The A to Z of wireless

G is for GPS

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a US satellite system used to pinpoint exact locations, and is best known for its in-car use.

Business applications of the technology include real-time parcel tracking services that work by monitoring the GPS signals from the delivery firm's vehicles. Parents can also use the tracking tech to keep tabs on where their child's school bus is.

GPS is also becoming an increasingly common feature of smartphones such as Apple's 3G iPhone 3G S.

With forecasts predicting GPS chip shipments will reach one billion globally by 2013, analysts expect GPS to enable an era of mobile location-based services - a scenario that Nokia has made a big bet on, shelling out $8.1bn back in 2007 to acquire digital-map supplier Navteq whose map data is used by portable GPS makers such as Garmin.

Another major GPS-style system-in-the-making is Galileo, currently being developed by the European Space Agency with funding from the EC and some European Union member states.

The idea behind Galileo is to provide Europe with an independent alternative to US and Russian GPS systems - although Galileo will interoperate with both GPS and Glonass (the Russian system) respectively.

Construction of Galileo is underway, with around £1.3bn having been spent on it so far. A further investment of £2.7bn is planned - and the EC hopes Galileo will be fully operational by 2012.

Galileo is slated to offer much more precise location tracking than GPS currently can, so potential applications could include road-use charging schemes and helping emergency services to locate missing or injured people.

Another reason to invest in an alternative to GPS is a recent US Government Accountability Office report that suggests the service may face interruptions next year owing to ageing satellites and failures to launch new ones on time.

A scale model of a GPS satellite (Photo credit: cliff1066 via Flickr.com under the following Creative Commons licence)