Decision Making for a Public Differential GPS Service

Robert J. Wilson

Abstract:	The Coast Guard has begun an initiative to deploy a nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS). DGPS service would broadcast corrections to GPS navigation satellite signals, thereby improving accuracy by a factor of ten over standard GPS. The primary emphasis of this paper is to show how decision making for the DGPS project may be aided by comparing technological alternatives using Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA). This method is essentially a means of measuring effectiveness per dollar of cost. The paper provides a brief technical background, discusses the applicability of CEA, identifies a way to quantify effectiveness, estimates alternative system life-cycle costs, and makes a preliminary finding as to the merits of radiobeacon transmission over a dedicated satellite channeL To quantify effectiveness, measures of performance are grouped under five “figures of merit”: accuracy, availability, coverage, integrity, and adaptability. User equipment prices prove to be critical to the preliminary finding in favor of the radiobeacon-based alternative.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991) September 11 - 13, 1991 Albuquerque, NM
Pages:	937 - 954
Cite this article:	Wilson, Robert J., "Decision Making for a Public Differential GPS Service," Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991), Albuquerque, NM, September 1991, pp. 937-954.
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