ABI predicts centimeter-level accurate GNSS in Automotive by 2021

Date: 22/09/2016
ABI Research finds global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receivers will become a reality in the driverless cars, drones and even Smartphone markets at lower cost with exactness by 2021. For the completion of driver safety systems, the precise GNSS receiver adoption is utmost required in terms of the centimeter-level accuracy. It is essential with the additional autonomous vehicles that motivate the automotive industry to a higher level.

Patrick Connolly, Principal Analyst at ABI Research says, “There is a variety of competing technologies currently under investigation by the automotive industry, but ABI Research forecasts it will move to a hybridized approach, combining LIDAR, HD maps, sensor fusion, machine vision, and precision GNSS”. “As the receivers’ average selling price drops below $50, we expect to see a more immediate market for location technology services, such as AR Heads Up Displays (HUDs), in high-end vehicles. Vehicle-to-Vehicle, or V2V, communication might constitute another use case for high-precision GNSS.”

Autonomous unmanned vehicles (AUVs) along commercial and consumer devices have an option of utilizing low-cost, precision GNSS receivers as identified by ABI Research besides autonomous vehicles. ABI Research finds the cost to be one of the most addressable inhibitors to market growth today nevertheless the average selling prices of such GNSS receivers is $1,000 and that continues to increase.

Connolly continues, “Precision GNSS achieves sub-meter accuracy through a variety of methods, including a network of reference stations”. “The biggest question mark today is not cost-related, but instead how to achieve reliable, worldwide satellite navigation coverage to support correction techniques, such as real time kinematic, or RTK, and precise point positioning, or PPP. This is an extremely expensive undertaking, with currently no guarantee of a return on investment.”

Further analysis shared by the ABI includes:

Crowd funded startups to Internet giants making way for competition in the market location technologies mirrors the level of the opportunity. GNSS receiver vendors like Trimble and Novatel having the intellectual property, engineering experience and ownership of correction networks with traditional precision.
U-Blox and Skytraq lead the way by developing low-cost single frequency PPP and RTK receivers with a clear roadmap toward dual-frequency in the consumer GNSS receiver market. ST Microelectronics, Broadcom, and Qualcomm appear active in this space Unlike GNSS providers.

Start-ups like North Surveying, NVS Technologies, REACH, and Swift Navigation continue to disrupt the industry, bringing low-cost precision receivers to market. Their goal is to hit an ASP below $100 in the near future. And Radiosense is a startup that received a lot of attention for its previous work concerning precision GNSS on smart phones. It is now working on automotive solutions in a pilot in Austin, Texas. Locata has the potential to be the wildcard in the deck, working on a powerful synchronization and location technology that may find its way into consumer technologies by 2021.

By 2021, consumer technologies incorporate powerful synchronization and location technology working along Locata having the potential to be the wildcard on the platform. Start-ups like North Surveying, NVS Technologies, REACH, and Swift Navigation continue to suspend the industry by bringing low-cost precision receivers to market. Their goal is to hit an ASP below $100 in the near future. Radiosense startup received a lot of attention for its previous work concerning precision GNSS on smart phones.

Connolly concludes, “Most interesting in the location technology competitive landscape is the involvement of Internet giants Google and Alibaba”. “Google recently announced it will make GPS pseudoranges available to developers, which, although extremely nascent, could open up the door for a lot of innovation. And in China, Alibaba is a major partner in the roll-out of Continuous Operating Reference Stations, or CORS, networks in the region”.

Author: Srinivasa Reddy N
Header ad