Most modern smartphones today come equipped with a GPS receiver chip. Three satellites provide a rough location, and GPS receivers require a fourth signal from another GPS satellite to determine your current altitude on the Earth’s surface using another mathematical principle known as trilateration. The receiver then displays that location to you on a map. With the known position of each satellite, and the measured distance between those satellites and your position, your GPS receive is able to calculate your approximate location by determining where the intersection of those three spheres come together on the surface of the Earth. Since each satellite travels in a predictable orbit over the earth, the receiver can use a stored almanac of the current known position of all GPS satellites to determine where, approximately, those satellites are currently located over the earth. This provides the GPS receiver with the radius of the spheres with the satellites at the center, and your location at the edge of the sphere. Using the differences in timestamps, and the constant speed of light at which radio waves travel, the GPS receiver can determine the distance between where you’re standing to each satellite. How Does GPS Triangulation Workįrom any point on the planet, if you’re holding a GPS receiver (like the one in your phone), a GPS receiver receives time stamps from the synchronized clocks on each of the GPS satellites overhead. ![]() GPS receivers utilize a mathematical principle known as triangulation to calculate its own location. GPS Receivers: A GPS receiver on Earth receives orbital times from as many satellites within range, and calculates its own position on Earth based on the positions of at least four GPS satellites. ![]()
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