Why GPS Loses Its Way Indoors

Technology · Published

Why GPS Loses Its Way Indoors · 2:10 · Intellect Plus

In short: How a GPS receiver turns timed satellite signals into a position, why foliage, buildings and reflections degrade or block it, and how corrections and multiple satellite systems fight back.

A 2:10 short film in the series “How Things Work”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.

Sources used in this film: Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Navstar Global Positioning System | navigation | Britannica”; GPS.gov (National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing, U.S. government), “GPS | GPS.gov”; U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “GPS Frequently Asked Questions | Navigation Center”; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce – Technical Note 1385, Ashby & Weiss, March 1999, “Global positioning system receivers and relativity”; GPS.gov (National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing, U.S. government), “GPS Accuracy | GPS.gov”; GPS.gov (U.S. government, National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing), archived page, “GPS.gov: GPS Accuracy”; NASA Langley Research Center (NASA Technical Reports Server), “Moore_gpsRaycastFoliage_ION2023_031623_final_review.pdf”; Sensors (MDPI), peer-reviewed journal, hosted on PubMed Central (US National Library of Medicine); authors from the University of Central Lancashire, “A Survey of 3D Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies”; Sensors (MDPI), peer-reviewed journal article by Hye-In Kim (PP-Solution Inc.) and Kwan-Dong Park (Inha University), published 29 July 2025 and hosted on PubMed Central (US National Library of Medici…, “Satellite Positioning Accuracy Improvement in Urban Canyons Through a New Weight Model Utilizing GPS Signal Strength Variability”; Sensors (MDPI), hosted by PubMed Central (US National Library of Medicine); peer-reviewed article by Kwan-Dong Park, Woong-Jun Yoon and Jong-Sung Lee (Inha University / PP-Solution Inc.), published 2…, “Reduction of Multipath Effect in GNSS Positioning by Applying Pseudorange Acceleration as Weight”; MIT OpenCourseWare (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), course 12.540 Principles of the Global Positioning System, Lecture 17 by Prof. Thomas Herring, Spring 2012 (slides dated 4/13/12), “Principles of the Global Positioning System, Lecture 17”; SenSIP Center, Arizona State University (Synthesis Lectures on Communications, Morgan & Claypool Publishers), “7.pdf”; U.S. Government (GPS.gov); WAAS Performance Standard, 1st Edition, 31 October 2008, “WAAS Performance Standard”; European Space Agency (ESA) Navipedia, article edited by GMV (2011), “Principles of Interoperability among GNSS - Navipedia”; International Committee on GNSS (ICG) Working Group B Space Use Subgroup (presenters from the European Commission, NASA and JAXA), slides for the CGSIC International Information Subcommittee meeting …, “Update on the Interoperable GNSS Space Service Volume”.

Sources used in this film

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