GPS receivers actually use "trilateration" instead of "triangulation" (which cell phone towers use). What is the difference between these two methods of finding a point in place?

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GPS receivers actually use "trilateration" instead of "triangulation" (which cell phone towers use). What is the difference between these two methods of finding a point in place?

Question #149173. Asked by BigTriviaDawg.
Last updated Mar 21 2023.
Originally posted Mar 21 2023 7:40 PM.

Triviaballer

Answer has 1 vote

Triviaballer

24 year member
136 replies avatar

Answer has 1 vote.

Trilateration utilizes distance measurements from three receivers to pinpoint a location whereas triangulation uses angles to measure an unknown distance. Interestingly, the proper term is trilateration to reference pinpointing GPS locations but triangulation is the term often used incorrectly.

https://gisgeography.com/trilateration-triangulation-gps/

Mar 21 2023, 7:48 PM

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Answer 1

Triangulation relies on known distance and angles between two measuring apparatuses.

Trilateration uses three (2D) or four (3D) fixed points to calculate a position.It does this by finding the intersection of a series of circles, like in a Venn diagram.

While trilateration relies on signal strength as an analog for distance, triangulation relies on timing differences in the reception of tags' signals. Because these signals travel at the speed of light, the time differences in transmission are very small. This makes measuring instruments more expensive.

https://www.leverege.com/blogpost/trilateration-vs-triangulation

GPS receivers actually use "trilateration" instead of "triangulation" (which cell phone towers use). What is the difference between these two methods of finding a point in place?

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