The Components of a GPS System
Saturday, March 6th, 2010The Global Positioning Satellite System has three integrated parts that are both dependent and independent of each other. These are labeled segments and they comprise the whole system of data requests, transmitting and processing, and data retrieval. The three segments are the user segment, space segment and the control segment. Without the other, the system will fail.
The space segment is the most advanced and the most expensive out of the three. This segment collates a net of over twenty four satellites routinely making an orbit around the plant and covering an area of responsibility. The satellites are eleven thousand nautical miles away from each other and all of them have their own orbits that they follow. Orbitting takes 12 earth hours, and each satellite is equipped with clocks that keep track, making sure that the data transmission and allowance from each other is maintained. Bumping satellites is a lot more common, especially with the amount of space debris in the upper atmosphere.
The control segment entails various ground stations located in different parts of the world. These are observation towers or radio towers that continuously transmit data from various satellites that pass by the area. Some of these locations are located in Hawaii, at the Kwajalein. Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, the Ascension Island located in the Atlantic, Cape Canaveral in Florida, and one more in Colorado. There are other large ground antenna stations that send data for monitoring purposes to keep the satellites in working order. The master station for all the ground segments is located in Colorado, in the Schriever Air Force Base.
The user segment is the segment people would be most popular with since it is used by the public. They are the receivers, as they obtain data that is sent out by the satellites and processes this data into working information for people. There are at least a hundred types of these models scattered around without some knowing they exist. Like in the wristwatch, car or cellphone for example. The smallest receivers 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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