signal travel

time from satellite to receiver.
The clocks in the GPS satellites are extremely precise while the crystal
clocks used in the user GPS receivers are not.

The inaccurate time tagging of the received signal causes a timing

offset (an extra unknown parameter in the position calculation).

Solving for this unknown parameter can be done by making an extra

satellite range that makes up for the imperfect time sync on our part
and thus, minimum 4 satellites are needed to compute a 3D position.

4 unknowns:
latitude, Longitude, Height and Time offset

11

GPS Fundamentals - GPS Signal Characteristics

The GPS satellites transmit a continuous signal on two frequencies, the

- L1 frequency: 1575.42 MHz and
- L2 frequency: 1227.60 MHz

On the L1 frequency the C/A code is available and is used to identify the
individual satellites and for determine the range between the satellite and the
user receiver.

The C/A code is a so-called PRN code which is unique for each GPS satellite.

PRN code for a

1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 satellite

The PRN code is composed of a series of chips which have values of 1 or 0.

When the received signal is compared with a copy of the signal available in the
GPS receiver, instantaneous ranges for the tracked satellite can be computed.

12
 GPS Fundamentals - GPS Signal Characteristics

The time (GPS Receiver Time) for when the received satellite signal (t1) arrives is
compared with the time (GPS Satellite Time) for when the signal was transmitted
(t0) and thus the distance to the satellite can be determined.

The distance is a function of time difference multiplied with the speed of light (c).

Distance (satellite - receiver) = (t1 - t0) x c

PRN code transmitted

0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1

PRN code received

SEATEX DARPS 100 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1

t0 t1

13

GPS Fundamentals - Provided Positioning Services

Precise Positioning Service (military users only)

The information modulated onto both the L1 and L2 frequencies is used
to compute position data.
Position accuracy: typically 10 m

Standard Positioning Service (open to all users)

Only the information modulated onto the L1 frequency is used to
compute position data.
Some receivers and software can lock onto the L2 frequency and since
two different frequencies penetrates the ionosphere at different speed,
the ionospheric delay errors can be computed!
Position accuracy using L1 receivers: typically 10 - 15 m
Position accuracy L1/L2 receivers: typically 5 - 10 m

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 GPS - GLONASS - GALILEO
System Characteristics

Systems consists of
three major segments:

Space Segment: Satellites

Control Segment: Monitor Stations

User Segment: Receivers

 GPS Fundamentals-GPS/GLONASS Specifications

GPS GLONASS GALILEO

Number of Satellites 24 24 27
Number of Orbital Planes 6 3 3
Satellites Per Plane 4 8 9
Orbital Inclination 55 deg. 64.8 deg. 56 deg.
Orbital Radius 26.560 km 25.510 km 23.616 km
Orbital Period 11h 58m 11h 15m 14h 05m
L1 Frequency 1575.42 MHz 1602+K*9/16 K=[-7,24] MHz
L2 Frequency 1227.60 MHz 1246+K*7/16 K=[-7,24] MHz
Time Reference UTC UTC
(US Naval Observatory) (Sovjet Union)
Geodetic Datum WGS 84 PZ-90

The number of available GPS satellites varies around 27-29 due to longer lifetime than
expected.
The Glonass satellite service has not been able to provide a complete constellation due to lack
of satellite replacements and fundings. Glonass is said to be operational again in 2009
GALILEO is said to be operational in 2011.
17

Fundamentals - GPS Space Segment

Space Segment :
24 (21+3) satellites in 6 orbital
planes

Each orbital plane is rotated 60

compared to the adjacent plane

Inclination is 55 and altitude is

20.200 km

Orbital time is 11hours 58

minutes. Repeat ground track in
24 hours.

Minimum 5 satellites always

visible
18
PDOP < 6 99.9% of the time
 Fundamentals - Glonass Space Segment
Space Segment :
24 (21+3) satellites in 3 orbital
planes

Each orbital plane is rotated 120

compared to the adjacent plane

Inclination is appr. 65 and

altitude is 19.100 km

Orbital time is 11hours 15

minutes. Repeat ground track in
17 days

Minimum 5 satellites always

visible
19

Fundamentals - Gallileo Space Segment

Space Segment (proposed):
30 (27+3) satellites in 3 orbital
planes

Each orbital plane is rotated 120

compared to the adjacent plane

Inclination is appr. 56 and

altitude is 23.222 km

Orbital time is 14hours 07

minutes. Repeat ground track in
10 days

Minimum 6 satellites always

visible
20
 Fundamentals - GPS Control Segment

Consists of a Master Control Station in Colorado Springs as well as Up-

link and Monitor Stations responsible for monitoring and maintenance
of the satellite system.

Colorado Springs
Cape Canaveral

Diego Garcia
Hawaii Kwajalein

Ascension

21

Fundamentals - Glonass Control Segment

22
 Fundamentals - Galileo Control Segment

2 Galileo Control Centres (GCC) will be implemented on European

ground to provide for the control of the satellites and to perform the
navigation mission management.

20 Galileo Sensor Stations (GSS) will provide the data, which will be
sent to the Galileo Control Centres through a redundant
communications network.

The GCCs will use the data of the Sensor Stations to compute the
integrity information and to synchronize the time signal of all satellites
and of the ground station clocks

23

Factors Affecting
position Accuracy
 GPS Fundamentals - Range Error Sources

Orbital

Satellite clock

Ionospheric

Tropospheric

Receiver clock
Multipath, receiver noise, antenna setup

25

GPS Fundamentals - Satellite Range Estimation

8.4 m

Estimated Position Error as

determined by the DPS system.

Due to the errors in the range measurements they will not be determined as if
they were received correctly at the electrical center of the GPS antenna.

When these "incorrect" range observations are used to compute positions,

position data will be reported with an error estimate, e.g. (EPE = 8.4 m).
26
 Ionospheric
Delay Errors

Fundamentals - Ionospheric Disturbances

Electrical loaded particles (electrons and protons)

in the ionosphere causes radio signals travelling
through the ionosphere to be delayed or lost.

In periods with high ionospheric disturbances the

GPS signal might be so delayed that calculated
ranges are rejected from being used in the
position calculation.

In areas around equator the

disturbances in the ionosphere are so
rapidly changing that you may expect:

- Loss of tracked satellites on the user

system
- Loss of tracked satellites at the
reference station
- Loss of transmitted corrections from
Inmarsat or Spotbeam satellites
28
 Magnetic Storms from the Sun

29

Fundamentals - The Sun Spot Cycles

The sun spot activity goes in cycles of 11 years. 24th cycle starting early 2007
and peaking 2011

From time to time ionospheric disturbances will influence on positioning but with
less magnitude compared to what has been seen during the last few years.

30
 Rejected Ranges due to Iono Disturbances

Ideal Situation: In Practice: During Scintillation:

No errors in Errors in Large errors in observed
observed range observed range range causes the range to
be rejected from the
position calculation

Observed range

Range limits for which

we expect the range
measurements to
vary between

31

GPS - Problems for low satellites

The travelling distance for the For a signal arriving at vertical

radio signal through the incidence, the delay ranges from 3
Ionosphere is longer for low to 15 meters and for low elevation
satellites then for high satellites. satellites from 9 to 45 meters.

32
 Dual Frequency Solves Iono Delay Errors

Ionospheric Delay Errors are calculated from observing the time difference in the
received signal on the L1 and L2 frequency multiplied with speed of light.

The DPS 102 and 132 incorporates a dual

frequency receiver.
IonoDelay errors
The L1 and L2 frequency travels through determined by the
the ionosphere at different speed. DPS 102/132 unit.

The different arrival time at the user

receiver is used to determine the
ionospheric delay errors.
L1 frequency L2 frequency

33

Single / Dual Frequency GPS

A dual frequency GPS system, as the DPS 102 or 132 compensates automatically for the
ionospheric delay errors and thus, the dual frequency stand-alone GPS position
will be more accurate compared to a stand-alone single frequency GPS position.

This is demonstrated by comparing the two EPE-numbers.

Satellite Constellation DPS 100 Single Frequency DPS 132 Dual Frequency

34
 GPS - Ionospheric Disturbances - an Example

With Ionospheric Disturbances:

Ionospheric disturbances causes lost track on user
satellites as well as satellites tracked at reference
stations.

When satellites "comes and goes" this causes

shifts in the satellite constellation resulting in
position jumps. These jumps can vary from a few
meters to tenth of meters.

On the "Satellite in Sight" display the DPS has lost

track on satellite 24. The reference station is not
computing corrections for satellite 26 (lost track).
This means that both satellites are rejected from
the differential position calculation.

35

Reducing the Effect of Iono Disturbances

In periods with atmospheric disturbances/scintillation's:

In order to reduce the probability of satellites being rejected during periods with
scintillation's, go to "Tools" and "Advanced options" and set the "Ionospher
Activity" to "High".

36
 GPS - The Effect of Setting Iono Activity to High

After setting Ionosphere Activity to Medium or

High, previously rejected ranges will be
accepted. Errors in the received ranges are then
estimated to have increased and thus estimation
of the position error (EPE) will show a higher
number (indicating
During scintillation periods reduced position accuracy).
increased errors in the
observed ranges causes
the ranges to be rejected
from the position
calculations.

Range limits for which we expect the

range measurements to vary
between.

37

Multipath
 GPS - Multipath and Blocking Effect

The horizon above the GPS antennas should be free of any obstruction
that might block the GPS signal.

The GPS antennas should be protected from direct illumination of

radar beams and interference from other transmitting antennas (e.g.
Inmarsat, Sat C).

A 10 degrees elevation mask is also

recommended in order to minimize
multipath and atmospheric
disturbances.

Partly blocking of the GPS signal might cause position

jumps that may increase truster power since the
vessel will try to maintain its pre-determined
position.
39

GPS - Multipath and Blocking Effect

The GPS antennas should be protected

from direct illumination of radar beams
and interference from other transmitting
antennas (e.g. Inmarsat, Sat C).
GPS

Inmarsat

Low satellites
gives higher risk
for multipath

40
 GPS - Multipath and Blocking Effect
A partly blocked satellite which is
SVS 12
far away from the other satellites
might cause big position jumps.

It can be necessary
to deselect the
satellite that cause
the position jumps.

GORM A

SVS 12

41

Dilution of Precision
(DOP)
&
Position
Accuracy Estimates
 GPS Fundamentals - Computation of Positions

The Dilution of Precision (DOP) relates to the geometric position of a

particular GPS receiver relative to the ranging satellites.

Acronym Type Position Component(s)

GDOP Geometric 3D position & time
PDOP Positional 3D position
HDOP Horizontal 2D horizontal position
VDOP Vertical 1D height

Poor Geometry (High DOP number) Good Geometry (Low DOP number)

4 unknowns:
Latitude, Longitude, Height & Time Offset

43

GPS Fundamentals - Good DOP

Good DOP is when the intersection between ranges

from two (or several) satellites are perpendicular or
particularly well defined.

The intersection area

Satellite
(A-B-C-D) is the area B range
where it is most
propable that the
position solution lies A C
within.
UERE

UERE Satellite range

D
footprint

44
 GPS Fundamentals - Poor DOP

Poor DOP is when the

intersection between ranges
from two (or several)
satellites are not
perpendicular or particularly
well defined.
Satellite range
The intersection area (A-B-
C-D) is the area where it is
most propable that the
position solution lies within. B
A C
UERE
Satellite range footprint
UERE
D

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GPS Fundamentals - Computation of Positions

No of satellites
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Time
Increasing DOP number Decreasing DOP number In general - position
accuracy degrades with
Decreasing Increasing position
loss of satellites!
position accuracy! accuracy!
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 GPS - GPS Single & Dual Frequency Error Budget

Standalone Standalone

Single Frequency
Error Source Single Frq. GPS Dual Frq. GPS

Satellite clock stability 2.0 2.0

Ephemeris error 2.0 2.0

Ionospheric delay 5.0 0.5

Tropospheric delay 0.5 0.5

Dual Frequency
Receiver white noise 0.3 0.3

Receiver multipath 0.5 0.5

Total Range Error
(1 sigma, 67%) 5.8 2.2

Hor. Error (HDOP 1.0) 5.8 2.2

Hor. Error
(2 sigma, 95%) 14.2 5.4

47

Phase based systems

48
 C/A code has a wavelength of about. 300 m.
Carrier wave has a wavelength of about 20 cm
Code and carrier on the GPS signal
(not to scale, there are 1540 carrier
cycles in one code chip)

~300 m (C/A code) ~20 cm (carrier-phase)

Phase based systems uses the satellite's carrier as its signal -
not the messages contained within.
As a rule of thumb for radio systems it is possible to measure a
radio wave with an accuracy of 1% of the wavelength.
C/A code= appr. 3m
phase based=<1cm
(Note: other effects introduce errors much greater than this to the pos.)
49

The problem is that the carrier frequency is hard to count because it's so
uniform. Every cycle looks like every other.
The pseudo random code on the other hand is intentionally complex to make it
easier to know which cycle you're looking at.

Carrier-phase GPS" uses code-phase techniques to get close.

If the code measurement can be made accurate to appr. 1 meter, then only a
few wavelengths of carrier have to be considered (normal differential needed).
Carrier-phase receivers beat the system by starting with the pseudo random
code and then move on to measurements based on the carrier frequency for
that code
50
 Disadvantages in carrier phase based systems:
Long time to lock on to carrier wave at start up or if lost satellites
(5-30 min.)

Advantages in carrier phase based systems:

Less vulnerable to multipath
Better performance during scintilations

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PHASE BASED SERVICE (TOP) VS CODE BASED SERVICE (BOTTOM) WITH SHADOWING

__________________________________________________

Drillship at harbour.
As it can be seen, Phase based
service are not influenced by
Shadowing/Multipath.
Variations in northing are ship
movements

Data from the same GPS antenna and GPS receiver 52

 Phase based service
(top) and code based
service (bottom) in
Macae Brazil.

Between 23:00 and

03:00 ionospheric
scintillations result in
the GPS receiver
loosing lock on some
satellites, creating
large errors in the code
solution when
reaquiring.

53

Coming up
GPS-Glonass-Galileo
systems

54
 GPS - Provided Positioning Services

Block IIA/IIR Block IIR-M, IIF Block III

Basic GPS IIR-M: IIA/IIR capabilities plus: Backward compatibility
Standard Service 2nd civil signal (L2C) 4th civil signal (L1C)
Single frequency (L1) M-Code (L1M & L2M) Increased accuracy
Coarse acquisition Increased anti-jam power
(C/A) code navigation 2005-2012 Assured availability
Precise Service (First launched september 25th 2005) Navigation surety
Y-Code (L1Y & L2Y) Controlled integrity
Y-Code navigation
Block IIF Increased security
IIF: IIR-M capability plus System survivability
3rd civil signal (L5)
Anti-jam flex power 2013-2021

2008-2015

55

Glonass - Provided Positioning Services

3 Satellites Launched 26 December 2005 and 3

Satellites launched 26 December 2006
12-14 Operational
Russian Aerospace Agency has approval for long
term plan for GLONASS:

18 Sat end 2007

24 Sat end 2009

GLONASS will also get more frequencies:

GLONASS M, second civilian frequency (from 2004)

GLONASS K, third civilian frequency (from 2008)

56
 Glonass- Provided Positioning Services

30

27 24
24
GLONASS Initial Operation Capability 22 26
(12 NSV , 3 year life-time ) 20 24
21
Presidents Decree 658, 29.09.93 18 18
21
18
14 16 16
14
15 12 13
12 12 12 12 12
11 11
12 10
10
9
8
9 7

0
1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

GLONASS-M Flight Test GLONASS-K Flight Test

(7 years life-time) (10 years life-time)

57

Galileo- Provided Positioning Services

58
 Galileo- Provided Positioning Services

The Open Service (OS) results from a combination of open signals, free of user
charge, provides position and timing performances competitive with other GNSS
systems.
The Safety of Life Service (SoL) improves the open service performances providing
timely warnings to the user when it fails to meet certain margins of accuracy
(integrity). It is envisaged that a service guarantee will be provided for this service.
The Commercial Service (CS) provides access to two additional signals, to allow for a
higher data rate throughput and to enable users to improve accuracy. It is envisaged
that a service guarantee will be provided for this service. This service also provides a
limited broadcasting capacity for messages from service centres to users (in the order
of 500 bits per second).
The Public Regulated Service (PRS) provides position and timing to specific users
requiring a high continuity of service, with controlled access. Two PRS navigation
signals with encrypted ranging codes and data will be available.
The Search and Rescue Service (SAR) broadcast globally the alert messages received
from distress emitting beacons. It will contribute to enhance the performances of the
international COSPAS-SARSAT Search and Rescue system.
59

Frequency overview

RNSS = Radio Navigation Satellite Service

ARNS = Aeronautical Radio Navigation Service

Galileo, Status and Test User Receiver,

Martin Hollreiser, Navitec, Estec, 8 Dec 2004

60
COMPASS, Chinese Satellite Navigation System

China has filed for frequencies at ITU (International

Telecommunications Union)
27 Satellites MEO, 21500 km, 55 deg
5 Satellites in Geostationary Orbit, 35786 km
3 Satellites Inclined Geostationary Orbit, 35786 km, 55 deg
Similar frequencies as Galileo
No information on plans to implement

http://www.itu.int/home/index.html
http://www.itu.int/jive/servlet/JiveServlet/download/432-1165-287168-650/COMPASS-up.doc

61

Improvements in the future

Independence: When more systems become fully operational, they

can be used as independent systems in safety critical applications
Availability: Combined systems will improve availability of
satellite navigation in situations where parts of the sky are
obscured. GPS today have periods with reduced availability at
certain times in certain regions (DOP holes)
Reliability: Increased redundancy of data (additional lines of
position) will help to identify bad measurements. More resistant
towards interference with more frequencies.
Accuracy: Improved accuracy with more frequencies
(ionospheric delay compensation) and satellites (improved
geometry). Improved convergence time in regional phase based
decimeter level systems. Improved performance during next solar
cycle
Implications for DP: Independent reference systems.
62
 Probability that GDOP<5 for mask angle of 25 (a case for urban canyon)
GPS only

GPS+GLONASS (9 sats)
sats)

GPS+GLONASS (12 sats)

sats)

GPS+GLONASS (18 sats)

sats)

0 0.15 0.3 0.5

0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.92 0.95 0.99 1
GLONASS System: Present Day and Prospective Status and Performance,
63
Sergey V. Averin, ENC-2006, Manchester