Chronos Technology partners with Syntony GNSS to offer GNSS Underground Coverage

Delivering GNSS underground coverage in tunnels, stations, car parks, bus stations & airports.

Chronos Technology, a company that delivers resilient synchronisation and timing solutions for critical national infrastructure, has formed a partnership with Syntony GNSS, a leader and expert in the design and manufacture of GNSS systems, to deliver underground GNSS positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions for critical infrastructure applications in the UK.

GNSS coverage has become fundamental to many services from emergency services to asset tracking for example. Yet when entering an underground area such as a metro/subway, tunnel, car park, airport, or bus station for example, the GNSS signal is lost.  Syntony's SubWAVE™ solution expands the GNSS coverage to underground areas enabling the localisation of any equipment with a standard GNSS chipset, ie standard smartphone, TETRA or future Emergency Services Network handset, used for security (locate emergency calls, keep track of staff), maintenance (locate faults in tunnels, asset management) and services (locate trains, provide guidance).

By emitting a perfect emulation of the "real" GNSS signal, SubWAVE™ offers underground operators, their staff, emergency services and the general public the benefit of full GNSS coverage in all underground areas for both operational and safety reasons. One fundamental aspect is the user only needs a standard GNSS receiver (ie smartphone or TETRA radio); no new handsets, receivers or apps are required. The system operates by broadcasting synthetic location specific GNSS signals through existing or new leaky feeder cables in the tunnels. Accuracy levels vary with leaky feeder and system complexity options, however, 2 metre accuracy is possible with a standard smartphone.

The system is widely installed in the Stockholm metro and is in active trials throughout Europe and America.