How accurate is GPS time synchronization?

GPS requires precise clocks to provide astounding positional accuracy. Atomic clocks in GPS satellites keep time to within three nanoseconds—three-billionths of a second. Position accuracy depends on the receiver. Most handheld GPS receivers are accurate to about 10 to 20 meters (33 to 66 feet).

How accurate is GPS frequency?

In the world of high-precision time and frequency measurement, GPS is considered the gold standard. According to NIST, using a well-designed receiver it’s possible to obtain time from GPS to within an accuracy of 100 ns in a few minutes, and to about ±10 nanoseconds (ns) with a 24 hour average.

How does GPSDO work?

A GPSDO works by disciplining, or steering a high quality quartz or rubidium oscillator by locking the output to a GPS signal via a tracking loop. GPS receivers have excellent long-term stability (as characterized by their Allan deviation) at averaging times greater than several hours.

What is a GPS clock?

The GPS Clock is a satellite system that provides a very precise timing service. The system uses atomic clocks to provide everyone on Earth with low-cost access to international atomic time standards. Each GPS satellite has multiple atomic clocks, synchronized to a ground-based master clock.

How accurate is GPS on a cell phone?

For example, GPS-enabled smartphones are typically accurate to within a 4.9 m (16 ft.) High-end users boost GPS accuracy with dual-frequency receivers and/or augmentation systems. These can enable real-time positioning within a few centimeters, and long-term measurements at the millimeter level.

What is DGPS survey?

A Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) is an enhancement to the Global Positioning System (GPS) which provides improved location accuracy, in the range of operations of each system, from the 15-meter nominal GPS accuracy to about 1–3 cm[1] in case of the best implementations.

What is OCXO oscillator?

An OCXO is an “Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillator”, which is a kind of crystal oscillator that has higher frequency stability. OCXOs might be more expensive and larger than other types of crystal oscillators, but the precision of their frequency signal is substantially greater.

What is the frequency range of GPS?

1575.42 MHz
All GPS satellites broadcast on at least two carrier frequencies: L1, at 1575.42 MHz, and L2, at 1227.6 MHz (newer satellites also broadcast on L5 at 1176 MHz).

What is the nominal fix accuracy of GPS?

A Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) is an enhancement to the Global Positioning System (GPS) which provides improved location accuracy, in the range of operations of each system, from the 15-metre (49 ft) nominal GPS accuracy to about 1–3 centimetres (0.39–1.18 in) in case of the best implementations.

Are the GPS satellites fitted with any accurate locks?

Today’s GPS receivers are extremely accurate (to 10–20 m), thanks to their parallel multi-channel design; a 12-channel receiver, for instance, can lock onto 12 satellites. Certain atmospheric factors and other sources of error can affect the receiver’s accuracy.