What Is a GPS Chip?
A GPS chip is a chip that is connected to or contains a GPS antenna that receives signals from GPS satellites and incorporates circuitry to calculate the current position.
GPS is an abbreviation for global positioning system, which determines a person’s location on the Earth by communicating with positioning satellites operated by the U.S. Department of Defense. A GPS chip is being actively developed for higher precision, smaller size, and higher performance.
Currently, in addition to the GPS satellites, the GNSS (Global Navigation Satelite System), which refers to the four satellite systems of Russia’s GLONASS, EU’s Galileo, and China’s Beidou, as well as signals from India’s GAGAN and Japan’s MICHIBIKI, etc., are also supported.
Uses of GPS Chips
GPS was originally developed for military applications, such as guided missiles, but it has been opened up for civilian use and is now used to support navigation for ships and aircraft.
GPS chips have been developed and miniaturized, and are now used in portable devices such as car navigation systems, smartphones, and tablets. This enables map applications to provide navigation to current locations and destinations.
It is also used in wearable devices such as smartwatches as GPS loggers to check distance traveled, number of steps taken, and travel history. In addition to these, development for applications in the space business, etc., is also underway.
Principle of GPS Chips
GPS satellites contain a very precise clock (atomic clock) based on the frequencies of the spectral lines of atoms and molecules, and the signals emitted from GPS satellites mainly transmit this precise time and location information.
The distance from the GPS satellite can be calculated by multiplying the time of arrival of the signal from the GPS to the GPS chips by the speed of light. In other words, we can determine where the GPS chips are located on a sphere whose radius is the distance at that time.
This is done with multiple satellites, and the point where the spheres from all satellites intersect is identified as the current location. The more satellites received, the more accurately the location can be identified.
The satellites are equipped with atomic clocks and can transmit very accurate time, but the receiving GPS chips do not have an atomic clock. The receiving side is equipped with a common quartz clock, but it cannot be as accurate as an atomic clock, so it must receive from at least four satellites and correct the time by using the four variables x, y, z, and t.
Other Information about GPS Chips
1. High accuracy of the GPS Chips
Light travels about 185,000 mi per second, so even a 10 millionth of a second error results in an error of 98 ft. In addition to these errors due to time information, there are errors due to satellite positioning information, errors due to the ionosphere and moisture in the atmosphere, errors due to reflections from buildings and mountains, errors due to the small number of satellites that can receive the data, and other errors.
2. Miniaturization of the GPS Chips enables the following
The miniaturization of GPS chips has made it possible to mount them on the following devices.
GPS Trackers
A general-purpose GPS chip device about the size of a coin that can be attached to a variety of objects to transmit location information. It is small and lightweight (1″ x 1″, 0.5oz) and can be purchased for around 20 dollars.
Drones
As GPS modules have become smaller and less expensive, GPS-equipped drones have also become popular. Even models equipped with 4K high-angle HD cameras can now be purchased for the low 75 dollar range at major online retailers.