Overview

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation system that uses signals from satellites to determine the location, velocity, and local time of a receiver. The satellite system consists of a constellation of 24 satellites in six orbital planes, each with four satellites, in orbits 20,000 km above the surface … For more content click the Read More button below. GPS is made up of three segments: Space — The satellites circling the Earth, transmitting signals to users, enable them to determine position, velocity, and time.Ground control — Earth-based monitor stations to track the satellite orbits and monitor their “health”. Monitoring stations are located all around the world including North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia (DSTG Edinburgh).User equipment — GPS receivers watches, smartphones, cars, aircraft, mobile phone towers. These segments will be described in detail in this topic.

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Tuition pattern

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Aims

Students will learn how global positioning systems (GPS) work. They will understand the interplay between the three segments: Space, Control, and User. They will learn how the accuracy of a GPS receiver depends on the location of the receiver and space weather. Students will learn how to read and interpret the raw data from GPS satellites. They will also learn how GPS receivers are vulnerable to jamming and spoofing.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this topic you will be expected to be able to:
1.
Calculate the position and velocity of receivers from the cross ambiguity function
2.
Determine the expected performance of GPS receivers in different environments and at different latitudes
3.
Assess the vulnerability of GPS receivers to jamming and spoofing
4.
Develop methods and procedures to protect GPS signals
5.
Determine height in different geodetic systems

Assessments

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Current students should refer to FLO for detailed assessment information, including due dates. Assessment information is accurate at the time of publishing.

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Requisites information

Pre-requisites: