Vertical accuracy

A new GPS system developed by NemeriX and Bosch Sensortec  combines barometric air pressure measurement data with GPS data to provide more accurate details of a driver’s location.

Manno, Switzerland-based NemeriX is a fabless semiconductor company specialising in developing GPS devices, while Reutlingen, Germany-based Bosch Sensortec is a manufacturer of MEMS sensors.

The company’s integrated their respective technologies into the new GPS system, which, they claim, offers more accurate results for drivers when they are navigating urban stacked road systems. The new system can, for example, identify if a vehicle is travelling on the upper or lower levels of a multi-level road.

By enabling fast and accurate determination of altitude in a way that is not possible simply by tracking a user's speed or direction, the new system can provide drivers with a timely notification of approaching exits on stacked roads, a very common situation in ‘clover leaf’ road configurations.

Even with high-performance GPS systems, typically the vertical accuracy that is achieved is significantly lower than the horizontal accuracy. This effect can be aggravated when the lower road is obstructed by the higher road. But in the new system, a typical road-to-road vertical distance of 10 metres or more can be unambiguously resolved.