Customer Reviews

Applied Satellite Navigation Using GPS, GALILEO, and Augmentation Systems

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Prasad and Ruggieri give us a detailed look at how to use the constellations of navigation satellites for many economically important tasks. Actually, in practice, the greatest usage is of the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is provided by the US government and its Department of Defense. The dominance of GPS in satellite navigation is probably comparable to Microsoft on the computer desktop. To the layman, GPS is synonymous with satellite navigation. Thus, much of the book is devoted to explaining GPS.

But not exclusively. The authors also explain how the European Union is rolling out Galileo. In part to build out its own technological capability in this field, and to not be solely dependent on the US. The text goes into the technical differences between Galileo and GPS. The most important of which is that Galileo is meant to be a strictly civilian system.

Who are the readers of this book? Mostly communications engineers, judging by much of the technical content. Though not exclusively. The later sections of the book have an interesting synopsis of the ways that GPS is used in many industries. Including at the level of a single consumer, for personal navigation. Where the GPS device is quite possibly built into the functionality of a cellphone. Numerous location based services are possible, like emergency caller location. Indeed, increasingly in many countries, new cellphones are mandated to have such abilities.

More GPS uses are continually emerging, and the book gives a good feel for these. If you are contemplating novel uses of GPS, in contexts where knowing locations of objects or people can be important, then the book might furnish ideas. Nor do you need to be an engineer.

Another merit of the text is the lengthy reference sections appending each chapter. Potentially very timesaving if you get seriously interested in using GPS.