The Components of a GPS System

The Global Positioning Satellite System has 3 basic parts that make the system functional. These are called segments and comprise the whole process of data requesting, data transmission, data processing and data retrieval. These three segments are the user segment, the space segment and the control segment. Without the other, the system will not work. It is a simple, yet purely segment-dependent system.

The space segment contains the most cost amongst all the three segments. This segment contains the net of twenty four satellites that make a routine orbit around the planet, handling their own areas of responsibility. The satellites keep a distance of eleven thousand nautical miles from around each other to prevent bumping. Orbitting around the earth takes 12 hours each and each satellite is equipped with devices to keep each unit from bumping into each other. Bumping satellites are becoming more and more common due to the space debris floating in outer space.

The control segment consists of various ground stations that are placed on Earth. They are stationary locations that are responsible for handling various data that goes from satellite to each monitoring station. A master control station is located at Colorado, in the Schriever Air Force Base. Six other unstaffed stations located in Hawaii, Kwajalein, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Ascension Island in the Atlantic, Cape Canaveral in Florida and another one in Colorado make up the system. There are four other large ground antenna stations that send data and monitor the satellites themselves to make sure they don’t go off in an unexpected manner.

The user segment are those that are being held by the people that use this system. They are called GPS receivers, as they receive data that is sent by the satellites and processed by the ground stations. There are at least a hundred of these models scattered around the world, from something as small as a wristwatch to those in a car. The smallest could weigh as little as an ounce.

The request sent in by the user is handled by the satellites. The space segment sends back data according to location by which the user receives he fastest response. Monitoring stations make sure that the satellites send integral data back to the reciever. All data that is collected is then sent to the master control station for data processing and storage. The ground antenna is needed from the master control station to send critical information from the satellites to adjust in cases where it is not needed.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 7:43 am and is filed under Cellphones. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.