GPS nowadays is playing a vital role in many of our technologies. For an instance, it allows us to navigate through different directions when we are driving, tracks how far we are running during workouts, helps to respond in emergencies and much more.

In Spite of GPS being pervasive and essential in our daily basis,  we realize that we don’t know much about GPS and taking it for granted. As far as i know what I knew about GPS is that satellites transmit their location and with its use you can solve your own location in 3d space.

But I came to know that there is much more than that. Let’s have a look.

1. GPS is not Unique

GPS in one from different space-based radio navigation systems. Europe has its own Galileo system, Russia has its own GLONASS system and China has its own BeiDou system.

However the GLONASS is the only system in Russia offering the global coverage, less accurate than GPS. And Galileo is expected to reach the global operational capacity by 2019 and BeiDou by 2020.

These space-based radio navigation is important for many military applications, so that one country may not need to rely on other in case of hostilities. The Indian military learned this well at the time of Kargil war in 1999, when they were selectively denied access.

2. US Government has its own GPS

Alike all advanced technologies, GPS took a birth out of the military during the Cold War. Nuclear deterrence meant the capacity to launch nuclear weapons at the enemy’s homeland.

To fire ballistic missiles from the nuclear submarines basically needed the location of the enemy’s submarine. And thus GPS was meant to be best navigation system for submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Though the cold war was ended 4 years before the Soviet Union was collapsed, GPS become operational in 1995. Before highest quality of signal was reserved for the use of military but in 2000, GPS was  freely available to the public as a national resource.

3. 32 GPS Satellites are currently present in the orbit

For achieving global coverage for GPS, 24 satellites are needed. The first from 24th was launched in 1989 and the 24th in 1994. GPS satellites last only about 10 years and they need servicing often during their lifetime and that is the reason why there are 32 GPS satellites present in the orbit. The extra ones fill the gap when the core satellites are services, so that the coverage is maintained.

But the question arises why 24 satellites are needed in the first place.

4. Minimum 4 GPS Satellites are needed in Line-of-Sight

Constellation using 24 GPS satellites make sure that minimum 4 satellites are within line-of-sight of any location on Earth  every time. The number is 4 since GPS calculates your exact position. Each satellite sending signals include the exact time that the signal is sent and the position of the satellite  relative to the center of the Earth.

We know well that the speed of light is constant, so it takes time for the signal from GPS satellite to reach you, multiplied by the speed of light, is the distance between you and the satellite. Moreover, we also know the positions of each satellites, so calculating by geometry, we can make use of satellite locations and the known distance to figure out our own location.

You must be wondering “ I hardly use three equations for three unknowns, but what about the fourth one? Well, there is a fourth unknown. We don’t actually know the exact time it took the signal to travel from the satellites to you.

5. Accounts General Relativity

According to Albert Einstein, “Time moves faster for objects that are further from sources of gravity”. Since, satellites are far away from the earth, their clock run 38 microseconds faster per day than clocks on Earth’s surface. This depicts that GPS locations would be off as much as 6 miles per day.

And thus, the fourth unknown variable is the time derivation from the atomic clocks on GPS satellites. And these four satellites are used for the determination of precise location. And however, the advantage of this system is that….

6. GPS not only determines Location

The accuracy for the GPS time signals is within 10 billionths of a second, that is only second to atomic clocks themselves. And thus GPS determines exact time that is actually vital for the time-related applications.

In our daily lives, cellular networks, banking systems, financial markets and power grids are all dependent on GPS for  precise time synchronization. Even in the communication sector GPS timing allows synchronized call handoffs. Moreover, in financial sector as well, GPS timing allows financial transactions to be accurately timestamped.

GPS and IoT

The precise location and the timing ability of GPS is vital in many IOT Applications. From agriculture to connected vehicle platforms, fleet tracking, smart museum and many more.

So hopefully this helps you to get aware about GPS technology that has quickly become necessary and important component of our everyday lives.

Most of us know the importance of GPS in our lives, the GPS tracking system are widely used for navigation and to track vehicles and containers. Though there are many advantages of GPS, some people still have misconceptions about this technology.

Some of the common misconceptions are as follows:

All drivers will quit if we put GPS trackers on vehicles.

Contrary to this myth, many drivers believe that GPS device is actually very helpful in their work, they get the routing information, roadside assistance, and much more from it. So without worry, you can install a GPS device in your vehicle.

GPS tracking device is a complex device to install and use.

GPS devices are very easy to install and use, you don’t need to be a tech expert to use this system, these devices are not bulky and you don’t have to make any major changes in your vehicle.

We trust our employee, we don’t need the GPS device.

The main purpose of this device is to monitor your vehicles, not your employees. A vehicle should serve its purpose of supplying and delivering in an efficient way, but the driver will be accountable for everything related to the vehicle.

GPS tracking system in not necessary for my vehicle. 

Some people believe that they can track their vehicles on a cell phone, but it’s not just about tracking the vehicle. They cannot get updates like engine status, history of stops and other valuable metrics. There are much more which you can get only from a GPS tracking system.

Before installing a GPS tracking system, make sure you clear all your doubts regarding this technology, you can consult an expert in this technology or can ask the experts of the company from which you are taking this service.

Having your own blog and being a blogger are two different things. A blogger is not always a person who deals with the marketing and PR issues as well as a blog owner is not always the one who writes posts and takes photos. Professional blogs with thousands of subscribers are often not what we think. A face of the blog is not always a person who does everything starting from the basic changes in the blog interface and up to gathering the materials for interesting posts. Sometimes, a face is a just a face, and a huge team of professionals stands behind it.

If you have your own blog but you have noticed that you have no time to combine all the work that is required of you, consider hiring freelance writers that will help you with creating content for your blog. There are plenty of resources where you can find freelance writers, including custom writing services and various freelance websites. Hiring a full-time employee may be too expensive and in the end, they may turn out to be not what you need at all. However, with freelance writers, there is a possibility to experiment and give different writers different assignments depending on the style you need for each post.

So, now that you know that it’s always better to cooperate with freelance writers, let’s dwell upon why exactly you need to hire them.

You do not need to waste your energy on writing

Everyone who has ever tried to write something knows that writing is an extremely energy-consuming process. Even though you have an idea for a post, some outlines, and even the materials that you may use, you still have to work hard to find proper words to present your ideas that must be persuasive enough to make your readers stay on your blog.

It’s better to use this energy for finding new decisions for your blog. For example, you may just generate ideas for posts and find the materials that your freelance writers will use, check their writing, but never write yourself. Thus, you’ll have more energy to work on the marketing strategies for your blog.

You get more time

Writing is energy-consuming indeed but it is also time-consuming. If you have a tough schedule and have no time even for a lunch, you definitely need some help. Just try to check how much time it takes you to write a post for your blog, taking into consideration all the breaks you have to make for solving some other issues.

We bet that even though you may have time for writing, you still need to sacrifice your sleep or having fun with your friends, and you do not have time for creating other types of content. As a person who works on the marketing strategy of the blog, you probably know that you need to add different lead magnets with ebooks and white papers that will be interesting to your readers. Also, you need to write texts for your emails, press releases, and a huge bulk of other content that you currently just cannot afford to have as you simply have no time for that.

You can publish more high-quality content

We have already mentioned that when working with freelance writers, you can create not only posts for your blog but other supportive content. However, we should also mention that for the majority of blogs, it is crucially important to create posts regularly and in some cases, even to add at least 2 posts a day to keep the audience attracted. If you have already noticed that your visitors and subscribers wish for more posts and ask you to write more often, you just cannot ignore the possibility to cooperate with freelance writers. With their assistance, you will change your content plan and start to publish posts more frequently, attracting new visitors and satisfying your permanent readers.

Of course, you could generate more content on your own but the quality will definitely be lower than you would want. As a good marketer, you understand that high-quality and unique content is crucial for your marketing strategy and the success of your blog, so it’s always better to spend some money and hire some freelance writers than just to lose money and the attention of the audience because of low-quality posts.

If you have understood that you need some assistance with your blog, we may just congratulate you. It means that you have moved to another step of being a blogger where the efforts of one person are not enough to keep the blog on the sustainable level. So get ready – over time, you will need a team of marketers who will help you to promote your blog online and make it one of the best online resources for everyone!