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Innovation

S. Korea develops advanced GPS to reduce errors

The differential GPS system will enable digital multimedia broadcasting devices such as car navigation systems to receive and use information in times of distress, and also reduce the margin of error from regular GPS systems.
Written by Ellyne Phneah, Contributor
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South Korea has developed a technology which will enable it to use an advanced GPS in digital multimedia broadcasting devices such as car navigation systems.

The country's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Tuesday the differential GPS (DGPS) will be made available to the public as early as next year, Yonhap News reported.

The new technology enables ordinary devices with a multimedia broadcasting system to receive and use information from the DGPS with only a change of the GPS chip to a multipurpose chip, the ministry said.

It also reduces the margin of error down to just 1 meter, compared to conventional GPS which has a margin of error of up to 37 metres.

This system can help determine the exact location of a person or ship in distress, or provide real-time locations of convicted sex criminals through a smartphone application.

"The start of the DGPS service for the public will significantly improve the accuracy of conventional location services that use the global navigation satellite system, such as personal navigation systems, which will also become a new growth engine for the related industry," Lim Hyeon-cheol, a ministry official, said in the report.

GPS developments by the South Korean government for greater security are not new. The country planned to beef up its surveillance system in April this year, against North korea's electronic jamming signals, which targeted its civilian facilities in the past.

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