egnos positionning in an android device

Question

To have a very precise accuracy in an android application I am building, I would like to use Egnos positionning. I looked the test app and the SDK but it seems that an external bluetooth antenna is required. Is there any way to make it work on an android device without any additional material ? Maybe some devices are fully egnos/waas compatible ?

Reading their doc, I also saw they use R&D algorythms to enhanced accuracy (even if it isn't in the official recommandation). Cannot these improvements be used without egnos, just with a common android GPS ?

Answer 1

The thread seems older than two years but I would kindly like to add the rows below.

As I was also answered directly by "European Satellite Services Provider (http://www.essp-sas.eu)" , Rolintocour is right that EGNOS is currently not an enabled technology on smartphones without the help of additional (external) hardwares (devices) - as it is written in the quote below.

If editors will not consider it as an ordinary advertisement, GloPos (http://www.glopos.com) has some potential to be an appropriate alternative to such precise SBAS technologies (EGNOS , WAAS etc.) if its accuracy can be enhanced more, since it does not require any additional (external) hardwares (devices).

Here "European Satellite Services Provider (http://www.essp-sas.eu)" 's answer is regarding the subject (as of June 10th,2015):

The EGNOS information can be received through two different means:

1. EGNOS Geostationary (GEO) Satellites Signal-In-Space (EGNOS Open Service) with a GPS receiver compatible with SBAS (WAAS/EGNOS). Since not many chipsets currently available in commercial smartphones are EGNOS-enabled this option might not be recommended unless you are sure your smartphone can process EGNOS.:

2. EGNOS Data Access Service (EDAS) which requires a GPS receiver/device/system providing GPS raw data and with capability for processing EDAS data and connected to the Internet.

   Unfortunately, as far as we know there are no EGNOS enabled smartphones in the market today. The smartphones are normally including a GPS chipset which provides the position solution to the operating system/application layer. In order to use EGNOS, you would need to access the EGNOS augmentation messages through an external device or, preferable, over the internet through, for instance, the EDAS SISNeT service. EDAS SISNeT provides real-time access to the EGNOS GEO satellites messages transmitted through internet using the SISNeT protocol. Please refer to the EDAS Service Definition Document for further details (http://egnos-user-support.essp-sas.eu/new_egnos_ops/?q=content/egnos-sdds).

   The second issue that you would need to tackle in order to get an EGNOS enhanced position solution with the smartphone is the access to the GPS measurements (raw data) since the EGNOS corrections are to be applied over the GPS measurements and not over the GPS position solution. Even if there are several chipsets which provide raw data as output, we are not aware of any smartphone that is currently mounting them. Hence, for the access to the GPS measurements an external receiver would be required.

   We would recommend that you visit theEGNOS toolkits section of the EGNOS portal (http://egnos-portal.gsa.europa.eu/developer-platform/egnos-toolkits); in particular, it could be of interest for you to have a look at the EGNOS SDK. The EGNOS SDK was born with the aim to provide a good start point for those willing to develop EGNOS based applications in smartphones. This is a piece of software for Android, which should ease the programming tasks for you to set up such a solution, as it includes, at least partially, the code for the interfacing with an external receiver through Bluetooth for the retrieval of GPS measurements, the connection to a SISNeT service to retrieve the EGNOS messages and the computation of the EGNOS solution. A simple user guide, including the source code, are available for download at http://egnos-portal.gsa.europa.eu/developer-platform/egnos-toolkits/egnos-sdk/download-egnos-sdk

   However, the EGNOS SDK is still not fully compatible with the EDAS SISNeT service as originally envisaged and only supports the ESA SISNeT service. Unfortunately, we are not the owners of this tool, but we are in contact with the European GNSS Agency (GSA) in order to analyse this compatibility issue and, if needed, take the appropriate measures.

   Also, the Lefebure NTRIP Client is another application which may also allow you to use an external receiver for obtaining the GPS raw data. The NTRIP Client is the piece of software you need near the rover, as a replacement for GNSS Internet Radio. It gets the data from the Internet and sends it out the serial port for the rover to use (usually by serial port).This application is available for windows PCs and android devices. As the EGNOS SDK, this application lets the user to receive data from an external GNSS receiver by the Bluetooth interface when it is used on smartphones. You can find more information at the following link: http://lefebure.com/software/ntripclient

   Another solution in order to calculate your position is RTKLib. RTKLIB is an open source program package for standard and precise positioning with GNSS. However, this tool cannot be used though smartphone, you have to launch from a computer. More information related to this tool is found at the following link: http://www.rtklib.com

   If you need any additional clarification, do not hesitate to contact us.

   Best regards,

   The EGNOS Helpdesk

Answer 2

You will receive EGNOS signals via the normal antenna. in dense city area it could sometimes happen that the device cannot see any of the both EGNOS stellites.

EGNOS is supported by todays GPS Receivers, it is enabled by default.

Where you got the info that you need an external antenna? You cannot attach a bluetooth GPS antenna, such a thing does not exist. An GPS antenna must connected by wire.

That what exists are external GPS receivers with integrated antenna, connected via bluetooth.