What is GPS? How does GPS Work? Almost all of you use a smartphone, but have never used a GPS (or simply put, Google Maps) to find someone. In addition to Google, services like Here, Apple Maps, We Go or Microsoft Bing Maps provide mapping services, but Google Maps users are more around us. So Google Maps is mentioned as an example.
Go to a new area and do not know anything? Online mapping services are available to assist you. From the surrounding environment to the distance to the specific destination, the condition of the traffic jam is told by Google Maps.
Google Maps and Apple Maps or other mapping services or the likes of Pathao or Uber, whatever their success or your convenience; There is a magical technology in everything. And it’s a Global Positioning System, or GPS for short. without which, even if you had Google Maps, you wouldn’t be able to pinpoint your location. Or even with pathao/Uber, the driver might have spent hours trying to find you.
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To many, the word “Global Positioning System” seems unfamiliar, but after saying “GPS”, I hope it does not feel unfamiliar to anyone. Some phones also have it written as “Location” while others have maps and lakes or may have GPS. And thanks to the new curriculum, I think even middle schoolers should have an idea of what GPS is.
But few people know how GPS works. But I can guarantee that many people are curious. Have you ever wondered how GPS works? Your curiosity will be sated by this article.
What is GPS?
Whether you judge the merits of the name or not, the Global Positioning System, or GPS, is indeed a wonderful system. More precisely, it is a system made with the help of at least 24 artificial satellites placed in Earth’s orbit. Of course, there are 3 more satellites as a backup – you never know what will happen in deep space! However, according to some estimates,The GPS system has a total of 32 satellites.
These artificial GPS satellites are not positioned together. Rather, they are arranged at approximately equal distances around the Earth (at an altitude of about 12,000 miles) in such a way that all the satellites together cover every part of the entire Earth (even a deep part of the Amazon forest) by sending a signal. The entire network is designed with at least 4 satellites “with you” in mind.
Who owns GPS? Who sent the GPS satellites?
Bangladesh got its own (Bangabandhu-1) communication satellite last year. There are many countries which do not have any satellite yet. So who or which company sent so many satellites for GPS in space? Who owns them? Google, Microsoft or NASA or any other organization?
Very good question. Actually the owner of these GPS satellites is the United States government. Their Department of Defense launched these satellites into space in the 1970s for military use. Later in the eighties they made these satellites or the entire GPS system open for use by all countries or common people around the world. There are a total of 30 control rooms around the world to maintain the GPS satellites, the main one being located in Colorado Springs.
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Even though it was such an early technology, GPS was rarely used by common people. At that time, only airplanes, ships, fishing boats or adventurers used this technology with GPS devices. But after the arrival of the smartphone, a small GPS chip was inserted inside the phone. And now GPS is being widely used in combination with concepts like Google Maps or Uber.
How does GPS work?
The GPS chip in your phone is the GPS signal receiver. It can pick up signals from GPS satellites. This receiver chip system does not transmit any information or data from the satellite system.
The 24 satellites that I mentioned at the beginning, those satellites actually transmit a kind of radio signal 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The GPS chip in your smartphone tracker or car tracker is equipped with the ability to pick up that signal Nowadays, however, GPS chips are embedded in smartwatches and even key rings. What is GPS?
GPS satellites are equipped with atomic clocks that provide very precise time day after day. And your phone has a clock. The signals sent by satellites basically consist of the time it takes to send the signal. Your phone calculates the actual distance between the satellite and your phone from the time the signal was generated and the time your phone received the signal. It is from this distance that GPS determines your location.
But there is a problem here. The problem is, if you measure the difference or distance between one object and another, you cannot determine the position of the second object. To determine the position there you need to take and measure the distance relative to or to at least three objects.
An example will clear the matter. Let’s say or suppose your friend tells you on the phone that he is staying 1 km or (a little more) directly from the gate of Jatiya Sangsad Bhavan. If you only hear that much, you will never know where he really is. Because he can be 1 km away from the parliament building in any direction. That means, if a circle of 1 km radius is imagined around the Parliament building, he can be anywhere along the circumference of the circle.
Now what if he is staying one and a half kilometers or more from the Prime Minister’s office? Then his position will be a little clearer for you. Now if you imagine a circle with a radius of 1.5 km centered on the Prime Minister’s office, you will see that this circle intersects the previous circle at two points. That means your friend is at one of these two points. But still you didn’t get your friend’s location.
Now if your friend tells you that he is 500 meters away from Tejgaon railway station or a little more than that? Then you are done. Now if your friend tells you that he is 500 meters away from Tejgaon railway station and where is his younger brother?
Then you are done. you will see that all three circles intersect at a single common point. And that intersection is Farmgate Bus Stop. And your friend actually arrives at Farmgate bus stop. Isn’t this interesting? This calculation or this system is called triangulation.
GPS also works on a principle. Your phone comes with a GPS chip that determines its distance from 3-4 GPS satellites simultaneously. Your phone usually uses signals from three GPS satellites to determine your location, as in the example above. Thus, the more satellite signals you get, the more accurate your location will be. This system works best under open sky, as it is easier to receive satellite signals.
Combination of GPS and digital maps
But your GPS doesn’t know the name of your location like this. He finds out your coordinate point. It knows your two-dimensional location through two points called Latitude and Longitude. You can express every point of the entire world in some coordinate point.
Two place names may be the same but the coordinates will not be the same. After plotting these GPS coordinate points on your phone’s digital map like Google Maps, Bing Maps or Apple Maps, you can understand where you are. Mapping apps such as Google Maps do this plotting.
Does GPS work without internet?
Requirement No. 02 You need to have internet connection on your phone or broadband line connection to receive GPS signal. You only need internet to download graphical maps. So if you download any part of Google Maps for offline use then you can see your own location by turning on GPS without internet.
What if America turns off GPS?
GPS is only a system for determining location. Apart from GPS, there are other alternative methods to know the location. However, they are not as common and not as powerful as GPS.
As I said earlier, GPS is owned by the US government. Although they keep it open to the whole world, they can close it if they want (perhaps in a warlike situation).
So Russia developed a GPS-like system they named GLONASS. Nowadays you will see Location: A-GPS with GLONASS in the smartphone specifications. This means that the phone can find location on both the US GPS and Russia’s GLONASS system.
Besides, China is working on its own positioning system called BDS and Europe is working on Galileo.
Mobile phone service companies can also track your location based on how far your phone is from a tower. Similarly location can be determined using Wi-Fi network. What is GPS?
In this age of technology, everyone uses smartphones, but it would be difficult to find anyone who has never used GPS or Maps (or simply put, Google Maps).
In addition to Google, services like Apple Maps or Microsoft Bing Maps provide mapping services, but Google Maps users around us are comparatively more. So, as an example, we have to talk about Google Maps.
visit a foreign country with no prior knowledge? There are online mapping services to help or identify you. Google Maps tells the surrounding environment from the road to the distance to the specific destination, the condition of the traffic jam.
Whether it’s Apple Maps, Google Maps or other mapping services or the current Pathao or Uber, whatever their success or your convenience is, there’s a magical technology behind it all. And like 2 Fulform (Global Positioning System) or GPS for short, without which you might get Google Maps but you wouldn’t know exactly where you are. Or even with Pathao/Uber, the driver might have taken hours or more to find you. What is GPS? (global positioning system)How does GPS Work?
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Although the word “Global Positioning System” seems unfamiliar to many people, I hope it does not feel unfamiliar to anyone after saying “GPS”. Some phones also have it written as “Location” or the phone usually has phone location as well. And for the benefit of the new curriculum, I think that nowadays all the students of all classes or especially secondary students should have a good idea about what GPS is.
But very few of us know or can tell how GPS works. But I can guarantee that many people don’t have the curiosity or the full understanding. Have you ever wondered or wondered how GPS actually works? So this post aims to satisfy your curiosity.
