The GPS system consists of 24 satellites. 1994 completed. At present, the global coverage of GPS has reached about 98%. As of 20 18, the total number of people using smartphones in the world exceeded 3 billion. 98% means that about 2.94 billion people in the United States use GPS systems, but smartphones need GPS chips. To produce chips, they need to support the chip licensing fee of GPS operators. Except the United States, other countries need to pay a large patent fee when developing GPS navigation software.
It is conceivable that every intelligent terminal with GPS system needs to pay a certain patent or authorization fee. When each user buys a mobile phone. In fact, the sales price includes the GPS authorization fee, but the price is very small after cost sharing. But the unit price multiplied by the sales volume. It must be a great gain.
The United States has always pursued a global hegemonic strategy, and market monopoly has promoted political strategy. The free introduction of GPS system can make GPS system accumulate a large number of users, occupy a certain market and cause monopoly. Soft power of science and technology is also the embodiment of national strength.
On the other hand, the military field needs the support of satellite system, and fist is the last word. Powerful GPS can give the US military a deterrent.
At present, there are four giant satellite navigation systems in the world, the first one is GPS in the United States, and the second one is Beidou satellite system in China. The third is GLONASS of Russia. The fourth is Galileo in Europe.
Some humble opinions for your reference.
Engaged in internet development for many years, welcome everyone to harass.
Why is the GPS that the United States spent hundreds of billions of dollars to build available to people all over the world for free?
When it comes to GPS, everyone will immediately think of driving with GPS navigation; Travel, watch the map navigation on the mobile phone;
Call takeaway, drip taxi; Appointment, party place * * * enjoy; Exercise step by step ... now our daily life cannot be separated from GPS.
GPS is a satellite navigation system built by the United States in 1970s, which took more than 20 years.
First of all, GPS is an important military infrastructure, which is mainly used for three-dimensional navigation and positioning of troops.
For example, the navigation and positioning of naval vessels, air force aircraft, army vehicles, tanks and artillery, as well as the precise positioning of targets to be attacked.
Secondly, it is also a civil infrastructure.
In addition to the familiar mobile phone positioning and navigation, GPS is also widely used in road traffic management, which can reduce road congestion, improve the speed of high-speed rail, and realize unmanned driving and unmanned examiner driving test.
GPS is also widely used in meteorology, maritime and water transportation, air transportation, emergency rescue and so on.
It is common sense that the United States has invested so much money in such useful things that it will sell them to other countries that want to use them at high prices.
But this time, the United States, uncharacteristically, provided the world with free GPS for civilian use. Even anti-American ones can be used. Aren't you afraid of anti-American people hitting the United States with American-made GPS?
You know, because of the trade deficit, the United States feels that it has suffered, and trade wars are being fought everywhere. Is it really so generous that people all over the world can enjoy the GPS it spent a lot of money to build for free? Are Americans really doing good deeds?
Of course not!
There is no free lunch in the world, let alone an American who can sell it at a high price.
So why do Americans give GPS to the whole world for free? Because:
First, not free.
When we turn on the radio, we can hear the sound wherever the sound wave signal reaches, but we can't control who can hear it and who can't.
So is GPS. It just sends a signal, and I don't know who received it. I wonder who got the signal asking for money.
If you can't control others to receive the signal, then encrypt the signal so that others can't decipher it, okay? Sure! But simple encrypted signals are easy to decipher and have no effect.
Complex encryption costs a lot of money, and the amount of information sent by satellites is very large, most of which is worthless.
If all the signals are encrypted in a complicated way so that people can't easily transcode and decrypt them, the accumulated money is a bottomless pit, which may be dozens of times more expensive than the construction cost.
Therefore, the United States simply be generous, only encrypt military codes, and provide all unencrypted civil code signals for free use.
Second, free is to get other things he wants.
Because it is free, more people use it, so that the United States can locate all the people and things that use GPS.
By inputting the database, the United States can clearly display the topography, any roads, buildings and so on of all countries in the world. In order to know everything about other countries.
When a country or region relies on GPS for civil, commercial, government, scientific research and even some military purposes, the United States can intervene in this country and region through the GPS system.
At this time, GPS became an alternative weapon in the hands of the United States. The United States was unhappy, so it cut off the GPS signal over a certain country or region.
At this time, drivers who are used to navigation will either crash or detour, and may not find the place to go.
High-speed rail, train, plane and ship have no navigation and positioning, so they can't be dispatched scientifically and may even collide. All traffic is close to paralysis, social production and life order is chaotic, and social unrest follows.
Moreover, the United States only opens the civil code of GPS to the whole world, and its accuracy is ten times worse than that of the US military. If there is a real war with the United States, they will stop the civil code service of GPS, and only they can use the military code.
This is what the United States did in the first Gulf War. A large number of missiles from the United States accurately bombed military sites in Iraq.
Most of the Scud missiles launched by Iraq to Saudi Arabia and Israel missed or deviated from their targets! -because the United States closed the GPS navigation system window in Iraq.
If the United States has been using civilian codes instead of deception codes, missiles aimed at the enemy may fly to its own head, which is even more terrible.
Once the military equipment of other countries depends on the GPS system of the United States, they will only be passively beaten, which is another advantage of providing free lunch.
Third, the huge business opportunities brought by free.
Free GPS drives the whole navigation industry, and the signal is free, but the terminal equipment that receives the signal, such as navigator and mobile phone, has to be bought, and the chip used by the terminal equipment manufacturer has to pay the patent fee to the chip design company.
Although simple encrypted signals can be deciphered without spending much money, it is much more expensive for manufacturers to develop and produce independently than to buy chips. Most manufacturers choose to buy chips directly in order to make more money.
So every GPS device we use, such as mobile phone and navigator, includes the money paid by the manufacturer for the GPS chip when we buy it.
A chip doesn't cost much, but water keeps flowing. Think about how many mobile phones are made in the world a year? The chips and core technologies all over the world are controlled by the United States, and only one chip makes the United States earn a lot of money.
In short, free GPS does not need to increase research and construction costs, but also saves encryption costs;
Under the banner of contributing to the world and assuming the responsibility of being a powerful country, smart Americans will certainly choose free while winning world praise, earning huge sums of money through other channels and other ulterior interests.
The main reason is that the United States spent a lot of money, manpower and time to develop GPS, which took 30 years and hundreds of billions to develop. GPS is a strategic technology, which plays a great role in promoting civil and military affairs. Of course, the United States does not want other countries to have it, so it is best to be unique. In order to prevent other countries from developing, the United States opened GPS for free. And even if the United States is open, it has great decision-making power. If there is a war, the United States can interfere with other countries' use of GPS and even cut off links. Other countries can also use GPS as a technology penetration. In short, the United States will not be so kind to you, and there will be no pie in the sky.