The New Translated GPS Range System

Lawrence L. Wells

Abstract:	Translated GPS is a variant configuration of GPS user equipment intended for use in tracking - rather than in navigation - applications. The vehicle to be tracked is only required to carry a small device (GPS translator) which recovers the signals from the GPS satellites in view and relays them to a signal processing station, usually on the ground, for processing. This off-board processing allows any level of complexity and sophistication for the GPS signal processing. The usual constraints imposed by the limitations of on-board power, size, weight, and recurring cost are no longer factors. Even with the recent improvements in microprocessor speeds, the off-board processing of translated GPS delivers levels of performance that still cannot be matched with the constraints typically imposed on an on-board receiver. The translated GPS concept has been in use for over fifteen years. The primary applications to date have been to track intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles and their re-entry vehicles. While the concept can be used in a large variety of applications, it is a particularly attractive alternative for tracking small, unmanned, highly dynamic vehicles.Translated GPS is a variant configuration of GPS user equipment intended for use in tracking - rather than in navigation - applications. The vehicle to be tracked is only required to carry a small device (GPS translator) which recovers the signals from the GPS satellites in view and relays them to a signal processing station, usually on the ground, for processing. This off-board processing allows any level of complexity and sophistication for the GPS signal processing. The usual constraints imposed by the limitations of on-board power, size, weight, and recurring cost are no longer factors. Even with the recent improvements in microprocessor speeds, the off-board processing of translated GPS delivers levels of performance that still cannot be matched with the constraints typically imposed on an on-board receiver. The translated GPS concept has been in use for over fifteen years. The primary applications to date have been to track intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles and their re-entry vehicles. While the concept can be used in a large variety of applications, it is a particularly attractive alternative for tracking small, unmanned, highly dynamic vehicles.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 10th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1997) September 16 - 19, 1997 Kansas City, MO
Pages:	1705 - 1709
Cite this article:	Wells, Lawrence L., "The New Translated GPS Range System," Proceedings of the 10th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1997), Kansas City, MO, September 1997, pp. 1705-1709.
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