SATELLITE GEODESY
UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS
Satellite Navigation SATELLITE
SYSTEM (GNSS)
Introduction
• GNSS and its work.
• History of GNSS
– TRANSIT System
• GPS
• Galileo
• Competition
• Cooperation
• Prospective
2
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
GNSS & its works.
• GNSS is an acronym for Global Navigation satellite
systems.
• GNSS provides solution for the problem of where am I
on earth and other geospatial position problems.
• It determines the positions of a stationary or moving
object anywhere on orabove the earth surface by using
radio signals to measure distances between the object
and at least four satellites whose positions are known.
3
Why by satellite?
• Signal reception is better than by land
• Signals can pass through clouds and rain
• As long as a satellite is in the receiver’s
horizon, a signal is always perceivable
• Worldwide
• High accuracy
4
History
• The Russians kept the Doppler-effect in
mind with the launch of Sputnik I in 1957
To keep radio contact with a moving object,
you have to keep changing your frequency
• The Americans discovered how to invert
this in 1959 with the start of the TRANSIT
navigation system
If you know the position of the satellite, you
can determine your relative position to it
5
TRANSIT System
Navy Navigation Satellite System
• Satellite sends its exact position
and time over a fixed frequency
• Receiver monitors the difference
between the received frequency
and the expected frequency
• When these frequencies are equal,
the satellite is directly above the
receiver
6
TRANSIT System
? ?
?
7
TRANSIT System
150 MHz
200 MHz
8
Universiteit Utrecht
TRANSIT System
150 MHz
150 MHz
9
TRANSIT System
• The receiver only knows
that the satellite is neither
approaching or departing
• So the ship must be on a
line perpendicular to the
orbit of the satellite
• However, farther from the
orbit, the frequency
transition is less
• A calculation will tell the
receiver how far, but not
which side
10
Universiteit Utrecht
TRANSIT System
single
dual
frequency
11
TRANSIT System
Pros
• Up and running 2 years after concept
• Only need 1 satellite per measurement
Cons
• Low orbit + few satellites = bad coverage
• Receiver needs a continuous signal
• Receiver has to wait for satellite to pass overhead
• Only up to 500/25 meter accuracy
• Assumes sea level altitude
12
NAVSTAR GPS
Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging
Concept
• The American Department of Defense
started development in 1973
• Six orbital planes
(plane = orbit containing multiple satellites)
• 21 active satellites, plus 3 spares
Four per plane
13
NAVSTAR GPS
History
• First three prototype satellites “Timation”
from 1967-74
• First prototype configuration “Block I” of
10 satellites from 1978-85
• Current configuration is the “Block II”
from 1989-94
– Delayed partially because of the ’86
Challenger disaster
14
NAVSTAR GPS
Configuration
15
NAVSTAR GPS
Configuration
orbital plane
20,200 km
55°
equator
×6 planes
16
NAVSTAR GPS
Configuration
• Why not geostationary at 36,000 km?
– Stronger transmitter required
– More powerful launcher required
– Poor coverage of polar regions
• Compromise: 20,200 km so period is 12h
• However, many satellites needed
– At least 17 satellites required
– Today: 27 satellites = five to twelve in range!
17
NAVSTAR GPS
Coverage
18
NAVSTAR GPS
Satellite Broadcast
• Satellite position
• Time
• Other parameters
– Satellite status
– Possible inaccuracies
– Information about other satellites
– etc.
19
NAVSTAR GPS
How it works
• A receiver receives a signal from a GPS
satellite
• It calculates the difference from the
current time and the time sent by the
satellite
• It now knows how far away the satellite is
• Because we know that radio signals travel
at the speed of light, we can calculate this
20
NAVSTAR GPS
How it works
GPS uses a version of
triangulation to locate the
user, through calculations
involving information from
a number of satellites.
The receiver converts signal
information into position, 21
velocity, and time estimate.
NAVSTAR GPS
How it works (cont.)
• There are two possible locations
• One is practically impossible, so it can be
ruled out
– Too far away from Earth (too high)
– Velocity is not realistic
• Still, we need a fourth satellite
– Confirm this location
– Improve accuracy
22
NAVSTAR GPS
How it works (cont.)
23
NAVSTAR GPS
Satellite requirements
• Each satellite must be uniquely identified
• Satellites must know their exact position
• Satellites must know the exact time
– 2 rubidium & 2 cesium atomic clocks
– At least once every 4 hours it synchronizes
position and time with a Monitoring Station
24
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Why is this important?
• It only takes a signal about 63 milliseconds
to reach the receiver
• Inaccuracy of 1 millisecond puts you off by
300 kilometers!
• So the satellites are equipped with four
atomic clocks
• But what about the receiver?
25
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
The receiver
• The receiver has a simple digital clock
• It doesn’t have to be spot-on
• It just has to get the travel time of each
satellite’s signal relative to each other
• But this means we do need a fourth
satellite
26
NAVSTAR GPS
Pseudo range
We’re exactly here
In two dimensions, this is the ideal situation
Note that in 2D, we need 3 measurements! In two dimensions, this would be
the reality 27
NAVSTAR GPS
Pseudo range (cont.)
NAVSTAR GPS
Pseudo range (cont.)
With a calculation, we can make
the circles intersect again
NAVSTAR GPS
Pseudo range (cont.)
• We can adjust the local time until the
spheres more or less intersect
• The effect is twofold
– We can more precisely determine our position
– We can update the receiver’s clock
30
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
The Broadcast
• Satellites broadcast over two reserved
frequencies
– L1 frequency, at 1575.42 MHz
– L2 frequency, at 1227.6 MHz
• L1 carries a C/A code, which can be
identified by civil receivers
• L1 & L2 carry a P code, which can only be
identified by the U.S. military
31
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Content of the Broadcast
frame header sub-frame headers
Block of bits 1200 bits
1500+bits
60 × 5
• We need to send, say, 1200 bits of data
• The beginning of each frame must be
identifiable
• A receiver shouldn’t have to wait until the
next broadcast to join
32
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Content of the Broadcast (cont.)
Frame
Sub-frames 1500
300 bits
bits
33
NAVSTAR GPS
Content of the Broadcast (cont.)
• The Navigation Message is transmitted over
the L1 frequency
• Although the frequency is 1575.42 MHz, the
message is carried at exactly 50 Hz
• That’s 50 bits per second
• To send a sub-frame of 300 bits, it takes
precisely 6 seconds
• So a frame is repeated every 30 seconds
34
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Content of the Broadcast (cont.)
6 seconds
Sub-frames
30 s
35
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Content of the Broadcast (cont.)
Sub-frame
30 bits 30 bits 240 bits
TLM HOW Data
Telemetry Word (TLM)
10001011
Preamble (reserved) Parity
• Telemetry Word states the beginning of the
sub-frame
• Contains reserved information
36
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Content of the Broadcast (cont.)
Sub-frame
30 bits 30 bits 240 bits
TLM HOW Data
Handover Word (HOW)
Sub-Frame ID
17 bits: 100799 × 6 = 7 days 00
Alert & AS-flag
Time of week Data Parity
• Handover Word states the time of week
• Also states the current sub-frame
• Tells receiver if of possible inaccuracy
37
NAVSTAR GPS
Reception of the Broadcast
1. Acquire lock on frequency
2. Search for the preamble
3. Collect the following 16 bits of reserved
data from TLM & check it with the parity
4. Gather all the data from the HOW and
check the parity again
5. Identify the current sub-frame and start
gathering data after HOW’s two 0-bits
38
NAVSTAR GPS
Data in the Broadcast
Header words Data words 240 bits
sub-frame 1 Satellite clock & health data
sub-frame 2
Satellite ephemeris (position) data
sub-frame 3
• Every sub-frame
sub-frame 4 is split up in 10 words
Support data to be sent to Monitoring
(word = block of 30-bits)
Station over 25 looping pages
sub-frame 5
• The data is in words 3-10
7 × 30 = 240 bits
39
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Data in the Broadcast (cont.)
• Receiver can use this data to pinpoint his
relative location
– Time elapsed to send signal
– Position of that satellite
• Where the other satellites are
• Receiver now only needs to calculate the
time from the other three satellites
– This can happen at the same time!
40
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
NAVSTAR GPS
Limitations
• The chosen microwave-frequencies are
highly sensitive
They can’t even pass through thin foliage!
• This means reduced service
– Worse coverage
– “Multipath”: Range errors by signal bounce
• During wartime, the U.S. reduces accuracy
or even shuts down civil GPS
41
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
Galileo
Concept
• Four navigation services and one Search
and Rescue service
• Six different navigation signals
• Three carrier frequencies
• Better performance than other satellite
navigation systems
• Compatibility and interoperability with
other satellite navigation systems
Galileo
Services
• Open Service
– Free of user charge
• Safety of Life Service
– OS with timely warnings of integrity problems
• Commercial Service
– Two additional signals improve accuracy
• Public Regulated Service
– Two additional signals for high continuity
43
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
Galileo
Services (cont.)
• Search and Rescue Service
– Finds a beacon broadcasting a distress signal
– Broadcasts the distress signal and beacon
location globally
44
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
Competition
GPS against Galileo
• The U.S. disliked the upcoming competitor
Galileo
• Such accuracy poses a threat to the U.S.
military
• GPS III, currently being researched, will
match or surpass Galileo’s accuracy
45
Paul Lammertsma Universiteit Utrecht
Competition
Galileo against GPS
• The EU wants to be more than the consumer
and partner in the background
• The EU dislikes the U.S.’s reduced accuracy
policy
• They want to improve the existing service
• They want fully civil satellite navigation
• They want to have a guarantee that the
service is always available
46
Cooperation
GPS & Galileo
• Political issues put aside, GPS and Galileo
will cooperate
• Galileo will complement the existing GPS
in accuracy and availablility
• However, Galileo will also be able to run
independently
47
Cooperation
GPS & Galileo
• All the satellites will be able to
communicate with each other
• Existing GPS-receivers will be able to
make use of Galileo
48
Prospective
• Galileo will be fully active in 2008
• Improved signal strength
– Global positioning within buildings
– Major improvements within cities
• “Always functioning” guarantee
– Aircraft might be allowed official usage
• Improved service
– Improved performance for existing uses
– New uses
49
