A.

Sanyasi Rao
Assoc. Professor
Dept. of ECE, BITS
GPS: Global Positioning System is a worldwide radio-navigation
system formed from a constellation of 24+ satellites and their
ground stations.
GPS is a satellite-based system, operated and maintained by the
U.S. Department of Defence (DoD), that provides accurate location
and timing information to people worldwide.
The system transmits radio signals that can be used by GPS
receivers to calculate position, velocity and time anywhere on
earth, any time of day or night, in any kind of weather.
NAVSTAR GPS (NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging system)
24+ Satellites orbiting the earth
Provides accurate positioning, navigation and timing
Operates 24 hrs/day, in all weather
Can be used for any application that requires location information
 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

GNSS is an umbrella term that includes any satellite navigation

system. Options include:

GPS (U.S. | operational since 1994)

GLONASS (Russian | re-operational since 2010)

Galileo (European Union | anticipated operation:2019)

Compass (China | Operational in Asia/Pacific since 2012 /

anticipated global operation: 2020)
Series of 24+ satellites, 6 orbital planes, 4 satellite vehicles (SV) on
each plane
Works anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, in all weather
conditions and provides:
Location or positional fix
Velocity
Direction of travel
Accurate time
GPS Segments
The space segment is the satellite
constellation, consisting of 24 or
more satellites.. The constellation
is now fully operational and
consists of 24 or more satellites
(currently, there are 31).

The control segment is operated by the U.S. Department of

Defense (DoD) which tracks and maintains the satellites. The
Department of Transportation (DoT) now has management
responsibility, along with DoD.

The user segment consists of both military and civilian users.

Military uses of GPS include navigation and missile guidance
systems.
 Control Segment

The Control segment is made up

of a Master Control Station
(MCS), four monitor stations,
and three ground antennas used
to uplink data to the satellites.

The Master Control Station, or MCS (also known as the

Consolidated Satellite Operations Centre) is located at the US Air
Force Space Command Centre
Monitor stations (MS) are unmanned remote sensors that passively
collect raw satellite signal data and re-transmit it in real time to the
MCS for evaluation. Monitor stations basically function as very
precise radio receivers, tracking each satellite as it comes into view.
Ground antennas are remotely
controlled by the MCS. Ground
antennas transmit data
commands received from the
Master Control Station to GPS
satellites within their sky view
The MCS uplinks data to GPS satellites which includes:
Clock-correction factors for each satellite; necessary to ensure that
all satellites are operating at the same precise time (known as GPS
Time).

Atmospheric data (to help correct most of the distortion caused by

the GPS satellite signals passing through the ionosphere layer of the
atmosphere).
The MCS uplinks data to GPS satellites which includes:
Almanac, which is a log of all GPS satellite positions and health,
and allows a GPS receiver to identify which satellites are in its
hemisphere, and at what times.

An almanac is like a schedule telling a GPS receiver when and

where satellites will be overhead. Transmitted continuously by all
satellites, the almanac allows GPS receivers to choose the best
satellite signals to use to determine position.
The MCS uplinks data to GPS satellites which includes:

Ephemeris data is unique to each satellite, and provides highly

accurate satellite position (orbit) information for that GPS satellite
alone. It does not include information about the GPS constellation
as a whole. Ephemeris information is also transmitted as a part of
each satellites time signal.

By using the information from the GPS satellite constellation

almanac in conjunction with the ephemeris data from each
satellite, the position of a GPS satellite can be very precisely
determined for a given time.
The space segment is an earth-orbiting constellation of 24 active
and five spare GPS satellites circling the earth in six orbital planes.
Each satellite is oriented at an angle of 55 degrees to the equator.
The nominal circular orbit is 20,200-kilometer (11,000 nautical
miles) altitude.
Each satellite completes one earth orbit every twelve hours (two
orbits every 24 hours). That's an orbital speed of about 1.8 miles
per second
Information Contained in Satellite Signals
Each satellite transmits as part of its signal to ground stations and all
users the following information:
-Coded ranging signals (for trilateration)
Sequences of 0s and 1s (zeroes and ones), which allow the
receiver to determine the travel time of radio signal from
satellite to receiver. They are called Pseudo-Random Noise (PRN)
sequences or PRN codes.
-Ephemeris position information
-Atmospheric data
-Clock correction information defining the precise time of satellite
signal transmission (in GPS Time), and a correction parameter to
convert GPS Time to UTC.
- Almanac has information about the orbits of all 24+ satellites
includes location and health of the satellites.
Quartz clock accuracy: quartz clocks are accurate to approximately
1 second per month
Atomic clock accuracy: atomic clocks are accurate to roughly 1
second per 20 million years

GPS satellites orbit around the earth, in contrast to TV satellites

which are in geostationary orbits (they rotate with the earth). The
GPS satellites cross over any point on the earth approximately
twice per day.

The GPS satellites weigh about 900 kg and are about 5 meters wide
with the solar panels fully extended. They are built to last about 7.5
years, but many have outlasted their original estimated life-span.
The solar panels provide primary power; secondary power is
provided by NiCad batteries. On board each satellite are four highly
accurate atomic clocks.
Satellite Signals

GPS satellites originally broadcast messages via radio signals on 2

frequencies
L1: 1575.42 Mhz(C/A and P/Y code)
L2: 1227.60 Mhz(P/Y code)

Two levels of service

Standard Positioning Service (SPS)
Precise Positioning Service (PPS)

The radio signals travel at the speed of light: 300,000 km per and
takes 6/100ths of a second for a GPS satellite signal to reach earth.
C/A code (Coarse Acquisition code) is available to civilians as the
Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and provides average horizontal
accuracy of 7.8 meters 95% of the time and average vertical
accuracy of <= 15 meters 95% of the time.

The Precise Positioning Service (PPS), available only to the military

(and other authorized users), provides higher accuracy via the P
code.
Signal Behaviour

Satellite signals require a direct line to GPS receivers

- Signals cannot penetrate water, soil, walls or other
obstacles
USER SEGMENT
The user segment consists of receivers that provide positioning,
velocity and precise timing to users worldwide.

Military.
Search and rescue.
Disaster relief.
Surveying.
Marine, aeronautical and terrestrial navigation.
Remote controlled vehicle and robot guidance.
Satellite positioning and tracking.
Shipping.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Recreation.
How Does GPS Work?
GPS satellites are constantly transmitting signals that contain orbit
data and timing information. Receivers pick up those signals and use
the information to compute positions.
Note: Receivers dont send signals back to satellites, contrary to what
many people think. They are receivers not transceivers.

In order to compute a position, we START by measuring the distance

between the receiver and the satellites. The satellites are the known
points; the GPS receiver on the ground is the unknown point. The
range (actually pseudo range: estimate of range) is measured as
elapsed transit time.
Measuring Distance to Satellites
1. Measure time for signal to travel from satellite to receiver
2. Speed of light x travel time = distance

Distance measurements to 4 satellites are required to compute a 3-D

position (latitude, longitude and altitude)

Note: It takes about .06 seconds for a

GPS radio signal to reach Earth.
EXPLANATION (Trilateration)

Satellite 1

100 km

Satellite 1 detect the receiver with in the radius of 100 km

 Satellite 1

200 km

100 km

Satellite 2

Satellite 2 detect the receiver with in the radius of 200 km

 50 km
Satellite 3

200 km
Satellite 1

100 km

Satellite 2

Satellite 3 detect the receiver with in the radius of 50 km

 50 km
Satellite 3

200 km
Satellite 1

Satellite 2

100 km

The intersection point of these three circles will be the exact

location of Target
Illustrate this in 2D

Two satellites: first at distance of 4 seconds, second at distance of 6 seconds

Location of receiver is X
this is if clocks
were correct

Note: The explanation of timing offset will be shown in two dimensions for
illustration. Remember that in reality we are working with spheres, not
circles, and we need 3 perfect measurements to calculate a 3-D position,
not 2.
What if they werent correct?
What if receiver wasnt perfect?
receiver is off by 1 second
real time

XX

wrong time

XX position is wrong; caused by wrong time measurements

how do we know that it is wrong?
measurement from third satellite (fourth in 3D)
3rd satellite at 3 seconds

all 3 intersect
at X
if time is correct

if time is not correct

add our one second error to the third receiver
circle from 3rd SV cannot intersect where other 2 do

purple dots are

intersections of
2 SVs

XX
So, by adding one extra measurement (the 3rd measurement in this
2-D example) we can cancel out any consistent clock error the
receiver might have. Remember that in 3 dimensions this means we
really need 4 measurements to cancel out the error.

Correcting for Timing Offset

The first three measurements narrow down our position
A fourth measurement is needed to correct for the difference in
synchronization between satellite and receiver clocks
4 measurements: 4 variables
Latitude
Longitude
Altitude
Time (timing offset)
Distance measurements from two satellites limits our location to
the intersection of two spheres, which is a circle.
A third measurement narrows our location to just two points.
A fourth measurement determines which point is our
true location
GPS SIGNALS GPS FREQUENCIES.
Coarse/Acquisition code. L1 (1575.42 MHz)
Precision code. L2 (1227.60 MHz)
Navigation message. L3 (1381.05 MHz)
Almanac. L4 (1379.913 MHz)
Data updates. L5 (1176.45 MHz)

FREQUENCY INFORMATION
The C/A code is transmitted on the L1 frequency.
The Precision-code is transmitted on both the L1 and L2
frequencies.
L3 is used by the Defense Support Program to signal detection of
missile launches, nuclear detonations, and other applications.
L4 is used for additional correction to the part of the atmosphere
that is ionized by solar radiation.
L5 is used as a civilian safety-of-life signal.
FREQUENCY L2C

Launched in 2005, L2C is civilian GPS signal, designed specifically

to meet commercial needs.
L2C enables ionospheric correction, a technique that boosts
accuracy.
Delivers faster signal acquisition, enhanced reliability, and
greater operating range.
L2C broadcasts at a higher effective power making it easier to
receive under trees and even indoors.
Coarse Acquisition (C/A) Code

1023-bit Gold Code

Originally intended as simply an acquisition code for P-code
receivers
Modulates the L1 only
Chipping rate = 1.023 MHz (=290 meter)
Sequence Length = 1023 bits, thus Period = 1 millisec
Provides the data for Standard Positioning Service (SPS)
The usual position generated for most civilian receivers
Modulated by the Navigation/Timing Message code
Precise (P) Code
Requires special chip to decode
Modulates both L1 & L2
Also modulated by Nav/Time data message
Chipping rate=10.23 MHz (=29.30m) i.e. 10 times faster than
C/A code ensuring improved time measurement.
Sequence Length = 2.35*1014 bits
P-code rate is the fundamental frequency (provides the basis for
all others)
P-Code (10.23 MHz) /10 = 1.023 MHz (C/A code)
P-Code (10.23 MHz) X 154 = 1575.42 MHz (L1).
P-Code (10.23 MHz) X 120 = 1227.60 MHz (L2).
GPS Receiver & Codes
GPS Seattleites transmit using Pseudo random sequence (PN) codes.
All Satellite transmit a C/A code at the same carrier frequency
1575.42 MHz called L1 using BPSK modulation
The Antenna is typically a circularly polarized path antenna with an
LNA mounted on a printed circuit board.

A conventional receiver is used to generate an IP signal in a

bandwidth about 2 MHz which is sampled using I and Q sampling
techniques and processed digitally.

The digital portion of the receiver includes a C/A code generator, a

correlator, and a microprocessor that makes the timing
measurements and calculates the receiver position.

Most GPS receiver make use of a 12 channel IC chip set

At most, 12 GPS Satellites can be seen by a receiver at any one
time, so the coding gain in the spread spectrum receiver must be
sufficient to overcome the interference created by 11 unwanted
signal while recovering the twelfth wanted signal.

The C/A and P code transmission from all GPS Satellites are
overlaid in the L1 and L2 frequency bands, making GPS Direct
Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) System
The C/A Codes :
The C/A Codes transmitted by GPS are all 1023 bit gold codes.

GPS C/A Gold Codes are form from two 1023 bit m-
sequences, called G1 and G2 , by multiplying the G1 and G2
sequences with time offsets.

A m - sequence is a max length PN sequence which is easy to

generate with a shift register and feedback tab.

A shift register with n stages can generate a PN sequence 2n

1 bits in length.

The PN Sequence G1 and G2 are both generated by 10 bit shift

register and therefore both are 1023 bits long.
Satellite Signal Acquisition
The basic requirement of GPS is that there must be 4 satellites
transmitting coded signals from known positions.
3 satellites are required to provide the 3 distance measurements
and 4th to remove receiver clock error.
The GPS receiver separates individual GPS satellites using a
unique C/A code that is allocated to each satellite.

The GPS receiver must find the starting time of the unique C/A
code for each of the 4 satellites.
This is done by correlating the received signal with stored C/A
code.
Usually the receiver will automatically select the 4 strongest
signals and correlate to those.
 If the receiver is making a cold start ,with no information about
the current position of GPS satellites, or its own location ,it must
search all (37) C/A codes until it can correlate with one.
Once correlation is obtained ,the data stream (called navigation
message) from that satellite can be read by the receiver.
The data stream contains information about adjacent satellites,
so once correlated ,the receiver no longer needs to search
through all other (36) possible codes to find the next satellite ;it
can go directly to correct the code.
Searching all (36) C/A codes of 1023 bits for correlation is a slow
process.
The receiver locks to a given code by matching the locally
generated code to the code received from the wanted satellite.
 Since the start time of the code transmitted by satellite is not
known when receiver commences the locking process, an arbitrary
start point must be selected.
The locally generated code is compared ,bit by bit, through all 1023
bits of the sequence ,until either lock is found or the receiver
concludes that this is not the correct code for the satellite signal it
is receiving
If the starting time for the locally generated code was not selected
correctly, correlation will not be obtained immediately.
Then locally generated code is moved one bit in time, and
correlation is attempted again.
The process is continued 1023 times until a possible starting times
for the locally generated code have been tried.
 If the satellite with that particular C/A is not visible, no
correlation will occur and lock will not be achieved.
It takes a minimum of 1s to search all 1023bit positions of a 1023
bit C/A code, so it will take at least (15s) to acquire the first
satellite.
Although it takes only (20s) on average to lock to the C/A code of
one satellite , the receiver must find the Doppler frequency
offset for at least one satellite before correlation can occur.
The receiver bandwidth is matched to the bandwidth of C/A
code.
There are 8 possible Doppler shifts for each signal and 1023
possible code positions ,giving 8184 possible signal states that
must be searched.
Once any of the GPS satellite has been acquired, the navigation
message provides sufficient information about the adjacent
satellites to be acquired quickly.
The GPS receiver retains the information from the navigation
message when switched off, and it also runs its internal clock.
When next switched on ,the receiver will assume that its position is
close to its last known position when it was switched off, calculate
which satellites should be visible ,and search for those first.
If the receiver has been moved a large distance while turned off ,a
cold start is needed.
The correlation process described above assumes that each
satellite is acquired sequentially.
Some low cost receivers use sequential acquisition of the satellites,
i.e. one satellite at a time.
More sophisticated receivers have parallel correlators which can
search for and acquire satellites in parallel.
12 parallel correlators guarantee that all visible GPS satellite will
be acquired with better start up time and accuracy.
Integrity monitoring of GPS measurement is possible by using a 5th
satellite to recalculate the receiver position.
With 5 satellites there are 5 possible ways to select 4
pseudoranges, leading to 5 calculations of position.
If there is disagreement between the results ,one bad
measurement can be eliminated.
GPS receivers used for navigation of aircraft uses integrity
monitoring to guard against receiver or satellite failures and
interference with or jamming of GPS signals.
Satellite Navigation Message
GPS Signal Levels

GPS receiver antenna have low gain because they must be

omnidirectional.
A worst case gain of G=0 dB, corresponding to an isotropic
antenna.
In practice, G > 0 dB in many directions, but may fall to 0 dB in
some directions.
The omnidirectional antenna picks up radiated nise from the
environment, making antenna noise temperature close to 273K.
LNA temperatures can be as low as 25K.
The LNA is mounted directly below or behind the antenna to
avoid the increase in noise temperature caused by lossy antenna
cables.
GPS satellites have an array of helical antennas that provide gain
toward earth, and 10W transmitters, leading to EIRP values in the
range 19 to 27 dBW.
The C/A code transmitted by the satellite is a DSSS signal, so the
C/N ratio in the C/A codes RF bandwidth will be less than 0 dB.
The low C/N ratio of the spread spectrum signal is converted to a
usable S/N by correlation of the code sequences, which adds a
processing gain to the C/N ratio.
For the C/A code transmitted at 1.023 Mbps and a 1-ms correlation
time, the theoretical processing gain is 1023, or 30.1 dB. The
corresponding processing gain for the P code is 40.1 dB.
SOURCES OF GPS SIGNAL ERRORS.
 Different errors can cause a deviation of +/- 50 -100 meters
from the actual GPS receiver position which are :

1. Satellite clock :
One nano second of inaccuracy in a satellite clock results
in about 30 cm (1 foot) of error in measuring the distance
to that satellite.

2. Receiver clock :
Any error in the receiver clock causes inaccuracy in distance
measurement.

However it is not practical to equip receiver with very

accurate atomic clocks. Atomic clocks weigh more than 20
kgs, cost about US$ 50,000.
3. GPS Jamming :
It limits the effectiveness of the GPS signal.
GPS jammer is a low cost device to temporarily disable the
reception of the civilian coarse acquisition (C/A) code.
4. Atmospheric errors
Speed of GPS signal is affected by ionosphere & troposphere.
Which cause a deviation of 0 to 30 m. from the actual position
of receiver.
.
5. Multi-path error :
Bouncing of GPS signal due to a reflecting surface before
reaching to receiver antenna.
Which cause a deviation of 0 to 1 m. from the actual position of
receiver.
6. Ephemeris Errors
7. Tropospheric Delay
8. Receiver noise
The error introduced by the ionosphere and the troposphere can be partially removed by
receiving identical signals at two different carrier frequencies . This technique is used by
high precision P code receivers.

The P code signal is transmitted on the L1 carrier at 1575.42 MHz, in phase quadrature
with the C/A code signal. The P code is also transmitted on the L2 carrier at 1227.60 MHz.

C/A code receivers use a standard atmosphere and ionosphere and assume a constant
delay at a given elevation angle.