Articles - Snippits

What It Is and How It Works - For those who are unfamiliar with the term, GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It's a method of finding a receiver anywhere on earth or in orbit, and it's arguably one of the most important inventions of our time. GPS has so many different applications that many technologies and ways of working are continually being improved in order to make the most of it. Now why is GPS so important and useful? First, we have to understand how it works.

In order to work, a satellite network orbiting the earth is used. 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 can now analyze the position of the receiver, in terms of latitude and longitude.

Mapping It Out - Even getting the information about the receiver's location will be useless without something to compare it with. The mapping part of any GPS software is very important; it is how GPS works our possible routes, and allows the user to plan trips in advance. In fact, it is often the mapping data which elevates the price of the GPS solution. This should be updated regularly and frequently in order to be accurate.

There are several kinds of maps, and each is intended for different users with different needs. 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. The advent of GPS fixing has also meant that co-operative fishing has become much easier, where several boats relay their locations to each other while they locate the best fishing waters. 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. Then there are handheld GPS devices, such as those from Magellan and Garmin, which store a map inside, and are usually designed for outdoor use. They do not have detailed road information and the user has to find his own way from point A to point B without any route calculations.

Recently, PDAs and even a few sophisticated mobile phones have incorporated GPS technology into their own systems. A GPS receiver can be easily attached to these devices, which makes them possibly the cheapest and easiest GPS receivers to use in the market today. Bluetooth technology has also started to make use of GPS, using a single PDA device wirelessly connected to several receivers.