The device is more precise and has an accuracy of only 10 centimeters
A navigation system that will compete with GPS is ready: it is more precise and has an accuracy of only 10 centimeters . The new system is perfect for use in self-driving vehicles , but also for communications based on quantum technologies and next-generation mobile communication systems .
The new system, called SuperGps, designed by the Vrije University of Amsterdam and published in the journal Nature, is independent of satellites and is very effective in cities since its signal is not obstructed by buildings. Much of everyday infrastructure is based on GPS systems, whose signals are, however, very weak when they arrive on Earth and prevent accurate positioning in urban contexts as they are reflected or blocked by buildings.
Jeroen Koelemeij and his team have been trying to develop an alternative based on mobile telecommunication networks . SuperGps can, thanks to the already existing fiber optic network, connect the mobile network to an extremely precise atomic clock . In this way, the positioning data is transmitted in a perfectly synchronized manner.
With this technique we can transform the network into a nationally distributed atomic clock, accurate to a billionth of a second.
Erik Dierikx of the National Metrology Institute in Delft, co-author of the study
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