GPS Receiver
The GPS receiver is the basic device for the operation of the radio-navigation system that uses orbiting satellites to determine a geographical position. The GPS receiver is in fact one of the three elements required by the Global Positioning System, and from the certain point of view, the least significant. The other two vital elements are the satellites and the control and monitoring stations. When the signal is caught by the GPS receiver it is decoded according to three-dimensional factors, altitude, latitude and longitude, also providing information on the time. Anyone can purchase a GPS receiver with the accessories necessary from commercial retailers.
To understand the importance of a GPS receiver, it suffices to say that it is crucial for air-navigation, maritime operations, military moves, emergency services, disaster relief and individual civilian use. Moreover, the GPS system provides accurate timing for mobile phone operations, power grids control as well as banking operations. The GPS receiver is the modern way to be accurate, safe and in control of countless of activities no matter where you are on the globe. If we only consider the efficiency of highways, mass transit systems and streets when coordinated through GPS receivers, we understand the importance of this new technology worldwide.
With a GPS receiver you can identify the vehicle location, as well as get information for the best way to reach destination. From the receiver, the information is processed through a special software that enables the transmission of the information both graphically, on a monitor and vocally, by voice announcements. The vocal feature of the GPS receiver is considered very reliable and safe by lots of drivers because it is a lot easier to follow it than to periodically check the monitor for left, right or street name directions. Furthermore, the possibility to track urban traffic though a GPS device increases the time efficiency of a travel.
Many countries have started relying on the GPS receiver technology to constantly monitor the network of highways and roads. The information available for such systems includes details on maintenance, service stations, supplies, damage to the road system as well as entry and exit ramps. The data gathering process adjacent to the Geographic Information System (GIS) allows the formation of large databases of knowledge that is afterwards processed by lots of drivers and transportation companies that have to maximize the efficiency of the rides. GIS and GPS systems are intertwined and actively support each other.