As their names suggest, these two navigational systems offer global coverage, and their precision is excellent.
In this article, we have shared every bit of information that you oughta know about NavIC.
Additionally, we have even compared NavIC to the good old GPS.
Table Of Contents
What is NavIC?
Presently, NavIC covers India and a region extending 1,500 KM around it.
The coverage area of NavIC is expected to increase in the upcoming years.
The name of the project behind NavIC is IRNSS which elaborates to Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System.
ISRO might expand the NavIC system by incrementing its constellation size from 7 to 11.
According to ISRO, NavIC will be available for both military and commercial usage.
As a result, civilians can use NavIC on their smartphones, fitness bands, and vehicles.
In addition to India, many other countries like China and Europe have regional navigation systems.
The total cost of development for this project is around 22.46 billion or roughly US$315 million.
How Does NavIC Work?
These satellites rotate around earth at a fixed velocity which helps them to maintain a perfect line of sight.
All seven of these satellites consist of three Rubidium Atomic clocks.
Later the data collected by the satellites is transferred to civilians and the military.
It is worth noting that, NavIC satellites use dual frequency bands namely L5-band and S-band.
The L5 frequency is used to locate devices like smartphones, fitness trackers and commercial vehicles.
On the other hand, the S-band frequency is dedicated to military use and it is encrypted.
NavIC VS GPS?
Sadly, the atomic clock of the first satellite, IRNSS 1A, became defective.
to fix it, ISRO decided to launch IRNSS 1H, which was unsuccessful when the PSLV-C39 mission failed.
As of now, NavIC is working completely fine and its providing accurate data.
Qualcomm has released many NavIC compatible chipsets since then.
The powerful Qualcomm chipsets mentioned above will sport single-frequency receivers which can track the L5 band.
The two famous smartphone brands that have either announced or launched NavIC compatible smartphones are Xiaomi and Realme.
Can I Get NavIC Support On My Older Smartphone?
No, its impossible to get NavIC support on older smartphones as it uses a different frequency band.
As a result, its impossible to get NacIC on older phones via OTA update.
source: www.techworm.net
