What Are the Components of a Bluetooth GPS System?

There are many different things involved in a Bluetooth GPS system. Within the Bluetooth GPS system there are three segments – the space segment, a control segment, and the user segment. This article is going to take a look at all three segments so you can better understand how your Bluetooth wireless GPS works. A Bluetooth GPS system is one of the greatest advances in modern technology that we have had in the last decade.

The Three Parts of a Bluetooth GPS System

The space segment comprises the GPS satellites in orbit around the earth. These satellites continually broadcast radio signals with information down to the GPS systems around the world. In addition they stay in contact with each other constantly updating each other as to where their positions are. The original design called for 24 satellites in three orbits, but the current design has these satellites in six planes with four satellites each.

Each satellite completes one orbit per sidereal day. Currently there are 31 actively broadcasting satellites in the GPS network. The additional satellites have improved the precision of Bluetooth GPS navigators by providing redundant measurements. A key component in the Bluetooth GPS system, the satellites is what makes it all possible

The control segment of the Bluetooth GPS system corresponds to how the satellites are monitored and tracked. The US Air Force Space Command master control station receives information from bases around the world and coordinates the position of the satellites and synchronizes them with atomic clocks to ensure a reliable network. The updates are created by a Kalman filter which uses inputs from the ground monitoring stations, weather information and other inputs.

The user segment is the portion that your Bluetooth GPS navigator takes up in the GPS network. These are composed of an antenna tuned to the frequencies sent out by the satellites and have receiver processors to analyze the data. In addition the units need to have a highly stable clock to base all of the calculations off of. They are also labeled with how many channels or satellites they can connect up to. Bluetooth GPS navigators today typically have between 12-20 channels.

So there you have it, the basics of the Bluetooth GPS system. There is a lot more to it of course, but this should you a good idea of how it all comes together. Now you have a better idea of how it all works, hopefully you can put it to good use.