Establishing a GPS User Support Infrastructure

John W. Lavrakas, Ted Driver and Daniel Knezha

Abstract:	GPS has been an extraordinary success, but this very success has only amplified user awareness of the few times in recent years that performance has been less than expected. Aware- ness has been growing within the GPS community for sev- eral years of the need to establish a focal point for anticipat- ing and responding to user problems and requests for infor- mation. Within recent years a number of steps have been taken to formalize this service by the incorporation of a GPS component into the US Coast Guard Navigation Center and the subsequent establishment of the DoD GPS Support Cen- ter. In like fashion the FAA has bolstered its National Op- erations Control Center to incorporate GPS services for commercial aviation. Increased dependence on and utilization of the GPS signal has resulted in a need to more carefully monitor the system. As users demand more, and their applications extract greater utility from GPS, relatively small variations in performance become more and more significant. As a result the number of organizations and groups requiring more detailed infor- mation on the GPS system continues to grow. To date no general examination has been presented at ION meetings of what aspects are necessary in providing a GPS user support service. What are its key elements? What products and services should it provide? How should it be organized and operated? This paper investigates these ques- tions and provides recommendations for each. The paper, however, focuses only on the generic aspects of GPS user support, and does not attempt to address specific support requirements posed by any one organization, be it military or civil. The authors of this paper have given much serious thought to these aspects, and the contents of this paper reflect the results of their own research and experience in providing this service.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2000) September 19 - 22, 2000 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	2565 - 2574
Cite this article:	Lavrakas, John W., Driver, Ted, Knezha, Daniel, "Establishing a GPS User Support Infrastructure," Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2000), Salt Lake City, UT, September 2000, pp. 2565-2574.
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