In the digital era, everything is related to technology; there are many new innovations and systems which are created continually to make people more convenient. GPS system is one of the digital technologies that has come in recent years. GPS stands for Global Positioning System which is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network 24 satellites placed into orbit that determines the position on the Earth in latitude and longitude. I will let you know and understand more about GPS in the next paragraphs as follows: concept of GPS and how it works, applications that are related to GPS, and GPS tracking.
GPS, Global Positioning System, refers to a system of satellites and receivers that allow people and devices to pinpoint their locations on the Earth any time and anywhere in any weather because it can work in any weather conditions and anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day without subscription fees or charges. The system consists of a group of 24 satellites with 6 spare satellites that orbit 11,000 sea miles above Earth’s surface and continuously sending signals to ground stations that monitor and control GPS operations. GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit and transmit signal information to the earth. GPS receivers take this information and use triangulation to calculate the user’s exact location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is. Now, with distance measurements from a few more satellites, the receiver can determine the user’s position and display it on the unit’s electronic map. A GPS receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least three satellites to calculate a 2D position, which are latitude and longitude, and track movement. With four or more satellites in view, the receiver can determine the user’s 3D position, which are latitude, longitude and altitude. When the user’s position has been determined, the GPS unit can calculate other information such as speed, bearing, track, trip distance, distance to destination, sunrise and sunset time.
At first, GPS was used by the United States Military but today it can be used by people. For the military applications, there are many GPS applications which span on many purposes. Navigation is one of the purposes that allows soldiers to find objectives in the dark or in unfamiliar territory, and to coordinate the movement of troops and supplies. The GPS-receivers commanders and soldiers use are respectively called the Commanders Digital Assistant and the Soldier Digital Assistant. Next, it is target tracking; various military weapons systems use GPS to track potential ground and air targets before they are flagged as hostile. These weapon systems pass GPS co-ordinates of targets to precision-guided munitions to allow them to engage the targets accurately. Military aircraft particularly use GPS to find targets. Moreover, military also uses GPS as a missile and projectile guidance because it allows accurate targeting of various military weapons including ICBMs, cruise missiles and precision-guided munitions. Later, when GPS can be used by people, many civilian applications benefit from GPS signals using one or more of three basic components of the GPS: absolute location, relative movement, and time transfer. Firstly, absolute location, the ability to determine the receiver’s absolute location allows GPS receivers to perform as a surveying tool or as an aid to navigation. Next, relative movement, the capacity to determine relative movement enables a receiver to calculate local velocity and orientation. Lastly, time transfer, deals with synchronization clocks to exacting standards. For example, CDMA digital cellular, each base station has a GPS timing receiver to synchronize its spreading codes with other base stations to facilitate inter-cell hand off and support hybrid GPS/CDMA positioning of mobiles for emergency calls and other applications. Furthermore, it helps to save lives and properties across the nation. Many police, fire, and emergency medical-service units use GPS receivers to determine the police car, fire truck, or ambulance nearest to an emergency, enabling the quickest possible response in life-or-death situations. Mapping, construction, and surveying companies also use GPS extensively such as Google Maps, Longdo Maps, GIS Maps, etc.
Another important thing about GPS is GPS tracking. It refers to a device that uses the GPS to determine the precise location of a vehicle, person, or other assets which are attached and record the position of the asset at regular intervals. The recorded location data can be stored within the tracking unit, or it may be transmitted to a central location data base, or internet-connected computer, using a cellular (GPRS), radio, or satellite modem embedded in the unit. This allows the asset’s location to be displayed on a map either in real-time or when analyzed the track later, using customized software. GPS tracker can be categorized into three categories which are data loggers, data pushers, and data pullers. Data loggers are a type of GPS tracker that logs the position of the device at regular intervals in its internal memory. Modern GPS loggers have either a memory card slot, or internal flash memory and a USB port. Some act as a USB flash drive. This allows downloading of the data for further analysis in a computer. The samples of using data loggers are saving the time a photo taken in digital cameras to provide an accurate location, and keeping track of the vehicles. Next is data pushers, they are a kind of devices used by the security industry, which pushes or sends the position of the device, at regular intervals, to a determined server, that can instantly analyze the data. For example, taxi company may put the tracker in every of its vehicles, thus allowing the staff to know if a vehicle is on time or late, or is doing its assigned route. Finally, data pullers refer to the devices that are always-on and can be queried as often as required. Contrary to a data pusher, that sends the position of the device at regular intervals. This technology is not in widespread use, but an example of this kind of device is a computer connected to the Internet. Data Pullers are coming into more common usage in the form of devices containing a GPS receiver and a cell phone when sending a special SMS message reply to the message with their location.
In conclusion, GPS is the new technology that has several benefits. We can apply it to create the new applications and devices such as moving-map on vehicles to guide the route to the drivers, map applications to find any locations like Google Maps, Longdo Maps, etc. In the future, GPS will be as unlimited as your imagination. GPS satellites will guide us well and new applications will be created continually as technology evolves.
