GPS Tracking Fact-file

Global Positioning System, or GPS, is a method by which we can electronically track location details. App-cabs like Ola and Uber, Google Maps for the contouring details, police personnel to track mobile location details, et cetera - all use GPS to their ends.

A GPS tracking system uses the GNSS, that is the Global Navigation Satellite System Network, to incorporate a range of satellites that use microwave signals transmitted to GPS devices to give information on location, vehicle speed, time and direction. 

GPS Trackings are of two kinds from the commercial point of view:-

In Passive Tracking, the devices store the data within the GPS tracking system itself.
And, in Active Tracking, the information is sent to a centralized database or system via a modem within the GPS device on a regular basis.

27 solar-powered satellites developed by the U.S. military make two complete rotations daily around the globe to make the GPS Tracking system function the way it does. At least four satellites must be visible for effective and accurate tracking.

The GPS receiver has to know two things in order to track someone or something:-

The location of at least three satellites above the one to be tracked.

And the distance between the one to be tracked and each of those satellites.

And that it does on the basis of a simple mathematical calculation known as trilateration.

To equip the device, an in-built map, a clock, and receivers of signals are fitted. The readings provided by them help us to get certain information:-

• Odometer readings to determine the extent of travel.
• The exact time of travel, from the beginning to the end.
• Speedometer readings for the speed.
• The trail showing the places travelled by.

You can avail of the GPS for very limited purposes from your smartphones. The more sophisticated functions are the prerogatives of persons at the helm of some authoritative post, like the police.