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Role of GPS in navigation, Fleet Management and other Location Based Services
Transit Transit was the first operational satellite navigation system. The Transit system allowed the user to determine position by measuring the Doppler shift of a radio signal transmitted by the satellite. The user was able to calculate position to within a few hundred meters. The system has several drawbacks.
NAVSTAR The NAVSTAR GPS system is a satellite-based radio navigation system developed and operated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The NAVSTAR system permits land, sea, and airborne users to determine their three-dimensional position, velocity, and time 24 hours a day, in all weather, anywhere in the world with a precision and accuracy far better than other radio navigation systems available today. The NAVSTAR system performs another function besides positioning and time transfer. NAVSTAR satellites carry nuclear explosion detection equipment. GLONASS Current Russian satellite-based positioning system - counterpart to NAVSTAR Sea Navigation Satellite navigation provides unprecedented accuracy and capabilities for mariners. GPS is a powerful tool that can save a ship’s navigator hours of celestial observation and calculation. GPS has improved efficient routing of vessels and enhanced safety at sea by making it possible to report a precise position to rescuers when disaster strikes. GPS aids the fishermen in reaching the probable fishing zones (PFX) accurately and avoids blind netting. VIS system monitors the vessels on the sea at the shore station any point of time. It aids in rescuing operation in case of emergencies and helped in avoiding smuggling and poaching activities. Accesses to fast and accurate position, course, and speed information will save time and fuel through more efficient traffic routing.
Navigation in the Air Satellite navigation is being widely used by aviators throughout the world to overcome many of the deficiencies in today’s air traffic infrastructure. Pilots rely on GPS to navigate to their destinations. With its accurate, continuous, all-weather, three (GPS only) and four (GPS with augmentations) dimensional coverage, satellite navigation offers an initial navigation service that will satisfy many of the requirements of users worldwide. Many worldwide airline fleets are installing GPS airborne receivers for immediate use in enroute and non-precision approach operations. GPS offers a navigation service that is equal to, and in most cases better than the existing ground-based systems, yet at a fraction of the cost. GPS offers an inexpensive and reliable supplement to existing navigation techniques for aircraft. Civil aircraft typically fly from one ground beacon, or waypoint, to another. With GPS, an aircraft’s computers can be programmed to fly a direct route to a destination. In the aviation sector, GPS has resulted in significant cost savings and increases in overall system efficiency. Many aviation authorities are also taking the necessary steps to allow for more advanced use of GPS within their respective airspace. The implementation of this technology in a country or region will provide the following benefits to aviation transportation:
Fleet Management A vehicle tracking system can thus be defined as a part of a fleet management system, which enables the fleet operator to find out the location of the vehicle throughout the journey of the vehicle, against time. Apart from utilizing the data generated by the vehicle tracking system for enforcing the schedule of the bus, this data also provides important inputs for decision-making. The system facilitates computation of exact distance traveled in a given time span, computation of the speed of the bus at a given location, analysis of the time taken by the vehicle to cover certain distance and so on. It becomes a very powerful tool in case the operating agencies. Paper now will discuss about public transport only. Later fleet management in the case of rail and aviation sector will be discussed. Fleet management for public transport vehicles Fleet Management incorporates many of the vehicle-based technologies and innovations for more effective vehicle and fleet planning, scheduling, and operations. Fleet Management focuses on the vehicle, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the service provided (the “supply side”), and on passenger safety. This makes the transit more efficient and reliable, it should be more attractive to prospective riders, transit operators, and the municipalities they serve. The technologies and innovations described are: Communications Systems The transportation community already makes substantial use of communications in everyday operations. The application of different technologies to public transportation will bring about additional communications requirements. APTS and Smart Vehicle technology will require communications for such integrated functions as:
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