Your smartphone’s GPS may soon be increasing its IQ, attaining cm-level precision. To achieve these results, researchers from University of Otago, New Zealand, in collaboration with Curtin University, Australia, combined signals from four different Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs).

“It’s all down to the mathematics we applied to make the most of the relatively low-cost technology smartphones use to receive GNSS signals, combining data from American, Chinese, Japanese, and European GNSS. We believe this new capability will revolutionize applications that require cm-level positioning,” says Otago’s Dr. Robert Odolinski.

According to Dr. Odolinski, the process to achieve cm-level precision used to consist of high-cost, dual-frequency, GPS positioning. However, errors to the signals occur as it travels from orbiting satellites to Earth-based receivers. As a result, these faults decrease precision.

The conventional workaround to this problem “is to combine GPS signals sent at two different frequencies to improve the positions, but the antennas and receivers required have been expensive, far beyond the reach of many who would benefit from the technology,” explains Dr. Odolinski.

The new strategy uses a “multi-constellation” GNSS solution by utilizing one of two frequencies, while gathering data from multiple satellites. Increasing the number of satellites and data improves results without driving up the cost.

“This significant reduction in costs when using smartphones can increase the number of receivers that can be deployed, which will revolutionize a range of disciplines requiring cm-level positioning, including precise car navigation, surveying, and geophysics (deformation monitoring), to name a few,” says Dr. Odolinski.

The full details are outlined in the research paper, “An assessment of smartphone and low-cost multi-GNSS single-frequency RTK positioning for low, medium and high ionospheric disturbance periods.”