Modernization of GNSS

Abstract

Throughout history, position (location) determination has been one of the fundamental tasks undertaken by humans on a daily basis. Each day, one deals with positioning, be it going to work, the market, sports, church, mosque, temple, school or college, one has to start from a known location and move towards a known destination. Usually the start and end locations are known, since the surrounding physical features form a reference upon which we navigate ourselves. In the absence of these reference features, for instance in the desert or at sea, one then requires some tool that can provide knowledge of one’s position.

With four Global Navigation Satellite Systems fully operational by the end of the decade, users on Earth can enjoy signals, at multiple frequencies in the L-band of the Electro-Magnetic (EM) spectrum, from 1.1 to 1.6 GHz, from over 110 satellites. There should then be, on average, about 30 satellites in view above a 10 degrees elevation, anywhere on Earth.

—Christian Tiberius [1].