FROM : http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/
NAVSTAR - Navigation System Using Timing and Ranging
GPS – Global Positioning System

FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
A GPS SATELLITE
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 1
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
NAVSTAR - Navigation System Using Timing and Ranging
GPS – Global Positioning System
• DEVELOPED BY THE U.S.A IN 1973. BECAME FULLY OPERATIONAL IN 1995.
• INITIALLY STARTED WITH 24 SATELLITES, 8 EACH IN 3 ORBITAL PLANES. NOW HAS 4
OPERATIONAL SATELLITES IN 6 ORBITAL PLANES. ADDITIONAL SATELLITES IN THE ORBITAL
PLANES PROVIDE A MEASURE OF REDUNDANCY. AS OF FEB 2014, 65 SATELLITES LAUNCHED.
• NUMBER OF OPERATIONAL SATELLITES IN THE ALMANAC AS OF OCT 2016 – 31.
• INITIALLY, PRECISE POSITION SERVICE [P-CODE] WAS RESERVED FOR MILITARY USE.
• FOR CIVILIAN USE, COARSE [C/A-CODE] WAS INTENTIONALLY DEGRADED [SELECTIVE
AVAILABILITY] - ACCURACY TO 100 METERS. IN YEAR 2000 “SELECTIVE AVAILABILITY” WAS
TURNED OFF AND ACCURACY TO 30 METERS MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL USERS. TODAY C/A – 5-
10M, P/Y – 2-9M.
• TODAY OTHER SIMILAR POSITIONING SYSTEMS EXIST, SUCH AS :
• RUSSIA’S GLONASS [GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM] – 3 ORBIT PLANES, 8 SATELLITES
EACH [COMPLETED 2013]. ACCURACY TO 10 m.
• EUROPE’S GALILEO POSITIONING SYSTEM – 27 + 3 SPARE SATELLITE SYSTEM [2019] – ACCURACY
TO 1 m. COMMENCED OPERATION IN DEC2016.
• INDIA’S INDIAN REGIONAL NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE SYSTEM - [MAR’15] – ACCURACY TO 20 m.
3 GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITES + 4 IN INCLINED GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT.
• CHINA’S COMPASS [BEIDOU] NAVIGATION SYSTEM – 10 GEOSYNC/INCLINED GEOSYNC
SATELLITES COVERING ASIA/PACIFIC [OPERATIONAL 2012]. PLANNED 5 GEOSYNC SATELLITES +
30 MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT SATELLITES FOR GLOBAL COVERAGE BY 2020.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 2
 FROM : The GPS System – Purdue University EAS Department
GPS - PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
• GPS WORKS ON THE PRINCIPLE OF RANGING. THE RECEIVER CALCULATES IT’S POSITION BY
COMPARING IT’S OWN SELF-GENERATED TIMING SIGNALS WITH TIMING SIGNALS SENT BY
ORBITING GPS SATELLITES. THE TIME TAKEN BY THE SATELLITE SIGNAL TO REACH THE RECEIVER
MULTIPLIED BY THE SPEED OF RADIO WAVES GIVES THE RANGE TO THE SATELLITE. RANGES
FROM 3 SATELLITES PROVIDE FOR 2-D FIXING WHILE 4 RANGES PROVIDE A 3-D FIX.
• AVERAGE SPEED AND DIRECTION IS OBTAINED FROM
SUCCESSIVE POSITION FIXES.
• INSTANTANEOUS SPEED IS OBTAINED FROM THE
DOPPLER SHIFT OF THE SATELLITE CARRIER FREQUENCY.
EXAMPLE :
• CONSIDER SATELLITES 1, 2, 3 AND A GPS RECEIVER ON
EARTH.
• SAY SATELLITE 1 TRANSMITS AT TIME t.
• GPS RECEIVER PICKS UP THE SIGNAL AT TIME t1 P
• RANGE R = C x (t-t1), WHERE
➢ C = SPEED OF LIGHT/RADIO WAVES (3 ∗ 108 𝑚Τ𝑠)
➢ (t-t1) = TIME TAKEN FOR SATELLITE SIGNALS TO REACH THE
RECEIVER
• WE ARE THUS LOCATED ON THE SURFACE OF A SPHERE
OF RADIUS P1 CENTERED ON SATELLITE 1.
• KNOWING THE SATELLITE POSITIONS, WITH 3
SATELLITES, WE GET 3 RANGES THAT INTERSECT AT P.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 3
 FROM : The GPS System – Purdue University EAS Department
GPS - PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
• THE TIMING SIGNALS ARE MADE UP OF A PSEUDO-RANDOM NOISE CODE [PRN CODE] OR GOLD
CODE THAT ALSO HELPS TO IDENTIFY THE SATELLITE. THE PRN CODES ARE OF TWO MAIN TYPES,
C/A OR COARSE ACQUISITION AND P OR PRECISION CODE.
• THE SATELLITES ALSO TRANSMIT A NAVIGATION MESSAGE CONTAINING :
➢ GPS DATE AND TIME, GPS TIME RELATIONSHIP, SATELLITE STATUS AND HEALTH.
➢ DETAILED EPHEMERIS [PRECISE ORBITAL DATA] FOR THAT PARTICULAR SATELLITE – VALID
FOR 4 HOURS.
➢ ALMANAC - GENERAL DETAILS OF ALL SATELLITES AND THEIR PRN – VALID 180 DAYS.
• THE PRN CODES AND NAVIGATION MESSAGES ARE SUPERIMPOSED BY PHASE MODULATION
ONTO A CARRIER FREQUENCY THAT IS PICKED UP AND DECODED AT THE RECEIVER.
• WITH THE TIMING INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE SATELLITE THE GPS RECEIVER KNOWS AT
WHAT TIME THE SATELLITE SIGNAL WAS TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED AND THUS THE TIME
TAKEN FOR THE SIGNAL TO REACH THE RECEIVER.
• ERRORS IN SATELLITE & RECEIVER CLOCKS, IONOSPHERIC PROPAGATION DELAYS ETC. CAUSE
TIMING ERRORS. THIS LEADS TO ERRORS IN THE CALCULATED RANGE.
• INITIAL CALCULATED RANGES ARE THEREFORE KNOWN AS PSEUDO [FALSE] RANGES AND
APPROPRIATE CORRECTIONS MUST BE APPLIED TO RESOLVE THE ERRORS AND OBTAIN TRUE
RANGES. THIS IS DONE BY SOLVING FOUR EQUATIONS TO OBTAIN 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 AND Δ𝑡 [LAT, LONG,
ALTITUDE AND ERROR IN TIME].

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 4

 http://nptel.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-KANPUR/ModernSurveyingTech
GPS – COMPARISON OF TIMING SIGNALS
COMPARING THE
SATELLITE AND
RECEIVER
GENERATED
PULSES.
1ST PULSES ARE
BOTH -VE.
THUS -1 x -1 = +1
10 SUCH PULSES
ARE COMPARED
AND MULTIPLIED.
1/10th OF THE
SUM OF THESE
[0.40 IN THE
EXAMPLE] IS THE
AMOUNT BY
WHICH THE
RECEIVER SIGNAL
MUST BE SHIFTED
TO MATCH WITH
THE SATELLITE
SIGNAL.
THIS IS THE
RECEIVER CLOCK MATCHING THE
ERROR. RECEIVER CLOCK TO THE
SATELLITE CLOCK
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 5
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
GPS – RESOLVING PSEUDO-RANGES
• SATELLITES ARE FITTED WITH ATOMIC CLOCKS FOR GREATEST ACCURACY. HOWEVER, RECEIVER
CLOCKS USE ORDINARY CRYSTAL OSCILLATORS AND ARE NOT AS ACCURATE AS THE SATELLITE
CLOCKS. A 0.1μs ERROR WOULD MEAN A POSITIONAL ERROR OF 30 METERS.
• SATELLITE CLOCK ERROR AND EPHEMERIS ERRORS CAUSE TIMING ERRORS.
• IONOSPHERIC/TROPOSPHERIC PROPAGATION ERRORS LEAD TO TIMING ERRORS.
• HENCE THE INITIAL CALCULATED RANGES ARE NOT TRUE AND ARE CALLED PSEUDO RANGES.
• TO CORRECT FOR THESE ERRORS WE NEED TO SOLVE 4 EQUATIONS TO FIND AND APPLY THE
TOTAL TIMING ERROR Δ𝑡.
• ASSUMING THE RECEIVER POSITION IS AT 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 RELATIVE TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
BASED ON THE WGS84 SPHEROID.
• SATELLITE 𝑆1, 𝑆2, 𝑆3, 𝑆4 POSITIONS ARE KNOWN, FROM THE EPHEMERIS, TO BE 𝑥1, 𝑦1, 𝑧1…..
𝑥2, 𝑦2, 𝑧2 AND SO ON.
where PR is pseudo range and
• THIS GIVES THE FOLLOWING EQUATIONS : 𝐶 𝑥 Δ𝑡 is timing error
➢ 𝑃𝑅1 − 𝐶 𝑥 Δ𝑡 = (𝑥1 − 𝑥) + (𝑦1 − 𝑦) + (𝑧1 − 𝑧)
2 2 2

➢ 𝑃𝑅2 − 𝐶 𝑥 Δ𝑡 = (𝑥2 − 𝑥)2 + (𝑦2 − 𝑦)2 + (𝑧2 − 𝑧)2

➢ 𝑃𝑅3 − 𝐶 𝑥 Δ𝑡 = (𝑥3 − 𝑥)2 + (𝑦3 − 𝑦)2 + (𝑧3 − 𝑧)2
➢ 𝑃𝑅4 − 𝐶 𝑥 Δ𝑡 = (𝑥4 − 𝑥)2 + (𝑦4 − 𝑦)2 + (𝑧4 − 𝑧)2
➢ FROM THE ABOVE EQUATIONS WE CAN SOLVE FOR 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 AND Δ𝑡 . APPLYING THE
CORRECTION Δ𝑡 THE RECEIVER RECALCULATES AND OBTAINS TRUE RANGES 𝑅1, 𝑅2, 𝑅3, 𝑅4
AND A 3D FIX IS PLOTTED ON A WGS84 MODEL IN TERMS OF LAT, LONG AND ALTITUDE.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 6
 FROM - http://gis.stackexchange.com/
GPS – 3D FIXING
WHY ARE 4
SATELLITES
REQUIRED
FOR 3D
FIXING ?

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 7

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
GPS – PRN CODES
• THE PSEUDO RANDOM NOISE CODES [PRN CODES] ARE BINARY CODES CONSISTING OF A
SEQUENCE OF +/- 1’S.
• THESE SIGNALS RESEMBLE RANDOM NOISE AND ARE GENERATED USING CODE FORMULATED
BY ROBERT GOLD AND IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE GOLD CODE.
• THE CODES ACT AS TIMING SIGNALS AND ALSO HELP TO IDENTIFY THE SATELLITE.
• THEY ARE BASED ON THE ATOMIC CLOCK FREQUENCY OF 10.23 MHz AND ARE OF TWO MAIN
TYPES, C/A OR COARSE ACQUISITION AND P OR PRECISION CODE.
• THE PRN CODES PHASE MODULATE THE CARRIER FREQUENCY CAUSING A 180 DEGREE CHANGE
IN THE CARRIER PHASE EACH TIME THE CODE STATE CHANGES. THE RATE AT WHICH THE PHASE
CHANGE OCCURS IS CALLED THE CHIP RATE. THE CHIP RATE OF A CODE IS THE NUMBER OF
PULSES PER SECOND (CHIPS PER SECOND) AT WHICH THE CODE IS TRANSMITTED (OR
RECEIVED).

• C/A OR COARSE ACQUISITION CODE - AVAILABLE FOR CIVILIAN USE.

• THESE SIGNALS RESEMBLE RANDOM NOISE AND ARE GENERATED USING CODE FORMULATED
BY ROBERT GOLD AND IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE GOLD CODE.
• IT ACTS AS A TIMING SIGNAL AND ALSO HELPS IDENTIFY THE SATELLITE.
• IT HAS A FREQUENCY OF 1.023 MHz, A CHIP RATE OF 1 μs AND REPEATS EVERY MILLISECOND.
WAVELENGTH IS 300 METERS AND TRACKING ACCURACY IS 1% OF WAVELENGTH OR 3 METERS.
• IT IS SUPERIMPOSED ON THE L1 CARRIER FREQUENCY OF 1575.42 MHz.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 8

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
GPS – PRN CODES
• P OR PRECISION CODE – AVAILABLE FOR CIVILIAN USE SINCE THE YEAR 2000. PREVIOUSLY
AVAILABLE ONLY TO AUTHORISED USERS LIKE THE MILITARY ETC.
• IT ACTS AS A TIMING SIGNAL AND ALSO HELPS IDENTIFY THE SATELLITE.
• IT HAS A FREQUENCY OF 10.23 MHz, A CHIP RATE OF 0.1 μs AND IS 26.7 TERABYTES LONG,
REPEATING ONCE EVERY 267 DAYS. EACH SATELLITE IS ASSIGNED A 720.2 GB SECTION OF THE
CODE THAT TAKES 7 DAYS TO TRANSMIT. WAVELENGTH IS 30 METERS AND TRACKING
ACCURACY IS 1% OF WAVELENGTH OR 0.3 METERS.
• IT IS SUPERIMPOSED ON BOTH THE L1 CARRIER FREQUENCY OF 1575.42 MHz AND L2 CARRIER
OF 1227.6 MHz.

• THE P(Y) CODE - FOR SECURITY REASONS, TO PREVENT SPOOFING OR HACKING OF THE SYSTEM
BY ENEMIES, THE P CODE IS FURTHER MODULATED BY A W CODE TO CREATE THE P(Y) CODE.
THIS CODE IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO AUTHORISED USERS EG US GOVERNMENT, MILITARY ETC.
ITEM FUNDAMENTAL FREQ MULTIPLIER RESULTANT FREQ IN WAVELENGTH IN TRACKING ACCURACY
IN MHZ MHZ METRES 1% OF WAVELENGTH
IN METRES

C/A CODE 10.23 0.1 1.023 300 3

P CODE 10.23 1.0 10.23 30 0.3
L1 CARRIER 10.23 154 1575.42 0.19 0.0019
L2 CARRIER 10.23 120 1227.60 0.24 0.0024
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 9
 GPS – SATELLITE SIGNALS

• THE C/A CODE AND NAVIGATION MESSAGE ARE SUMMED UP AT A AND PHASE MODULATE THE
L1 CARRIER AT C.
• THE P CODE AND NAVIGATION MESSAGE ARE SUMMED UP AT B AND PHASE MODULATE THE L2
CARRIER AT E.
• OUTPUT FROM E IS THE PHASE MODULATED L2 SIGNAL COMPRISING THE THE P CODE AND
NAV MESSAGE.
• THE P CODE AND NAV MESSAGE FROM B FURTHER PHASE MODULATE THE L1 CARRIER AT D.
• OUTPUT FROM D IS THE PHASE MODULATED L1 SIGNAL CARRYING BOTH C/A AND P CODES
AND THE NAV MESSAGE.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 10
 FROM : The GPS System – Purdue University EAS Department
GPS – SATELLITE SIGNALS

THE PRN CODES PHASE

MODULATE THE CARRIER
FREQUENCY FREQUENCY
CAUSING A 180 DEGREE CHANGE
IN THE CARRIER PHASE EACH
TIME THE CODE STATE CHANGES.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 11

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
GPS – THE NAVIGATION MESSAGE – descriptive format
• THE NAVIGATION MESSAGE – COMPOSED OF 1500 bit FRAME DIVIDED INTO FIVE SUBFRAMES
OF 300 bits EACH AND TRANSMITTED AT 50 bits/s AND TAKES 6 SECS TO TRANSMIT.
• EACH SUBFRAME HAS THE GPS TIME.
• EACH SUBFRAME IS COMPOSED OF 10 WORDS OF WHICH THE FIRST TWO ARE:
➢ THE TELEMETRY WORD - ENABLES THE RECEIVER TO DETECT THE START OF THE
SUBFRAME.
➢ THE HOW [HAND OVER WORD] - INDICATES START TIME OF NEXT SUBFRAME AND
IDENTITY OF NEXT SUBFRAME.
• THE REMAINING PART OF THE SUBFRAMES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
➢ SUBFRAME 1 CONTAINS GPS DATE/WEEK NO., GPS TIME RELATIONSHIP, SATELLITE
STATUS/HEALTH
➢ SUBFRAME 2/3 CONTAIN THE EPHEMERIS [PRECISE ORBITAL DATA FOR THAT PARTICULAR
SATELLITE, VALID FOR 4 HOURS].
➢ SUBFRAME 4/5 CONTAINS COMPONENTS OF THE ALMANAC [1/25TH OF THE ALMANAC].
➢ TO RECEIVE THE ENTIRE ALMANAC 25 FULL FRAMES MUST BE PROCESSED, TAKING 12.5
MINUTES. THE ALMANAC CONTAINS GENERAL DETAILS OF ALL SATELLITES AND IS VALID
FOR 180 DAYS.
• SINCE THE P-CODE IS VERY LONG [7 DAYS] GPS RECEIVERS WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO LOCK IN TO
THE P-CODE EASILY. RECEIVERS THEREFORE LOCK INTO THE C/A CODE AND USE THE ‘HOW’
[TRANSMITTED EVERY 6 SECS] TO LOCATE AND IDENTIFY WHICH PART OF THE P-CODE IS BEING
TRANSMITTED.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 12
GPS – THE NAVIGATION MESSAGE - graphical format

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 13

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
GPS – THE NAVIGATION MESSAGE - table format

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 14

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

GPS – COMPUTING SPEED/DIRECTION

• METHOD 1 STEP 1: THE DOPPLER SHIFT IN RECEIVED GPS SIGNAL CAN BE USED TO COMPUTE
THE RELATIVE SPEED OF THE RECEIVER WRT THE SATELLITE.

• METHOD 1 STEP 2: SINCE THE SATELLITES’ TRUE VELOCITY IS KNOWN WE CAN RESOLVE THIS
VECTOR INTO TWO COMPONENTS : B
➢ A] DIRECTED TOWARD THE RECEIVER
➢ B] AT RIGHT ANGLES TO [A]
• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RELATIVE SPEED OF THE
RECEIVER AND COMPONENT [A] OF THE SATELLITES VELOCITY
WOULD BE THE RECEIVERS ACTUAL SPEED IN THE DIRECTION A
TOWARDS/AWAY THE SATELLITE.
• SIMILARLY WITH THE HELP OF TWO MORE SATELLITE’S WE OBTAIN TWO MORE
VECTORS WHICH CAN BE RESOLVED INTO X, Y, Z COORDINATES TO GIVE THE
RECEIVERS SPEED AND DIRECTION.

• THE ABOVE METHOD IS USED FOR COMPUTING ‘INSTANTANEOUS’ SPEED AND

DIRECTION AND IS ACCURATE OVER A VERY SMALL PERIOD OF TIME.

• METHOD 2: AVERAGE SPEED / DIRECTION IS COMPUTED BY MEASURING THE

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO SUCCESSIVE POSITIONS. THE LONGER THIS INTERVAL THE
MORE ACCURATE THE COMPUTED AVERAGE SPEED / DIRECTION.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 15
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
STRUCTURE OR CONFIGURATION OF THE GPS SYSTEM
• THERE ARE THREE MAIN SEGMENTS – SPACE SEGMENT, CONTROL [GROUND BASED] SEGMENT
AND USER SEGMENT.

• THE SPACE SEGMENT = SATELLITES:

• BROADCAST CODED RADIO SIGNALS AND
TIMING INFORMATION TOWARD USERS
ON THE EARTH
• RECEIVE COMMANDS FROM THE
GROUND STATIONS
• THE CONTROL SEGMENT = GROUND
STATIONS :
• MONITORS THE SPACE SEGMENT AND
SENDS COMMANDS AND UPLOADS DATA
AND CORRECTED TIMING INFORMATION
TO SATELLITES
• THE USER SEGMENT = GPS RECEIVER :
• RECORDS AND INTERPRETS THE RADIO
SIGNALS BROADCAST BY THE SATELLITES
FROM : Purdue University - EAS Department
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 16
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
STRUCTURE OF THE GPS SYSTEM – SPACE SEGMENT
THE SPACE SEGMENT :
• BROADCASTS CODED RADIO SIGNALS AND TIMING INFORMATION TOWARD USERS ON THE
EARTH
• RECEIVES COMMANDS FROM THE GROUND STATIONS

➢ A MINIMUM OF 24 SATELLITES ARE ARRANGED INTO SIX ORBITAL PLANES SPACED 60 DEG
APART AND INCLINED 55° FROM THE EQUATOR. EACH ORBITAL PLANE CONTAINS AT LEAST
FOUR UNEVENLY SPACED SATELLITES IN MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT.
➢ SATELLITE ORBITAL PERIOD IS HALF A SIDEREAL DAY [11H 58M] SO EACH SATELLITE IS SEEN
TWICE A DAY.
➢ SATELLITES REMAIN ABOVE THE HORIZON FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS AND HAVE A COVERAGE AREA
OF ABOUT 4500 NM.
➢ AT LEAST SIX SATELLITES ARE VISIBLE AT ALL TIMES FROM ANY POINT ON EARTH AND AT LEAST
FOUR SATELLITES WILL HAVE AN ELEVATION OF OVER 9.5 DEGREES. ADDITIONAL SATELLITES
ARE PROVIDED AS BACK-UP IN CASE OF FAILURE OF OPERATIONAL SATELLITES.
➢ SATELLITES ARE MARKED “UHEALTHY” WHEN REQUIRED TO BE MOVED TO ALTERNATE ORBITS
AND MARKED “HEALTHY” ONCE SETTLED IN THE NEW ORBIT.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 17

STRUCTURE OF THE GPS SYSTEM – SPACE SEGMENT

ORBITAL PLANES SPACED 60 DEG APART AND

AT 55 DEG TO THE EQUATOR

FROM : Purdue University - EAS Department

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 18

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

STRUCTURE
OF THE GPS
SYSTEM –
SATELLITE
ORBIT
GPS Satellites
Height - 20,200KM [12600MI]
Orbit - 26,600KM [16500MI]
Speed – 3.9KM/S
Period - 11H 58M

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 19

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

STRUCTURE OF THE GPS SYSTEM – CONTROL SEGMENT

THE CONTROL [GROUND BASED] SEGMENT:

THIS SEGMENT CONSISTS OF:

➢ A MASTER CONTROL STATION [COLORADO].
➢ AN ALTERNATE MASTER STATION [CALIFORNIA].
➢ FOUR DEDICATED GROUND ANTENNAE – TWO IN ATLANTIC OCEAN, ONE EACH IN INDIAN
OCEAN AND PACIFIC OCEAN.
➢ SIX DEDICATED MONITORING STATIONS – ONE EACH AT THE MASTER CONTROL STATION AND
THE FOUR GROUND ANTENNA STATIONS.
➢ THE MONITORING STATIONS TRACK AND OBTAIN DATA FROM THE SATELLITES AND PASS THE
INFORMATION TO THE MASTER CONTROL STATION.
➢ THE MASTER CONTROL STATION CALCULATES AND PREDICTS THE FUTURE PATH AND POSITION
OF ALL GPS SATELLITES. IT ALSO DETERMINES THE ERROR OF THE ATOMIC CLOCKS IN THE
SATELLITES AND PROVIDES THE CORRECTIONS REQUIRED TO KEEP THEM SYNCHRONISED WITH
GROUND CLOCKS. CLOCK OFFSET TO CORRECT TO UTC IS ALSO COMPUTED.
➢ THE SATELLITE EPHEMERIS [PRECISE POSITION/CLOCK CORRECTION FOR A PARTICULAR
SATELLITE], ALMANAC [COARSE POSITION/TRACK INFO FOR ALL SATELLITES] AND SATELLITE
STATUS INFORMATION IS UPLOADED TO THE SATELLITES FROM THE MASTER STATION THROUGH
THE GROUND [ANTENNA] STATIONS.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 20

 FROM : http://gps.gov/systems/gpscontrol

STRUCTURE
OF THE GPS
SYSTEM

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 21

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
STRUCTURE OF THE GPS SYSTEM – USER SEGMENT
THE USER SEGMENT :
• RECORDS AND INTERPRETS THE RADIO SIGNALS BROADCAST BY THE SATELLITES
IT CONSISTS OF
• A RECEIVING ANTENNA – USUALLY POWERED AND AMPLIFIED.
• A RECEIVER WITH A BUILT-IN PROCESSOR AND DISPLAY UNIT.

➢ INITIALLY LOCKS ONTO ONE SATELLITE, OBTAINS THE ALMANAC AND THUS SELECTS FOUR
MOST SUITABLE SATELLITES.
➢ TRACKS THESE FOUR SATELLITES AND OBTAINS THEIR EPHEMERIS DATA.
➢ CALCULATES THE TIME TAKEN FOR THE SATELLITE SIGNALS TO REACH THE RECEIVER AND
HENCE THE DISTANCE TO EACH SATELLITE. CALCULATES AND DISPLAYS THE FIX.
➢ USES THE DOPPLER SHIFT OF SATELLITE SIGNALS TO CALCULATE AND DISPLAY INSTANTANEOUS
VELOCITY / DIRECTION.
➢ AVERAGE VELOCITY AND DIRECTION IS OBTAINED FROM SUCCESSIVE FIXES.
➢ BASED ON TIME INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE SATELLITES CALCULATES RECEIVER CLOCK
ERROR, APPLIES TABULATED CORRECTIONS AND ACTS AS A VERY ACCURATE UTC SOURCE.
➢ DUAL FREQUENCY RECEIVER SYSTEM PRACTICALLY ELIMINATE IONOSPHERIC ERRORS.
➢ GENERALLY ABLE TO STORE PROGRAMMED ROUTES, WAYPOINTS ETC.
➢ CAN USUALLY INTERACT WITH OTHER NAVIGATIONAL / COMPUTER SYSTEMS USING STANDARD
COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS LIKE NMEA183 ETC, PROVIDING TIMING, POSITION, ELEVATION,
SPEED, DIRECTION AND OTHER INFORMATION.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 22
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

• AN SVN [SATELLITE VEHICLE NUMBER] IS ALLOCATED TO EACH SATELLITE AND A SPECIFIC PRN
CODE IS ASSIGNED TO EACH SVN. THESE DETAILS ARE FOUND IN THE ALMANAC.
• SINCE ALL SATELLITES TRANSMIT ON THE SAME FREQUENCY, INDIVIDUAL SATELLITE SIGNALS
ARE IDENTIFIED BY THE RECEIVER THROUGH THEIR PRN CODE.
• SVN 64 – SPACE VEHICLE NUMBER, PRN 30 – PSEUDO-RANDOM NOISE SEQUENCE OR GOLD
CODE.
• PSEUDO-RANDOM CODE – NUMBER OR DIGITAL CODE SATISFYING ONE OR MORE STATISTICAL
TESTS FOR RANDOMNESS BUT PRODUCED BY A DEFINITE MATHEMATICAL PROCEDURE.
• GOLD CODE/SEQUENCE – A TYPE OF BINARY SEQUENCE, DEVISED BY ROBERT GOLD TO AID IN
IDENTIFYING A SOURCE WHEN MULTIPLE DEVICES BROADCAST ON THE SAME FREQUENCY.
• BLOCKS – BLOCK I SATELLITES [7.5 YEAR DESIGN LIFE] - FIRST LAUNCHED SATELLITES. LAST OF
THESE WERE RETIRED IN 1995. BLOCK II SERIES INCLUDED IIA [ADVANCED], IIR
[REPLENISHMENT], IIM [MILITARY], IIF [FOLLOW-ON] AND WERE SUCCESSIVELY IMPROVED
VERSIONS OF THE SATELLITES WITH LONGER DESIGN LIFE AND UNSUPERVISED OPERATION. IIM
PROVIDES A NEW MILITARY SIGNAL AND MORE ROBUST L2C CIVILIAN SIGNAL. BLOCK III
SATELLITES ARE THE LATEST GENERATION WITH LONGER LIFE AND GREATER ROBUSTNESS.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 23

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

GPS - ERRORS IN THE SYSTEM

• ATMOSPHERIC ERRORS :
➢ IONOSPHERIC AND TROPOSPHERIC ERRORS : DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY THE SIGNAL, WHILE
PASSING THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE, INCREASES DUE TO REFRACTION AND RESULTS IN
TIMING ERROR. THE AMOUNT OF REFRACTION DEPENDS ON THE FREQUENCY AND THE
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE OF THE RADIO WAVE. HIGHER FREQUENCIES – LESS REFRACTION.
GREATER ANGLE OF INCIDENCE – LESS REFRACTION. MAXIMUM REFRACTION OCCURS
WHEN SATELLITE ELEVATION IS LOW. RECEIVERS ARE THEREFORE PROGRAMMED TO
REJECT SATELLITES WITH ELEVATIONS BELOW 9.5 DEG. DUAL FREQUENCY RECEIVERS
COMPARE THE DELAY BETWEEN THE L1 AND L2 SIGNALS AND DEDUCE CORRECTIONS FOR
ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION, IMPROVING ACCURACY.
➢ ONCE RECEIVER’S APPROXIMATE POSITION IS KNOWN, A MATHEMATIC MODEL IS USED TO
ESTIMATE AND COMPENSATE FOR ATMOSPHERIC ERRORS.
• USER CLOCK ERROR :
➢ THE RECEIVER CLOCK IS NOT AS ACCURATE AS THE ATOMIC CLOCK AND HENCE THE CLOCK
TIME IS UPDATED EVERY SUBFRAME [6 SEC]. RESIDUAL ERROR IS COMPENSATED FOR BY
COMPUTING CLOCK ERROR [Δ𝑡] USING PSEUDO RANGES FROM 3 OR 4 SATELLITES.
• SATELLITE CLOCK ERROR :
➢ ERROR DUE TO RELATIVITY EFFECT IS COMPENSATED FOR BY ADJUSTING THE ATOMIC
CLOCKS TO 10.22999999543MHZ BEFORE LAUNCH. IN ORBIT, THE CLOCK THEN RUNS AT
10.23MHZ. NOISE/DRIFT IN THE ATOMIC CLOCK’S TIMEKEEPING IS MONITORED BY
GROUND STATIONS AND CORRECTIONS INCLUDED IN THE 30SEC NAVIGATIONAL MESSAGE.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 24
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

GPS - ERRORS IN THE SYSTEM

• GEOMETRIC DILUTION OF PRECISION
➢ THE ANGULAR SEPARATION BETWEEN SATELLITES DETERMINES THE ANGLE OF CUT,
WHICH GOVERNS THE QUALITY OF POSITION OBTAINED. WIDER THE ANGULAR
SEPARATION BETWEEN SATELLITES THE BETTER THE ACCURACY OF THE FIX.
➢ LOW VALUE OF GDOP INDICATES HIGH ACCURACY OF FIX.
➢ KNOWING THE POSITION OF THE SATELLITES FROM THE ALMANAC, THE RECEIVER
AUTOMATICALLY SELECTS THE BEST CONFIGURATION OF SATELLITES BASED ON THEIR
GEOMETRY AND ELEVATION.
➢ GDOP OR DOP VALUES ARE DISPLAYED ON THE RECEIVER UNIT.
➢ DOP MAY BE EXPRESSED SEPARATELY AS HDOP [HORIZONTAL], VDOP [VERTICAL], PDOP
[POSITIONAL -3D] AND TDOP [TIME].
• MULTIPATH ERROR
➢ SATELLITE SIGNALS ARRIVING AT THE RECEIVER ANTENNA BOTH DIRECTLY AND VIA
REFLECTED PATHS, ARRIVE AT SLIGHTLY DIFFERING TIMES, MIX TOGETHER AND DISTORT
THE SIGNAL FED TO THE RECEIVER THUS LEADING TO ERRORS.
➢ PROPER DESIGN AND SITING OF THE ANTENNA CAN REDUCE MULTIPATH ERROR.
• EPHEMERIS ERROR
➢ MINOR DEVIATIONS IN THE SATELLITE’S ACTUAL PATH FROM THE PREDICTED PATH CAUSE
SMALL ERRORS IN POSITION ACCURACY.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 25

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

GPS - ERRORS IN THE SYSTEM

• DATUM SHIFT
➢THE CENTRAL REFERENCE POINT FOR THE GPS SYSTEM IS THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH IN
THE WGS84 SPHEROID. WHEN PLOTTING ON CHARTS BASED ON OTHER DATUMS A
CORRECTION MUST BE APPLIED TO THE DISPLAYED POSITION.

BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS ERROR POSSIBILITIES, GPS MUST BE USED WITH CAUTION,
PARTICULARLY IN CONGESTED WATERS, NARROW CHANNELS ETC., WHERE SMALL ERRORS IN FIX
POSITION MAY LEAD TO NAVIGATIONAL DISASTERS LIKE GROUNDING, COLLISION ETC.

ALARMS
GPS RECEIVERS ALLOW THE SETTING OF VARIOUS ALARMS LIKE :
➢CROSS TRACK ERROR
➢ARRIVAL ALARM
➢POOR DOP ALARM
➢NO FIX ALARM
➢ANCHOR WATCH ALARM
➢END OF ROUTE ALARM
➢REMINDER ALARM

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 26

 GPS – CLOCK BIAS ERROR
• SATELLITE CLOCK BIAS
• THE SATELLITES USE ON-BOARD ATOMIC CLOCKS RUNNING AT 10.23MHZ TO PRECISELY
TIME THEIR TRANSMISSIONS
• OWING TO THE EFFECTS OF RELATIVITY, THE ATOMIC CLOCK IN A GPS SATELLITE RUNS
SLIGHTLY FASTER WHEN IN ORBIT. TO CORRECT FOR THIS THE CLOCKS ARE SET TO RUN AT
10.22999999543MHZ [INSTEAD OF 10.23MHZ] BEFORE LAUNCH.
• THE ATOMIC CLOCKS, THOUGH HIGHLY ACCURATE, ARE NOT PERFECT AND HAVE ERRORS
OF ABOUT 8 TO 17 NANOSECONDS PER DAY LEADING TO MEASUREMENT ERRORS OF
ABOUT 2.4 TO 5 METRES.
• UPDATING THE ATOMIC CLOCKS DAILY SHORTENS THEIR LIFE. SO UPDATING IS DONE AFTER
THE ERROR ACCUMULATES TO ABOUT 1 MILLISECOND. MEANWHILE CORRECTIONS TO
CLOCK DATA ARE UPLOADED BY THE MASTER STATION AS PART OF THE NAVIGATION
MESSAGE.

• RECEIVER CLOCK BIAS

• THE RECEIVER CLOCK IS A COMMON CRYSTAL CLOCK AND IS NOT AS ACCURATE AS THE
ATOMIC CLOCK. HENCE THE CLOCK TIME IS UPDATED IN EVERY SUBFRAME [6 SEC] OF THE
NAVIGATION MESSAGE. RESIDUAL ERROR IS COMPENSATED FOR BY COMPUTING CLOCK
ERROR [Δ𝑡] USING PSEUDO RANGES FROM 3 OR 4 SATELLITES.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 27

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
GPS – VARIOUS DOP’S
• DOP OR DILUTION OF PRECISION IS A TERM USED TO INDICATE THE LEVEL TO WHICH ERRORS IN
THE GPS SYSTEM WILL EFFECT THE FINAL ACCURACY.
• GDOP OR GEOMETRIC DOP INDICATES HOW
THE SATELLITE GEOMETRY OR POSITIONING IN
THE SKY EFFECTS ACCURACY. SATELLITES WELL
SPREAD OUT WILL PROVIDE A SHARPER POOR DOP
GOOD DOP
INTERSECTION OF RANGES THAN WHEN THE
SATELLITES ARE BUNCHED CLOSE TOGETHER.
GDOP = 𝑃𝐷𝑂𝑃2 + 𝑇𝐷𝑂𝑃2
• TDOP OR TIME DOP IS THE ERROR IN POSITIONING DUE TO CLOCK ERRORS. TDOP = δ 2
𝑡

• HDOP OR HORIZONTAL DOP IS THE ERROR IN THE HORIZONTAL PLANE OR 2-D FIX [X, Y AXIS OR
LAT AND LONG]. HDOP = δ𝑋 2 + δ𝑌 2

• VDOP OR VERTICAL DOP IS THE ERROR IN THE VERTICAL PLANE [Z AXIS OR ALTITUDE].
VDOP = δ 2
𝑍

• PDOP OR POSITIONAL DOP IS THE ERROR IN A 3-D FIX [X, Y, Z AXIS OR LAT, LONG, ALT].
PDOP = δ 2 + δ 2 + δ 2
𝑋 𝑌 𝑍

• DOP VALUES : <1 = IDEAL, 1-2 = EXCELLENT, 2-5 = GOOD, 5-10 = MODERATE, 10-20 = FAIR, >20 =
POOR. FOR NAVIGATION AT SEA, VALUES HIGHER THAN 4 = EXERCISE CAUTION.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 28
 ERRORS IN THE GPS SYSTEM
ATMOSPHERIC ERROR –
DUE TO REFRACTION

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 29

ERRORS IN THE GPS SYSTEM
GDOP
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 30
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

ENHANCED ACCURACY SYSTEMS - SBAS AND GBAS

[SATELLITE/GROUND BASED AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS]
• MARINE USE - DGPS [DIFFERENTIAL GPS] – 3 TO 5 M
• MOBILE TELECOM - AGPS [ASSISTED GPS] – 5 TO 8 M
• AIRCRAFT USE
➢ WAAS [WIDE AREA ASSISTED SYSTEM] - NORTH AMERICA/HAWAII – 1-2 M HORIZONTALLY,
2-3 M VERTICALLY
➢ EGNOS [EUROPEAN GEOSTATIONARY NAVIGATION OVERLAY SERVICE] – EUROPE – WITHIN
2M
➢ MSAS [MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SATELLITE AUGMENTATION SYSTEM] – JAPAN – 1.5-2 M
➢ GAGAN [GPS AND GEO-AUGMENTED NAVIGATION] – INDIA – 1.5 M HORIZONTAL, 2.5 M
VERTICAL
➢ LAAS [LOCAL AREA AUGMENTATION SYSTEM] – VARIOUS AIRPORTS GLOBALLY.
CORRECTIONS SENT VIA VHF. FOR INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM.
➢ STARFIRE – CREATED BY JOHN DEERE ENGINEERS FOR FARM USE. BELOW 1 M, TYPICALLY
4.5 CM. EXPENSIVE, COMPLEX RECEIVERS.
• CPGPS [CARRIER PHASE ENHANCEMENT] PROVIDES ADDITIONAL CORRECTION TO DGPS,
IMPROVING ABSOLUTE ACCURACY TO 20-30 CENTIMETERS.
• SEVERAL OTHER ACCURACY ENHANCEMENT METHODS EXIST AND ARE USED IN SPECIALISED
EQUIPMENT / SYSTEMS.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 31

 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

ENHANCED ACCURACY SYSTEMS - DGPS

• PRECISELY LOCATED GROUND STATIONS RECEIVE THE GPS SIGNALS AND CALCULATE THE ERROR
BETWEEN THE GROUND STATION’S GPS POSITION AND IT’S ACTUAL GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
• THE ERROR INFORMATION IS BROADCAST OVER THE MF BAND.
• SPECIALLY EQUIPPED GPS RECEIVERS RECEIVE THE ERROR INFORMATION AND APPLY
NECESSARY CORRECTIONS TO THEIR OWN FIXES.
• ALSO, SINCE THE SATELLITES’ POSITION AND THE DGPS STATIONS’ POSITION IS ACCURATELY
KNOWN THE CORRECT RANGE TO EACH SATELLITE CAN BE COMPUTED.
• THEREFORE CORRECTIONS MAY
BE GIVEN AS:
• 1] LAT / LONG / ELEVATION
INFORMATION, OR
• 2] AS CORRECTION TO BE
APPLIED TO PSEUDO-RANGES.
• THESE CORRECTIONS ARE VALID
ONLY WITHIN A SPECIFIED AREA
ABOUT THE DGPS GROUND
STATION.
• ON-BOARD RECEIVERS MAY BE
PROGRAMMED TO AUTO TRACK
DGPS STATIONS AND APPLY
CORRECTIONS.
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 32
 ENHANCED ACCURACY SYSTEMS - DGPS
SATELLITE POSITIONS ARE KNOWN

SATELLITE POSITIONS ARE KNOWN

CALCULATED
RANGES
TRUE
RANGES

INITIALLY
MEASURED
RANGE BY GPS
-
PSEUDORANGE

Method 2
ERROR – DIFF
BETWEEN
Method 1 TRUE AND
GPS 3D FIX ERROR – DIFF MEASURED RANGE
OF ALL SATELLITES
29-12.315N BETWEEN
IN VIEW
135-54.076E
GPS FIX AND
KNOWN POSN
GPS – APPLIED TO
– APPLIED TO PSEUDORANGES
GPS POSITION

KNOWN GPS POSITION

KNOWN GPS POSITION – LAT, LONG, ALT
29-12.320N
135-54.070E
PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 33
 FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

ENHANCED ACCURACY SYSTEMS –

Satellite Based Augmentation System
• MULTIPLE PRECISELY LOCATED GROUND BASED STATIONS RECEIVE THE GPS SIGNALS,
CALCULATE THE ERROR BETWEEN GPS POSITION AND THE GROUND STATION’S ACTUAL
POSITION.
• THE ERROR INFORMATION IS PASSED ON TO ONE OR MORE SPECIAL FIXED SBAS SATELLITES
AND RE-BROADCAST.
• SPECIALLY EQUIPPED GPS RECEIVERS [AS
ON THE PLANE] RECEIVE THE ERROR
INFORMATION AND APPLY NECESSARY
CORRECTIONS TO THEIR OWN FIXES.
• ALL THE WIDE AREA GPS
AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS COMPLY
WITH A COMMON GLOBAL STANDARD
AND ARE COMPATIBLE AND
INTEROPERABLE.
• THUS A GPS RECEIVER DESIGNED TO
WORK WITH WAAS IS ALSO CAPABLE OF
OPERATING WITH EGNOS, GAGAN,
MSAS ETC.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 34

 GPS – PPS AND SPS
• PRECISE POSITIONING SERVICE (PPS) USING THE PRECISION OR P-CODE
INITIALLY ONLY AUTHORIZED USERS [U. S. AND ALLIED MILITARY, CERTAIN U. S. GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES, AND SELECTED CIVIL USERS SPECIFICALLY APPROVED BY THE U. S. GOVERNMENT] WITH
SPECIALLY EQUIPPED RECEIVERS COULD USE THE PRECISE POSITIONING SYSTEM USING THE P-
CODE.
HOWEVER, TODAY THE P-CODE IS FREELY AVAILABLE FOR CIVILIAN USE.
PREDICTABLE ACCURACY 2 – 9 METERS HORIZONTALLY AND WITH DGPS 0.5 T0 2 METERS.
FOR MILITARY USE, THE P-CODE IS NOW FURTHER ENCRYPTED BY A W-CODE TO GIVE P(Y)-CODE
WHICH IS HIGHLY CLASSIFIED AND ONLY AVAILABLE TO AUTHORISED USERS, IN ORDER TO
PREVENT SPOOFING OR HACKING.

• STANDARD POSITIONING SERVICE (SPS) USING THE COARSE ACQUISITION OR C/A CODE
CIVIL USERS WORLDWIDE USE THE SPS WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS. MOST RECEIVERS ARE CAPABLE
OF RECEIVING AND USING THE SPS SIGNAL. INITIALLY SPS ACCURACY WAS INTENTIONALLY
DEGRADED TO 100 METERS BY THE USE OF SELECTIVE AVAILABILITY. THIS WAS TURNED OFF IN THE
YEAR 2000.
SPS PREDICTABLE ACCURACY IS NOW ABOUT 5 TO 10 METER HORIZONTALLY AND WITH DGPS IS
0.7 TO 3 METRES.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 35

 GPS – SELECTIVE AVAILIBILITY
• FOR CIVILIAN USE, COARSE [C/A-CODE] WAS INTENTIONALLY DEGRADED BY THE US
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE [SELECTIVE AVAILABILITY] - ACCURACY TO 100 METERS.
• THIS INTENTIONAL DEGRADATION WAS DONE BY “DITHERING” [ALTERING] THE SATELLITE
CLOCK.
• IT COULD ALSO BE DONE BY BROADCASTING LESS ACCURATE EPHEMERIS DATA.
• THIS ERROR COULD BE CORRECTED BY THE USE OF DIFFERENTIAL GPS.
• IN THE YEAR 2000 “SELECTIVE AVAILABILITY” WAS COMPLETELY TURNED OFF AND ACCURACY TO
30 METERS MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL USERS.
• TODAY ACCURACY OF THE GPS SYSTEM IS : WITH C/A – 5-10M, P/Y – 2-9M.

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 36

 THE ATMOSPHERE

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 37

 THE TRUE SHAPE OF THE EARTH

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 38

OLDER DATUMS LIKE NAD, EUROPE ETC.

WGS84 DATUM

PREP.BY. CAPT.S.F. GOMEZ DATE: 10OCT16 REV. 1 OF 02APR18 PH2-SM-NCV 39