You decide your target, say a hospital or a barber shop in Ottapplam. Tuck in your seat belt, switch on the mobile phone, and click the GPS button. it asks you where you want to go. You search and find it or type its name and major address detail The name and address of the place come up on the screen showing two or more routes – one fastest without or with a couple of toll gates ahead, another, which would take you a few minutes longer, but no toll to worry about, and possibly a rural route. You have a GPS device built into your car if you had bought it in the last few years. If you have an older vehicle or a motorbike, even a bycile you can buy one and install it inside. Even better, a smartphone with GPS lets you seek your geographic position without a hitch.
You decide your target, say a hospital or a barber shop in Ottapplam. Tuck in your seat belt, switch on the mobile phone, and click the GPS button. it asks you where you want to go. You search and find it or type its name and major address detail The name and address of the place come up on the screen showing two or more routes – one fastest without or with a couple of toll gates ahead, another, which would take you a few minutes longer, but no toll to worry about, and possibly a rural route. Then a woman you had never met, and never will, begins to talk to you. it tells you which way to turn in a pleasant voice, neutral-accented English (unless the phone gives you another choice in language). If there is an obstruction ahead, she tells you which way to divert. She doesn’t make mistakes, you do. For instance, she warns you some 50 metres ahead of your turn, to turn left, but you suddenly find a road immediately to the left and turn, She doesn’t tell you you had gone wrong because those words are not in her vocabulary. She waits. And looks for a way you could make a u-turn and get back to the original route, or finds a new, slightly longer, route for you to reach the same healing or haircutting place.
Where did this woman on the phone come from? how does she the best road to the barber shop or hospital in Ottappalam? How does she even tell you, continuously disclosing the distance to the next turn or roundabout and, iwhen you land up, whether the target is to your left or right?
it is, if you ask me, a simple technology that the fliers and sailors had always known. In the first half of the last century, they used to get your your ‘fix’ on earth by drawing lines of ‘direction to three or more electronic beacons somewhere far away. Where three lines meet, is your location. In the bygone days, when i used to fly as a cockpit crew, I had watched the navigator report the position of the aircraft by drawing lines in the direction MF Beacons when clouds masked the ground below.
You don’t need a navigator to draw lines on a drawing board inside your car. Instead, a constellation of some 28 satellites (out of 30 or more in space) send out signals at 20,200 kilometres-( referred as MEO, Medium Earth Orbits). they are constantly in motion, migrating in a formation, orbiting earth over your head. While they orbit the planet twice every day, there are at least four or more satellite signals that the GPS receiver in your car or mobile phone picks up and processes. That massive array of 28 satellites (with a few more ‘on the bench’ waiting for their turn expensive sateliites, expensively maintained with more of them ‘sitting on the bench’ waiting for their turn do little more than broadcasting a continuous 1575.42 MHz (or 1.57542 GHz) tone. This is the L1 frequency, meant for civilian usey US Space Force They have other frequency bands in use for military purposes. Some frequency bands are used to get the precise locations of US satellites in space. So this USSF service for the rest of the world is not entirely out of US Defence’s altruistic sentiments. .That’s fine with us.
That little emachine in your mobile phone or built into the dashboard does all the rest of the work to find where you are at a given time. It brings with it
Mapping Software:
Depending on the software on board your mobile, or the map you might download, there are a number of mapping software is use in India. Your mobile phone, depending on the operating system, or your preference for unique features available only on one software. Navigational software available in India are as follows;
- Apple Maps: Available on iPhones, Apple Maps provides navigation and mapping services with features like turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates, and more.
- Here WeGo: This app offers offline maps, public transit information, and turn-by-turn navigation. It’s available on both Android and iOS devices.
- MapMyIndia: An Indian alternative to Google Maps, MapMyIndia provides detailed maps, navigation, and location-based services. It’s available on various platforms, including Android and iOS.
- OsmAnd: This open-source map and navigation app uses OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. It offers offline maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and customizable map layers. It’s available on Android and iOS.
- Sygic: This App offers offline maps, real-time traffic information, and various navigation features. It’s available on both Android and iOS.
The GPS device uses mapping (or Navigation) software to interpret your location data and plot your route. Some of those used in your mobile phone are as given below. Nothing stops you from downloading a navigational software available on the ‘Net and using it as part of your GPS system:
This blog uses Google’s mapping software for explanation.With minor variations, it will work for any of the software listed above.
Google which travels with you has a detailed map of every highway and by lane of the world. With its help the GPS on board quickly finds your location (for the first time) and usually sticks to that part of the map of your Home and around it; keeps a diary of the locations you normally drive to speed up your journey. Now you key in your next destination, it picks up the best and alternative routes, toll positions, and ease of traffic from general information. The moment your wheels roll,it continuously starts getting your fixes from the satellites above you flying in formation rather like migratory birds in a wide circle of several thousand-kilometer radius, If you travel for long, it leaves one satellite or a set of satellites and lock on to the next like the your mobile phone locks on to a new cell in its route.
Route Calculation: Based on your destination, the mapping software calculates the best route, taking into account factors like distance, traffic conditions, and road types. It might actually collect the road the temporary obstacles and traffic situation from sources available outside the Satellite signals.
Speed calculation. The GSS calculates your vehicle’s speed almost instantly by mapping the distance between two fixes and the time taken. This is more accurate than the odometer reading which calculates the speed by multiplying the tire circumference and RPM.
Audio Output: You’d notice, if you try, that the voice in the machine does not show off a large vocabulary nor does it go into stylish speech. It just has enough words such as left, right, ahead, more, metres, kilometres, your destination and so on. She doesn’t answer your queries, If you miss her suggestion for a turn, she stays silent and then wakes up to give you an alternative plan to get back to the route. The limited words available in her small dictionary are synthesized to give you the right instruction.
Turn-by-Turn Directions: The software generates turn-by-turn directions for your route. These directions are typically stored as text or code within the device, which are transformed to speech signal The synthesized voice instructions are then played through your car’s audio system, providing you with clear and continuous navigation guidance.
Cost of GPS: The US Federal Government bears the entire cost of the Satellite Service On average, two to three satellites are replaced every year for upgradation, aging and failure replacement. Public (civilian) utility of this service is only a fraction of the cost; the rest of the cost comes into use with the several other blocks that the Satellite System can transmit. I suppose the altruism ingrained in it is pleased by the economic benefits derived by many nations. The add-on benefits come from Google map and the mobile internet service provided by your local service provider who alone charges you up front.
Other GEO Position Systems.
China (Beidu) and Russia (Glonas) and EU (Galilio) use their own GPS systems probably for self-reliance or out of a national feeling smugness. However, this writer has been able to use the American GPS service with a phone bought in India in Shenzhen Shanghai, Calais and Paris, I do hope that Indian government would not start flying quite a few more out of national arrogance.
Security risk.
Satellite transmission that your GPS system receives is a No-Reply one-way signal. There is no way that the service provider can track your vehicle or its occupant (unless he carries some personal equipment that transmits his whereabouts).
Big Brother may be watching you, but GPS is not a telescope that can look inside or outside your car from Medium Earth Orbit. Spy satellites and drones (or human moles) are better devices to serve that purpose.
You have a GPS device built into your car if you had bought it in the last few years. If you have an older vehicle or a motorbike, even a bycile you can buy one and install it inside. Even better, a smartphone with GPS lets you seek your geographic position without a hitch.
Not to forget : Most of the numerical data in this blog was supplied, and the rest were corrected by ChatGPT.com (Open AI). Chat GPTalso helped remove a couple of my misgivings about the American satellite system in the service of GPS. .Then a woman you had never met, and never will, begins to talk to you. it tells you which way to turn in a pleasant voice, neutral-accented English (unless the phone gives you another choice in language). If there is an obstruction ahead, she tells you which way to divert. She doesn’t make mistakes, you do. For instance, she warns you some 50 metres ahead of your turn, to turn left, but you suddenly find a road immediately to the left and turn, She doesn’t tell you you had gone wrong because those words are not in her vocabulary. She waits. And looks for a way you could make a u-turn and get back to the original route, or finds a new, slightly longer, route for you to reach the same healing or haircutting place.
If you wish to be guided by voice, select the speaker on the phone. This choice will keep updating your location on the screen while running a commentary when needed in a pleasant female voice so you can keep your eyes on the road ahead. Where did this woman on the phone come from? how does she the best road to the barber shop or hospital in Ottappalam? How does she even tell you, continuously disclosing the distance to the next turn or roundabout and, when you land up, whether the target is to your left or right?
An Old Navigator’s GPS a few decades ago
it is, if you ask me, a simple technology that the fliers and sailors had always known. In the first half of the last century, and most of the second half they used to get your your ‘fix’ on earth by drawing lines of ‘direction to three or more electronic beacons transmitting from somewhere far away. The point where three lines meet is your location. In the bygone days, when i used to fly as a cockpit crew, I had watched the navigator report the position of the aircraft by drawing lines in the direction MF (Medium Frequency) Beacons when clouds masked the ground below. A ‘loop’ antenna usually fixed inside a gizmo that looked like a cross between an egg and a toy plane mounted atop the aircraft. Luckily, your car or bike needs no such stuff.
Today, the high-tech GPS
You don’t need a navigator to draw lines on a drawing board inside your car. Instead, a constellation of some 28 satellites (out of 30 or more in space) send out signals at 20,200 kilometres-( referred as MEO, Medium Earth Orbits). they are constantly in motion, migrating in a formation, orbiting earth over your head. While they orbit the planet twice every day, there are at least four or more satellite signals that the GPS receiver in your car or mobile phone picks up and processes. That massive array of 28 satellites (with a few more ‘on the bench’ waiting for their turn expensive sateliites, expensively maintained with more of them ‘sitting on the bench’ waiting for their turn do little more than broadcasting a continuous 1575.42 MHz (or 1.57542 GHz) tone. This is the L1 frequency, meant for civilian usey US Space Force They have other frequency bands in use for military purposes. Some frequency bands are used to get the precise locations of US satellites in space. So this USSF service for the rest of the world is not entirely out of US Defence’s altruistic sentiments.That’s fine with us.
That little emachine in your mobile phone or built into the dashboard does all the rest of the work to find where you are at a given time. It brings with it
Mapping Software:
Depending on the software on board your mobile, or the map you might download, there are a number of mapping software is use in India. Your mobile phone, depending on the operating system, or your preference for unique features available only on one software. Navigational software available in India are as follows;
- Apple Maps: Available on iPhones, Apple Maps provides navigation and mapping services with features like turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates, and more.
- Here WeGo: This app offers offline maps, public transit information, and turn-by-turn navigation. It’s available on both Android and iOS devices.
- MapMyIndia: An Indian alternative to Google Maps, MapMyIndia provides detailed maps, navigation, and location-based services. It’s available on various platforms, including Android and iOS.
- OsmAnd: This open-source map and navigation app uses OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. It offers offline maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and customizable map layers. It’s available on Android and iOS.
- Sygic: This App offers offline maps, real-time traffic information, and various navigation features. It’s available on both Android and iOS.
The GPS device uses mapping (or Navigation) software to interpret your location data and plot your route. Some of those used in your mobile phone are as given above. Nothing stops you from downloading a navigational software available on the ‘Net and using it as part of your GPS system:
The GPS on your mobile phone or dashboard combines:
*A satellite receiver for multiple signals,
*Mapping software to calculate and display routes,
*A graphical interface for visual navigation, and
*An audio system for turn-by-turn voice guidance.
This blog uses Google’s mapping software for explanation. With minor variations, it will work for any of the software listed above.
Google which travels with you has a detailed map of every highway and by lane of the world. With its help the GPS on board quickly finds your location (for the first time) and usually sticks to that part of the map of your Home and around it; keeps a diary of the locations you normally drive to speed up your journey. Now you key in your next destination, it picks up the best and alternative routes, toll positions, and ease of traffic from general information. The moment your wheels roll,it continuously starts getting your fixes from the satellites above you flying in formation rather like migratory birds in a wide circle of several thousand-kilometer radius, If you travel for long, it leaves one satellite or a set of satellites and lock on to the next like the your mobile phone locks on to a new cell in its route.
Route Calculation: Based on your destination, the mapping software calculates the best route, taking into account factors like distance, traffic conditions, and road types. It might actually collect the road the temporary obstacles and traffic situation from sources available outside the Satellite signals.
Speed calculation. The GSS calculates your vehicle’s speed almost instantly by mapping the distance between two fixes and the time taken. This is more accurate than the odometer reading which calculates the speed by multiplying the tire circumference and RPM.
Audio Output: You’d notice, if you try, that the voice in the machine does not show off a large vocabulary nor does it go into stylish speech. It just has enough words such as left, right, ahead, more, metres, kilometres, your destination and so on. She doesn’t answer your queries, If you miss her suggestion for a turn, she stays silent and then wakes up to give you an alternative plan to get back to the route. The limited words available in her small dictionary are synthesized to give you the right instruction.
Turn-by-Turn Directions: The software generates turn-by-turn directions for your route. These directions are typically stored as text or code within the device, which are transformed to speech signal The synthesized voice instructions are then played through your car’s audio system, providing you with clear and continuous navigation guidance.
Cost of GPS: The US Federal Government bears the entire cost of the Satellite Service On average, two to three satellites are replaced every year for upgradation, aging and failure replacement. Public (civilian) utility of this service is only a fraction of the cost; the rest of the cost comes into use with the several other blocks that the Satellite System can transmit. I suppose the altruism ingrained in it is pleased by the economic benefits derived by many nations. The add-on benefits come from Google map and the mobile internet service provided by your local service provider who alone charges you up front.
Other GEO Position Systems.
China (Beidu) and Russia (Glonas) and EU (Galilio) use their own GPS systems probably for self-reliance or out of a national feeling smugness. However, this writer has been able to use the American GPS service with a phone bought in India in Shenzhen Shanghai, Calais and Paris, I do hope that Indian government would not start flying quite a few more out of national arrogance.
Security risk.
Satellite transmission that your GPS system receives is a No-Reply one-way signal. There is no way that the service provider can track your vehicle or its occupant (unless he carries some personal equipment that transmits his whereabouts).
Big Brother may be watching you, but GPS is not a telescope that can look inside or outside your car from Medium Earth Orbit. Spy satellites and drones (or human moles) are better devices to serve that purpose.
Conclusion
The multiplicity of roads, highways and by-lanes, -layers of flyovers to traverse to reach a destination,, combined with traffic congestions in every city has made it hard for the most experienced taxy driver to get from point to point. I am not sure how low-flying passenger drones will be able to utilize this innovation of the century, but for me and you, GPS is the only way.
Not to forget : Most of the numerical data in this blog was supplied, and the rest were corrected by ChatGPT.com (Open AI). Chat GPTalso helped remove a couple of my misgivings about the American satellite system in the service of GPS. .
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