Satellite navigation software
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Satellite navigation software or GNSS navigation software a category of software that provide positioning services by utilizing data from satellite navigation systems.
Key functions of satellite navigation software usually includes:
- Positioning: determining the device's precise location using signals from multiple satellites
- Route planning: calculating optimized route based on user needs, such as starting point, destination, and travelling mean, et cetera. This functionality could be extended to driving assistent.
- Tracking: showing where the tracked object have been. (This functionality relies past positioning data to be stored, so not just the "software" technically).
Additional functions that extends the capabilities of satellite navigation software includes:
- Searching: finding locations with addresses or GNSS coordinates (latitude and longitude).
- Traffic updates: showing real-time traffic information, enabling the software to suggest a better route during driving.
- Offline map: allowing regions of map to be pre-downloaded, enabling usage with minimal connectivity.
- Bookmarking: saves locations for later use.
Requirement
Hardware-wise, A GNSS receiver is needed to interpret satellite signals and compute the user’s location. Nowadays, it is usually a single integrated circuit (IC).
Satellite navigation software is mostly used on mobile devices, especially mobile phones, to provide the positioning functionality. For practical purposes, using solely GNSS data is not accurate enough, because of limitations of GNSS services, Assisted GNSS is used instead.
Software products
There are many navigation software products available. The primary distinction is whether it is designed for use on land, water or air.[1]
Land-based navigation software
Commercial navigation software with embedded maps
- DeLorme Street Atlas USA and Topo USA
- HERE
- Microsoft Streets and Trips (discontinued in 2014)
- Rand McNally
- Navigon
- Navman
- Magellan
- Mireo
- iGO
- ROUTE 66
- TomTom Navigator
- TomTom Mobile
- TeleType WorldNavigator
- TPL Maps [2]
- Waze
Commercial navigation software with scanned or downloaded maps and orthophotos stored in the computer (independent, stand alone system)
- OziExplorer
- GPSS
Free open source navigation software (independent stand alone system)
- OsmAnd (Android) open source, and free
- MoNav (Cross-platform) open source and free
- Navit (Cross-platform) open source and free
- OpenStreetMap (Cross-platform) open source and free
Navigation software with maps downloaded from a remote server
- Apple Maps
- Google Earth (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Google Maps (platform independent)
- Mapy.cz (Cross-platform) free
- Navit (Cross-platform) open source and free
Marine navigation software
Navigation software for use on the water has many features in common with land-based GNSS navigation software. It can use electronic navigation chart or raster charts, usually provides user ability to plan routes and set waypoints, and may have live GPS tracking capabilities. In addition, marine navigation software often has option to control external autopilot for automated boat navigation. It may incorporate GRIB weather overlay on the chart, Tide predictions and other related information services of additional use to mariners.
Free open source marine navigation software
- OpenCPN (Cross-platform) open source and free
Aeronautical navigation software
This kind of software usually creates a modern glass cockpit and uses more than just a single GNSS sensor to assist the navigation. Such sensors are Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (AHRS) and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors.
See also
- Comparison of free off-line GPS software
- Comparison of commercial GPS software
- Comparison of web map services
- Geopositioning
- GPS software-defined receiver
- Wayfinding software