Coverage of DGPS/Radiobeacons

Abstract

Differential GPS (DGPS)/radiobeacons are being deployed worldwide because they are a cost-effective way to broadcast DGPS corrections over relatively large areas to mobile marine users. They simply require the addition of a GPS reference station and a minimum shift keying (MSK) modulator to any existing marine radiobeacon. This paper describes the worldwide growth in the number of DGPS/radiobeacons, and it details an algorithm that estimates the coverage of an individual DGPS/radiobeacon. It also includes an appendix that addresses forward error correction and data compression for DGPS/radiobeacons.