Smartwatches are inevitable gadgets of our daily life. As Smartwatches are slowly but surely becoming more mainstream gadgets. It is pretty much evident that people wear a smartwatch also because of its elegant appeal and fashionable look. Likewise almost all Smartwatches in the market comes with trendy and productive features one feature that is always beneficial and imperative is the GPS set on a watch which help us to locate and find directions to our destinations with ease. The latest advancement in GPS technology is now driven by entry of Dual-Band GPS in a Smartwatches and Fitness trackers. Lets get to know what it is in detail.
What Is A Dual-Band GPS?
Firstly lets get to know what is a Dual-Band GPS and How different it is from a regular GPS. The Geographical Positioning system (GPS) mainly uses two frequency bands: L1 and L5. Single-frequency GPS phones can only receive satellite signals transmitted on the L1 frequency band, while dual-frequency GPS phones can receive satellite signals from both L1 and L5 frequency bands, this is the major distinction that differentiates a Dual-Band GPS from a regular one. Similarly when compared to the Regular single-band technology found in the vast majority of cellphones and car navigation systems operated today, the Dual- Band GPS provides a significant improvement in accuracy and precision.
Why To Prefer Using A Dual-Band GPS?
By reducing the effect of errors caused by atmospheric distortion during the usage of GPS, using multiple bands drastically improves accuracy. These high-precision systems were previously only found in high-end industrial and aerospace applications, but with the introduction of low-cost dual band receivers, they can now be found in consumer devices such as Smartwatches as well.
How Does Dual Band GPS Work on a Smartwatch?
The smartwatch you’re holding is a receiver that attempts to collect GPS signals from multiple satellites. To begin with, there will be a lot of objects between your smartwatch and the satellite, ranging from tall buildings to ionosphere particles. When a signal path is reflected off objects in the path of the transmitter and receiver, multiple paths are created. This means that multiple signal paths will exist between the transmitter and the receiver. The smartwatch then records the signal data and uses triangulation to pinpoint your exact location.
Major Advantages of Dual-Band GPS Over Regular GPS
- If your smartwatch is equipped with dual GPS, it will lock GPS signals faster than a traditional watch. Position tracking will be more precise, resulting in more consistent distance tracking, speed, and calorie ratings. If GPS navigation is available on the watch, and thus work more accurately.
- Dual-frequency GPS systems enable better positioning when using the device in difficult environments.
- Dual Band systems also aid in the rejection of environmental effects on GPS signals.
- Dual-band receivers detect and reject reflected satellite signals more accurately than single-frequency receivers.
- Dual-band systems offer an accuracy of about +/- 2 meters than regular GPS.
Bottomline
Smartwatches are typically only equipped with a single-band GPS. When we hear about dual-band GPS on a smartwatch, we immediately think about battery life. Yes, adding an extra GPS band can cause an increase in battery drain. As a result, incorporating dual band functionality into a smartwatch with a long battery life makes sense and we can easily conclude that preferring a Dual-Band GPS over a regular GPS is a greater choice of opinion.
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FAQ’S
1. What is the benefit of GPS in smartwatch?
Answer: Smartwatches with built-in GPS not only lets you track your daily runs, steps taken and analyze other metrics but also help you in mapping out your runs efficiently.
2. How do I know if my GPS is dual band?
Answer: you wish to check dual-frequency GPS support on your device, you can use this app called GPSTest and check for the available signals. Make sure you’re in an open space so there are no multipath errors or obstructions to GPS signals
3. Can you use Google Maps on a smartwatch?
Answer: If you want to use navigation on your smartwatch, the first step you should take is downloading the Google Maps app from the Play Store onto your watch. Like I said above, if your watch has GPS and Wear OS, you can navigate without being connected to your smartphone.
4. What is a major advantage of dual frequency over single frequency GPS receivers?
Answer: Dual-frequency can minimize errors caused by the ionosphere and troposphere, which contains ionized particles that can have a protruding effect on signals and disrupt them. By mitigating these errors, users can to get centimeter-level accuracy, and faster convergence times to get a fixed position.
5. Do GPS watches have maps?
Answer: Advanced GPS watches do have maps that help in navigation. These watches contain GPS receivers that track satellites to transmit signals and determine location. GPS receivers enable GPS watches to determine positioning in reference to satellites, making it possible to display location through an on screen map display