How Android 15 improves Wi-Fi for even more precise location

Tracking your GPS position inside buildings can often be very inaccuratesatellite signals being disrupted by walls and obstacles. To overcome this limitation, manufacturers have turned to Wi-Fi, taking advantage of the multitude of access points present in indoor spaces such as shopping centers or trade shows.

However, positioning based on Wi-Fi signal strength alone previously only offered an accuracy of 10 to 15 metersinsufficient for detailed navigation inside buildings.

Positioning with Wi-Fi will become even more precise on Android 15

It is to solve this problem that the IEEE developed the 802.11mc standard, also called Wi-Fi RTT (Round Trip Time). This technology uses time-of-flight measurement of Wi-Fi packets to achieve an accuracy of 1 to 2 meters. Although present in Android since version 9, Wi-Fi RTT has not yet seen widespread deployment.

With Android 15, Google is taking a new step by integrating the 802.11az standard, also known as “Wi-Fi Ranging”. This development makes it possible to achieve precision less than a meter, or even up to 40 centimetersthanks to doubled bandwidth and better resistance to interference.

The advantages of Wi-Fi Ranging are numerous : better range than competing technologies such as UWB or Bluetooth 6, compatibility with previous generations of Wi-Fi, and scalability to accommodate many users simultaneously.

There are multiple potential applications: navigation assistance in shopping centers, airports or lounges, more contextual home control by precisely identifying the room where the user is, etc.

Although Android 15 devices must have a compatible Wi-Fi chipmanufacturers are starting to integrate this technology, such as Qualcomm with its new FastConnect 7900 module of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. As for Wi-Fi access points, a simple firmware update will be necessary to support the 802.11az standard.