Course 111: Fundamentals of GPS

All course materials this year will be provided in a more portable,
secure electronic PDF format. We've heard your requests to lighten the
weight of travel home by eliminating heavy, spiral bound paper notebooks.
We want to provide a more dynamic & beneficial experience for all tutorial/course attendees. On-the-fly notations can be typed during your class using
the "Sticky Note" feature of Acrobat Reader 9 (provided for your convenience).
A laptop is required.

Take your notes To-Go and have them wherever you go.

Thank you to all attendees for your continued support and feedback over the past 25 years!

Instructor	Mr. Keith D. McDonald, NavtechGPS
Objectives	• To provide an understanding of GPS concepts and operation in a concise manner, with moderate use of mathematical and engineering expressions. • To offer an in-depth survey of GPS technology developments and applications. • To provide specific information on GPS design, operation, performance characteristics, user equipment, current issues, applications and potential. • To obtain an overview of GPS applications. • To provide the background for understanding other Navtech courses. Note: This course is an excellent preparation for many other Navtech courses.
Prerequisite	Familiarity with engineering analysis and terms. Those without such a background should still gain useful information.
Who Should Attend?	• Engineers and technical professionals seeking conceptual explanations of GPS technology, operation, capabilities, applications and development trends. • Professionals in navigation, positioning and related fields who are interested in the capabilities and operating principles of GPS and DGPS. • System analysts and specialists concerned with position data. • Managers with appropriate technical background.
Course Schedule	8:30 - GPS System Description, Applications and Status Receivers & boards: technology and services GPS characteristics, capabilities Nav technique; 4-satellite ranging System segments, interdependence GPS configuration; JPO, functions 9:45 - GPS Performance and Policy Accuracy, avail., integrity, SPS, PPS DoD & DoT policy, Anti-Spoof (A-S), system status, applications GPS Space Segment; How sats *and orbit data affect system op’s.* Orbital parameters, Kepler’s laws; ephemeris data Block I, II, IIA, IIR, IIR-M, IIF, III features 11:00 - GPS Constellation; Coverage and Performance; How satellite *geometry affects rcvr performance* Dilution of precision (DOP), visibility, analysis methods GPS Operational Control Segment (OCS); How OCS *uploads & monitors the GPS constellation* OCS network, functions, operation,vulnerabilities 12:00 - Lunch on your own 1:30 - GPS System Concept and Operation Position determination techniques; pseudoranging Signal structure, modulation, spectrum Pseudorandom noise (PRN) codes, C/A, P(Y) codes GPS data message, format, data transmitted by S/C Correlation processing; signal acquisition; power levels, signal policy, pseudoranging Navigation solution; velocity solution 2:45 - Error Sources & Receiver Effects Systematic and random errors, tropospheric effects, dispersion Ionospheric propagation effects AFGD ionospheric model;2-frequency correction Multipath, mitigation techniques; error budgets; SPS and PPS signals 4:00 - Introduction to DGPS Precision relative measurements Differential operation, common bias terms GPS Receivers, Architectures and Equipment Receiver config's; types & performance Receiver block diagrams; carrier and code tracking loops Carrier smoothing, aiding Receiver sequence of operation 5:00 - Course Ends
Materials You Will Keep	• A CD-ROM with PDF electronic course notes used during the course. Bringing a laptop is highly recommended; power access will be provided. • A copy of the following text: GPS Positioning Guide, Geodetic Survey Division, EMR Canada, 1993.
Continuing Education Units	0.6 (6 hours)
Attendee Quotes	"There was a good balance between civil and military uses of GPS. The course was well organized and covered a great deal of relevant information... Also, the Navtech staff went well beyond what I expected in meeting my needs as a customer. This was a first class operation at every level." - Charles Zanotti, Organization withheld "Very good course. Very useful to have all information in one convenient source. Mr. McDonald is a very knowledgeable individual and great presenter." - Mike Sharp, Oklahoma Conservation Commission “A superb presentation... Keith has an extensive knowledge of GPS, in all of its aspects and impacts. Very good speaker and excellent facilitator... I now have a much expanded understanding of the GPS system, in terms of the technical complexity, and... applications.” - John J. Costello, Litton PRC “This course not only provided me with new in-depth information but it has compiled the info that I knew into one ‘packet’. It’s a great course for a better understanding of GPS!” - Akemi Ueki, Hewlett Packard, Japan “I now understand nav operation, concerns and properties for use in automotive navigation sytems. Very good orator.” - Name withheld “Mr. McDonald has demonstrated that he is a leader in this field, and can explain advanced technical details in simple terms.” - Charles Barone, CS Draper Laboratory “This course will help me have more GPS understanding when talking with my customers.” - Rene Labrado, Magellan “I’m assigned to the Air Force Special Program Office for Air Traffic Control. The information presented in this course will be invaluable for my work in determining the AF’s future use of GPS as a precision landing system. Very nice reference materials, too.” - Name withheld Return to top of page