GPS also known as Global Positioning System is a satellite-based radio navigation and monitoring system developed and owned by the United States and operated under the United Air Force to carry out their military operations. But as the growth of technology and research accelerated, GPS was used for tracking vehicles and monitoring different application or objects around the world.
Overview of GPS
In 1957, first artificial Earth satellite Sputnik was launched by the scientists of the Soviet Union now known as Russia into space. Unfournetly the satellite was lost in the atmosphere within its three months of launch. But research scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology noted that the radio signal frequency transmitted through Sputnik satellite was changing based on its location.
Thus, the change in signal frequency helped the scientists to discover that location of a satellite in an orbit can be tracked from the ground surface by measuring the changes develop in the frequency of the radio signal. After that race between different nation started to develop their own GPS tracking satellites.
In 1959 first navigation Satellite Transit 1B was developed and launched by the United States. It was built to track and target ground regions which helped the US navy and military force to get an accurate position and study the momentum of submarines.
Finally, in the year, 1978 first GPS tracking satellite NAVSTAR was launched by the United States which consists constellation of 24 satellites and their ground stations. Which was later increased to 31 satellites in the year 2000. In which 27 are active satellites and rest 4 satellites are kept as a replacement if any one of the 27 satellites gets dysfunctional.
GPS Tracking Software Working
GPS tracking software makes use of 2-D trilateration and 3-D trilateration to estimate the actual position, elevation, velocity and time of an object. There are 24 satellites continuously revolving around the earth's orbit which makes use of GNSS network.
GNSS coordinates with the satellites that use microwave signals transmitted to GPS devices which gives information regarding the speed, location and time.
While tracking any object the device requires signals from at least four satellites to get an accurate location of an object. Each of this satellite is powered by solar energy which helps them to rotate around the earth orbit twice a day, which transmits signals regularly.
When a user starts using GPS in its devices. The signals from the device communicate with three satellites in a fraction of time making use of high-frequency radio signals traveling at the speed of light and receives location data from these satellites. Then the distance between the device and those three satellites are calculated. Due to the fixed orbital path of satellites and atomic clock timing the accurate location of the user is known.
Generally, to obtain an accurate location from anywhere around the globe 4 satellites come under the process in which 3 satellites play a major role in getting the location information. And the fourth satellite is used to get more improved location accuracy and altitude due to the error occurred during the measure of precise time between each signal received.
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