How does a GPS receiver determine from which satellite is it receiving the signal?

The GPS receiver gets a signal from each GPS satellite. By subtracting the time the signal was transmitted from the time it was received, the GPS can tell how far it is from each satellite. The GPS receiver also knows the exact position in the sky of the satellites, at the moment they sent their signals.

How does a GPS receiver distinguish between the signals received from different satellites?

Using the concept of trilateration, a GPS receiver can determine its position using the measured travel time along with the satellites’ locations that are obtained from the navigation message carried by the signal.

How does GNSS determine position?

Global Navigation Satellite Systems Positioning Concepts Satellites broadcast coded signals at exact times and the user’s receiver receives the coded messages and can estimate the time it took for each signal to travel from the GNSS satellite antenna to the user’s antenna.

What does a GPS receiver detect?

The Short Answer: GPS is a system of 30+ navigation satellites circling Earth. We know where they are because they constantly send out signals. A GPS receiver in your phone listens for these signals. Once the receiver calculates its distance from four or more GPS satellites, it can figure out where you are.

How do we measure distance from the GNSS satellite to the receiver?

In theory, this is done by measuring the arrival time of the signal from the GPS satellite. This signal carries timing information from the atomic clock on-board the satellite and the measured time delay thus indicates the distance (multiplying the time delay by the speed of light gives the distance).

How does a hand held GPS determine distance to satellites?

A satellite signal sends a time signature, which is received by the handheld GPS unit. By measuring the length of time it took to receive the signal, the handheld unit can then determine its distance to the satellite.