Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers: A Software Approach [Hardcover]

AGI Creative Team (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471381543 | ISBN-13: 978-0471381549 | Publication Date: May 19, 2000 | Edition: 1

How to build and operate GPS receivers-a working resource for engineers

While GPS receivers abound in numerous applications, much of the information on their design is scattered in disparate and hard-to-find places. This new work provides engineers who use and design GPS systems with a much-needed comprehensive reference on the operational principles guiding this important technology. With an emphasis on software-based signal processing-a cutting-edge approach expected to dominate future integration of GPS receivers into cellular phones-the book covers all aspects of receiver technology as well as the relevant navigation schemes. Concentrating on civilian C/A code used by commercial GPS receivers (rather than military code), Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers:

• Describes GPS basics and the constellation of satellites that comprise the GPS system
• Examines in detail GPS signal structure, acquisition, and tracking
• Presents the mathematical formulas for calculating a user's position
• Illustrates the application of important equations using computer programs
• Explains how to build hardware to collect digitized data for a software GPS receiver
• Includes a chapter demonstrating a GPS receiver following the signal flow

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...recommended and is appropriate for academic engineering collections." (E-Streams, Vol. 4, No. 11, November 2001)

From the Back Cover

How to build and operate GPS receivers?a working resource for engineers

While GPS receivers abound in numerous applications, much of the information on their design is scattered in disparate and hard-to-find places. This new work provides engineers who use and design GPS systems with a much-needed comprehensive reference on the operational principles guiding this important technology. With an emphasis on software-based signal processing?a cutting-edge approach expected to dominate future integration of GPS receivers into cellular phones?the book covers all aspects of receiver technology as well as the relevant navigation schemes. Concentrating on civilian C/A code used by commercial GPS receivers (rather than military code), Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers:

• Describes GPS basics and the constellation of satellites that comprise the GPS system
• Examines in detail GPS signal structure, acquisition, and tracking
• Presents the mathematical formulas for calculating a user's position
• Illustrates the application of important equations using computer programs
• Explains how to build hardware to collect digitized data for a software GPS receiver
• Includes a chapter demonstrating a GPS receiver following the signal flow

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 258 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (May 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471381543
• ISBN-13: 978-0471381549
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,814,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wait for a revised 2nd edition, February 9, 2003

By 

Aaron Morton (Calgary, Alberta, Canada,) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers: A Software Approach (Hardcover)

Lets face it, there are plenty of GPS textbooks on the market that satisfy all levels of inquiry.

My first criticism of the book is that the first six chapters are well covered in most of the standard texts. I believe that the primary reason someone would want to purchase this book is for the last few chapters, (particularly chapter 9 which discusses GPS software receivers), as well as for the accompanying Matlab source code in the textbook. (At least that was my reason).

My second criticism is that this book desperately needs an editor. There are a tremendous number of grammatical errors and spelling errors that I found incredibly distracting from the contents of the book. In addition, many of the illustrative plots used in the text have no units specified for the axes, and little description of the figures is given in the body of the text.

Finally, the code that is included at the end of each chapter is poorly organized and poorly documented. There are very few comments in the various code sections and the author insists on using terribly ambiguous variable names. All of which could be forgiven if the Matlab code provided actually worked!! Many of the routines in the all-important 9th chapter on GPS software receivers call user-defined functions that are not actually defined anywhere in the textbook! In an attempt to be proactive, I emailed the author and asked for a copy of the missing Matlab code and was told that the codes are not available for download.
Disappointing indeed! (I think that an accompanying CD with a snippet of IF data and a set of working Matlab codes would be a wonderful addition to a 2nd edition of the book.)

For what its worth, I think the approach taken in the textbook is great, but until a revised 2nd edition of the textbook is produced I would recommend that you save your money.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Introductory Book in GPS, July 18, 2001

By 

Paul M. Liu (Sunnyvale, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers: A Software Approach (Hardcover)

Very good introductory book if you are a starter in the GPS field.

The content is definitely targeted at the professional audience who is familiar with GPS and satellite communications. What I liked about the book is that the mathematical derivations are presented in a simple, yet comprehensive manner. There are also some Matlab sample code that describe some of the concepts in each chapter.

Although this is an introductory book, it may appear daunting to people who do not have a strong understanding of matrix algebra -- not bed-time reading.

Overall, this is a good book that will satisfy a novice or an intermediate-level professional.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good at explaining the basics of GPS, VERY poor reference for actually building a software receiver, April 16, 2006

By 

Old Set (Wadley, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers: A Software Approach (Hardcover)

This book does a good job at explaining the fundamentals of GPS operation. It breaks things down to an understandable level and presents most material well. However, it is not thorough enough to be used to design a software receiver. The book covers Costas loops and DLL's in a very cursory manner. It is also filled with typos and other errors. If your actually attempting to build a software receiver, try some of these books: "Understanding GPS Principles and Applications" by Elliot Kaplan (Ed.), "Global Positioning System: Theory and Applications Volume 1" by B. W. Parkinson and J. J. Spilker (Ed.'s), "Global Positioning System: Signals Measurements and Performance" by P. Misra and Per Enge. These books are far more detailed and are relatively free of errors.