News

New STW project: "SuperGPS"

• Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Gerard Janssen acquired, with his colleagues Jeroen Koelemeij (VU Amsterdam, PI) and Christian Tiberius (CiTG), a new STW project called SuperGPS.

The project addresses the problem that currently, GPS is not sufficiently accurate and reliable to enable autonomous driving. The central question is: "?How do we realize highly accurate and reliable positioning using extremely accurate time-frequency reference signals, distributed through hybrid optical-wireless networks??.

The project aims at a hybrid optical-wireless system for accurate positioning, navigation, and network synchronization, to complement or even replace satellite navigation technology. This system is accomplished through a terrestrial grid of radio antenna ?pseudolites?, synchronized with extreme accuracy through the fiber-optic telecommunications network. The key deliverable of the project is a pilot demonstration of SuperGPS technology under real-life circumstances.

The technology will be developed with support and feedback from potential users in telecommunications (Royal KPN N.V.), mobility (TNO and Volvo), and Dutch high-tech manufacturers, as well as stakeholders from the scientific and R&D community, including the Dutch metrology institute VSL, the Dutch ?keepers of atomic time? UTC, and physicists and astronomers in need of better time and frequency signals.