Full Form of GPS

Safalta expert Published by: Saumya Sahoo Updated Fri, 09 Sep 2022 01:35 AM IST

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Full Form of GPS

The Global Positioning System, also known as GPS, is a satellite system designed to aid navigation on land, air, and water. A GPS receiver indicates your current location. It can also display speed of movement, the direction of travel, height, and speed of ascent or descent. Many GPS receivers have location information. Car GPS has road maps, and travel data for hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc.

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GPS for boats includes nautical charts for harbors, marinas, flat water, rocks, and waterways. Other GPS receivers are designed for flight navigation, hiking or backpacking, biking, or many other activities. Most are on smartphones. Most GPS receivers can record where you've been and help you plan your trip. Predict how long it will take you to your next destination during your planned trip.  If you are preparing for competitive exams and are looking for expert guidance, you can check out our General Knowledge Ebook Free PDF: Download Here
Table of content 
1. Full Form of GPS
2. History of GPS
3. How does GPS work?

History of GPS

Various radio navigation systems have been in use since the mid-20th century. Experiments in the 1960s used satellite radio transmitters. The new system, originally called Navstar, was developed by the United States Air Force in the 1970s. That became GPS and was used only by the US military. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued an executive order allowing anyone to use the system, but it was still too small to be of much use. The highest precision signals were encrypted and only authorized for use by the military, but were temporarily decrypted in the 1990s and made permanent at the turn of the century.
 
  Some GPS receivers are separate units with their power supply and display. That was most of them in the 20th century. Military receivers either displayed only geographic coordinates or did not, only relaying the coordinates to another machine. Today, most GPS receivers are part of mobile phones, and many are built into watches, cars, and other devices. The GPS part of the cell phone is small and usually not very good, but it also uses cell towers and Wi-Fi signals. This is known as aGPS or "augmented GPS".

How does GPS work?

GPS devices receive radio signals from satellites in space that orbit the Earth. There are 31 satellites 20,200 km (12,600 miles) above the Earth. The orbital duration is eleven hours and fifty-eight minutes. Due to the radius of the Earth, each circle has a radius of 26,600 kilometers (16,500 miles). Far from the North and South Poles, GPS devices can simultaneously receive signals from 6 to 12 satellites. Each satellite is equipped with an atomic clock, which NORAD carefully adjusts several times a day. Radio signals contain information about the time and position of satellites, such as ephemeris. GPS receivers subtract the current time from the time the signal was sent. Usually, at least four satellites are required to solve the geometric equations. GPS receivers can calculate positions many times per second. Many inexpensive consumer receivers are accurate to within 20 meters (66 feet) almost anywhere in the world. GPS devices can usually also calculate your current speed. Cheaper ones like mobile phones do this by comparing the current location with the last location. Expensive ones like commercial airliners use the Doppler effect and are very accurate.

What is the Full Form of GPS?

The Global Positioning System, also known as GPS, is a satellite system designed to aid navigation on land, air, and water. A GPS receiver indicates your current location. It can also display speed of movement, the direction of travel, height, and speed of ascent or descent. Many GPS receivers have location information. Car GPS has road maps, and travel data for hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. GPS for boats includes nautical charts for harbors, marinas, flat water, rocks, and waterways. Other GPS receivers are designed for flight navigation, hiking or backpacking, biking, or many other activities. Most are on smartphones. Most GPS receivers can record where you've been and help you plan your trip. Predict how long it will take you to your next destination during your planned trip. 

Describe the brief history of GPS.

Various radio navigation systems have been in use since the mid-20th century. Experiments in the 1960s used satellite radio transmitters. The new system, originally called Navstar, was developed by the United States Air Force in the 1970s. That became GPS and was used only by the US military. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued an executive order allowing anyone to use the system, but it was still too small to be of much use. The highest precision signals were encrypted and only authorized for use by the military, but were temporarily decrypted in the 1990s and made permanent at the turn of the century.
Some GPS receivers are separate units with their power supply and display. That was most of them in the 20th century. Military receivers either displayed only geographic coordinates or did not, only relaying the coordinates to another machine. Today, most GPS receivers are part of mobile phones, and many are built into watches, cars, and other devices. The GPS part of the cell phone is small and usually not very good, but it also uses cell towers and Wi-Fi signals. This is known as aGPS or "augmented GPS".

How does GPS work?

GPS devices receive radio signals from satellites in space that orbit the Earth. There are 31 satellites 20,200 km (12,600 miles) above the Earth. The orbital duration is eleven hours and fifty-eight minutes. Due to the radius of the Earth, each circle has a radius of 26,600 kilometers (16,500 miles). Far from the North and South Poles, GPS devices can simultaneously receive signals from 6 to 12 satellites. Each satellite is equipped with an atomic clock, which NORAD carefully adjusts several times a day. Radio signals contain information about the time and position of satellites, such as ephemeris. GPS receivers subtract the current time from the time the signal was sent. Usually, at least four satellites are required to solve the geometric equations. GPS receivers can calculate positions many times per second. Many inexpensive consumer receivers are accurate to within 20 meters (66 feet) almost anywhere in the world. GPS devices can usually also calculate your current speed. Cheaper ones like mobile phones do this by comparing the current location with the last location. Expensive ones like commercial airliners use the Doppler effect and are very accurate.

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