PHP GPS Parser (NMEA / GPRMC)

I have a QSTARZ bluetooth GPS device which I paired with my Macbook pro. This code should work on any Mac/Linux operating system. Depending on your device, you may need to adjust the GPS location – currently it’s hardcoded to /dev/tty.iBT-GPS-SPPslave

This code is able to grab the most important information, convert from degrees, minutes and seconds to decimal and create a Google map link that shows the location. It’s part of a bigger project that I’m working on but will operate perfectly fine on its own.

<?php

// Converts DMS ( Degrees / minutes / seconds ) 
// to decimal format longitude / latitude
function DMStoDEC($dms, $longlat){

	if($longlat == 'lattitude'){
		$deg = substr($dms, 0, 2);
		$min = substr($dms, 2, 8);
		$sec = '';
	}
	if($longlat == 'longitude'){
		$deg = substr($dms, 0, 3);
		$min = substr($dms, 3, 8);
		$sec='';
	}
	

    return $deg+((($min*60)+($sec))/3600);
}   

//Set timezone
date_default_timezone_set('Asia/Manila');

//Connect to GPS
$gps = fopen("/dev/tty.iBT-GPS-SPPslave", "r+");


//Read data from GPS
while($gps){
	$buffer = fgets($gps);
	if(substr($buffer, 0, 6)=='$GPRMC'){
		echo $buffer."\n";
	
		$gprmc = explode(',',$buffer);
		$data['timestamp'] = strtotime('now');
		$data['sat_status'] = $gprmc[2];

		$data['lattitude_dms'] = $gprmc[3];
		$data['lattitude_decimal'] = DMStoDEC($gprmc[3],'lattitude');
		$data['lattitude_direction'] = $gprmc[4];
		
		$data['longitude_dms'] = $gprmc[5];
		$data['longitude_decimal'] = DMStoDEC($gprmc[5],'longitude');
		$data['longitude_direction'] = $gprmc[6];
		
		$data['speed_knots'] = $gprmc[7];

		$data['bearing'] = $gprmc[8];
		
		$data['google_map'] = 'http://maps.google.com/maps?q='.$data['lattitude_decimal'].','.$data['longitude_decimal'].'+(PHP Decoded)&iwloc=A';
	
		print_r($data);
		echo "\n\n";
	}
}


?>