Future trend of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and innovative applications

Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to provide a general overview of current and future GNSS
and various applications. The role played by the current GNSS in our live is set to grow
considerably with new demands for more accurate information along with integration
into various applications. The real impact of satellite global positioning on society and
industrial development became evident and innovative applications will be available
when a GALILEO constellation and modernization of both GPS and GLONASS
become operational.
There is a need to determine precise ground locations for use in a variety of innovative
and emerging applications such as earth observation, rescue applications, and mobilephone
technology. Location information is pertinent to a large number of remote
sensing applications, some of which support strategic tasks such as disaster
management, earth monitoring, protecting the environment, management of natural
resources, and food production. With the availability of high-resolution images, some
applications will require a location precision down to 1 m. The GNSS provide signals
that can serve this purpose.
The traditional fields of application for GPS are shipping, aviation, detection,
synchronization of telecommunications networks and security of the objects. However,
the market is currently enjoying a growth in demand for electronic car navigation
systems which make better use of the road traffic network. Automatic Vehicle Location
(AVL) and the fleets' management also appear to be growth rapidly. The advents of new
satellite systems as well as the modernization of the current satellite navigation systems
and the introduction of new frequencies are expected to contribute to the development
of new techniques enabling precise positioning with less complexity and lower cost.
The majority of satellite navigation applications are currently based on GPS
performances, and great technological developments are spent to integrate satellite
derived information with a number of other techniques in order to reach better
positioning precision with improved reliability, accuracy and availability. With all
electronics technologies there is an endless challenge aims to improve the performance
of GNSS in signal acquisition, signal tracking, multi-path mitigation and interference
rejection while at the same time reducing size, power consumption and cost and adding
support for more GNSS constellations.