Chapter 12 Solution to Problems

1. Find the exact altitude of a GPS satellite that has an orbital period equal to precisely one half
of a sidereal day. Use a value of mean earth radius re = 6378.14 km and a sidereal day length of
23 hours 56 minutes 4.1 seconds.

Answer: The orbital period of the satellite is 11 hours 58 minutes 2.05 s = 43,082.05 s.
The orbital period is given by T where (Equation 2.6 squared on both sides)
T2 = 4 π2 a3 / µ
where µ = 3.986004418 × 105 km3 /s2 and a is the radius of the orbit in km.
Hence
a3 = T2 µ / 4 π2 = 7.49602025 × 1013 km3
a = 26,561.764 km
The orbital altitude above a mean earth radius of 6378.14 km is 20,183.62 km.

2. Find the maximum Doppler shift of the L1 signal frequency for a GPS satellite at an altitude
of 20,200 km when the satellite has an elevation angle of 10o .
Hint: Maximum Doppler shift occurs when the observer is in the plane of the satellite orbit.
Find the velocity of the satellite and the component of velocity towards the observer.

Answer: The velocity of the satellite in orbit is 2 π a / T where T is the orbital period and a is
the orbit radius. For a satellite with an orbit radius a = 20,200 + 6378.14 km = 26,578.14 km,
the circumference of the orbit is 2 π a = 166,995.38 km.
The orbital period is T2 = 4 π 2 a3 / µ where µ = 3.986004418 × 105 km3 /s2 .
Hence T = 43,121.90 s = 11 hrs 58 mins 41.8 s.
The velocity of the satellite is vs = 166995.38 / 43121.90 = 3.87264 km/s.
We must calculate the relative velocity of the satellite towards an observer who is in the
plane of the satellite orbit when the satellite has an elevation angle of 10o . The geometry in the
plane of the orbit is a triangle OGS, where O is the center of the earth, G is the observer at the
earth’s surface, and S is the satellite. When the satellite has an elevation angle of 10o , the angle

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OGS = 90o + 10o = 100o . The known lengths of the sides of the triangle are OG = re, OS = a,
and the angle between the satellite velocity vector and the line OS is 90o . We need to find the
angle θ, between the satellite velocity vector and the line SG.
Denoting the angle GSO as α, we have
sinα / re = sin 100o / a
Hence
sinα = sin 100o × re / a = 0.23633
α = 13.670o
The angle θ which defines the direction of the component of the satellite velocity towards the
observer is given by
θ = 90 - α = 76.33
The component of velocity towards the observer is vr = vs cos θ = 915.22 m/s
The frequency of the L1 carrier signal for a GPS satellite is 1575.42 MHz, giving a wavelength
of λ = 0.190425 m.
The maximum Doppler shift in the signal is
∆f = vr / λ = 915.22 ms -1 / 0.190425 m = 4806.2 Hz
A C/A code GPS receiver must be able to receive L1 signals that are shifted in frequency by up
to 4.8 kHz. The shift will be an increase in frequency as the satellite approaches, falling to zero
as the satellite passes overhead and then decreasing to a negative shift of – 4.8 kHz as the
satellite reaches 10o elevation before disappearing over the horizon.

3. An observer at the geographical north pole has a GPS receiver. At an instant in time, four
GPS satellites all have the same range from the observer, and the GPS receiver records a
measured delay time for the C/A signal of 0.17097528 s for each satellite. The four satellites’
coordinates are calculated to be (0, -13280.5, 23002.5), (0, 13280.5, 23002.5),
(-13280.5, 0, 23002.5), (13280.5, 0, 23002.5), where all distances are in km. Assuming an earth
radius of 6378.0 km at the north pole, so that the observer’s coordinates are (0,0, 6378),
determine the clock offset error in the GPS receiver. (Use equations 12.1 and 12.3, and take the
velocity of light in free space to be 2.99792458 × 108 m/s.)

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Answer: From equation 12.1, the delay time of T = 0.17097528 s correspond to a
psuedorange PR where
PR = T c = 0.17097528 × 2.99792458 × 108 = 51,257,099 m = 51,257.099 km
Equation 12.3 gives four simultaneous equations which give the psuedorange to the satellite

(Xi - Ux )2 + (Yi - Uy )2 + (Zi - Uz)2 = (PRi - τ c)2

where the receiver position is (Ux , Uy , Uz) and the four satellites have positions (Xi , Yi, Zi ).
The earth station location is known as (0, 0, 6378).
Hence the four simultaneous equations are (all distances in km)
(0 – 0)2 + ( 13280.5 - 0)2 + ( 23002.5 - 6378.0)2 = (51,257.099 - τ c)2
(0 – 0)2 + (-13280.5 - 0)2 + ( 23002.5 - 6378.0)2 = (51,257.099 - τ c)2
( 13280.5 - 0)2 + (0 – 0)2 + ( 23002.5 - 6378.0)2 = (51,257.099 - τ c)2
( -13280.5 - 0)2 + (0 – 0)2 + ( 23002.5 - 6378.0)2 = (51,257.099 - τ c)2
Each of these equations gives the same result
13280.52 + ( 23002.5 - 6378.0)2 = (51,257.099 - τ c)2
21,277.821 = (51,257.099 - τ c)
Hence
τ c = 29,979.278 km
and the clock offset τ is
τ = 0.10000010 = 100.000010 ms
This simplified example illustrates how the four psuedorange equations can be solved to find
clock offset error.

4. Accurate position location using GPS requires precise knowledge of the speed of light. In
most applications, we use a velocity of light of 3.0 × 108 m/s. Solve Problem 3 above and then
recalculate the clock offset using c = 3 x 10 m/s instead of the more precise value given in
Problem 3. What is the error in the clock offset? What is the difference in the ranges to the
satellites when the approximate value for c = 3 x 108 m/s is used? Discuss the corresponding

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position error due to the approximation. Why is it essential to use the exact value of the velocity
of EM waves?

Answer: From equation 12.1, the delay time of T = 0.17097528 s correspond to a

psuedorange PR where
PR = T c = 0.17097528 × 2.99792458 × 108 = 51,257.099 km
Using the approximate speed of light as 3.0 × 108 m/s, the corresponding psuedorange is
PR = T c = 0.17097528 × 3.0 × 108 = 51,292,584 m = 51,292.584 km
Following the solution to Problem 3, the four range equations reduce to
13280.52 + ( 23002.5 - 6378.0)2 = (51,292.584 - τ c)2
21,277.821 = (51,292.584 - τ c)
or
τ c = 30,014.763 km
Using the approximate velocity of EM waves of 3 × 108 m/s, the clock offset is
τ = 1.0004921 × 10-1 s = 100.04921 ms
The correct value from Problem 3 is τ = 100.000010 ms
The range to the satellite using c = 3 × 108 m/s is
Rapprox = PR - τ c = 51,292.584 - 30,014.763 = 21,312.821 km when the
approximate speed of light is used in the calculations. The solution to Problem 3 using the exact
speed of light gives
Rexact = PR - τ c = 51,257.099 - 29,979.277 = 21,277. 821 km
The difference in range between the exact and the approximate calculation is 35.00 km.
In the general case, the position calculation requires four ranges, so when the error in the
range values has a random distribution and many measurements are averaged to obtain the final
result, the resulting error in the calculation of the position of the GPS receiver, for DOP = 1, is
√4 × ∆R = 2 ∆R. However, in this case, the error in the range is the same for each range value,
and we cannot average the error. The position error would be similar in magnitude to ∆R –
about 35 km. This is clearly not an acceptable error, so we must use the exact value for the
velocity of EM waves in all GPS calculations.

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5. A C/A code GPS receiver is located at the geographic south pole, coordinates (0,0, zp ). Four
GPS satellites are used to determine the radius of the earth at the south pole. At the instant of
time that the measurement is made, the satellites have coordinates
#1: (0, -13280.500, -23002.500) #2 : (0, 13280.500, -23002.500),
#3: (13280.500, 0, -23002.500) #4: (0, 0, -26561.000).
The corresponding measured delay times for the C/A code sequences from the satellites are
#1: 0.12102731 s, #2: 0.12102731 s #3: 0.12102731 s #4: 0.11738995 s
Find the clock offset in the GPS receiver, and determine the radius of the earth at the
south pole. Use a value for the velocity of light in free space c = 2.99792458 × 108 m/s, and
work your solution to a precision of 1 m. You will need to solve two simultaneous non- linear
equations from the set in Equation 12.3 in which the unknowns are the clock offset and the value
of zp . Start with an estimated value zp = 6378 km, and then solve the two simultaneous
equations. This will give two unequal values for the clock offset. Use iteration of the value of zp
to find the correct values for clock offset and earth radius at the south pole.

Answer: For satellites #1 through #3, the C/A code sequence delay time is T = 0.17097528 s
correspond to a psuedorange PR where
PR1,2,3 = T1,2,3 c = 0.12102731 × 2.99792458 × 108 = 36,283.075 km
For satellite #4, the delay time is T = 0.11738995 s and the psuedorange is
PR4 = T4 c = 0.11738995 × 2.99792458 × 108 = 35,192.622 km
Equation 12.3 gives four simultaneous equations which give the psuedorange to the
satellite
(Xi - Ux )2 + (Yi - Uy )2 + (Zi - Uz)2 = (PRi - τ c)2
where the receiver position is (Ux , Uy , Uz) and the four satellites have positions (Xi , Yi, Zi ).
The earth station location at the south pole is known to be (0, 0, zp ). Putting all distances in km
and c = 2.99792458 × 105 km/s:
The four simultaneous equations are
(0 – 0)2 + ( -13280.5 - 0)2 + (- 23002.5 - zp )2 = (36,283.075 - τ c)2
( -13280.5 - 0)2 + (0 – 0)2 + (- 23002.5 - zp )2 = (36,283.075 - τ c)2
(+13280.5 - 0)2 + (0 – 0)2 + (- 23002.5 - zp )2 = (36,283.075 - τ c)2
( 0 - 0)2 + (0 – 0)2 + (-26561.000 - zp )2 = (35,192.622 - τ c)2

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Each of first three equations gives the same result
13280.52 + (- 23002.5 - zp )2 = (36,283.075 - τ c)2 (12.5.1)
The fourth equation gives
(- 26561.0 – zp )2 = (35,192.622 - τ c)2 (12.5.2)
This is a pair of non- linear equations (because of the squares) with two unknowns, zp and τ.
There are several ways to solve such problems, but because we know the approximate value for
zp , iteration is one of the easiest, starting with an estimated value for zp of - 6378 km.
Computer or hand calculator equation solving routines can also be used solve this problem.
(Note: zp is negative because the south pole is in the negative z direction for geocentric
coordinates. The starting value of zp = - 6378 km is the mean radius of the earth at the equator. )
Substituting zp = - 6378 km in both equations and solving for τ c, noting that taking square
roots leads to two possible answers (± root), only one of which is valid:
From 12.5.1 τ c = 15,005.253 km
From 12.5.2 τ c = 15,009.622 km
The values of τ c are not equal, with a difference of 4.369 km, so we must try another
estimate.
Let’s try zp = - 6368 km.
From 12.5.1 τ c = 14,999.002 km
From 12.5.2 τ c = 15,001.622 km
The values of τ c are now closer, at 2.62 km difference, and our revised estimate was in the
correct direction, so we should try another estimate. Let’s try zp = - 6360 km.
From 12.5.1 τ c = 14,991.187 km
From 12.5.2 τ c = 14,911.621 km
A final trial with zp = 6358 km gives
From 12.5.1 τ c = 14,989.624 km
From 12.5.2 τ c = 14,989.622 km
The difference is now 2 m, so we conclude that the radius of the earth at the south pole is
6358 km. Taking the mean of the two results above, the clock bias is
τ = 14,989.623 / c = 0.050000 seconds = 50.0000ms.

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 The values for the range error agree within 2 m, so we can find the clock offset error with
considerable confidence. This example illustrates how a GPS receiver can calculate clock offset
error and true range to the satellites within one meter, using the solution of simultaneous non-
linear equations. This example is greatly simplified to make it possible to obtain a solution by
hand calculation.

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