‘SuperGPS’ Network Positioning Technology Will Find Your Location Within Centimeter | The Most Accurate Positioning Network

SuperGPS will replace current positioning network. Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are widely used for navigation and time distribution, features that are indispensable for critical infrastructure such as mobile communication networks, as well as emerging technologies such as automated driving and sustainable energy grids.

Here we demonstrate a terrestrial positioning system that is independent of GNSS and offers superior performance through a constellation of radio transmitters, connected and time-synchronized at the subnanosecond level through a fibre-optic Ethernet network.

Using optical and wireless transmission schemes similar to those encountered in mobile communication networks, and exploiting spectrally efficient virtual wideband signals, the detrimental effects of multipath propagation are mitigated, thus enabling robust decimetre-level positioning and subnanosecond timing in a multipath-prone outdoor environment.

This work provides a glimpse of a future in which telecommunication networks provide not only connectivity but also GNSS-independent timing and positioning services with unprecedented accuracy and reliability.

SuperGPS In Experiment

“We realized that with a few cutting-edge innovations, the telecommunication network could be transformed into a very accurate alternative positioning system that is independent of GPS,” says physicist Jeroen Koelemeij from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

“We have succeeded and have successfully developed a system that can provide connectivity just like existing mobile and Wi-Fi networks do, as well as accurate positioning and time distribution like GPS.”

In a test site with six radio transmitters, the researchers were able to demonstrate their system in action across an area of 660 square meters (7,104 square feet). The timings of the transmitted radio signals can be measured and interpreted to gauge distance, which then reveals the position of individual devices.

One of the key components of the new network positioing system is a synchronized atomic clock: perfect timing means more precise positioning. Essentially, the fiber optic cables act as connections that keep everything in sync, and accurate to one billionth of a second.

The SuperGPS system also deploys a radio signal bandwidth that’s much larger than normal – although as radio spectrum bandwidth is expensive due to its scarcity, the team used several small bandwidth radio signals combined together to form a larger virtual bandwidth for the network communication.

“This work provides a glimpse of a future in which telecommunication networks provide not only connectivity but also GNSS-independent timing and positioning services with unprecedented accuracy and reliability,” the researchers state in their published paper.

Source: Nature.com