Proving Positioning in Tokyo: How AUTO Maintains Accuracy When GNSS Fails
- Trusted Positioning
- Aug 26
- 3 min read
From underground tunnels and stacked highways to glass towers and tight urban corridors, Tokyo is one of the harshest GNSS environments on Earth. That’s exactly why we took AUTO — Trusted Positioning’s automotive-grade positioning solution — to the streets of Tokyo for a live demonstration.
Watch the video below to see AUTO handle Tokyo’s toughest positioning challenges in real time.
GNSS Isn’t Built for Environments Like This
Positioning systems that rely solely on GNSS often falter in complex urban environments. Signals are blocked by tunnels, reflected by skyscrapers, and confused by multi-layer intersections — resulting in drift, delay, or complete failure.
That level of uncertainty isn’t acceptable for modern vehicles. As advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous features become more widespread, the need for resilient, real-time positioning only grows.
Enter AUTO.
What Is AUTO?
AUTO is a high-performance software solution that fuses inertial, odometry, GNSS, and optionally radar to deliver consistent, real-time positioning in any driving environment — including complete GNSS outages.
How It Works:
AUTO integrates with your vehicle’s existing sensors:
IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit)
Wheel speed/odometry data
GNSS (as available)
Optional radar for lateral constraints
The result is a robust positioning system that doesn't depend on infrastructure — or even consistent satellite visibility.
Proven in Calgary & Detroit—then stress-tested in Tokyo
We first ran the same outage scenarios in Calgary and Detroit—tunnels, dense urban corridors, multilayer roadways, and airport approaches. In each case, AUTO held a stable trajectory during GNSS loss and re-integrated signals smoothly on return, with no “jumping” or jitter. See the Calgary drive video and learn more about our Detroit crowd-sourced run.
Tokyo: The Ultimate Testbed
To push things further, we chose Tokyo’s Marunouchi district—one of the most challenging GNSS environments anywhere, thanks to high-rise canyons and stacked expressways that routinely occlude satellites. Entering/exiting long tunnels, threading dense corridors, and running beneath multilayer highways, AUTO again maintained continuity via onboard sensor fusion and performed seamless handoffs when signals returned.
Key takeaways observed across all cities:
Reliable tunnel tracking with no GNSS
Smooth handoffs when signals return
Minimal drift during satellite loss
“AUTO showed exactly what we needed to see: real-world resilience, not just lab-grade accuracy.” – Chris Goodall, Managing Director and President at TDK Trusted Positioning.
Why This Matters
Vehicle systems today require reliable positioning for more than just navigation:
ADAS features (like lane centering or adaptive cruise) rely on position and heading
Sensor calibration and alignment depend on accurate vehicle state
Autonomy stacks require reliable fallback when LiDAR or GNSS are degraded
Connected vehicle systems synchronize based on consistent location estimates
AUTO delivers a robust, software-only solution to all of the above.
Who It’s For
AUTO is ideal for:
Audience | Benefit |
OEMs & Tier 1s | Software-only solution for GNSS gaps |
ADAS teams | Consistent positioning for feature reliability |
Autonomous vehicle developers | Resilient fallback during GNSS outage |
Engineering & test teams | Field validation of vehicle state |
AUTO integrates easily into embedded platforms and is compatible with real-time operating systems like QNX and Linux.
Try AUTO for Yourself — Free Trial Available
Want to test AUTO in your own environment?
We offer a free trial with an Evaluation Kit (EVK) — shipped directly to your location. You’ll receive:
Software license for test duration
Setup and integration support
Access to real-time evaluation data
Full documentation and onboarding guide
Request your free trial today and start testing in your own vehicle.
Book a Live Demo
If you're part of an OEM or Tier 1 team looking to evaluate AUTO for production, we also offer customized demonstrations in urban, suburban, or mixed driving conditions.
We'll walk you through:
Real-time performance side-by-side with GNSS-only systems
AUTO’s recovery behavior in degraded signal zones
Integration options for your development platform
About Trusted Positioning
Trusted Positioning, a TDK Group Company, develops software-based positioning technologies that enable devices, vehicles, and assets to maintain location accuracy in GNSS-challenged environments. Built on over a decade of sensor fusion expertise, our solutions eliminate the need for external infrastructure and deliver reliable positioning from the sensors you already have.