Car GPS Navigation Systems - A Buyers Guide

In 1973 the U.S. Department of Defence launched the Navstar GPS network. This consisted of 24 satellites orbiting the earth every 12 hours and five ground stations. This positioning system was made available for public use. With this capability, consumer location devices were produced to accurately determine location and other data such as current and average speed, directional heading, and elevation. These GPS devices need an unobstructed view of at least four satellites to provide a reliable 3D fix.

The GPS receiver overlays this location data onto map files stored on the unit, to give a current position on the map as well previous track. The receiver constantly recalculates position, giving real time position.

A typical GPS device contains:

• 12-channel receiver - the quality of the receiver determines how long it takes the device to acquire a 3D fix.
• Antenna to capture satellite signals - positioned to get a clear view of the sky.
• CPU to process the data and overlay on maps
• DVD Hard-drive - where maps on DVD's or available online are uploaded and stored. Some cheaper units do not upload the maps, but reference them off the DVD or CD.
• Display Screen - mostly color with handheld units using black and white
• Voice Interface - more advanced units

• A track of where you have been - the number of tracks and waypoints stored varies from unit to unit. You may also want to save on part of a track for future use.
• A path from your current position to your destination
• Maintain commonly used navigation paths for reuse.
• Points of Interest - user sets the types of points of interest, such as tourist, bank ATM, petrol stations, historical, accommodation, restaurants etc.
• Real time traffic reporting to avoid traffic delays. This can also include road works.
• Voice recognition to receive destination instructions, and voice guidance to give driving instructions
• Weather updates
• Street name navigation - instead of just turn left 200m it was say 'Turn left into Stanley St'
• Integrated Multimedia players - MP3 players, image viewers, and audio books.
• Onboard or Portable GPS Navigation

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

Nicola Carr - Nicola is a technology strategist and publisher of Go-Reviews.com. She provides product reviews and buying guides on a wide range of technology. Nicola is also a feature writer for Electrosmart Digital Publishing and RichMediaMix demonstrating how technology is integrating into business and media.

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