Noccela demonstrates UWB positioning for smartphones

Noccela has deployed an ultra-wideband (UWB) network in which a smartphone works out its own precise position indoors, in the same way that GPS works outdoors.

UWB has been used for years in industrial positioning, with accuracy up to 10 cm. It is now also built into consumer devices: digital car keys use it because it is more secure than Bluetooth, and item finders use it to point the way to a lost object.

How it works

In Noccela’s industrial systems, tags exchange messages with base stations (UWB anchors), and a positioning engine calculates where each tag is. The smartphone network reverses the direction. The base stations send signals, and the phone uses them to calculate its own location on the device.

No cloud service is involved, so the network does not know where the phone is, and indoor navigation can be completely anonymous. The user can still choose to share their location, for example to use a service at the site.

What it could be used for

International customers are testing the network for guiding passengers to the right place in mass transit terminals. Other possible uses:

• shopping centres, trade fairs and sports arenas, where services and products can be brought straight to the visitor
• simpler route finding in large buildings
• payments and orders triggered by precise location, which can remove queues

GPS changed food delivery and taxi services within a decade. Precise indoor location could do the same for services inside buildings.

See it in Helsinki

The network was shown at the Teknologia 23 trade fair in Helsinki, which opened on 7 November 2023.

Status

This was a technology demonstration. For the products available today, see products. To learn how UWB positioning methods differ, read TWR vs TDoA vs AoA.