As NavIC is available for civilian use over L5 band (and S band for military use), it is now offering regional coverage covering India and a region extending 1,500km around it. While American GPS, Russian GLONASS, European Union's Galileo, China's BeiDou have global coverage, i.e. all these 4 satnav services are Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). NavIC presently using only 7 satellites to cover a region centering India. As 4 out of 7 satellites are geosynchronous and remaining 3 are geostationary - as a result the satellites are always in line with Indian territories - that makes geolocation highly precise.
History of NavIC began in 1999, when US denied specific GPS data to India during Kargil war. The project of Indian GPS or IRNSS was approved in 2006, and planned to go operational by 2011. But it got delayed, eventually NavIC was launched in 2018.
Just before Indian Mobile Congress 2022 to be organized during first week of October 2022, by the end of September the Indian government requested handset makers to enable support for its homegrown navigation system NavIC on the smartphones. Though timeline was not set. The project of Indian GPS or IRNSS was approved in 2006, and planned to go operational by 2011. But it got delayed, eventually NavIC was launched in 2018.
In October 2019 Qualcomm announced its first of Snapdragon processors to support NavIC system as well as dual band satnav services (L1+L5) - Snapdragon 720G#, 662**, 460*. Later Snapdragon 865## also got L5 support i.e. NavIC support.
*Therefore all future 4xx series should support NavIC -eg, 480/480+, 4 Gen 1 (6nm) (2022).
** Therefore all future 6xx series should support NavIC -eg, 680, 690 5G, 695 5G, 6 Gen 1, 6s Gen 3.
# Therefore all future 7xx series should support NavIC -eg, 732G, 750G, 765. 765G, 768G, 778, 778G+, 780G, 7 Gen 1, 7+ Gen 2, 7s Gen 2, 7 Gen 3 (supports triband L1/L2/L5), 7+ Gen 3 (supports L1/L2C/L5).
## Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Processor was first 8 series processor to support NavIC. Next ones 865+, 870, 888, 888+, 8 Gen 1, 8+ Gen 1, 8 Gen 2 (supports triband L1/L2/L5), 8 Gen 3 (supports triband L1/L2/L5) also support NavIC.
Mediatek is another top leading shareholder of Indian chipset market who creates vfm chipsets. Initially Mediatek's 5G supported new chipset series - Dimensity 1000, 1000C, 700 support NavIC. Second generation of Dimensity chipsets - 1200, 1100, 1000+, 1000C, 900 - all support NavIC. But Dimensity 820 does not support.
Older 4G SoC Helio G99, G96 support NavIC, but Helio G36 and G91 don't support NavIC.
List of newer Mediatek Dimensity SoCs which support NavIC:
6020 (previously 700), 6080 (previously 810), 6100+, 6300, 7020 (previously 930), 7025, 7030 (previously 1050), 7050 (previously 1080), 7200, 7300, 7300X, 7350, 8000, 8020 (previously 1100), 8050, 8100, 8200, 8250, 8300, 9000, 9000+, 9200, 9200+, 9300, 9300+. (as of July 20, 2024).
Just before Indian Mobile Congress 2022 to be organized during first week of October 2022, by the end of September the Indian government requested handset makers to enable support for its homegrown navigation system NavIC on the smartphones. Though timeline was not set. Later the timeline was set at December, 2025.
Apple is yet to support NavIC, and I really don't care about Apple's smartphone. But by end of 2023 Apple has made good business in India. From iPhone 15 Pro series (powered by A17 Pro Bionic SoC) iPhones start to support NavIC. Though iPhone 15 and 15 Plus (A16 Bionic SoC) don't support NavIC. Interestingly iPhone 15 series is being produced in India and cost is hugely lower than iPhone 15 Pro - iPhone 15 starts at Rs 70K while iPhone 15 Pro starts at Rs 1.35L (as per July 2024). If you compare those prices in UAE - iPhone 15 starts from AED 3399 (approx Rs 78K) and iPhone 15 Pro starts from AED 4299 (approx Rs 99K).
Exynos SoCs by Samsung itself also don't support IRNSS. But Samsung also started offering NavIC support on their Exynos SoC but many of their phones don't mention whether it is GPS supported or not. F54, F14, M54, M14, S23 Series support NavIC and I guess the list is larger as Samsung often does not mention NavIC but mention dual band GPS support (L1/L5).
Tensor chips of Google Pixel - does it support NavIC? Earlier ones did not but Tensor G3 powered Pixel 8, 8 Pro and 8a - all support NavIC in India while it may lock NavIC option in other areas. (source: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7158570?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-fold)
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| Image Credit: Gemini AI |
Comparison of GPS (US) vs NavIC/IRNSS (India):
|
|
GPS |
NavIC/IRNSS |
|
Operated by |
United States
Space Force |
Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) |
|
Owned by |
United States
government |
Government of
India |
|
Operates over |
L1 and L5
bands |
L5 and S
bands S band for army
use |
|
Coverage |
global |
Regional – complete
India and 1500km from the borders |
|
No. of
satellites |
32
(operational 31) |
8
(operational 7) |
|
Types of
satellites |
GPS
satellites are geosynchronous and are stationed at medium-orbit (20k KM) and
cruising at a faster velocity - results in longer acquisition time and
relatively inaccurate positioning. |
4 satellites are
geosynchronous and remaining 3 are geostationary at a higher altitude of 36,000
km – so satellites are in direct line with earth objects, results in quicker
latch-on time, or Time to First Fix (TTFF) or more accurate positioning. Keeping
them in higher locations helps to avoid signal block by mountains. |
|
Geolocation
accuracy |
< 20
meters for general use (can be better with cellular triangulation) Army use
accuracy - unknown |
5-10 meters
for civilians and 0.5 meters for military use |
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