GPS is the acronym for Global Positioning System, which in Portuguese means "Global Positioning System", and consists of satellite tracking technology.
GPS is a satellite navigation system from a mobile device, which sends information about the position of something at any time and in any weather condition.
Originally, GPS was created in 1973 to facilitate navigation systems. Currently, there are two types of satellite navigation systems: the American GPS, which initially was for military use only (and today citizens already have access) and the Russian GLONASS.
The GPS system works thanks to a set of 24 satellites circling the Earth, at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km and at a speed of almost 11,500 km/h. Anywhere in the world, the receiving device (the GPS device) captures information from a group of four of these satellites and, through the exchange of some data and algorithms, it is able to determine for the user its exact location in the map.
Nowadays, GPS is used in the most diverse aspects of people's daily lives, either as a navigation direction (in aviation, marine or automobile) or to find a location on the map.
The GPS has the main function of finding the way to a certain location, knowing the speed and direction of your displacement. Currently, this system is widely used in automobiles, with a map system that makes it much easier to find the fastest routes between two points, for example.
Also check out what it means GPS in Accounting.