Error analysis for the Global Positioning System: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:52, 6 May 2023

Revision as of 07:50, 14 July 2023

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The position calculated by a GPS receiver requires the current time, the position of the satellite and the measured delay of the received signal. The position accuracy is primarily dependent on the satellite position and signal delay.

To measure the delay, the receiver compares the bit sequence received from the satellite with an internally generated version. By comparing the rising and trailing edges of the bit transitions, modern electronics can measure signal offset to within about one percent of a bit pulse width, <math>\frac{0.01 \times 300,000,000\ \mathrm{m/s}}{(1.023 \times 10^6 /\mathrm{s})}</math>, or approximately 10 nanoseconds for the C/A code. Since GPS signals propagate at the [[speed of light]], this represents an error of about 3 meters.

This component of position accuracy can be improved by a factor of 10 using the higher-chiprate P(Y) signal. Assuming the same one percent of bit pulse width accuracy, the high-frequency P(Y) signal results in an accuracy of <math>\frac {(0.01 \times 300,000,000\ \mathrm{m/s})} {(10.23 \times 10^6 / \mathrm{s})}</math> or about 30 centimeters.