All About GPS

What It Is and How It Works - For those who are unfamiliar with the term, GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It's a way of locating a receiver in three dimensional space anywhere on the Earth, and even in orbit about it, and it's probably one of the most important inventions of the 20th century. GPS can be used in so many varied ways that new technologies are constantly being developed and improved in order to take advantage of it. Now why is GPS so important and useful? First, we have to understand how it works.

In order for GPS to work, a network of satellites was placed into orbit around planet Earth. These satellites each broadcast a specific signal, which is received by inexpensive aerials and passed on to GPS devices where it is then decoded and used by dedicated software. The information is specific enough that the GPS software can identify the satellite, it's location in space, and calculate the time that the signal took to travel from the satellite to the GPS receiver. Using different signals from different satellites, the GPS software is able to calculate the position of the receiver.

Mapping It Out - Even getting the information about the receiver's location will be useless without something to compare it with. This is where the mapping comes in handy; thru this, GPS can analyze our location and maps out possible routes. In fact, it is often the mapping data which elevates the price of the GPS solution. It must be accurate and updated reasonably frequently.

Several kinds of maps are created for different users. Road users, for example, require that their mapping data contains accurate information about the road network in the region that they will be traveling in, but will not require detailed information about the lie of the land. Hikers, however, might require a more detailed map about the local terrain, water spots, and tracks or trails, but they won't need extensive information about the road systems. Marine users need very specific information relating to the sea bed, navigable channels, and other pieces of maritime data that enables them to navigate safely.

Fishermen also use marine GPS to locate themselves and track the movement of shoals of fish both in real time, and to predict where they will be the next day. In fact, cooperative fishing has become much easier with GPS, allowing boats to relay locations to each other while looking for the best fishing spots. There are also GPS devices called "fish finders", which combines GPS and sonar functions to track and store detailed fishing and maritime information.

Get Started with GPS - Consumers can avail of several GPS devices that are specifically designed for a variety of uses and functions. Sophisticated in-car GPS systems, which feature voice guiding, powerful dynamic route calculation, and the possibility to update the map from a CD, are now available. Rugged handheld GPS devices, like those from Garmin and Magellan, have a map inside and are usually used for outdoor activities. They generally do not have any road information, and leave the users to find their own way from A to B.

A more recent solution has appeared on the market which uses the power of a PDA to run the actual GPS software. A GPS receiver can be easily attached to these devices, so these tend to be the cheapest, easiest to use and most flexible solutions. Bluetooth technology has also started to make use of GPS, using a single PDA device wirelessly connected to several receivers.

Source: http://www.postarticles.com/Article/All-About-GPS/50593