Elements of GPS. Fall Semester 2015. Raj Khosla Page 1 9/3/2015

Lecture 04

Elements of Global Positioning Systems Elements of GPS:

During the last lecture class we talked about Global Positioning Systems and its applications. With so many innumerable applications of GPS we can think of, let’s have a look on what GPS consists of or in other words “Elements of GPS” There are three major elements or segments of GPS. The GPS system consists of: The Space Segment The Control Segment, and The User Segment.

The space and control segments are operated by the United States Military and administered by the U.S. Space Command of the U.S. Air Force. Basically, the control segment maintains the integrity of both the satellites and the data that they transmit. The space segment is composed of the constellation of satellites as a whole that are currently in orbit, including operational, backup and inoperable units. The user segment is simply all of the end users that have purchased any one of a variety of commercially available receivers. While the user segment obviously includes military users, we will concentrate on the civil and agricultural uses only. Let’s have a closer look to each of the segments. I. The Space Segment:

The space segment consists of complete constellation of orbiting NAVSTAR GPS satellites. The current satellites are manufactured by Rockwell International and cost approximately $40 million each. To each satellite must be added the cost of the launch vehicle itself, which may be as much as $100 million. To date, the complete system has cost approximately $12 billion. Each satellite weighs approximately 900 kilograms and is about five meters (16.4 ft) wide with the solar panels fully extended. There were 11 Block I prototype satellites launched (10 successfully), followed by 24 Block II production units. Currently, only one of the Block I satellites is still operational, while four Block II backups remain in ground storage. The base size of the constellation includes 21 operational satellites with three orbiting backups, for a total of 24. They are located in six orbits at approximately 20,200 kilometers altitude. Each of the six orbits are inclined 55 degrees up from the equator, and are spaced 60 degrees apart, with four satellites located in each orbit. The orbital period is 12 hours, meaning that each satellite completes two full orbits each 24-hour day.

Elements of GPS. Fall Semester 2015. Raj Khosla Page 2 9/3/2015

The diagram above illustrates two of the orbital planes of the space segment. For

clarity, only two orbits are shown spaced 180° apart, whereas in reality there are six planes, spaced 60° apart. Each of the orbits has three or four satellites more or less equally spaced, for a total of 24. The Master Control Station can move any of the satellites at any time within their own orbits. They cannot, however, move a satellite from one orbit to another.

The orbits are steeply inclined to the equator at 55°, being more than "halfway up." This is opposed to the polar or "straight up" (north to south) orbits of the much lower orbiting Transit satellites.

The satellites orbit at an altitude of approximately 20,200 kilometers, or about

half the altitude of a geo-stationary satellite. A geo-stationary satellite, orbiting at about 40,000 kilometers altitude, circles the Earth every 24 hours, the same time period that the Earth takes to complete one full rotation (one day). Therefore, a geo-stationary satellite always remains over the same spot on the Earth (thus "geo-stationary"), essentially following that "spot" on the surface as the Earth rotates. The GPS satellites, at one-half that altitude, complete one orbit every 11 hours, 58 minutes (its "orbital period").

Elements of GPS. Fall Semester 2015. Raj Khosla Page 3 9/3/2015

II. The Control Segment:

The control segment of the Global Positioning System consists of one Master Control Station (MCS) located at Falcon Air Force Base, now called Schriever Air Force base, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and five unmanned monitor stations located strategically around the world. In addition, the Air Force maintains three primary ground antennas, located more or less equidistant around the equator. In the event of some catastrophic failure, there are also two backup Master Control Stations, one located in Sunnyvale, California, and the other in Rockville, Maryland.

The unmanned monitor stations passively track all GPS satellites visible to them

at any given moment, collecting signal (ranging) data from each. This information is then passed on to the Master Control Station at Colorado Springs via the secure DSCS (Defense Satellite Communication System) where the satellite position ("ephemeris") and clock-timing data (more about these later) are estimated and predicted.

The Master Control Station then periodically sends the corrected position and

clock-timing data to the appropriate ground antennas, which then upload those data to each of the satellites. Finally, the satellites use that corrected information in their data transmissions down to the end user. This sequence of events occurs every few hours for each of the satellites to help insure that any possibility of error creeping into the satellite positions or their clocks is minimized.

Control segments are located in different parts of the world. The single Master

Control Station (MCS) is located at Colorado Springs, Colorado. That facility is co-located with a monitor station that continuously observes the positions and clock settings of all satellites that happen to be in view at any given time. There are four other unmanned monitor stations located at strategic spots around the world. One is located at Hawaii, another at the tiny Ascension Island off the West Coast of Africa (population 719), another at Diego Garcia off of the southern tip of India, and the fourth at Kwajalein, part of the Marshall Islands group in the Western Pacific.

The three upload ground antennas are co-located with the monitor stations at

Ascension Island, Diego Garcia, and Kwajalein.

II. The User Segment: The user segment primarily consists of anyone who is using a GPS receiver for measuring positions. We (the users) do not have any direct control on the other two segments of GPS (i.e.) the Space Segment and the Control Segment. However we have a direct control on the kind of GPS receiver we want to use for our different purposes. It is therefore important to know the various kinds of GPS receivers that are commercially available and their basic functions.

Elements of GPS. Fall Semester 2015. Raj Khosla Page 4 9/3/2015

Receiver Types:

Any discussion of specific GPS receiver type is almost self-defeating because the technology is advancing so rapidly. Nevertheless, receivers can broadly be categorized as Coarse Positioning, Mapping, and Survey grade. Coarse positioning receivers are at the lowest end of cost and capability. Typical costs range from around $200 to $500. They are usually single or dual channel, able to collect data from only one or two satellites at a time. Since at least four satellites are required for a 3D fix, the receiver rapidly switches among the visible satellites. This is called Fast-Multiplexing. These units frequently do not have differential capability and do not utilize carrier smoothing. As a result, SA (Selective Availability) accuracy is in the 100-meter range. [Please note that “Selective Availability” was removed in 2004 and so the receiver can attain an accuracy of less than 15 meters.] The low cost and ease-of-use make them useful for a wide range of "consumer" applications.

Mapping and high-resolution navigation systems have a wider range of

application and they are much more accurate, principally because they are differential-capable. In addition, mapping grade receivers have some form of Feature/Attribute/Value recording capability for GIS applications. Without carrier smoothing, accuracy can be expected to be in the three to five meter range. These units range from as low as $400 to around $2,000. If they have smoothing capability, they can achieve sub-meter accuracy. These units range in cost from around $1,500 to $8,000, depending on features.

Survey grade receivers can cost as little as $6,000 for single frequency units

capable of decimeter accuracy, to more than $50,000 for the highest end dual-frequency, geodetic grade units. Clearly, there is a close correlation between how much one pays and how much accuracy one gets. Note that these are only representative of current costs in a dynamically changing field of electronics and are likely to change rapidly and continuously. For detailed description on receivers, read pages 121-224. Book: “The GPS Manual, Principles and Applications”. By Steve Dye with Dr. Frank Baylin. Reference: Adapted from: Understanding the GPS. An introduction to the Global Positioning System. What it is and how it works. Gregory T. French. Geo Research, Inc. Bethesda, MD.

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 1

Elements of GPS

A schematic of

GPS segments

Control Segment

bbs.keyhole.com

User Segment

Space Segment

The Global Positioning System Consist of These Major Segments

• Space segment & Control Segment

• Operated by: United States military

• Administered by: US Space Command of US Air force

• Control Segment: Maintains the integrity of satellites and data that they transmit

• Space Segment: Consists of constellation of Satellites

• User Segment: All users of GPS receivers

Elements…

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 2

Relationship between the GPS elements

Space segment

Consists of constellation of 24 GPS operational satellites

Total: 24 Satellites

Used: 21 navigational

Spare: 3 operational

Orbit time: 12 hrs

Distance: 20,200 km, 10,900 nautical miles

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations/celestri/

5mWeighs: 900 kg

Width: 5m ~ 16.4 ft

Altitude: 20,200km

Orbital period: 12 hrs

No. of orbital planes: 6

No. of Satellite per orbit: 4

Orbital plane spacing: 60o apart

Elements…

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 3

There are six orbital planes with four satellites in each plane, equally spaced at 60o apart, and inclined at 55o to the equatorial plane

Elements…

This allows the users of GPS about 6 to 8 space vehicles visible from any point on earth

Elements…

Earth

II. Control Segment

Consists of ground stations at various locations and/or you can establish your own ground stations with trans-receivers

Elements…

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 4

Master control station

One monitor station and master control station is located at the Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO

Five unmanned monitor stations are located around the world

Elements…

Source; http://geocachegirls.com/link2.html

Master control station Ground antenna Monitor station

Colorado Springs

AscensionDiego Garcia

KwajaleinHawaii

Control segment locations

Back-up Master Control Stations

Sunnyvale, CA

Rockville, MD

Back-up master control station

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 5

Control Segment:

Monitor stations measure signals from the satellites.

Computers at the stations calculate precise orbital data

Makes time corrections for each satellite.

Elements…

http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/breakthroughs/global_positioning_sys/gps_satellite_650.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1084537/Romanian-hacker-targeted-Pentagon-Nasa-gets-suspended-jail-sentence--faces-100-000-fine.html

III. User Segment

Consists primarily of receivers and the users.

Elements…

We as the user of the GPS system do not have any control over the Space Segment and the Control Segment.

The most important element of GPS for us therefore is the USER Segment which primarily comprises of us the USER and the RECEIVER.

Let us have a look at various types of receivers that are commercially available.

Elements…

http://www.barcodesinc.com/news/?p=949

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 6

Getting the right receiver for particular use require careful analysis of the use of the receiver

Some questions to consider:

Need an occasional position fix or accurate steering?

Need accurate measure of velocity?

Is economy more important or accuracy?

Is power consumption a factor?

Will receiver have to operate in high dynamic conditions?

Real time mapping, yield monitoring. etc.

Receivers…

1

2 3

4

Receivers…

http://www.pycomall.com/product.php?productid=18628

All GPS receivers must receive information from at least 4 satellites to calculate an accurate position

Sequencing Receivers:

Track satellites sequentially one after another.

Multi-channel Receivers:

Allows simultaneous reception of 4,6,8,10 or 12 channels. These devices are crucial in dynamic applications, that require instantaneous velocity and position information

Receiver Types: Two Broad Categories

• Sequencing Receivers

Starved Power

Single Channel

Fast-multiplexing single-channel

Two channel

• Multi-channel Receivers

Receivers…

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 7

Receivers…

Starved-Power:

Starved-power single-channel receiver are most cost effective, portable, have least power consumption

They record a position reading once or twice a minute and shuts off in between to conserve power.

Good for hikers, bikers, day sailing, casual use, etc.

Sequential sampling of satellite, interrupts the positioning read out and affects accuracy

Level of accuracy is still better than LORAN(~460M) and it works Globally.

Single Channel Receiver :

• Stays on all the time

• Uses single channel for position information and ranging pseudo random codes

• Higher accuracy than starved-power receivers

• Inexpensive, because of inexpensive clocks and therefore still unreliable (coarse) accuracy

Receivers…

Fast-multiplexing Single channel Receiver :

Similar in structure

Performs measurements more quickly

Provide continuous position read out

Rarely available because of complexity, their costs equals two channel receivers

Two Channel Receiver :

• Capability improves significantly by additional channel

• While one channel is measuring range from satellite channel two is acquiring another satellite

• Better accuracy under various weather conditions

Receivers…

R. Khosla Fall Semester 2015 8

Receiver typesCoarse Navigation/Positioning

• Single Channel (Fast-Multiplexing) C/A <100m < $200-$500

Mapping/High Resolution Navigation

• Single Freq. Multi-Channel(4-12) C/A <100m/3-5m -$400-$2,000

• Single Freq. Multi-Channel(4-12) C/A. Smoothed <100/<1m -$1,500-$8k

Surveying/High-Resolution Navigation

• Single Freq. Multi-Channel(6-12) Carrier Phase <30cm -$6,000-$15k

• Dual Freq. Multi-Channel(8-12) Carrier L1/L2 millimeter -$12k-$50k

L1~1575.42 MHz

L2~1227.6 MHz

Other Considerations:

• Some receivers need approximate position and time before start

• Good receiver start cold and can establish their position anywhere

• Statistics show that failure rates doubles for every 70 of increased temperature

• Consideration of power usage

• Consideration of user interface

Receivers…

Receiver Shopping Tip

A quick way to test the accuracy of a receiver is to watch its readings for both position and velocity while the unit is stationary.

A good receiver will change readings very little, if at all. A poor system’s readings will fluctuate all over the place.

Beware: Some manufacturers mask their system’s performance by programming their machines to indicate zero when its velocity falls below one knot.