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Course 346: GPS/GNSS Operation for Engineers & Technical Professionals

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Course 346: GPS/GNSS Operation for Engineers & Technical Professionals: Principles, Technology, Applications and Intro to Basic DGPS Concepts

Instructor: Dr. Chris Hegarty, MITRE
This course is also available for private group training | 2.4 CEUs
This course will be taught REMOTELY | November 18-21, 2024 & April 7-10, 2025 | 9:00-4:30 Eastern Standard Time | $2899

Course Description

Take this 4-day course to gain a comprehensive understanding of GPS/GNSS system concepts, design and operation, including information on GPS signal processing by the receiver; techniques by which GPS obtains position, velocity and time and a brief introduction to differential GPS (DGPS) and Kalman filtering. This course is similar to Course 356 (5 days), but with less emphasis on DGPS and Kalman filtering. (Note: The first two days are the same as Course 122. Course 346 expands on the concepts introduced in 122.) Student discounts available for select public courses. See registration form for details.

In this course you will gain —

  • A comprehensive introduction to GPS, system concepts, design, operation, implementation and applications and a brief introduction to differential GPS (DGPS).
  • Detailed information on the GPS signal, its processing by the receiver, and the techniques by which GPS obtains position, velocity and time.
  • Current information on the status, plans, schedule and capabilities of GPS, as well as of other satellite-based systems with position velocity and time determination applications.
  • Information to fill in technical information gaps for working in the GPS and GNSS fields.

Prerequisites

  • Familiarity with engineering terms and analysis techniques. General familiarity with matrix operations and familiarity with signal processing techniques is desirable.

Who Should Attend?

  • Excellent for engineering staff who need to be rapidly brought up to speed on GPS and for those already working in GPS who need exposure to the system as a whole in order to work more effectively.

Materials You Will Keep

  • A color electronic copy of all course notes provided in advance on a USB drive or CD-ROM.
  • Ability to use Adobe Acrobat sticky notes on electronic course notes.
  • NavtechGPS Glossary of GNSS Acronyms.
  • A black and white hard copy of the course notes.
  • A textbook from the list below.

Course Fee Entitles You to One of the Following Books

  • Understanding GPS: Principles and Applications, 3rd ed., Elliott Kaplan & Chris Hegarty, Eds., Artech House, 2017, OR
  • Global Positioning System: Signals, Measurement and Performance, P. Misra and P. Enge, 2nd ed., 2011, OR
  • Engineering Satellite-Based Navigation & Timing: GNSS, Signals and Receivers, John Betz, Ph.D.
  • GPS Basics for Technical Professionls, P. Misra, 2019.
  • Introduction to GPS: the Global Positioning System, 2nd Ed., A. El-Rabbany, 2006. 
  • Note: This textbook offer does not apply to private group contracts. Any books for group contracts are negotiated on a case by case basis.
Course: 346
Remote Presentation, Fall 2022

I think the course was effective in helping me understand the most complex aspects of the technology. Also, it helped me to see some topics from a different perspective, providing excellent food for thought.

— Luca Cabriolu, Telit
Course: 346
Remote Presentation, Fall 2022

My main objectives were to learn general GNSS topics and definitions. It completely met my expectations. The quality of the instructor and material was, in my opinion, excellent.

— Payam Nazemzadeh, Septentrio
Course: 346
Remote Presentation, Fall 2022

Chris has some really great analogies for complex parts of GNSS. I also appreciated him asking questions that facilitate engagement.

I have been working with GNSS receivers for several months now, but the course really helped me gain a deeper understanding of code-based vs carrier-based measurements. I also found the analysis of how different aspects of a GNSS receiver influence accuracy to be especially useful.

— David Ashbrook, ST Microelectronics
Course: 346
Remote Presentation, Fall 2022

I was very pleased with the instructor’s teaching style. Dr. Hegarty was very organized and handled all questions completely. The class was only four days and it covered everything I was interested in to the appropriate detail. If anything, slightly more coverage of non-GPS constellations as our work at Samsung involves. 

There were not technical “hiccups” or anything like that over the course of four days. Mr. Boynton moderated and helped keep things perfectly on schedule.

— William Schintler, Samsung Semiconductor
Course: 346
Remote Presentation, Fall 2022

Dr. Hegarty is really good and I like his teaching style. His style was very effective. Good balance between theory and math. Solid understanding of the GPS system and its vulnerabilities.

— Achala Perera, New Zealand Defence Force
Course: 346
Patuxent River, MD

The teaching style was excellent! Well presented from an engineering perspective, also high enough level for a non-engineer who is math knowledgable. Really liked how Chris introduced live scenarios and how theory is applied to actual equipment.

— Eric Velez, US Navy
Course: 346
Patuxent River, MD

The course met all of my objectives. The emphasis placed on alternate GNSS systems and carrier phase techniques was extremely helpful having not had formal training in years.

— John Ball, US Navy
Course: 346
Remote Course, November 2021

The teaching style was very good. Dr. Hegarty was very effective at taking a massive amount of information and presenting it in a clear and well-paced manner even with the challenge of the virtual format.

— Ryan Burgess, US Army
Course: 346
Remote Course, April 2021

I am an electrical engineer who has recently started a new job in the GPS world and was looking for a course to learn GPS fundamentals to be quickly brought up to speed. My objectives were exceeded because Dr. Hegarty did a fantastic job explaining GPS fundamentals with lots of nods at electrical engineers, but most importantly, shared his invaluable practical knowledge from 30 years working in this field!

— Military Attendee, Name Withheld Upon Request, Canadian Forces
Course: 346
Remote Course, April 2021

Chris is very clear in explaining topics at hand and allows for questions when things are unclear. Even in this digital form it was an interactive course.

— Alexander Haagsma, NLR
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