1
Dr. Guoqing Zhou
GPS Overview
CET 318
Book: p. 11-24
1. Basic Knowledge of GPS
In 1973, DOD organized a Joint Program Office (JPO)
located at the U.S. Air Force Systems Command's Space
Division, Los Angeles Air Force Base (AFB) to What?
to establish, develop, test, acquire, and deploy a spaceborne
positioning system, called Navigation System with Timing
and Ranging (NAVSTAR) Global Positioning System
(GPS) is the result of this initial directive.
Purpose: Military Functions: All-weather, 24hrs
Principle: ranging system Other Application:
Technical Problem: design, Potential Users:
Cost: 30 billions
1. GPS was conceived as a ranging system from
known positions of satellites in space to unknown
positions on land, sea, in air and space.
2. The satellite signal continually --- be measured with
a synchronized receiver.
3. The original objectives of GPS were the
instantaneous determination of
Position
Velocity (i.e., navigation)
Precise coordination of time (i.e., time transfer).
4. Goals:
– All-weather, all-day, and space-based navigation system
– To satisfy the requirements for the military forces
– To accurately determine their position, velocity, and
time in a common reference system, anywhere and
anytime.
Three Segments:
– Space segment consisting of satellites which
broadcast signals,
– Control segment steering the whole system,
– User segment including the many types of receivers.
2. Basic Principle
3 known points, 1 unknown point, 3 circles to determine
the unknown point by radius, the fourth point is for
verification
a
2
3
known
known
known
1
Un-known
a
a
Four unknowns:
the three point
coordinates + the
clock error.
Thus, four
satellites are
necessary to solve
for the four
unknowns.
2
GPS
Satellite
GPS
Receiver
Time
System
Coordinate
System
s= v t (pseudorange)
s: range
v: light velocity
t: time
s= t Σa(i) b(i) cos(?) (carrier phase)
s: range
? : phase of electronic magnetic wave
t: time
Frequencies: L1, L2
Single frequencies receiver
Dule frequency receive
Carrier Phase receiver
Pseudorange receiver
3. Space Segment
– Nearly circular orbits
– Altitude of about 20200 km
– 24-hour worldwide coverage.
– 21 + 3 satellites in six orbital planes (A to F)
– An inclination of 55°
– Four satellites per plane. Furthermore, four active spare
satellites for replenishment will be operational.
This constellation provides global coverage with four to
eight simultaneously observable satellites above 15°
elevation at any time of day.
3.1 Constellation
–10°, occasionally up to 10 satellites visible;
–5°, occasionally 12 satellites visible. 1. General Remarks
The GPS satellites, essentially, provide a platform for radio
transceivers, atomic clocks, computers, and various ancillary
equipment used to operate the system.
The auxiliary equipment of each satellite
1. Solar panels for power supply
2. A propulsion system for orbit adjustments and stability
control.
3.2 GPS Satellites
The satellites have various systems of identification:
– Launch sequence number,
– Assigned pseudorandom noise (PRN) code,
– Orbital position number,
– NASA catalogue number, and
– International designation.
Cont.Satellite Categories
–Block I
– Block II, IIA
– Block IIR, IIF
GPS Satellites Block I Total: 10
99.9Signal27 Feb 9430 Oct 859 Oct 8511 03
133.5Clock18 Nov 953 Oct 848 Sep 8410 12
115.2Power25 Feb 9419 Jul 8413 Jun 849 13
116.8Power4 May 9310 Aug 8314 Jul 838 11
---Booster----18 Dec 817 ---
126.8Wheels10 Dec 9016 May 8026 Apr 806 09
45.0Wheels28 Nov 8327 Feb 809 Feb 805 05
93.6Clock27 Oct 868 Jan 7911 Dec 784 08
161.3Clock19 Apr 929 Nov 786 Oct 783 06
25.5Clock30 Aug 8014 Jul 7813 May 782 07
Operation
(Months)
Reason of
loss
Loss of
navigation
Available
since
Launch
date
Flight PRN
No. No.
GPS Satellites Block II
Cont.
Total: 8
D220 act 901 Oct 9020 15
E231 Aug 902 Aug 9019 21
B219 Apr 9025 Mar 9018 20
F314 Feb 9024 Jan 9017 18
D311 Jan 9011 Dec 8916 17
A414 Nov 8921 Oct 8915 19
E313 Sep 8917 Aug 8914 16
B312 Jul 8910 Jun 8913 02
Orbital
position
Available
since
Launch
date
Flight PRN
No. No.
3
GPS Satellites: Block IIA
Cont.Total: 16
C209 Apr 9628 Mar 9636 03
Cl28 Mar 9410 Mar 9435 06
D429 Nov 9326 Oct 9334 04
B428 Sep 9330 Aug 9333 05
Al21 Ju1 9326 Jun 9332 09
C412 Jun 9313 May 9331 07
C313 Apr 9330 Mar 9330 31
Bl4 Apr 932 Feb 9329 22
F45 Jan 9318 Dec 9228 29
Fl11 Dec 9222 Nov 9227 01
A330 Sep 929 Sep 9226 27
F223 Jul 927 Jul 9225 26
C225 Apr 929 Apr 9224 28
A224 Mar 9223 Feb 9223 25
Dl30 Aug 913 Jul 9122 24
E410 Dec 9026 Nov 9021 23
Orbital
position
Available
since
Launch
date
Flight PRN
No. No.
GPS Satellites: Block IIF (p. 14)
GPS Satellites: Block III (p. 14)
3.3 GPS Satellite Signal
The key to the system's accuracy is the fact that all signal
components are precisely controlled by atomic clocks.
The Block II:
1. Four on-board time standards
2. Two rubidium clocks
3. Two cesium clocks, a stability of 10
-14
to 10
-15
over
one day
These highly accurate frequency standards being the
heart of GPS satellites produce the fundamental L-band
frequency of 10.23 MHz. by multiplying the fundamental
frequency by 154 and 120 respectively yielding
3000 000 year10
-15
1420405751Hydrogen
300 000 year10
-13
9192 631770Cesium
30 000 year10
-12
683468 2613Rubidium
30 year10
-9
5000000Quartz
Time of causing 1 sStability/dayFrequencyClock Type
GPS Clock Stability
L1 = 1575.42 MHz L2 = 1227.60 MHz
These dual frequencies are essential for eliminating the
major source of error, i.e., the ionospheric refraction.
The GPS signals less subject to intentional (unintentional)
jamming
1. C/A-code (Coarse/Acquisition-code ) is
– Civilian use, denies full system accuracy to
nonmilitary users
– Designated as the Standard Positioning Service
(SPS),
– Effective wavelength of approximately 300 m.
– Modulated upon L1 only and is purposely omitted
from L2.
2. P-code (Precision-code) is
– U .S. military and other authorized users.
– Designated as the Precise Positioning Service (PPS),
– Effective wavelength of approximately 30 m.
– Modulated on both carriers L1 and L2.
Technology for Denial of Accuracy and Access
Two methods for denying civilian users full use of the
system:
– Selective Availability (SA)
– Anti-spoofing (A-S)
Selective Availability-SA
– Goal: to deny this navigation accuracy to potential
adversaries
– Means:
by dithering the satellite clock and
by manipulating the ephemerides
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1. GPS fundamental frequency: δ Technology
2. Navigation message: ε Technology
3. P code: encrypting Technology
Selective Availability (SA)
Anti-spoofing (A-S)
– The SA has only been implemented in Block II
satellites at various levels of accuracy denial.
– Accuracy degraded
100 m for horizontal
156 m for height.
0.3m/s for velocity
340ns for time
The predictable accuracy decreases to 300 m for
horizontal position and to 500 m for height.
All numbers are given at the 95% probability level. At the
99.99% probability level.
How to Realize Anti-Spoofing?
1.The design of GPS includes the ability to essentially "turn
off" the P-code or invoke an encrypted code as a means of
denying access to the P-code to all but authorized users.
2.The rationale for doing this is to keep adversaries from
sending out false signals with the GPS signature to create
confusion and cause users to misposition themselves.
3.A-S is accomplished by the modulo 2 sum of the P-code and
an encrypting W-code. The resulting code Y-code.
– Thus, when A-S is active, the P-code on the L1 and the
L2 carrier is replaced by the unknown Y-code.
– Note that A-S is either on or off. A variable influence of
A-S (as is the case with SA) cannot occur.
On March 29, 1996, the Presidential Decision
Directive (PDD) on GPS was released expressing the
"intention to discontinue the use of GPS Selective
Availability (SA) within a decade in a manner that
allows adequate time and resources for our military
forces to prepare fully for operations without SA".
Technology for Denial of Accuracy and Access
4. Control Segment
Operational Control System (OCS)
master control monitor stations ground control
Main Tasks:
Tracking of the satellites for the orbit and
Clock determination and prediction,
Time synchronization of the satellites, and
Upload of the data message to the satellites.
The OCS is also responsible for imposing SA on the
broadcast signals.
4.1 Monitor Stations
Main Tasks:
– Each station is equipped with a precise cesium time
standard and receivers which continuously measure
pseudoranges to all satellites in view.
– Pseudoranges are measured every 1.5 seconds and,
using the ionospheric and meteorological data, they are
smoothed to produce 15-minute interval data which are
transmitted to the master control station.
Locations:
– Hawaii
– Colorado Springs
– Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean
– Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean
– Kwajalein in the North Pacific Ocean
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4.2 Master Control Station
Tasks of CSOC:
– Collects the tracking data from the monitor stations
– Calculates the satellite orbit and clock parameters using a
Kalman estimator.
– These results are then passed to one of the three ground
control stations for eventual upload to the satellites.
– Be responsible for the master control station.
Location:
– Formerly, Vandenberg AFB, California for BLOCK I
– The Consolidated Space Operations Center (CSOC) at
Falcon AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado for BLOCK II
after.
4.3 Ground Control Stations
1. The satellite ephemerides and clock information,
calculated at the master control station and
received via communication links, are uploaded to
each GPS satellite via S-band radio links.
2. Formerly, uploading to each satellite was
performed every eight hours; then the rate has
been reduced to once (or twice) per day.
If a ground station becomes disabled, prestored
navigation messages are available in each satellite to
support a prediction span so that the positioning
accuracy degrades quite gradually.
Locations of Ground Station:
– Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean
– Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean
– Kwajalein in the North Pacific Ocean
Receiver
Cesium clock
Atmospheric data
Ephermrides
Clock bias
Navigation
message
GPS
GPS
Monitoring Station
Ground Station
Master Station
Modulation
Data processing
Commander
5. User Segment
5.1 User Categories
Military User
Strictly speaking, the term "user segment" is related to the DoD
concept of GPS as an adjunct to the national defense program.
Even during the early days of the system, it was planned to
incorporate a GPS receiver into virtually every major defense
system. It was envisioned that every aircraft, ship, land vehicle,
and even groups of infantry would have an appropriate GPS
receiver to coordinate their military activities.
17,000400080005000
TotalMilitary
Receiver
Small Receiver
Receiver
C/A Code Civil
Receiver
Gulf War GPS Receiver
Civilian User
There are various other non-military uses.
Just one example:
A receiver can be connected to four antennas. When the
antennas are placed in a fixed array (e.g., corners of a
square), the attitude of the array can be determined in
addition to its position. For example, placing antennas on
the bow, stern, and port and starboard points of a ship
would result in the determination of pitch, roll, yaw, and
position of the vessel.
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5.2 Receiver Types
Based on the type of observables (i.e., code pseudoranges or
carrier phases) and on the availability of codes (i.e., C/A-code,
P-code, or Y-code), one can classify GPS receivers into:
By Code:
(1) C/A-code pseudorange receiver,
(2) C/A-code carrier phase receiver,
(3) P-code carrier phase receiver, and
(4) Y-code carrier phase receiver.
By Frequency:
(1) Signal frequency receiver
(2) Dual frequency receiver
In General:
(1) Pseudorange receiver
(2) Carrier phase receiver
By Positioning Style:
Static Receiver
Kinematic Receiver
Low kinmatic
Middle kinmatic
High kinmatic
By Application:
Navigation Receiver
Positioning Receiver
Timing Receiver
By Load Body:
Potable Receiver
Back Bag Receiver
Vehicle Load Receiver
Ship Load Receiver
Airplane Load Receiver
Missile Load Receiver
Satellite Load Receiver
1. C/A-code Pseudorange Receivers
Characteristics:
1. Only code pseudoranges using the C/A-code are
measured.
2. The receiver is usually a hand-held device powered by
flashlight batteries.
3. Typical from one to six independent receiver channels
and output the three-dimensional position in longitude,
latitude, and height.
4. Receivers with four or more channels are preferred for
applications in motion since simultaneous satellite ranges
can be measured to produce more accurate positions.
2. C/A-Code Carrier Receivers
Characteristics:
1. Code ranges and carrier phases from the L1
carrier only are obtained because the C/A-code is
not modulated on L2.
2. Most instruments have a minimum of four
independent receiver channels and some of the
more recent designs have L2 channels.
3. To store the time-tagged code range and carrier
phase in laptop computers and magnetic tapes
early, later in memory chips.
5. Now measure the phases of the L2 carrier by the use of
some codeless technique. The drawback is that the
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is considerably lower than
the C/A-code measurements on Ll.
6. Normally, the L2 phase is used in combination with
the Ll measurement to reduce the ionospheric effect on
the signal and, thus, provide a more accurate vector
determination (especially for long lines).
This type of receiver can be used for all types of
precise surveys including static, kinematic, and
pseudokinematic methods.
3. P-code Receivers
1. This type of receiver uses the P-code and is able to lock on
to the Ll and L2 carrier.
2. In the absence of A-S , the observables are derived by first
correlating the signals with a replica of the P-code. After
removing the P-code from the received satellite signal, phase
measurements can be performed.
3. One of the first receivers was the P-code TI-4100 completed
in 1984 and tested by the FGCS.
4. This receiver was developed more from a military
perspective than a civilian one.
5. Manufacturers of civilian receivers were able to justify P-
code work around 1989-1990.
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6. With A-S activated, in the emitted signal the P-code is
replaced by the unknown Y-code. Thus, traditional P-code
correlation technique can no longer be applied.
7. This type of receiver can operate in codeless mode,
providing carrier phase data and code pseudoranges for
the L2 frequency without knowledge of the Y-code.
8. The L2 tracking is accomplished using four techniques:
1) Signal squaring
2) Cross correlation
3) Code correlation followed by squaring
4) Z-tracking technique
Two main advantages of the P-code receiver:
– To measure long (100 km) lines with a few
centimeters. P-code instruments can measure
moderate length lines (20 km).
– Centimeter level with as little as some minutes of
data collection based on a linear combination of the
measured phases of Ll and L2.
4. Y-code Receivers
1. This type of receiver provides access to the P-code
with A-S invoked.
2. The code ranges and phases can be derived from L1
and L2 signals by the P-code correlation
technique.
3. The access to the P-code is achieved by installing
Auxiliary Output Chips (AOC) in each receiver
channel. These chips allow the decryption of the y-
code into the P-code and also correct the degradation
imposed by SA.
4. Only users authorized by the DoD have access to
the AOC.
Summary
What have we learnt?
Which parts are important?
Assignment 2
1. Detailed description to basic GPS positioning
principle.
2. What are the SA and A-S technology?
3. Describe the GPS satellite constellation.
4. Describe the GPS control segments.
5. List the classification of GPS receivers, and
briefly describe the 4 types of GPS receivers
(characteristics and drawback)