WORKING PAPERS
The Role of GNSS
in 5G Wireless Networks
I
The ESA 5G GNSS Task
Force presents findings on
future PNT for 5G wireless
networks including GNSS
and hybridization with
terrestrial technologies.
ROBERTO PRIETO-CERDEIRA, FLORIN GREC,
LIONEL RIES, STEFANO CIONI, RICCARDO DE
GAUDENZI, MIGUEL MANTEIGA-BAUTISTA
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
AND ERIC CHATRE
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
36 InsideGNSS
n early 2012, the International
Telecommunication Union radio com-
munication working Group R (ITU-
R) embarked on a program to develop
“International Mobile Communications
for 2020 and beyond” (IMT-2020), set-
ting the stage for 5th generation mobile
wireless (5G) research activities that are
emerging around the world. In 2015, the
Third-Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP) initiated technical standardiza-
tion work in support of the IMT-2020
standard. The 3GPP Release 15 of the
standard, completed in June 2018, is the
first to incorporate 5G capabilities.
With the advent of several new ver-
ticals in the 5G landscape, positioning
is confirmed as a key feature deman-
ded by many applications. During this
period, the positioning use cases and
related positioning requirements have
been defined, higher accuracy assistan-
ce data based on Real Time Kinematic
(RTK) and Precise Point Positioning
(PPP), including broadcasting, has been
put forward, and the initial grounds for
positioning technology in the 5G New
Radio (NR) interface have been started.
This process has confirmed that
Global Navigation Satellite Systems
(GNSS) are one of the leading positio-
ning technologies optimally suited to
support most applications in 5G. At the
same time, future ubiquitous positio-
ning needs will be addressed through
a hybrid solution combining terrestrial,
satellite, and sensor technologies.
The European Space Agency (ESA),
through its 5G Navigation Task Force,
has been at the forefront of 5G positio-
ning infrastructure standardization in
3GPP since mid-2017 under European
Commission delegation through the
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
for Research and Innovation in Satellite
Navigation (HSNAV) and supported by
research institutions and industrial par-
tners under the umbrella of the ESA’s
NOV EMBER /DECEMBER 2019
European GNSS Evolutions Programme
(EGEP) GINTO5G project.
When considering near-term techno-
logical catalysts that will have a massive
influence on the world, there is perhaps
no greater advancement than 5G. 5G
stands for fifth generation and refers
to the next and newest mobile wireless
communication standard with commer-
cial implementations by telecommunica-
tion operators expected beyond 2020. 5G
technology is expected to be a new mobi-
le revolution in the wireless market com-
bining different wireless technologies
(4G Long-Term Evolution or LTE, WiFi,
and 5G newly-defined air interfaces such
as 5G NR) to cover new use cases and
exploiting new frequency bands.
5G addresses many new types of users,
ranging from low data-rate for narrow-
band Internet of Things (IoT) to ultrafast
enhanced broadband exploiting technolo-
gies such as millimeter waves, small cells,
and massive Multi Input Multiple Output
(MIMO) among others. The main targets
of 5G may be classified into three wider
areas (see Figure 1): enhanced mobile
broadband, mission-critical services, and
massive IoT. More details about service
aspects for 5G can be found in the 3GPP
SA document in Additional Resources.
5G also aims at the seamless integrati-
on of different wireless communication
technologies (5G NR, 4G, WiFi) for a very
wide range of use cases driven by various
application sectors (“verticals,” see Figure
2, not shown here; see online version of
this article at insidegnss.com/5G).
There are two versions of 5G NR: Non-
standalone 5G NR, which will use the
existing LTE radio and core network as
the control plane anchor for the mobility
management and coverage but adding a
new 5G carrier, and Standalone 5G NR,
which will use the new 5G core network
architecture. With ITU-R in a leading role,
and key contributions from 3GPP (which
unites several telecommunications stan-
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 WORKING PAPERS
Phase 1: 5G Non-standalone
(3GPP Release 15)
Phase 2: 5G standalone (3GPP Release 16)
FIGURE 1 5G high-level objectives
dard development organizations, known as
“Organizational Partners”), the IMT-2020
is presented with an incremental deplo-
yment in two phases for the 5G normative.
The vision for the 5G future is bold.
5G will achieve three main goals (Figure
1): speed (larger data rates), responsive-
ness (ultra-low latency), and scale (mas-
sive connectivity).
5G technology is put into commercial
operation over two phases: Phase 1 coin-
cides with 3GPP Release 15, while Phase
2 aligns with 3GPP Release 16. 5G Phase
1, focused primarily on the enhanced
Mobile Broadband (eMBB) use case, was
completed at 3GPP in June 2018 (Release
15) with the aim of addressing the more
urgent subset of commercial needs and
a number of evolutions from the cur-
rent 4G LTE standard. Phase 2 (Release
16) will introduce new features related
to the other two goals: Ultra-Reliable
and Low Latency Communications
(URLLC) and Massive Machine Type
Communications (mMTC). It will be
completed by December 2019 for the IMT-
2020 submission.
Evolutions of 5G will be considered
in future phases. 5G New Radio positio-
ning technologies are being considered
in Phase 2 and beyond.
Demand for localization is increasing
in different market segments, defined
as verticals in the 5G landscape, with
diverse requirements. Positioning,
38 InsideGNSS
Navigation, and Timing (PNT) is inc-
reasingly considered as a utility, with
a high level of expectation from users
and it is expected to be an integral fea-
ture in 5G. Critical Communications,
enhanced Vehicle-to-Ever y thing
(eV2X), and enhanced Machine
Type Communication  (eMTC) are
recognized as the main drivers to 5G
positioning capabilities. They would be
supported by technological enablers in
NR (high bandwidth, massive Multiple
Input Multiple Output (MIMO), etc.).
PNT services will either be pro-
vided by radio access technology
(RAT)-dependent technologies (Cell-
ID, observed time-difference-of-arrival
(OTDOA), uplink time-difference-of-ar-
rival (UTDOA)), RAT-independent
technologies (GNSS, inertial sensors,
terrestrial beacon systems, and more),
or most likely through a combination of
5G internal and external solutions. The
exploitation of hybrid PNT technologies
will ensure the most economical solution
to these challenging requirements.
In terms of priorities for GNSS PNT in
support of, or as an enabler of, positioning
in 5G, the work focuses on four areas (see
Figure 3): identification of use cases and
high-level requirements; high-accuracy
GNSS through the dissemination of cor-
rections via 5G; hybrid positioning combi-
ning NR positioning, augmented 5G and
other sensors; and finally, GNSS timing
NOV EMBER /DECEMBER 2019
in support of network synchronization,
in particular for candidate challenging
scenarios such as for the network exp-
loitation of massive MIMO in mm-wave
bands. Other key aspects of positioning
are to be considered, such as power con-
sumption, or energy-per-position-fix for
receivers not continuously operating (e.g.,
device tracking and asset management) as
well as reliability. The generalization of the
positioning and its growing integration in
security and safety applications is indeed
expected to raise positioning reliability as
a necessary aspect.
NR Release 15: Positioning features
in NR Phase 1
With the aim of leveraging 5G as an
enabler of seamless and ubiquitous
value-added positioning, the gathering
and harmonization of 5G positioning use
cases and related requirements had to be
consolidated. To this end, a Study Item
named 5G_HYPOS was completed under
3GPP SA (Service and System Aspects)
with the following specific achievements:
• Identification of positioning use
cases, validating, clarifying and
harmonizing Key Performance
Indicator (KPI) assumptions on
applicable environments of use.
• Study of performance targets in
support of identified use cases,
providing initial apportionment
between existing technologies
(e.g., GNSS) and 3GPP new
technologies, e.g., NR-based.
• Identification of potential
requirements for 5G positioning
services to be fulfilled with 3GPP
technologies or with a combination
of 3GPP and non-3GPP technologies.
5G Positioning Use Cases
A large number of positioning use
cases, together with associated requi-
rements have been collected within
the 5G_HYPOS Technical Report (see
Additional Resources); a synthesis is
provided in Table 1 (not shown here; see
the online version of this article at insi-
degnss.com/5G for this extensive table).
The environment of use is the phy-
sical environment in which the User
Equipment (UE) operates. It describes
the service area or volume (e.g., building,
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 WORKING PAPERS
FIGURE 3 Key areas of focus in 5G related to GNSS
cell or network coverage, regional, global coverage) as well as the
high-level properties affecting radiofrequency propagation and
positioning such as the nature of the service area (open, i.e., no
obstruction, aerial, suburban, urban or natural canyons, indoors
including tunnels). In the case of multiple environments, the att-
ribute shall also define whether the use case is expected to operate
seamlessly in all these environments.
The KPIs are defined as:
• Position accuracy: Describes the closeness of the measured
position of the UE to its true position value. The accuracy can
describe the accuracy either of an absolute position or of a rela-
tive position. It can be further divided into a horizontal posi-
tion accuracy (referring to the position error in a 2D reference
or horizontal plane) and a vertical position accuracy (referring
to the position error on the vertical axis or altitude).
• Velocity: Describes the closeness of the measured magnitude
of the UE’s velocity to the true magnitude of the UE’s velocity.
• Bearing: Describes the closeness of the measured bearing of the
UE to its true bearing. Both the measured and the true bearing
are defined in a common base coordinate system, using yaw-
pitch-roll as for aircraft principal axes. For a moving UE, the
bearing is a measure of the velocity’s direction and this KPI can
be combined with speed accuracy into the velocity’s accuracy.
• Availability: Percentage of time when a positioning system is
able to provide the required position-related data within the
performance targets or requirements.
• Update rate: Rate at which the position-related data is gene-
rated by the positioning system. It is the inverse of the time
elapsed between two successive position-related data.
• Time to First Fix (TTFF): Time elapsed between the first event
trigger for the determination of the position-related data and
the availability of the position-related data at the positioning
system interface. TTFF is greater or equal to Latency.
• Latency: Time elapsed between the event that triggers the
determination of the position-related data and the availability
of the position-related data at the positioning system interface.
At initialization of the positioning system, the latency is also
defined as the Time to First Fix.
• Power consumption: Electrical power (usually in mW) used by
40 InsideGNSS NOV EMBER /DECEMBER 2019
the positioning system to produce the position-related data.
• Energy per Fix: Electrical energy (usually in mJ per fix) used by
the positioning system to produce the position-related data. It
represents the integrated power consumption of the positio-
ning system over the required processing interval. It considers
both the processing energy and the energy used during the
idle state between two successive productions of position-re-
lated data. This KPI can advantageously replace the power
consumption when the positioning system is not continuously
active (e.g., device tracking).
• System scalability: Number of devices for which the positioning
system can determine the position-related data in a given time
unit, and/or for a specific update rate.
The aforementioned KPIs can be dependent on the UE’s dyna-
mic and/or dependent on its location in the cell. The KPI defines
a target either for each dependence, or for the worst-case.
In terms of coverage area, the following definitions are considered:
• 5G coverage area or 5G positioning service area: a service area where
positioning services would solely rely on infrastructures and posi-
tioning technologies that can be assumed to be present anywhere
where 5G is present (e.g., a country-wide operator-supplied 5G
network, GNSS, position/motion sensors). This includes both
indoor and outdoor environments, and for the latter, any outdoor
environment (rural with low density of nodes but little obstruc-
tion, urban with high density of nodes and obstruction by buil-
dings, etc.). The 5G positioning service area can be considered for
use cases that must work in any 5G environment, for example
in any building–commercial, public, or residential alike–e.g., to
localize a patient having a heart attack in an apartment building.
• Bounded service area or Dedicated service area: a subset of the 5G
positioning service area where specific positioning services can
be provided (e.g., enhanced performance when compared to the
performance achieved in the whole 5G positioning service area).
• Enhanced positioning area: a subset of the 5G positioning service
area that is assumed to be provided with additional infrastruc-
ture or deploy a particular set of positioning technologies to
enhance positioning services. For example, a hospital (campus)
could be equipped to enable tracking of patients, personnel,
and assets throughout the hospital with improved accuracy and
availability (e.g., using a higher density of small cells, nodes, or
WLAN access points). This additional infrastructure could use a
combination of 3GPP technologies and non-3GPP technologies
and cover both indoor and outdoor environments.
For convenience, the use cases have been grouped into seven
service classes as presented in Figure 4 and Table 2.
In addition, an initial identification of how existing positio-
ning technologies meet such targets has been presented, with
the objective of identifying targets that can be met already and
in particular others that would require new technologies.
The positioning technologies considered up to 4G LTE (before
5G NR is defined) can be broadly classified in three categories:
• 3GPP technologies: downlink positioning
(OTDoA), enhanced cell ID (E-CID);
• Non-3GPP technologies: multi-constellation Assisted-GNSS
(A-GNSS) and High Accuracy GNSS (HA-GNSS,
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 WORKING PAPERS

overall number of navigation satellites should reach approximately

FIGURE 4 Standardized positioning service levels in 3GPP
e.g., RTK), terrestrial beacon systems, wireless local
area network (WLAN), Bluetooth method;
• Positioning sensors: barometric pressure sensor method, IMU.
The analysis performed highlights the fact that
there is no single technology capable of meeting all
use case positioning targets in all environments.
Existing cellular-based techniques (Enhanced Cell ID
(E-CID), OTDOA, UTDOA, etc.) are not capable of reach-
ing one-meter accuracy even under nearly perfect conditions
(e.g., precise synchronization, aggregated bandwidth, etc.).
Technological evolutions brought on by 5G NR (high bandwi-
dth signals, mm-Wave, and massive MIMO) are identified as
major enablers for high accuracy, but their performance cannot
be assessed since 5G is only in its incipient phase. Furthermore,
5G NR deployment is expected to be initially limited to traffic
hot spots such as business districts or city centers.
The different GNSS systems are the only global and open posi-
tioning technologies providing accurate location, navigation, and
timing information to users worldwide. By 2020, when Galileo
and BeiDou are expected to reach full operational capability, the
120, providing a clear benefit for users: higher availability of accu-
rate positioning in almost all outdoor environments. Regardless
of all the benefits brought by multi-constellation and incoming
GNSS receiver improvements, GNSS has intrinsic limitations in
deep urban canyons and indoor locations. Nonetheless, current
multi-GNSS UEs are able to provide about 10-meter horizontal
accuracy (95% of all cases) and around 2-meter with carrier-phase
processing (80% of all cases) in urban environments.
Apart from positioning performance, additional design
targets for commercial positioning in 5G include support for
different device categories and a range of accuracy and latency
levels, reduced network complexity, terminal cost and power
consumption, scalability, and security.
Even though in standalone mode each positioning techno-
logy has displayed several limitations, the performance can be
significantly improved when two or more technologies are com-
bined. A proper integration of existing technologies, supported
by adequate infrastructure deployment may cover most needs
as indicated below. Hybrid positioning (i.e., sensor fusion) com-
bines all raw signals and sensor data in a true hybrid location
calculation with superior output compared to a single-sensor
positioning scheme alone. Additionally, it allows for a fall-back
location technology in case one or more radio technologies fail
due, for example, to no Line-Of-Sight to satellites, insufficient
network coverage, and so on. Furthermore, it eases the transi-
tion from one environment to another, enabling seamless navi-
gation for the end user.
Existing positioning technologies, 3GPP and non-3GPP, can
already cover a wide variety of use cases especially when paired
together. Even when combining all technologies, however, some
demanding accuracy targets are still not met. This is particular-
ly the case when filling the gaps of high accuracy in indoor and

Positioning Absolute(A) Accuracy (95 % confidence level) Availability Latency Coverage, environment of use and UE velocity
service level or Relative(R)
Vertical Accuracy Horizontal 5G positioning service area 5G enhanced positioning service area (note 2)
positioning
Accuracy (note 1)
Outdoor and tunnels Indoor
Indoor–up to 30 km/h NA Indoor–up to 30 km/h
1 A 10 m 3m 95% 1s Outdoor (rural and urban) up
to 250 km/h
Outdoor (rural and urban) up Outdoor (dense urban) up to 60 Indoor–up to 30 km/h
2 A 3m 3m 99% 1s to 500 km/h for trains and up km/h Along roads up to 250 km/h
to 250 km/h for other vehicles and along railways up to 500 km/h
Outdoor (rural and urban) up Outdoor (dense urban) up to 60 Indoor–up to 30 km/h
3 A 1m 2m 99% 1s to 500 km/h for trains and up km/h Along roads up to 250 km/h
to 250 km/h for other vehicles and along railways up to 500 km/h
4 A 1m 2m 99.9% 15 ms NA NA Indoor–up to 30 km/h
Outdoor (rural) up to 250 Outdoor (dense urban) up to 60 Indoor–up to 30 km/h
5 A 0.3 m 2m 99% 1s km/h km/h Along roads and along
railways up to 250 km/h
6 A 0.3 m 2m 99.9% 10 ms NA Outdoor (dense urban) up to 60 km/h Indoor–up to 30 km/h
Indoor and outdoor (rural, urban, dense urban) up to 30 km/h Relative positioning is between two UEs
7 R 0.2 m 0.2 m 99% 1s
within 10 m of each other or between one UE and 5G positioning nodes within 10 m of each other (note 3)
NOTE 1: The objective for the vertical positioning requirement is to determine the floor for indoor use cases and to distinguish between superposed tracks for road and rail use cases (e.g., bridges).
NOTE 2: Indoor includes location inside buildings such as offices, hospital, industrial buildings.
NOTE 3: 5G positioning nodes are infrastructure equipment deployed in the service area to enhance positioning capabilities (e.g., beacons deployed on the perimeter of a rendezvous area or on the side of a warehouse).
TABLE 2 Standardized positioning service levels in 3GPP

42 InsideGNSS NOV EMBER /DECEMBER 2019 www.insidegnss.com

deep urban environments, as well as covering very high accuracy
positioning in bounded service areas or for relative positioning.
High-Accuracy Positioning
3GPP brought the GNSS concept into the heart of the location
market and mobile telecommunications more than 10 years
ago. A stable version of assisted-GNSS standards for the Global
System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) standards arri-
ved in late 2007 with the so-called Release 7 of the 3GPP spe-
cifications. A fresh approach for positioning services in 3GPP
started in 2009 for LTE Release 9 technologies.
The starting point for LTE location services work was to
enable similar positioning capabilities in the LTE networks as
are present in GSM, UTRA, and CDMA networks. This meant
that there was a need to define assisted-GNSS positioning as
well as introduce positioning methods, such as enhanced cell
ID (ECID) and time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) methods,
for non-GNSS devices, hybrid use, and for GNSS-denied envi-
ronments. The underlying driver of all this work was the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wireless E911
mandate. Today, there is a surging demand for precise real-ti-
me data, and this can be seen across many disruptive applica-
tions: connected and automated driving, UAV, IoT, and others.
High-accuracy positioning will enable a new range of services,
and operators may want to provide, directly or through a ser-
GNSS Receiver Lab Testing is Outdated
Mobile test environments for onsite testing is the future you can buy today
Techology licensed by Fraunhofer IIS
www.insidegnss.com NOV EMBER /DECEMBER 2019
vice provider, these features within 4G and 5G. In response to
these needs, 3GPP has added support for several new positio-
ning technologies, including high-accuracy GNSS techniques.
High Accuracy Data Dissemination in the 4G LTE Work Item
has been completed for Release 15 (see Additional Resources for
more details), and it is equivalently translated to 5G.
During this work, agreements have been reached for protocol
aspects and data dissemination in multi-constellation RTK,
Network RTK (N-RTK), and PPP Space State Representation
(SSR), including all GNSS constellations (BeiDou, Galileo,
GLONASS, GPS, QZSS, and SBAS), based on existing Radio
Technical Commission Maritime Services (RTCM) standards
but evolved for all constellations (see Table 3).
As can be seen in Table 3, the PPP-RTK could not be completed
during the Release 15 due to limited time to carefully study car-
rier-phase biases and atmospheric models. These are considered in
Release 16. Nevertheless, it is very important to highlight the fact
that 3GPP has extended Master Auxiliary Concept (MAC) and
Flächen Korrektur Parameter (FKP) support in LTE Positioning
Protocol (LPP) to include Galileo and BeiDou constellations while
RTCM supports only GPS and GLONASS systems.
Speaking of achievements, Radio Access Network (RAN) 2
and RAN 3 WGs have collaborated on the design of a solution
for broadcasting assistance data over the control-plane. More
specifically, a new system information block (SIB) to support sig-
nalling of positioning assistance information for RTK, N-RTK,
https://teleorbit.eu
InsideGNSS 43
 WORKING PAPERS
High Accuracy GNSS positioning methods in RTCM v3.3
Single-base RTK N-RTK 1: MAC
GPS Yes Yes
GLONASS Yes Yes
Galileo Yes No
BeiDou Yes No
High accuracy GNSS positioning methods in LPP R15
A-GNSS Single-base
RTK
GPS Yes Yes
GLONASS Yes Yes
Galileo Yes Yes
BeiDou Yes Yes
TABLE 3 (top) High Accuracy GNSS positioning methods in most recent RTCM v3.3 and
(bottom) High Accuracy GNSS positioning methods in most Release 15 LTE Positioning
Protocol (LPP) (note that PPP-RTK for SSR will be included in Release 16).
and PPP has been specified. This is an
important expected future enhancement
considering that Networked Transport
of RTCM via Internet Protocol (NTRIP)
dissemination is not suitable for broa-
dcast of information. This is because
NTRIP is built on top of Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) and HyperText
Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is a
standard unicast application.
NR Release 16–Positioning
Features in NR Phase 2
Release 15 NR Work Item Specified
Cell-ID (with cell portion ID) and RAT-
independent positioning methods by
reusing the LPP protocol. However, NR
standalone based RAT-dependent and
RAT-independent positioning were not
specified at that time. As part of the list
of priorities for Release 16 in the 3GPP
RAN, a Study Item on positioning aspects
for NR has been completed. It also inclu-
des RAT-independent technologies (e.g.,
GNSS) for hybrid solutions to enable 5G
location service (using NR).
The Study Item proposal recognizes
that in many location applications
accurate positioning is typically achie-
ved through a combination of multiple
technologies, including: 1) GNSS-based
solutions, providing accurate location
in outdoor scenarios; 2) radio-techno-
logies (e.g., LTE networks, offering
multiple design options to locate user,
44 InsideGNSS
support to facilitate implementation of
OSR SSR the following NR-dependent and RAT-
N-RTK 2: FKP N-RTK 3: VRS PPP PPP-RTK
independent positioning technologies:
• 3GPP technologies: DL-TDOA,
Yes Yes Yes No
DL-AoD, UL-TDOA,
Yes Yes Yes No
UL-AoA, RTT, and E-CID
No No No No • Non-3GPP technologies: multi-
No No No No constellation PPP-RTK (in
addition to the A-GNSS and
HA-GNSS techniques already
OSR SSR supported in NR Release 15).
N-RTK 1: MAC N-RTK 2: FKP N-RTK 3: VRS PPP PPP-RTK Therefore, this study item studied
both NR-based RAT-dependent as well
Yes Yes Yes Yes No as RAT-independent and hybrid posi-
Yes Yes Yes Yes No tioning methods to address regulatory
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
as well as commercial use cases.
Because of the good progress registe-
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
red in the study phase, at the RAN#83
(March 2019), the RAN plenary deci-
ded that a work item (normative) phase
on NR Positioning for Release 16 could
Wi-Fi networks, terrestrial beacon sys- start as soon as April 2019. The objective
tems, etc.); and 3) sensors (e.g., IMU, of this work item was to specify soluti-
atmospheric pressure sensor for vertical ons to enable RAT-dependent and RAT-
positioning, etc.). All these technologies independent NR positioning techniques
are expected to continue to play a sig- while considering E911 and commercial
nificant role in achieving accurate user requirements for horizontal and vertical
positioning in the future. positioning accuracies according to TR
The 3GPP NR radio technology is 38.855 (see Additional Resources).
uniquely positioned to provide added Recently, SSR techniques like PPP and
value in terms of enhanced location PPP-RTK have emerged, promising to be
capabilities. The operation in low- and the future method of choice for supplying
high -frequency bands (i.e., below and corrections. SSR differs from the tradi-
above 6 GHz) and utilization of massi- tional Observation Space Representation
ve antenna arrays provides additional (OSR) methods (RTK, N-RTK), which
degrees of freedom to substantially lump errors together for a specific geo-
improve the positioning accuracy. The graphic location, by creating a state vector
possibility of using wide signal band- for the following error components: satel-
width in low and especially in high lite orbit and clock errors, satellite signal
bands brings new performance bounds biases (code and carrier phase), tropos-
for user location for well-known posi- pheric, and ionospheric delays.
tioning techniques based on OTDOA During the work item on positioning
and UTDOA, Cell-ID or E-Cell-ID, enhancements for LTE Release 15, the
etc., utilizing timing measurements to GNSS support has been revised and
locate the UE. The recent advances in high-accuracy techniques, both based
massive MIMO technology can provide on OSR and SSR concepts, were added
additional degrees of freedom to enable to the LTE Positioning Protocol: RTK,
more accurate user location by exploi- N-RTK (VRS, MAC, FKP), and PPP.
ting spatial and angular domains of the Nevertheless, as also explained in the
propagation channel in combination NR Release 15 section, the high-accu-
with time measurements. racy GNSS support for NG-RAN and
The support of NR standalone RAT- Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio
dependent positioning was studied in a Access (E-UTRA) does not include
Release 16 study item on positioning and support of the full set of SSR assistance
is summarized in 3GPP TR 38.855. It was data needed to enable PPP-RTK service.
recommended to introduce radio-layer Currently, only SSR assistance data for
NOV EMBER /DECEMBER 2019 www.insidegnss.com
PPP positioning services are supported
in LTE and NR Release 15. Therefore, for
Release 16 of NR, a solution to introduce
PPP-RTK support was put forward at
the RAN1 #96 meeting, February 2019
(Additional Resources).
This proposal has been taken onboard
and included in the list of objectives for
normative work on positioning features
for NR Release 16. With this result, the
RAN2 working group has been given
the responsibility of defining signaling
extensions to the positioning protocol
used in NR to support SSR assistance data
for PPP-RTK. Another key point for the
enhancement of GNSS support in NR FIGURE 5 Summary of positioning enhancements in 4G/LTE and 5G/NR
consists of the joint RAN2 and RAN3
task of defining signaling for broadcast the quality of service, usually addressed sical, network, or application layer (or a
assistance data delivery. Figure 5 provides in dedicated certification processes and combination of these):
a summary of positioning enhancements standards outside 3GPP where GNSS • Reliability: Measure of the ability of a
in 4G/LTE and 5G/NR. can provide a solution. Most of the time, positioning system to provide the position-
these applications are safety-critical or related data under stated conditions for a
Other Possible Contributions liability-critical applications. Those specified period.
of GNSS to 5G applications consider some of the follo- • Integrity: Measure of the trust in the
Some positioning applications may have wing additional KPIs on a case-by-case accuracy of the position-related data
specific needs in terms of insurance of basis, possibly implemented at the phy- provided by the positioning system and

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 WORKING PAPERS
the ability to provide timely and valid warnings to the UE
and/or the user when the positioning system does not fulfi l
the condition for intended operation.
• Authentication: Provision of assurance that the position-related
data associated with the UE has been derived from trusted and
authorized sources (e.g., real signals and not falsified signals).
This KPI is different from security, which defines the measures
to ensure that the position-related data is safeguarded against
unapproved disclosure or usage inside or outside the positioning
system. Because it cannot be summarized and quantified as a
scalar target, this KPI is managed as a binary field in the present
report: yes or no provision of positioning authentication is needed.
• Security/Privacy: Measures to ensure that the position-related
data is safeguarded against unapproved disclosure or usage
inside or outside the positioning system and/or to ensure that
a non-authorized party cannot access information relating to
the privacy of the user. Because it cannot be summarized and
quantified as a scalar target, this KPI is managed as a binary field
in the present report: yes or no security and/or privacy is needed.
In addition, GNSS may also be an enabler of 5G, for example in
aspects related to potentially challenging 5G network synchroniza-
tion needs. The discussions about network synchronization in the
ITU-T Study Group 15 (SG15) include the fact that GNSS is obser-
ved as the fundamental basis for high-quality time source in the
network and also a key technology enabler of V2X, which is itself a
supporting technology for driverless vehicles. Yet the susceptibility
of GNSS to jamming/interference/spoofing raises concerns.
Conclusions and Future Perspectives
The main conclusion is that multi-GNSS is expected to continue
being a cornerstone of modern, ubiquitous, reliable, accurate PNT,
even within the context of the 5G changing PNT environment,
and there are mutual benefits for positioning (see Figure 6, not
shown here; see online version of this article at insidegnss.com/5G).
Furthermore, other technologies may complement GNSS towards
environment-independent (e.g., indoor), reliable PNT.
In addition, more stringent PNT use cases and associated
positioning requirements are identified in 5G, for instance:
• A larger number of consumers of high accuracy
positioning will exploit the availability of high-accuracy
augmentation data dissemination.
• For IoT positioning, low power consumption is a key
driver. 3GPP technologies, such as narrowband (NB)-IoT, are
suitable for communications but cannot provide reasonable
accuracies (<50m). Hybridization of optimized GNSS for low
power together with 3GPP technologies for communications
may provide the right balance.
• The importance of timing by GNSS is likely to increase for 5G
(e.g., GNSS as primary source of V2X sidelink synchronization).
In the future, the team will continue to work on the finaliza-
tion of ongoing items presented in this article (SSR PPP-RTK,
broadcasting, etc.), together with the analysis of combined
4G/5G/GNSS field-tests for assessment of hybridization techni-
ques. In addition it will investigate other relevant aspects such
as resilience, positioning in support of emergency services, and
particular aspects of vehicles and UAVs.
46 InsideGNSS NOV EMBER /DECEMBER 2019
Acknowledgements
The ESA 5G GNSS Task Force is a joint effort from ESA’s
Directorate of Navigation and Directorate of Technology,
Engineering & Quality in coordination with EC and GSA
under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research
and Innovation in Satellite Navigation (HSNAV).
This work is supported by field tests, simulation, performan-
ce analysis and inputs to standardization groups within the
GINTO5G project, undertaken through ESA’s European GNSS
Evolution Programme, executed with a consortium compo-
sed by GMV, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), DLR,
u-blox and Telefonica I+D.
Additional Resources
(1) 3GPP SA, “Service requirements for the 5G system,” TS
22.261, Volume: 16.4.0, 3GPP Release 16, June 2018
(2) 3GPP TR 22.872, “Study on positioning use cases (FS_5G_
HYPOS),” Volume: 16.1.0. September 2018, https://www.
3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/22_series/22.872/22872-g10.zip
(3) 3GPP RAN, “Study on NR Positioning Support,”
RP-181399, June 2018
(4) 3GPP TS 36.305
(5) 3GPP TS 36.355
(6) 3GPP TS 36.331
(7) R1-1902549, “TP on hybrid positioning and GNSS
enhancements for TR 38.855,” ESA, Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation, u-blox AG
(8) https://www.esa.int/Applications/Navigation/ESA_leads_
drive_into_our_5G_positioning_future
Authors
Roberto Prieto-Cerdeira is the GNSS R&D Principal
Engineer in the Directorate of Navigation of the
European Space Agency, where he is responsible for
space and ground technology R&D for the evolution
of European GNSS Systems, Galileo and EGNOS. He
also coordinates the ESA 5G GNSS Task Force and the
scientific research activities for GNSS. In the past, he
was responsible of Radiowave Propagation activities for Galileo, EGNOS
and Satellite Mobile Communications at ESA where he actively contrib-
uted and chaired working groups at ITU-R, URSI and international
SBAS-Ionospheric WG.
Florin Grec is GNSS Evolutions Strategy Engineer in the
Directorate of Navigation at ESA and focusing on
hybridization between terrestrial positioning technolo-
gies and GNSS. He is currently representing ESA in 3GPP
for the working groups on LTE and 5G positioning
enhancements where he promotes the development
of open standards for high-accuracy GNSS services. In
the past, he has been visiting researcher at Politecnico di Milano, Leica
Geosystems and ESA’s GNSS Evolutions team.
Lionel Ries is the Head of Radio Navigation Systems
and Technology Section in the Directorate of
Technology, Engineering and Quality at ESA/ESTEC,
which supports the Galileo and EGNOS programs,
space missions requiring a GNSS receiver on board
and performs the associated R&D at system and posi-
tioning technologies levels. In the past, he was head
www.insidegnss.com
of the location/navigation signal department in CNES, the French Space
Agency, leading R&D activities on signal design and processing, receivers
and payloads regarding location, and navigation systems including GNSS
(Galileo, GNSS space receivers), search & rescue by satellite (SARSAT,
MEOSAR), and Argos (Advanced Data Collect and Location by Satellite).
Stefano Cioni is Telecommunication Systems
Engineer at the Radio Frequency Systems Division in
the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and
Quality at ESA/ESTEC. His research activities are mainly
focused on next-generation wireless telecommunica-
tion systems. Since September 2016, he is 3GPP RAN
delegate supporting non-terrestrial network (NTN)
aspects to facilitate the 5G terrestrial/satellite networks integration. In the
past, he obtained his MSc and Ph.D. from University of Bologna and he
was visiting researcher at Agilent Labs SMRD and DLR.
Riccardo De Gaudenzi is the Head of Electrical
Engineering Department in the Directorate of
Technology, Engineering and Quality at ESA/ESTEC,
covering radiofrequency systems and payloads for
navigation, telecommunication TT&C and Earth
Observation, EEE components and microelectronics,
data handling systems, power systems and energy
sources, electromagnetic compatibility, space environments and their
effects. He received his MSc degree from U. of Pisa and Ph.D. from TU Delft
and he was visiting researcher at Qualcomm Inc. He has contributed to 8
space communication standards, authored or co-authored more than 70
full papers on peer reviewed journals, 3 books, and he holds 27 patents.
INSTITUTE OF NAVIGATION
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Miguel Manteiga-Bautista is the Head of the
GNSS Evolutions Programmes in the Directorate of
Navigation of the European Space Agency. He is
responsible for the Navigation R&D and GNSS
Evolutions/Galileo 2nd Generation activities, imple-
mented through several ESA and EU Frameworks,
including the European GNSS Evolutions Programme
and the H2020 programme for Research and Innovation in Satellite
Navigation. Throughout the last 20 years, he has developed his career
in the Galileo Programme in a variety of positions covering all areas of
the Galileo environment (space, ground, user, launcher, system, secu-
rity and operations).
Eric Chatre is the Head of Sector for Exploitation
and Evolutions of the European Satellite Navigation
Programmes at the European Commission where he
is responsible for the definition and delivery of ser-
vices for the European satnav systems and leading
the definition work for the 2nd Generation of Galileo
in the European Commission. In the past, he was
with the French Air Navigation Service Provider, where he followed the
early developments of EGNOS, and later joined the European satellite
navigation management teams in European Commission to supervise
the development of EGNOS and Galileo.
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