How does GPS work on Phone?

One of the coolest highlights of a cutting-edge cell phone is the manner in which it can figure out where you are while you're there. This has a few drawbacks — terrible area based commercials or following your movements ring a bell — however having the capacity to see where you are, the place you should be, and precisely how to arrive is marvelous.

This enchantment happens a similar way on each smartphone from each company making them, regardless of the Operating System. Several components work together to pinpoint you (regularly with an exactness of 3-5 meters!) and the software can astutely pick the most ideal approach to get it going.

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What is GPS?

Image: The Science Geek

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It's a technology owned by the U.S. government and overseen by the country's Air Force. GPS is a radio navigation system. It uses radio waves between satellites and a receiver inside your phone to provide location and time information to any software that needs to use it.

You don't need to send any real information over into space for GPS to work; you just need to have the ability to get information from at least four of the 28 satellites in orbit that are devoted for geolocation use.

Each satellite has its own internal atomic clock and sends a time-coded signal on a specific frequency. Your recipient chip figures out which satellites are visible and unhindered at that point begin gathering information from the satellites with the most grounded signals. GPS information is moderate and slow and this is by design — satellites keep running on rechargeable batteries and sending a fast signal hundreds of thousands of miles would require more power — so it'll take some moments to get your geolocation.

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How does Mobile GPS Work?

Your Mobile's GPS recipient utilizes the information from these signs to triangulate where you are and what time it is. Notice the word triangulation and the specify over that four satellites are required for GPS to work. The fourth signal is utilized to determine altitude so you can get your geolocation information on a map with just three signals.

GPS receivers utilize a considerable amount of power and require an unhindered perspective of different satellites to work. Obstructions can incorporate tall structures and that implies the places where the most of us live can (and does) experience difficulty getting the information it needs constantly. That is the place AGPS comes into the picture.

What is AGPS?

Image: Androidcentral

AGPS stands for Assisted Global Positioning System - when you want your location from your phone. As stated earlier GPS radios use a lot of power and unless they stay in constant use, it can take up to a minute each and every time you get new data. Since you usually want your location while on the move, that can be a burden.

AGPS adds cellular location data to assist geolocation.

Your phone carrier knows where you are since your phone "pings" cell towers. When you can see three or more towers the phone company can triangulate where you are. How precise this is will depend on the strength of the signal between your phone and the tower, but usually, it's good enough to be used for location data.

Software on your phone feeds this raw cellular location data to the GPS receiver which will periodically switch between GPS data and cellular location to get a very close approximation (within 50 meters or so) in real time. Whenever a true geolocation position is received from GPS satellites your location is adjusted; we've all seen the pin on a map indicating where we are snap into place once in a while and that's what's happening when it does.

AGPS does send data out of your phone, but its data that was already being sent when it checks for cell towers in range. you're not charged for this but you will need an active data plan to use AGPS.

Which is better - GPS or AGPS?

That is a simple inquiry: AGPS is the better solution most of the time. We need our mobiles to know where we are in real time, to not utilize a considerable measure of battery capacity to do it and to have the capacity to revive at whatever point the software needs it without waiting for a precise GPS lock. AGPS location isn't as exact as a genuine GPS location will be, however, it's sufficient for relatively every utilization case and the micro-adjustments that can be made with a true GPS information when it refreshes makes up for most discrepancies.

Again, as stated earlier, AGPS needs a cellular connection. That means there are cases where GPS is preferred. Any time you have no data connection you'll be unable to use cellular-assisted GPS. The same goes when you don't have enough cell towers in range of your phone. Most apps that require location also require a data connection, but some, like Geocaching apps, live on your phone's storage and will work while you're off the beaten path looking for hidden treasure.

To get the best of both worlds, make sure you've enabled all location options in your phone's settings and let it make the decisions for you!

Via Android Central
This article was originally published here.

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