Global Positioning System (GPS) Interview Questions And Answers

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation and precise-positioning tool. Developed by the Department of Defense in 1973, GPS was originally designed to assist soldiers and military vehicles, planes, and ships in accurately determining their locations world wide. Today, the uses of GPS have extended to include both the commercial and scientific worlds. Commercially, GPS is used as a navigation and positioning tool in airplanes, boats, cars, and for almost all outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, fishing, and kayaking. In the scientific community, GPS plays an important role in the earth sciences. Meteorologists use it for weather forecasting and global climate studies; and geologists can use it as a highly accurate method of surveying and in earthquake studies to measure tectonic motions during and in between earthquakes.

Although any small global positioning system could be referred to as a portable GPS, the term generally refers to those units which give driving directions and are meant to be mounted in cars. Others, used for outdoor activities, are generally referred to as handheld GPS units. Still, there could be some times when the terms are confused and a portable GPS and handheld GPS are synonymous.

Three distinct parts make up the Global Positioning System. The first segment of the system consists of 24 satellites, orbiting 20,000 km above the Earth in 12 hour circular orbits. This means that it takes each satellite 12 hours to make a complete circle around the Earth. In order to make sure that they can be detected from anywhere on the Earths surface, the satellites are divided into six groups of four. Each group is assigned a different path to follow. This creates six orbital planes which completely surround the Earth.

Interim Standard 95 (IS-95) is the first CDMA based digital cellular standard by Qualcomm. The brand name for IS-95 is cdmaOne. IS-95 is also known as TIA-EIA-95.

It is a 2G Mobile Telecommunications Standard that uses CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data and signaling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile telephones and cell sites.

NMEA 2000 is a combined electrical and data specification for a marine data network for communication between marine electronic devices such as depth finders, nautical chart plotters, navigation instruments, engines, tank level sensors, and GPS receivers. It has been defined by, and is controlled by, the US based National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA).

NMEA 0183 (or NMEA for short) is a combined electrical and data specification for communication between marine electronic devices such as echo sounder, sonars, anemometer (wind speed and direction), gyrocompass, autopilot, GPS receivers and many other types of instruments. It has been defined by, and is controlled by, the U.S.-based National Marine Electronics Association

The 2d Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) is a unit of the United States Air Force at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. Its mission is to manage the Navstar Global Positioning System satellite constellation for global navigation, time transfer, and nuclear detonation detection.

The Interagency GPS Executive Board (IGEB) was an agency of the United States federal government that sought to integrate the needs and desires of various governmental agencies into formal Global Positioning System Planning. GPS was administered by the Department of Defense, but had grown to service a wide variety of constituents. The majority of GPS uses are now non-military, so this board was fundamental in ensuring the needs of non-military users.

The United States Global Positioning System (GPS), having reached Fully Operational Capability on July 17, 1995 has completed its original design goals. However, additional advances in technology and new demands on the existing system led to the effort to modernize the GPS system. Announcements from the Vice President and the White House in 1998 initiated these changes. In 2000, U.S. Congress authorized the effort, referred to as GPS III.