Assessment of android smartphones positioning in multi-GNSS/NavIC environment

Abstract Positioning performance validates a smartphone’s antenna and chipset performance. This paper attempts to characterize the positioning performance of smartphones with dual-frequency GNSS chipsets compared to their counterparts using single-frequency chipsets. Furthermore, investigate the positioning performance of dual-frequency measurements using the NavIC L5 signal. A comparison of satellite geometry and position solution accuracy in relation to a known reference station is performed. The single-frequency positioning accuracy with 2DRMS (horizontal root mean square error) is about 5.11 m. Although, 2DRMS with dual-frequency measurements is 2.0 m. However, with the integration of NavIC with dual frequency measurements, the best position accuracy with 2DRMS is about 1.93 m over the observed location. It has been observed that single-frequency measurements can offer a MRSE (mean radial spherical error) precision of 2.75 m, whereas their dual-frequency counterparts can yield a precision of about 1.11 m, and with NavIC integration, it is around 1.05 m. During the observations, it should be noted that the NavIC L5 signals have modestly enhanced the positioning precision of smartphones. This analysis could be useful for fundamental Android GNSS research, smartphone positioning service and training communities.