FocusStar

FocusStar (聚星) is an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning network from Kunchen that carries high-precision positioning and timing into places where satellite signals are blocked, such as underground car parks, tunnels, port container stacks and mine crusher stations. Kunchen designed it specifically to fill gaps in GNSS RTK coverage.

Base stations, synchronised wirelessly to picosecond level, broadcast IEEE 802.15.4z UWB messages. Each terminal computes its own position from the time differences of arrival (TDOA), in a way the provider likens to GNSS, so the number of terminals is unlimited. Kunchen states absolute accuracy of up to CEP 10 cm, 1 cm repeatability, UTC and 1PPS timing output in GNSS blind spots, and a CAN FD interface.

The network is paired with Kunchen's KC-BOX terminal, which receives BeiDou, GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and QZSS, takes RTK corrections from services such as Qianxun, and switches between RTK and UWB without a break, with one output format. Kunchen's K3105 and K3108 navigation terminals can also take FocusStar data, which keeps their WGS-84 output continuous indoors.

Stated applications include automated valet parking and indoor navigation (CEP95 10 cm at 50 Hz to the vehicle's domain controller), port yards, mine unloading areas and indoor vehicle testing. Kunchen sells the network as an on-demand coverage service and as components, including vehicle-grade, mass-production AVP parts. It designs and installs the base stations (about a pair every 25 m in a car park) and delivers a commissioned network within 30 working days of design approval. Annual maintenance is also offered.

Kunchen states that the technical solution it contributed to a Chinese automotive map-and-positioning standard was the first internationally to use IEEE 802.15.4z UWB signals for large-area, seamless BeiDou timing and positioning underground, and that it is a drafter of the China SAE (中国汽车工程学会) AVP standard.