What is GLONASS And How It Is Different From GPS
GLONASS is an acronym, which stands for Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, or Global Navigation Satellite System. GLONASS is Russia’s version of GPS (Global Positioning System).
Who built GLONASS?
Soviet Union started the development of GLONASS in 1976. GLONASS is the most expensive program of the Russian Federal Space Agency, consuming a third of its budget in 2010.
The various versions of GLONASS are
What is A-GLONASS?
A-GLONASS, Assisted GLONASS is very similar to GLONASS but A-GLONASS brings more features for smartphones. It brings features such as turn by turn navigation, real time traffic data and more. It uses the cell towers near your location to lock your location quickly with the help from your data connection. A-GLONASS also enhances the performance in chip-sets that come with GLONASS support.
How much did GLONASS cost?
Up to 2011 the Russian government spent about 5 billion dollars on GLONASS project, and further invested 320 billion rubles ($10 billion) for the period of 2012 to 2020. GLONASS happens to be the most expensive project ever by Russian Federal space Agency.
How is GLONASS different from GPS?
GPS developed by USA has a network of 31 satellites covering this planet and has been widely used in commercial devices like mobile phones, navigators etc.
GLONASS is developed by Russia originally started by Soviet Union in 1976. This has a network of 24 satellites covering the earth.
The image shows the orbit and constellation of GLONASS (left) and GPS (right).
Here is a table of specs comparing GPS vs GLONASS
Advantage of GLONASS over GPS (GLONASS Vs GPS)
There is no clear advantage other than accuracy over GPS. When used alone GLONASS doesn’t have that strong coverage as GPS has, but when both used together certainly increases accuracy with coverage. And it is more useful in northern latitudes as Russia started GLONASS originally for Russia.
The accuracy is an advantage of GLONASS with up-to 2 meter of accuracy.GPS + GLONASS allows your device to be pin pointed by a group of 55 satellites all across the globe.So when you are in a place where GPS signals are stuck like between huge buildings or subways, you will be tracked by GLONASS satellites accurately.
GLONASS was first commercially used in car navigator as Glospace SGK-70 but was bulky and expensive. Russian government is trying hard to promote GLONASS commercially.
iPhone 4S was the first apple product to use both GPS and GLONASS for pinpointing location on maps.
All the high end devices that supports GPS facilities, especially navigators include GLONASS receivers on their chip to use location based services.
What is offered for smartphones?
Today any mobile phone whether it is a high end or a low budget smartphone is equipped with A-GPS (assisted Global Positional System) which uses network capabilities to find your location.
Now with GLONASS being offered for public services, more and more smartphones are being launched with GPS+GLONASS technology to use dual core location based service to find location. Initially only Flagship or high end smartphones boasts these features but as time will progress, we will see both these technologies being equipped on low and mid-range smartphones. More and more companies and chip manufacturers seem to be interested in GLONASS technology, so more and more smartphones are expected to be launched with this technology.
List of Smartphones supporting GLONASS
How Google Maps makes use of GLONASS and GPS?
Google Maps and the other mapping apps like Nokia’s HERE Maps and Apple Maps use the data connection to connect to the satellites of GLONASS and GPS. The modern day smartphones come with A-GPS and A-GLONASS support, which brings features such as turn by turn navigation, location tracking and real time location info.
What’s next after GLONASS and GPS?
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Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
Anurag Bisht
Obsessed with gadgets and new technologies, passionate about spreading awareness and knowledge among mass towards technology
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