Title:
You are HERE: Why you will soon use GPS every day, everywhere
Frank van Diggelen
Magellan Corporation
Sunnyvale, CA

Abstract:

In the last ten years the Global Positioning System (GPS) has evolved from mostly-unknown to sold-at-K-Mart. In the next ten years GPS will become a commodity you will use on a daily basis. To see how and why, we'll review the basic operation of a GPS receiver and the receiver architecture. Then it becomes apparent how the GPS function can and will become embedded within other communications hardware, so that most GPS receivers will one day be nothing more than a software feature on another communication device. We'll also cover the range of GPS capability, from mundane - position accuracy of one hundred meters, to impressive - one millimeter position; tenth of a knot speed; nanosecond timing; sub-milliradian attitude determination, to esoteric - weather forecasts and sun spots.

Dr. Frank van Diggelen has been professionally involved in navigation and engineering for the past 17 years. He was a navigation officer in the South African Navy before getting his B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and then his Ph.D. in Control Theory from Cambridge University, England. He has worked in the GPS industry as a software and algorithm developer, product manager, and, currently, is Marketing Manager for OEM GPS and Satellite Communications products at Magellan Corporation headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA. He has run several GPS seminars, and written numerous technical papers and magazine articles on GPS