Global Positioning System Research: Multipath Error

Index:

Abstract
Calendar
Project Development
Findings and Contributions
Links and References
Return to Europa

Abstract:

An exciting developing new field which should affect not only navigational systems but any sort of system that depends on location information (like emergency response systems and cellular billing systems) is the Global Positioning System, or GPS. GPS uses a network of satellites at known locations transmitting a well-known repetitive psuedo-random code to allow receivers on earth to track down their exact location in all three dimensions. There are a number of issues involving signal degradation getting to the receiver through the atmosphere, and many of these have been corrected by this time. A major problem now involves what is known as "multipath error," which is an error caused by reflected copies of a signal being received which appear to look like good signal. These reflections often occur very near to the receiver off of objects like the platform on which the receiver is mounted. This particular problem may hopefully be solved by adaptive antenna technologies being applied at both the hardware and software layers during reception and analysis of these signals.

Calendar:

• 12:30 PM - 1:18 PM, Thursday, March 7, 2002: Europa Presentation

Project Development:

This project started at the ElectroScience Laboratory under Dr. Gupta. It continues there, but some of the topics brought up in that area are of some interest to Europa. GPS, in general, is an interesting educational topic to Europans.

Most of the work there so far has been investigating the software which does the GPS processing of these signals.

Findings and Contributions:

So far, research has been mainly an introduction to GPS and how it is implemented.

Links and References:

• The ElectroScience Laboratory

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