Soon GPS will become almost as common as the telephone, or more likely included with every cell phone. GPS can calculate positions accurate to a matter of. In fact, amazingly with advanced forms of GPS it is possible to achieve measurements to less than a centimeter!
It’s just like assigning every square meter on earth a unique address. GPS receivers have become very affordable as they have been miniaturized to just a few integrated circuits. Nowadays days GPS is incorporated into cars, boats, planes, construction equipment, movie making gear, farm machinery, laptop computers and especially cell phones.
Tracking cell phones is a active topic getting a lot of interest. A lot of the discussion surrounding cell tracking, mobile GPS and cell phone tracking software applications could be helped by a GPS Satellite introduction and glossary.
GPS is an acronym for Global Positioning System. GPS satellites broadcast signals from medium earth orbit that GPS receivers use to estimate three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) plus precise time. The GPS system is composed of 3 primary segments: Space Segment, Control Segment and User Segment.
The GPS Space Segment is comprised of twenty-four to thirty-two satellites that orbit the earth in medium earth orbit MEO. These satellites are also known as as the GPS Constellation, and they are orbiting once every 12 hours. They are not geostationary, they travel at over 7,000 mph. GPS satellites are solar powered but have battery reserve for when they are in the earth’s shadow. They are positioned so that at any given time there are at least 4 satellites ‘visible’ from any point on earth. Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying in the correct path. The satellites last about ten years until all their fuel runs out.
GPS Satellites are not communications satellites. Geostationary or communications satellites are parked in space 22,300 miles above the equator. These satellites are used for weather forecasting, satellite TV, satellite radio and most other types of global communications. At exactly 22,000 miles above the equator, the earth’s force of gravity and centrifugal forces are canceled and are in balance. This is the best location to place a communications satellite. The earth rotates at about 1,000 miles an hour, and because of their high earth orbit the geo-synchronous satellites need to travel at about 7,000 mph to keep position. This is approximately the same speed as GPS satellites, but since they satellites are 10,000 miles further away they don’t move relative to the earth.
The GPS Control Segment consists of Master Control Station, an Alternate Master Control Station, and a host of dedicated and shared Ground Antennas and Monitor Stations that work together to ensure the satellites are working to specification and the information they beam down to earth is accurate.
The GPS User Segment is composed of of GPS receivers taking the shape of cell phones and , laptops, in-car navigation devices and hand-held tracking units along with the people that use them, and the software programs that make them function.
GPS receivers compute position by precisely timing the signals transmitted by GPS satellites. This information includes the time the message was transmitted, precise orbital information (the ephemeris), and the general system health and rough orbits of all GPS satellites (the almanac).
Keep in mind that there is a fundamental difference between cell phone GPS Tracking and GPS Navigation. GPS cell tracking is usually associated with someone maintaining records of either real-time or historical smartphone location, while Navigation deals with the mobile phone user determining how to get from point A to point B. Neither use works without some sort of third-party software application.
An impressive software package that includes remote control of device settings, and combines Phone GPS Tracking with SMS text message, Call Log, MMS multi-media message monitoring, and a web account for storage and review is PhoneBeagle.
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Global Satellite System Glossary of basic terms.
GPS consists of 24 GPS satellites, portable GPS receivers, and various ground-based support facilities.
The GPS receiver is typically a standalone handset device or electronic unit mounted on a automobile dashboard or other movable item such as a shipping container, and now particularly common to be found inside smartphones . Abbreviated “GPS” in common use.
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