Posts Tagged ‘phone monitoring’

Parts of the GPS System

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Global Positioning Satellite System has three parts that are both dependent and independent to one another. They are called segments and each segment has a hand in the basic processes such as data requesting, data transmitting, processing and retrieval or return. The three segments are the user segment, space segment and control segment. This delicate balance of monitoring and receiving data keeps the system in check.

The space segment is probably one of the most expensive and highly advanced of the three. This segment consists of a net of twenty four satellites that make a routine orbit around the whole planet. Each satellite is specifically located eleven thousand nautical miles in the earth’s outer layer, and have their own orbits to follow. Orbits take 12 earth hours, and each satellite is equipped with an atomic clock that synchronizes both data transmission and space allowance between each satellite to prevent bumping towards each other and to also prevent service localization.

The control segment consists of various ground stations that are placed on Earth. They are stationary locations that are responsible for handling various data that goes from satellite to each monitoring station. A master control station is located at Colorado, in the Schriever Air Force Base. Six other unstaffed stations located in Hawaii, Kwajalein, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Ascension Island in the Atlantic, Cape Canaveral in Florida and another one in Colorado make up the system. There are four other large ground antenna stations that send data and monitor the satellites themselves to make sure they don’t go off in an unexpected manner.

The user segment is the segment people would be most popular with since it is used by the public. They are the receivers, as they obtain data that is sent out by the satellites and processes this data into working information for people. There are at least a hundred types of these models scattered around without some knowing they exist. Like in the wristwatch, car or cellphone for example. The smallest receivers weigh as little as an ounce.

The request sent in by the user is handled by the space segment. The space segment sends back data according to location by which the user would receive the fastest response time. Monitoring stations make sure that the satellites send integral data back to the receiver. All collected data is sent to the master control station for processing and storage. The ground antenna from the master control stations sends back critical data to the satellites to adjust in cases where it is needed.

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The Process of GPS Recievers

Friday, March 5th, 2010

The magic behind the quick, and instant answer as to where we are located anywhere in the world is the main driving force that keeps the GPS technology well-funded. This fast response that is critical to most business operations is what makes it appealing for a lot of GPS users. But when asked how does this happen, do we know how GPS works?

The story behind the GPS system is how the satellites measure the range or distance between one another and the receiver. In a way, it becomes a triangulation of some sorts, though because this is a spatial dimension; it looks more like an inverted pyramid. Satellites act like eyes in the sky. You may get lost in a forest because you couldn’t see anywhere in the horizon but trees, but if you had a vision of yourself from above the forest, you’d know where to navigate because there isn’t anything blocking your view. Using satellites to track your location is a novel idea in itself.

First off, let us understand that all satellites have an internal atomic clock that is set in sync with each other. This clock is so accurate that it can keep the same time over a century with only a few nanoseconds of discrepancy. Their system also contains data of their current location like which country are they flying above right now, what coordinates, the longitude, the latitude and the like for like. These data is essential for calculating the location of the receiver.

When the receiver sends a query for its current location, the signal is picked up by all satellites in orbit. Now that the data is being requested in your located, the satellite sends its location relative to the receiver’s location plus one more thing, the time signal. The time signal is like a time stamp that will tell you what time the signal was sent from the satellite.

This data about the satellite’s current location plus the time stamp is beamed back by at least three satellites to the receiver that requested it. Waves travel at light speed, but distance is distance. There will always be some sort of delay or lag from the request that was sent out, processed, and then retrieved. The signals that travel from the satellite to the receiver contain a time stamp, and this time stamp is then used by the receiver to calculate the difference in time from when the signal was sent out till when they were received. The software in the receiver calculates the data from each satellite and uses this data to make a representation in the in-device map.

To find out exactly how GPS works in your mobile phone, visit my website about gps tracking.