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Science & Tech.
Mahesh

28/09/22 13:20 PM IST

Made-in-India smartphones to be compatible with NavIC from 2023

In News 
  • A recent report claimed that the government is pushing tech giants to make smartphones compatible with the home-grown navigation system within months.
About NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation)
  • It is India’s regional navigation satellite System (IRNSS) similar to US GPS operationalized in 2018.
  • It provides accurate domestic navigation services to a 1500km radius over the sub-continent.
  • IRNSS consists of eight satellites, three satellites in geostationary orbit and five satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
  • NavIC was approved in 2006, but it went into full operations in 2018 with seven satellites covering the entire territory of India.
  • NavIC has three Geostationary satellites and four geosynchronous satellites situated in much higher orbits.
  • NavIC satellites provide dual frequency bands (L5-band and S-band), which is why the system is relatively more accurate than GPS.
  • The NavIC System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 metre in the primary service area.
Concerns
  • The smartphone makers, including Apple, Xiaomi, and Samsung reportedly fear enabling NavIC support in their devices would increase production costs significantly.
  • Besides, the January 2023 deadline seems too strict for the companies as they claim implementing such technology would require “more testing clearances.”
  • Moreover, supporting NavIC requires new chipsets and other hardware changes, and most companies are “already prepared for models to be launched in 2024.”
  • Another concern of tech companies is related to the frequency on which the NavIC system operates. 
NavIC vs GPS
  • With seven satellites, NavIC is considered to be at par with GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo.
  • The GPS needs nearly 24 operational satellites and has 31 satellites in orbit. All 55 satellites are geosynchronous satellites, which means that they do not remain stationary in space regarding the revolving earth.
  • Navic has 3 geostationary satellites and 4 geosynchronous satellites which are placed in much higher orbits due to which the signal is less prone to obstructions.
  • The GPS uses a single frequency band while the NavIC satellites use dual frequency bands (L5-band and S-band), which is why the system is relatively more accurate than GPS.
  • NavIC is designed to provide an absolute position accuracy of fewer than 10 meters on the Indian landmass and less than 20 meters on the Indian Ocean.
  • The accuracy of the Standard Positioning Service is 20 meters for both GPS and NavIC.
Source- Times Now 

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