An Interactive Introduction to GPS Signal Processing

The best part of engineering is being given a tough problem to solve as a team. My goal is to capture that experience and also teach students about my field of GPS signal processing along the way.

In each of the meetings, students will be presented with a difficult task and will spend the period working together to solve it. The vibe will be something close to a hackathon. The instructor is present as a resource to answer questions and occasionally guide the discussion, but this is meant to be almost entirely an interactive investigation. Bring your thinking caps!

The first session of the course will be somewhat high level: "Using 1970s-level technology, design a system that allows users to determine their position with meter-level accuracy anywhere on Earth." Students will iterate on ideas, see what works and doesn't work, and come away with an intuitive grasp of why GPS was designed the way that it was.

The second session will be focused on finding the GPS signals. The instructor will provide a data file with real GPS signals present and give a brief explanation of the structure of the signal. Students will be tasked with finding the signal and will naturally discover the crucial properties of the signal along the way.

In the third and fourth sessions, the students will track the signals and use them to produce a position solution.

Clarifying note: GPS is the thing that tells you where you are; navigation software (Google Maps, Waze, etc.) that are colloquially called GPS is a different thing. You will be disappointed if you show up wanting to learn how to make a map to the grocery store.

Who is this course for? I am designing it for people with a STEM background, and the latter three lessons will involve a decent bit of programming. There are no firm requirements though, and all are welcome.

Spoiler policy: Students will be investigating the way that GPS works, and so the way that GPS actually works is something of a spoiler for the course. I suggest not reading anything about GPS prior to showing up for the course.

How much does it cost? $20/session, or $80 total. Life gets busy, and this is purely a mechanism to incentivize attending the sessions once you have signed up. I will happily refund the entire cost of the course if you attend all four sessions.