lecture22:GlobalPositioningSystem(GPS)

humanshavealwaysbeeninterestedinwherethingsare

oneofthebasicquestionshasalwaysbeen
whereamI?.whichleadsto
whereamIgoingandhowdoIgetthere?
earlysolutions:
markingtrailswithpilesofstones
(problemswhensnowfallsoronocean)
navigatingbystars
(requiresclearnightsandcarefulmeasurements)
mostwidelyusedforcenturies
locationwithinamileorso
modernideas:
LORAN:radiobased;goodforcoastalwaters
limitedoutsideofcoastalareas
SatNav:loworbitsatellites;uselowfrequencyDoppler
problemswithsmallmovementsofreceivers

DepartmentofDefensefinallysaid:
weneedsomethingbetter:alldayandallnight;allterrain
endproductisGlobalPositioningSystem(GPS)
system(constellation)of24satellitesinhighaltitudeorbits
(cost~$12billion)
codedsatellitesignalsthatcanbeprocessedinaGPS
receivertocomputeposition,velocity,andtime
partsofsysteminclude:
space(GPSsatellitevehciles,orSVs)
control(trackingstations)
users
firstonelaunchedin1978
.June26,1993
AirForcelaunched24thSV

orbit~12hours

27satellites:24operationaland3spare
groundtracks

basicconceptisthattheGPSconstellationreplacesstarsand
givesusreferencepointsfornavigation
examplesofsomeapplications(users):
navigation(veryimportantforoceantravel)
zerovisibilitylandingforaircraft
collisionavoidance
surveying
precisionagriculture
deliveryvehicles
emergencyvehicles
electronicmaps
Earthsciences(volcanomonitoring;seismichazard)
troposphericwatervapor
anythingthatinvolveslocation,motion,ornavigation

examplesofapplications

wewillbreaksystemintofiveconceptualpieces
step1:usingsatelliteranging
step2:measuringdistancefromsatellite
step3:gettingperfecttiming
step4:knowingwhereasatelliteisinspace
step5:identifyingerrors

GSPsatellitevehicles(SVs):
twogenerations:blockIandblockII

GPSblockI

GPSblockII
weigh~1900lbs.
builtbyRockwell

step1:usingsatelliteranging
GPSisbasedonsatelliteranging,i.e.distancefromsatellites
satellitesareprecisereferencepoints
wedetermineourdistancefromthem
wewillassumefornowthatweknowexactlywheresatelliteis
andhowfarawayfromitweare
ifwearelostandweknow
thatweare11,000miles
fromsatelliteA
wearesomewhereonasphere
whosemiddleissatelliteA
anddiameteris11,000miles

ifwealsoknowthatweare
12,000milesfromsatelliteB
wecannarrowdownwhere
wemustbe
onlyplaceinuniverseison
circlewheretwospheresintersect

ifwealsoknowthatweare
13,000milesfromsatelliteC
oursituationimproves
immensely
onlyplaceinuniverseisat
eitheroftwopointswhere
threespheresintersect

threecanbeenoughtodetermineposition
oneofthetwopointsgenerallyisnotpossible(faroffinspace)
twocanbeenoughifyouknowyourelevation
why?
oneofthespherescanbereplacedwithEarth
centerofEarthissatelliteposition
generallyfourarebestandnecessary.whythisisalittlelater
thisisbasicprinciplebehindGPS
usingsatellitesfortriangulation

step2:measuringdistancefromsatellite
becauseGPSbasedonknowingdistancefromsatellite
weneedtohaveamethodfordeterminghowfar
awaythesatellitesare
usevelocityxtime=distance
GPSsystemworksbytiminghowlongittakesaradiosignal
toreachthereceiverfromasatellite
distanceiscalculatedfromthattime
radiowavestravelatspeedoflight:180,000milespersecond
problem:needtoknowwhenGPSsatellitestarted
sendingitsradiomessage

requiresverygoodclocksthatmeasureshorttimes
electromagneticwavesmoveveryquickly
useatomicclocks
cameintobeingduringWorldWarII;nothingtodowithGPS
physicistswantedtotestEinsteinsideasaboutgravityandtime
previousclocksreliedonpendulums
earlyatomicclockslookedatvibrationsofquartzcrystal
keeptimeto<1/1000thsecondperday
..notaccurateenoughtoassessaffectofgravityontime
EinsteinpredictedthatclockonMt.Everest
wouldrun30millionthsofasecondfaster
thanclockatsealevel
neededtolookatoscillationsofatoms

principlebehindatomicclocks
atomsabsorboremitelectomagneticenergyindiscreteamounts
thatcorrespondtodifferencesinenergybetweendifferent
configurationsoftheatoms
whenatomgoesfromoneenergystatetolowerone,
itemitsanelectromagneticwaveofcharacteristicfrequency
knownasresonantfrequency
theseresonantfrequenciesareidenticalforeveryatom
ofagiventype:
cesium133atoms:9,192,631,770cycles/second
cesiumcanbeusedtocreateextraordinarilypreciseclock
(advancesalsoledtousinghydrogenandrubidium)
GPSclocksarecesiumclocks

nowthatwehavepreciseclocks
howdoweknowwhenthesignalsleftthesatellite?
thisiswherethedesignersofGPSwereclever
synchronizesatelliteandreceiverso
theyaregeneratingsamecodeatsametime
analogy:
2peopleseparatedbysomedistancebothstartyelling
one,two,threeatsametime
person2hearsoneshoutedbyperson1when
person2saysthree
ifyoubothsaidoneatsametime,
thedistanceawayperson2isfromperson1
istimedifferencebetweenoneandthree
timesthevelocityofthesound
letusexamineGPSsatellitesignalsmoreclosely

SVstransmittwomicrowavecarrier(carryinformation)signals
L1(1575.42MHz):carriesnavigationmessage;SPScode
(SPS:standardpositioningservic)
L2(1227.60MHz):measuresionosphericdelay
3binarycodesshiftL1and/orL2carrierphases
C/Acode(coarseacquisition)modulatesL1carrierphase
repeating1MHzpseudorandomnoise(PRN)code
pseudorandombecauserepeatsevery1023bitsor
everymillisecondeachSVhasitsownC/Acode
basisforcivilianSPS
Pcode(precise)modulatesbothL1andL2
long(7days)pseudorandom10MHznoisecode
basisforPPS(precisepositioningservice)
AS(antispoofing)encryptsPcodeintoYcode
(needclassifiedmoduleforreceiver)
navigationmessagemodulatesL1C/A;50Mhzsignal
.describessatelliteorbits,clockcorrections,etc.

GPSreceiverproducesreplicasofC/Aand/orP(Y)code
receiverproducesC/AcodesequenceforspecificSV

C/Acodegeneratorrepeatssame1023chip
PRNcodesequenceeverymillisecond
PRNcodesdefinedfor
32satelliteIDnumbers

modernreceiversusuallystorecompleteset
ofprecomputedC/Acodechipsinmemory

receiverslidesreplicaofcodeintimeuntil
findscorrelationwithSVsignal

(codesareseriesofdigitalnumbers)

ifreceiverappliesdifferentPRNcodetoSVsignal
nocorrelation

whenreceiverusessamecodeasSVandcodesbegintoalign
somesignalpowerdetected

whenreceiverandSVcodesaligncompletely
fullsignalpowerdetected

usuallyalateversionofcodeiscomparedwithearlyversion
toinsurethatcorrelationpeakistracked

receiverPRNcodestartpositionattimeoffullcorrelation
istimeofarrivaloftheSVPRNatreceiver
thetimeofarrivalisameasureofrangetoSV
offsetbyamounttowhichreceiverclockisoffsetfromGPStime
thetimeofarrivalispseudorange

positionofreceiveriswherepseudorangesfromsetofSVsintersect
positiondeterminedfrommultiplepseudorangemeasurements
fromasinglemeasurementepoch(i.e.time)
psuedorangemeasurementsusedtogetherwithSVposition
estimatesbasedonpreciseorbitalelements
(ephemerisdata)sentbyeachSV

GPSnavigationdata
from
navigationmessage

eachSVsendsamounttowhichGPStimeisoffsetfrom
UTC(universaltime)time
correctionusedbyreceivertosetUTCtowithin100nanoseconds

positiondeterminedfrommultiplepseudorangemeasurements
4satellites3(X,Y,Z)dimensionsandtime
whenclockoffsetsaredetermined,thereceiverpositionisknown

thisleadsustowhy4GPSsatellitesarenecessaryandto

step3:gettingperfecttiming
electromagneticenergytravelsat186,000milespersecond
anerrorof1/100thsecondleadstoerrorof1,860miles
howdoweknowthatreceiverandsatelliteareonsametime?
satelliteshaveatomicclocks(4ofthemforredundancy)
at$100,000apiece,theyarenotinreceivers!
receivershaveordinaryclocks
(otherwisereceiverswouldcost>$100K)
cangetaroundthisbyhavinganextrameasurement
hence4satellitesarenecessary
threeperfectmeasurementswillleadtounique,correctsolution
.fourimperfectonesalsowillleadtoappropriatesolution

illustratethisin2D
insteadofreferringtosatellitepseudorangeindistance,
wewillusetimeunits
twosatellites:firstatdistanceof4seconds
secondatdistanceof6seconds

thisisifclocks
werecorrect

X
locationofreceiverisX

whatiftheywerentcorrect?

whatifreceiverwasntperfect?
receiverisoffby1second

realtime

XX
XXpositioniswrong;
causedbywrongtime
measurements

wrongtime

howdoweknowthatitiswrong?
measurementfromthirdsatellite(fourthin3D)
3rdsatelliteat3seconds
all3intersect
atX
iftimeiscorrect

iftimeisnotcorrect

addouroneseconderrortothethirdreceiver
circlefrom3rdSVcannotintersectwhereother2do
purpledotsare
intersectionsof
2SVs

XX
defineareaofsolutions
receiverscalculatebestsolution
(addorsubtracttimefromeachSV)

finally
step4:knowingwhereasatelliteisinspace
AirForceinjectedsatellitesintoknownorbits
orbitsknowninadvanceandprogrammedintoreceivers
satellitesconstantlymonitoredbyDoD
identifyerrors
(ephemeriserrors)
inorbits
usuallyminor
correctionsrelayed
backtosatellite
datamessage
abouttheirhealth

siteshavecolocated:
VLBI(verylongbaselineinterferometry);
lunarlaserranging(frominstrumentleftbyApolloastronauts)
primarilyforlengthofdayconsiderations
satellitelaserranging

step5:identifyingerrors
ionosphere:electricallychargedparticles80120milesup;
affectsspeedofelectromagneticenergy
amountofaffectdependsonfrequency
lookatdifferencesinL1andL2
(needdualfrequencyreceiverstocorrect)

troposphericwatervapor:affectsallfrequencies;difficulttocorrect
multipath:reflectedsignalsfromsurfacesnearreceiver
noise:combinedeffectofPRNnoiseandreceivernoise
bias:SVclockerrors;ephemeriserrors
selectiveavailability:SA;errorintroducedbyDoD;
turnedoffMay,2000
blunders:humanerrorincontrolsegment
usermistakes(e.g.incorrectgeodeticdatum)
moreonthisinaminute
receivererrors
geometricdilutionofprecision(GDOP):errorsfromrangevector
differencesbetweenreceiverandSVs(picturescoming)

effectsofnoise,bias,andblunder

geometricdilutionofprecision(GDOP)

SVsoccupyasmallvolumeinthesky

SVsoccupyalargevolumeinthesky

whenmeasuringmusthavegoodGDOPandgoodvisibility
maynotalwaysbepossible

usercommunity
primaryapplicationisGPSnavigation

X,Y,Z(position)andtimefrom4satellitestocalculateposition

GPSdetermineslocationsinEarthcentered,Earthfixed(ECEF)

needtoconverttolatitude,longitude,andheightaboveellipsoid

needtousedatumdescriptionsofEarthssurface
dependsonprojections
flatEarthforshortdistances
ellipsoidalmodelsforwholeEarth
GPSusesWGS84(ellipsoid)
geoid:surfaceresultedfromgravityalone

otherreferenceellipsoidsexist

canconvertfromonedatumtoanother(standardequations)

notepositionshiftsimportanttobeconsistent

differentialGPS:improvesaccuracy
correctbiaserrorsatonelocationusing
measuredbiaserrorsatknownposition(basestation)
requiressoftwareinreferencereceiverthatcantrack
allSVsinviewandformindividualpseudorange
correctionsforeach

canalsousecarrierphase(L1;L2)
tworeceiversmustbe<30kmsfromoneanother
(ionosphericdelaymustbelessthanonewavelength);
requiresspecialsoftware
realtimekinematic(RTK)processing

oldslide(1994):currently,dualphasegeodeticreceivers~$10K