GPS Tracking

Introduction:

It has been quite sometime that the word GPS is echoing in the global tech-sector, though it couldn’t show us much since the past few decades. But scenes are changing; the market for GPS oriented products is burgeoning and it’s happening at quite a fast pace. The factors responsible are galore; from the slackening of government regulations to technological improvement and customer acceptance; however, those with considerable amount of foresight predicted the same, because something that pampers the age-old instinct of prying into others’ affairs is bound to gain a global acceptance. After all, we’re humans.

GPS in a nutshell:

Call it the Global Positioning System or simply GPS, fact remains that this only fully functional satellite navigation system operates on a cluster comprising two dozen satellites, specifically designed to broadcast precise timing signals in the form of radio waves. Special gadgets known as GPS receivers receive the signals; this way, an accurate location of the subject can be determined, irrespective of latitudes, longitudes, altitude, time and weather conditions. All these factors have culminated into making GPS a vital global utility, an essential part for telecommunication, modern navigation procedures and geographical endeavors like cartography, seismography and land surveying.

The Origin:

We may call the ground-based radio navigation systems of yore the true ancestors of today’s GPS technology; however, it was Transit that’s accounted as the first satellite-based navigation system. A decade later, in 1970, the ground-based Omega Navigation System took the concept a flight higher; it was a signal phase comparison radio navigation system that paved the ground for the modern GPS technology to commence.

The Tracking Chore:

GPS involves both hardware and software. The receiver, which falls under the category of hardware, picks up first the GPS fix position of an unit, which is then decoded through computer-generated map plotting programs. The program converts the latitudinal and longitudinal readings to show the location of the target on a digital map. But however simple this might seem, GPS involves five logical steps to function, which are based on the triangulation principle, a trigonometric method of determining the position of a fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points a known distance apart.

A GPS receiver primarily calculates the time the radio signals require to travel a certain distance. The time delay, thus, multiplied by the speed of light, provides accurate information regarding the distance between the receiver and the satellite. Additionally, the receiver also depends on information sent periodically through the same signal. A comparison follows and the receiver thus discovers its own position. However, GPS accuracy falls short when changing atmospheric conditions invade the picture; this results in a change in the speed of the GPS signals while they cross the ionosphere. An overhead position of the satellite usually minimizes the effect; otherwise, a whole lot of estimations and rectifying measures are required to deliver accurate end results.

Another issue that affects the GPS signals is the multi-path effect; in this case, the radio signals are reflected from surrounding structures, which also causes a substantial amount delay to result in inaccuracy. However, dynamic applications (e.g. cars and airplanes) find it less severe as a problem; the reason being moving GPS antennae catches only direct signals.

Application:

GPS tracking systems determine the location of anything under the sun; it can be a vehicle, a person or a pet. It records the position of the subject at regular intervals and creates a track file. Thus, apart from the hi-tech military and commercial purposes, GPS tracking found its usage in aviation as well as in civilian purposes like route-finders and keeping track of pets and children.