LGU+, "Ultra-Precise Positioning Technology Expanded to Autonomous Driving and Smart Ports"

LG Uplus employees are introducing the advantages of the U+ Ultra-Precision Positioning service.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] LG Uplus announced on the 11th that it will expand its ultra-precise positioning technology from golf services to autonomous driving and smart ports.

The U+ Ultra-Precise Positioning service, provided to corporate customers since March, is a solution that can verify the location information of moving devices at the centimeter (cm) level. The existing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) method, commonly known as ‘GPS,’ uses only satellite information, which causes signal delays passing through the ionosphere and troposphere, resulting in errors of up to several tens of meters (m). The U+ Ultra-Precise Positioning service corrects this to the cm level using real-time kinematic (RTK) technology.

RTK technology consists of a ‘reference station’ that serves as a benchmark with absolute position values such as latitude, longitude, and altitude; an ‘RTK server’ that generates correction information by comparing the reference station’s absolute position values with those measured via satellites; and an ‘RTK receiver’ that calculates the correction information generated by the RTK server with the satellite-measured device position to perform cm-level positioning. Since the reference station is used to generate correction information for accurate positioning, having more reference stations results in more accurate ultra-precise positioning information.

According to the ‘2021 Location Information Industry Survey’ conducted by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and the Korea Communications Commission, the location information industry is expected to grow 16.3% from 2.6279 trillion KRW last year to 3.055 trillion KRW this year.

LG Uplus anticipates that ultra-precise positioning services will become a future growth industry. Since November last year, it has been the first domestic telecom company to independently build reference stations, completing a total of 57 stations as of the end of last month. It also integrates with 75 reference stations from the National Geographic Information Institute, providing nationwide coverage based on a total of 132 reference stations.

With the largest number of reference stations, LG Uplus partnered with golf device manufacturer ‘VC’ last April to integrate ultra-precise positioning technology into golf equipment, providing golfers with accurate hole cup location information. Furthermore, it plans to expand the application range to autonomous driving and smart ports in the third quarter of this year.

Companies that have adopted the U+ Ultra-Precise Positioning service include ‘ACELAB,’ which successfully conducted Korea’s first 5G autonomous driving demonstration on general roads; ‘Autonomous A2G,’ which carried out autonomous driving demonstrations in the Sejong City autonomous driving regulatory free zone; and ‘WaysOne,’ a company specializing in precision map production for autonomous driving. LG Uplus plans to continue expanding the application of U+ Ultra-Precise Positioning technology in autonomous driving technology development innovation projects such as the ‘Level 4 Autonomous Driving Architecture-Based Computing Platform Commercialization Technology Development.’

Autonomous driving is directly linked to customer safety, making accurate vehicle positioning technology crucial. The U+ Ultra-Precise Positioning technology enables customers to fuse ultra-precise location information with in-vehicle sensor data for more refined positioning. Additionally, even in situations where positioning via vehicle sensors is impossible due to adverse weather conditions, the ultra-precise positioning technology is expected to enhance safety by providing absolute positioning information at the cm level.

LG Uplus is also promoting the application of U+ Ultra-Precise Positioning technology to smart ports in cooperation with Busan Port Authority and Hanjin Busan Container Terminal. The technology has been applied to equipment and devices operated at the port in collaboration with Busan Port Authority, and application within this year is planned with Hanjin Busan Container Terminal for workplace safety management. The U+ Ultra-Precise Positioning technology will also be applied to various location-based public transportation and logistics services such as taxis, buses, and AI road hazard information analysis.

Choi Taek-jin, Vice President and Head of LG Uplus Enterprise Division, said, "LG Uplus provides accurate and safe ultra-precise positioning services based on the largest number of reference stations and the telecom company’s own standard of ‘365 days, 24 hours uninterrupted service.’ We will actively support the application of ultra-precise positioning technology, which has been difficult to activate due to high costs, across various industrial fields."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.