Features of 5G and Its Impact on RTK Positioning

One of the most significant features of 5G communication is its extremely low latency. Whereas traditional 4G communication typically had delays around 10 milliseconds (0.01 seconds), 5G technology theoretically reduces latency to under 1 millisecond (0.001 seconds). This ultra-low latency virtually eliminates the transmission delay of RTK correction data. Because correction information can be delivered to the mobile receiver almost instantaneously, positioning calculations occur in real-time, enabling stable, precise positioning without positional lag—even for moving objects.

Moreover, 5G's high-speed and high-capacity communication contributes significantly to the stable provision of RTK correction data. With dramatically improved communication speeds, 5G enables more frequent and data-rich transmissions compared to previous technologies. For example, correction data can be transmitted at higher frequencies, ensuring positioning calculations always use the latest information. Additionally, multiple mobile receivers can simultaneously access correction services with ample bandwidth. Since 5G networks are designed specifically for numerous simultaneous device connections, they maintain stability even under heavy demand, ensuring reliable access to correction data servers.

Moreover, 5G also offers high reliability. With extremely low latency and reduced likelihood of connection interruptions, 5G makes it easier to maintain the constant connectivity essential for RTK positioning.

For instance, technologies such as network slicing can allocate dedicated bandwidth and guaranteed quality of service specifically for mission-critical data communication, like RTK corrections. This significantly reduces the likelihood of missing correction data, directly enhancing RTK's reliability and real-time performance. With 5G’s ultra-low latency and high-reliability communication, RTK positioning technology will evolve into an even more stable, real-time, and highly precise solution.

​

Comparison with 4G: Improvements in RTK Positioning Accuracy and Stability

When operating RTK positioning in traditional 4G environments, challenges such as communication latency and instability have frequently been highlighted.

Even delays of just a few tens of milliseconds in receiving correction data can lead to slight inaccuracies in positioning, especially if the target object moves during this interval. Additionally, depending on signal conditions at field locations, intermittent connectivity issues could cause RTK solutions to degrade from a stable FIX state back to FLOAT.

In urban areas, especially, communication over 4G networks could become unstable due to network congestion or signal attenuation caused by buildings. Similarly, in mountainous or underground locations, there was a risk of losing network coverage altogether, making it impossible to receive correction data services. These factors have negatively impacted the accuracy and stability of RTK positioning.

The introduction of 5G significantly improves upon these challenges associated with the 4G era. As mentioned previously, 5G dramatically reduces communication latency (to one-tenth that of 4G), greatly enhancing the real-time delivery of correction data. This improvement minimizes delays in applying correction data during mobile positioning, maintaining more consistent centimeter-level accuracy. Furthermore, 5G's communication speeds reach up to 20 times that of 4G, comfortably supporting the transmission of larger amounts of data. Consequently, even in urban areas where numerous workers and machines simultaneously connect to RTK correction services, data can be received smoothly without congestion. Additionally, in terms of signal environment, 5G networks employ smaller cell sites and beamforming technology, creating networks less prone to interruptions. This increases the stability of communication used for positioning, even under challenging conditions. Overall, transitioning to 5G directly contributes to maintaining positioning accuracy and improving availability, paving the way for more robust and reliable high-precision RTK positioning compared to traditional systems.

In terms of communication infrastructure, 5G offers performance that far surpasses that of 4G, bringing clear benefits to RTK positioning by enabling instant and stable centimeter-level positioning. In particular, the significant improvement in communication stability means that, with 5G, positioning interruptions due to missing correction data become far less likely. This allows consistent maintenance of high accuracy, even in challenging environments such as urban areas with building obstructions or suburban locations.

​

Advantages of Combining 5G with RTK using LRTK

The LRTK series is attracting attention as a solution that fully leverages RTK positioning in the 5G era.

LRTK (Lefixea's RTK solution) consists of devices and services that seamlessly integrate with smartphones and tablets to achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy. A representative product, the LRTK Phone, is a compact GNSS receiver designed to attach directly to smartphones, featuring built-in antennas and batteries that enable easy RTK positioning. The series also includes advanced models such as LRTK Pro and helmet-mounted variants, allowing users to select devices tailored specifically to their field requirements. All LRTK products are designed to connect with smartphones for correction data reception and integration with cloud services, and they fully support 5G connectivity. When paired with 5G-enabled smartphones or tablets, LRTK devices can reliably receive real-time correction data via ultra-high-speed, low-latency networks, further enhancing the accuracy and reliability of high-precision positioning.

​

The combination of LRTK and 5G provides numerous advantages. Firstly, it offers remarkable convenience, enabling RTK positioning—which previously required stationary high-precision GNSS receivers and radio equipment—to be performed easily with just a smartphone. Field workers no longer need to handle specialized communication devices; instead, they can fully concentrate on positioning tasks while reliably receiving correction data via their 5G-connected smartphones. Secondly, it greatly facilitates data sharing through seamless cloud integration. The LRTK series works in tandem with dedicated apps and cloud services, enabling immediate uploading of measured coordinate data, as well as field photos and point-cloud data, directly to the cloud.

With the high-speed capabilities of 5G, high-resolution positioning data acquired in the field can be instantly shared to the cloud without delay. For example, precise positioning information can be shared in real-time with remote office staff, enabling immediate review and feedback. This significantly enhances team coordination, greatly reduces the need for rework on-site, improves operational efficiency, and ultimately accelerates digital transformation (DX) within field operations.

Additionally, the LRTK series has the advantage of seamless integration with smartphone cameras and sensors. For instance, it easily allows attaching high-precision RTK location tags to photos captured with a smartphone camera and saving them directly to the cloud. In a 5G environment, large-volume data transfers become exceptionally smooth, enabling real-time sharing and analysis of captured point clouds and images right at the worksite. Overall, the combination of LRTK and 5G significantly enhances the reliability and convenience of high-precision positioning, creating new value by allowing immediate cloud-based utilization of smartphone-acquired location data.

​

Use Cases of 5G × RTK

• Positioning and Construction Management in the Construction Industry: In construction and civil engineering sites, centimeter-level positioning is essential for tasks such as surveying and heavy machinery machine guidance. With low-latency network RTK enabled by 5G communication, LRTK devices used by field workers and GNSS equipment mounted on construction machinery can consistently receive stable correction data, allowing accurate real-time positioning. This facilitates the automation of machine control and as-built verification without the need for traditional staking, significantly enhancing both efficiency and accuracy in construction management. Additionally, project supervisors can immediately verify positioning results via cloud services, enabling them to monitor construction progress and provide instructions from remote offices.

• Autonomous Driving and Smart Mobility: High-precision positioning and ultra-low latency communication are essential for the practical implementation of autonomous vehicles and mobile robots. By combining RTK, which provides centimeter-level accuracy of vehicle positions, with 5G-enabled vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicles can seamlessly share their precise locations and control data. This enables safe convoy driving and effective collision avoidance without latency issues. When autonomous vehicles consistently recognize their position at lane-level accuracy using RTK correction data delivered through 5G networks, stable self-driving can be achieved even at high speeds or in complex urban environments. In the future, the integration of V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication and RTK technology will establish a robust smart mobility infrastructure, significantly improving road traffic safety and efficiency.

• Advanced Agriculture and Precision Farming: In agriculture, RTK positioning is widely utilized for autonomous navigation (auto-steering) of tractors and combines. With the extension of 5G networks into farmland, uninterrupted correction data transmission becomes feasible even across extensive fields, enabling agricultural machinery to autonomously navigate with positioning accuracy down to a few centimeters. This advancement allows highly precise operations such as seed planting and fertilizer application within just a few centimeters of row accuracy, significantly reducing labor requirements while enhancing both yield and crop quality. Moreover, RTK combined with 5G can facilitate accurate real-time tagging of images captured by agricultural drones, immediately transmitting them to the cloud. This enables remote analysis of crop growth and automated control of pesticide application. Ultimately, high-precision positioning supported by 5G will powerfully drive the growth and adoption of smart agriculture solutions.

• Applications in Drone Surveying and Infrastructure Inspection: The combination of 5G and RTK is increasingly being adopted in surveying drones and infrastructure inspection robots. By equipping aerial drones with RTK receivers and continuously delivering correction data via 5G communication, drones can precisely geo-tag aerial images and LiDAR point clouds collected during flight. For example, in inspections of bridges or tall buildings, high-resolution video captured by drones can be transmitted in real-time to ground stations through 5G networks, while simultaneously recording the drone's trajectory data determined by RTK positioning. This approach enables inspectors to accurately identify deterioration points from an office without physically visiting the site, greatly enhancing the efficiency of infrastructure maintenance and management. In the surveying field, real-time photogrammetry data processing—which traditionally occurred post-flight—is now being performed in the cloud using 5G’s high-capacity communication. Thus, the integration of 5G and RTK is building a seamless, high-precision data collection infrastructure linking aerial and ground-based operations.

​

Future Prospects and the Adoption of LRTK

As 5G continues to spread, the possibilities for RTK positioning technology will expand even further. With the expansion of 5G coverage, areas previously considered difficult for RTK—such as mountainous regions, remote islands, and indoor-outdoor transition zones—are expected to have reliable access to high-precision positioning. Moreover, looking toward the future Beyond 5G/6G era, even more IoT devices will require highly accurate positioning data. From autonomous delivery robots and AR glasses to various sensors deployed in smart cities, a world where everything coordinates location data with centimeter-level accuracy is becoming increasingly realistic. In this context, the integration of 5G networks and RTK positioning technology will play an essential role as a foundational infrastructure.

​

In this context, introducing the LRTK series to field operations provides substantial advantages. LRTK is a solution tailored to meet the demands of high-precision positioning in the 5G era, offering numerous expected benefits upon adoption.

First and foremost is increased efficiency and labor savings in positioning tasks. Thanks to its intuitive, smartphone-friendly interface, on-site staff—even without specialized technical knowledge—can easily perform positioning and record data independently.

Next is the immediate sharing of data and accelerated decision-making. Positioning data obtained through LRTK is instantly uploaded to the cloud, enabling all relevant parties to access real-time information and swiftly make decisions or plan subsequent tasks. This transforms traditional workflows reliant on paper records and delayed reporting, strongly driving digital transformation (DX) of field operations. Moreover, adopting LRTK allows your organization to accumulate high-precision positional data, which can later be leveraged for advanced BIM/CIM applications, AI-driven construction optimization, and other innovative digital initiatives.