Broadcom announced a new GPS chip that will give 30-centimeter accuracy instead of today’s 5 meters.

They are able to achieve better accuracy because of the new GPS L5 signal. It is a civilian “safety of life” signal, designed to provide means of secure and robust navigation enough for life-critical applications, like aircraft precision approach guidance. GPS, QZSS (Japanese satellite system) and Galileo (European satellite system) started deploying satellites with L5 support in 2011, and now there are enough satellites in space to start using this functionality.

It should have an impact on self-driving cars. Autonomous vehicles must know precisely where they are, relative to a high-definition map. Using L5 together with together with older L1 and L2 signals gives an order of magnitude improvement in navigation accuracy.