Challenges and Opportunities in Mass Market RTK

Allystar’s GNSS SoC with built-in dual-frequency Real Time Kinematic (RTK) solution is presented in this paper. This is the lowest power and smallest size RTK solution available on the GNSS market. The Allystar RTK solution supports multiple signal configurations such as GPS L1/L2C, BeiDou B1I/B2I or GPS L1/L5, and Galileo E1/E5a. Allystar RTK engine also provides highly accurate and stable performance. Its characteristics are analyzed and compared in this paper to other competitors’ receivers. Test results obtained under different static and kinematic scenarios show promising performance with high fixing rate and low level of position errors. The focus is on harsh multipath and signal blockages environments as is a common use case for low-power low-cost receivers. After discussing Allystar RTK solution, a general overview is presented about the challenges and opportunities in mass market RTK solutions. The focus is on the availability of suitable corrections and hardware limitations the situation is expected to be improved in the coming years due to the growing support for the L5 band in RTK networks and availability of next generation mass market hardware such as the Allystar Cynosure IV architecture. This will result in the availability of RTK solutions for a wider range of users who cannot afford the cost, size, and high-power consumption of traditional OEM boards.