Bo Sun: From connectivity to awareness: Enabling sub‑meter to sub‑centimeter positioning with 5G/6G networks
In his doctoral dissertation, Bo Sun studied how future mobile networks (5G and beyond) can be used not only for communication but also for precise positioning and environmental sensing. The research shows that standard 5G signals can achieve sub-meter positioning and even create maps of surroundings, while new techniques using reconfigurable intelligent surfaces can improve accuracy to centimeter or sub-centimeter levels. These results are important because they allow reliable positioning in places where GPS does not work, such as indoors or in dense urban areas. The findings can benefit industries such as transportation, manufacturing, and public safety by enabling autonomous systems, smarter infrastructure, and cost-efficient monitoring using existing mobile networks.
