This paper presents a terrestrial networked positioning system that obtains a reliable time reference from a national time scale realization and distributes it in a prototype to six roadside base stations through a fiber-optic Gigabit Ethernet network. Wireless wideband signals are transmitted by the base stations, thereby enabling positioning by a mobile receiver with an accuracy of one decimeter in a multipath urban environment. The scalability and compatibility of this system with existing telecommunication-network technologies paves the way for wide-area global navigation satellite system-independent back-up systems for timing and positioning with improved coverage and performance. The results presented in this paper are based on research carried out within the scope of a project funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO, project 13970).

GPS is undoubtedly the most popular system providing positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services to a host of applications, industries and infrastructures. GPS is mass-adopted, has worldwide coverage, has an impressive up-time and can be used with a wide range of receiver devices, featuring low to high cost and low to high precision.