Even while India is definitely behind schedule in developing its own satellite navigation system, it represents a significant advancement as so far only a small number of nations have joined the privileged group. If you didn’t know, India has declared that its autonomous satellite navigation system is now available for use by the general public after seven years of intensive development, testing, and review. Commercial cellphones, fitness trackers, and automobiles equipped with the NavIC positioning system will be available as of this year. It will essentially replace GPS, which will be intriguing to observe, at least in India. So, if you want to understand what NavIC is and how it differs from GPS, read our explainer in detail.
India s NavIC System Explained
What is NavIC: A Brief Introduction
Before we get too technical, let’s define what NavIC means. The abbreviation NavIC, which stands for Navigation with Indian Constellation, is a well-known nickname for India’s GPS substitute. The project is actually called IRNSS, which stands for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. You may have a vague sense of what NavIC’s goal is by this point, but allow me to elaborate.
A regional navigation satellite system called NavIC was developed by India for India. It was created by ISRO for precise real-time messaging, timing, and positioning. In essence, it serves as an alternative to the US-developed and -operated GPS (Global Positioning System). The main distinction between NavIC and GPS is that the former was created primarily for India and a few of its neighbours, whereas GPS (US) provides coverage for every location on the planet.
In order to reduce its over-reliance on US technologies, India developed its own navigation system.
How NavIC Works?
After seven years of arduous testing and development, India has officially made NavIC operational. Other nations have already installed their own navigation satellite systems. For instance, China and India both operate regional navigation systems called BeiDou, while Russia runs the global navigation system GLONASS. Europe runs the global navigation system Gallileo. While India is now concentrating on its region and its neighbours, ISRO wants to expand the coverage area worldwide in the upcoming years.
Please continue reading without worrying about the technical details since I will be using simple language to explain the NavIC satellite navigation system. First of all, NavIC now has a total of 7 satellites that are placed in a high orbit above the Earth, roughly 35k km above the surface of the planet. Additionally, every satellite has a clear view of India. By rotating the satellites at a set speed, ISRO is able to maintain a flawless line of sight. The orbital period of the Earth is exactly matched by the satellites’ rotational speed, which is one full rotation in 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds.
Of the 7 satellites, 3 orbit in a geostationary orbit and are always in line of sight with the base station in India. Four of the satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit that is inclined to the equator at a 29-degree angle. By coincidence, the motion of four satellites at the specified inclination resembles the figure of eight known in astronomy as the analemma.
NavIC vs GPS: The Future of India s Satellite Navigation System
Coverage
Returning to the NavIC satellites, each one is equipped with three Rubidium Atomic clocks, a technology that uses radio frequencies to measure distance, time, and your specific location on Earth. The important lesson to be learned from the functioning mechanism is that unlike GPS, NavIC satellites always maintain a direct line of sight with India, allowing for more penetration in dense regions, faster latching, and more accurate localization.
Let’s start by discussing coverage since it is one of the most crucial components of a satellite navigation system. As I’ve already mentioned, the NavIC regional satellite navigation system includes parts of India and some of its neighbours. Specifically, NavIC covers the entire country of India and a radius of 1500 km from its borders. As a result, NavIC’s coverage includes Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and some of northern China as well.
Satellites
In contrast, GPS has unrivalled coverage because it covers the entire planet. But let’s not forget that NavIC was created for India and will be expanding its reach in the upcoming years. To increase coverage and location accuracy, ISRO has already committed to launching 4 more satellites.
As I have indicated, GPS now has 31 operational satellites circling around the Earth, compared to NavIC’s total of 7 satellites in Earth’s orbit. The US has expanded the number of satellites for precise location mapping, even though GPS only requires 24 satellites to cover all regions. It should be mentioned that India has kept two more satellites on the ground for backup.
In addition, NavIC locates commercial cars and other items using the L5 frequency. The Standard Positioning Service is the name of this service for general users (SPS). In contrast, NavIC operates on the military’s S-band frequency, which is secure and off-limits to the general public. Restricted Service is the name of the service. For a better understanding, read the Accuracy section where I discussed the effects of various frequencies. Regarding GPS, it operates on L1 and L5 frequencies for both civilian and armed forces applications.
Accuracy
Due to its global coverage, GPS clearly has an advantage in terms of satellite count. However, if we consider frequency and security, NavIC is on par with GPS and adheres to the same protocols as the main space organisations.
The most crucial aspect of this debate between NavIC and GPS is now at hand: position accuracy. Without qualification, let me state right away that NavIC’s strongest feature is accuracy, which is superior to GPS. The reason for NavIC’s precise precision is the constant direct line of sight between the satellite and India’s territory, as I detailed in great detail in the section above on the workings of NavIC. And for India, it is the best satellite navigation system—better than GPS or any other system, in fact. One of the seven satellites orbiting in geostationary orbit, in perfect time with India’s coordinates, will always be able to see you.
In contrast to US GPS, the 31 satellites rotate around the Earth at different angles, causing you to continually latch onto one satellite after another. Acquiring the object’s position requires a lot of time. Additionally, GPS satellites rotate the Earth in 11 hours as opposed to 24 hours for NavIC satellites (approx). Because of this, the GPS satellites move at an incredible rate, causing you to continually latch from one satellite to another. This adds time and reduces accuracy. When you are in dense regions, it particularly becomes a significant issue.
Now let’s talk about mountain location accuracy. For all we know, the NavIC satellite constellation orbits the Earth at a higher altitude of about 35 km. On the other hand, GPS satellites function in a medium Earth orbit, which is located at a height of around 20 000 km. Mountains cannot interfere with NavIC satellite communications because they are located far above the Earth’s surface. However, because GPS satellites are in a medium orbit, there is a potential that mountains, particularly those on the horizon, would block the signal. As a result, NavIC has been created in a way that allows it to operate seamlessly across all of India, including the distant Himalayan mountains and the surrounding land.
The benefits and drawbacks of NavIC and GPS accuracy in India were covered in detail. Amazingly, NavIC offers a position accuracy of between 5 and 20 metres for civilian users and 0.5 metres for military purposes. GPS also has a position accuracy of less than 20 metres, however cellular triangulation can improve it. The US hasn’t revealed the accuracy of its GPS system for military usage, though.
Are There Any Issues with NavIC?
In conclusion, since NavIC always maintains a direct line of sight with India, the position accuracy is still superior to GPS, particularly in mountainous areas. While GPS has a large number of satellites, they are located in medium-orbit and travel at a quicker speed, which increases the acquisition time and location accuracy. Not to mention, GPS is more prone to position inaccuracy than NavIC in India, a country with a diversified geography.
NavIC Availability in India
Since there are no commercial products on the market currently, we do not have any user experiences to share. However, there were reports of Atomic clock failure in the NavIC satellites in 2016 and 2017. The Galileo satellites of the European Union experienced a similar occurrence. ISRO is only using one Atomic clock on each satellite and retaining the other two clocks as backups in order to avoid the problem. Further improvements have been made to the Atomic clocks on the two ground-based standby satellites.
ISRO and Qualcomm agreed to a deal in October 2019 to bring NavIC-compatible smartphones to India. The Snapdragon 720G, 662, 865, 765, and 460 processors will support NavIC soon, according to a Qualcomm announcement. In 2022, nearly all of the newest chipsets, including the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Dimensity 9000, have NavIC compatibility built-in.
However, industry officials, primarily from Apple and Samsung, are pushing back against the implementation of NavIC on their devices. Handset makers are of the opinion that it will increase changes in the hardware, will require more research, and add to their overall costs. The report also suggests that industry officials are seeking time till 2025 to implement NavIC on their smartphones. In response to the report, the Indian govt. tweeted saying that the timeline has not been fixed yet and the issue is under discussion.
Apart from smartphones, NavIC-based trackers are now required on commercial vehicles in India, meaning that all upcoming cars will be equipped with the local NavIC system. According to a Reuters report, the Indian government recently met in secret with representatives from Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other tech companies to discuss making NavIC a requirement for cellphones. According to reports, the government is pressuring manufacturers to enable NavIC on all new cellphones beginning on January 1, 2023.
Having said that, it appears that Apple will be the last company to support NavIC on iPhones, out of all the firms. Excellent work was done by Qualcomm and MediaTek in incorporating NavIC into their SoC designs. Now, all that’s required of device manufacturers is a software update to allow it. Xiaomi and Realme smartphones support NavIC, however interestingly, Samsung phones don’t even have NavIC support at all, even though the chipsets contain the hardware necessary. It appears that Apple and Samsung will both try to bribe the Indian government with extra time before integrating NavIC into their handsets.
Frequently Asked Questions
However, if you’re wanting to purchase a smartphone in India that supports NavIC right now, check out the article we’ve linked to for a list of the most recent gadgets that will do so in 2022.
Can a software update provide NavIC support?
No, is the response. The dedicated NavIC tracking module must be integrated into the smartphone SoC. If it hasn’t been enabled already, the smartphone maker can only enable the support after that.
Does Google Maps offer NavIC support?
Yes. Any navigation app, including Google Maps, doesn’t need to update its software in order to offer NavIC-based navigation. Out of the box, it will function.
How Can I Check My Smartphone’s Support for NavIC?
NavIC vs GPS: The New-Age Satellite Navigation System
On your Android smartphone, install GPSTest and GNSSTest to check NavIC compatibility. Your smartphone does support NavIC if the apps can find Indian satellites. Start the test outside for better satellite detection.
