Shenzhen Meichuangxin Technology TI ST ON ADI Zhong Sheng 18038076660

Recently, with the official opening of the Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system, a hot topic has been fermented on the Internet: Does Apple actually use the Beidou navigation system? The question of whether to answer this question seems simple, but there is a lack of sufficient evidence behind it, which has led to netizens holding their own opinions and arguing endlessly.

Today, EDN wants to comprehensively analyze whether Apple supports Beidou? If not, what is the reason behind it?

the ins and outs of things

According to reports, on August 3, Beidou satellite navigation system spokesman Ran Chengqi introduced at the press conference of the State Council Information Office that the Beidou-3 constellation network has been completed, and most smartphones currently support the Beidou navigation system, except for Apple.

Ran Chengqi's statement is regarded by many media as the "official seal of Beidou" of Apple's non-cooperation. On the positioning service parameter page of mainstream smartphones, it can indeed be seen that Apple is significantly different from other mobile phone brands.

Among domestic brands, Huawei P40 supports GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC in positioning; OPPO and Xiaomi new models clearly support GPS, Beidou, Glonass, Galileo. Among foreign brands, Samsung S10+ also states that it supports GPS, Glonass, Beidou, and Galileo.

Huawei P40 clearly marked to support Beidou

Whereas most phone brands detail supported satellite positioning systems, Apple's description of location services is vague. On Apple's official website, you can see that from the iPhone 8 to the latest iPhone 11 series, there is only a description of "built-in GPS/GNSS".

That said, the iPhone does not publicly and explicitly support Beidou.

However, this description does not mean that Apple is blocking Beidou, the problem lies in GNSS. GNSS is the abbreviation of Global Satellite Navigation System. Worldwide, there are four GNSS core suppliers recognized by the United Nations Satellite Navigation Commission, and Beidou is one of them (the other three are GPS in the United States, GLONASS in Russia, and EU-led Galileo).

So in theory, as long as GNSS is used, it is equivalent to using the Beidou positioning system. If you don't explain the positioning system you support one by one, it may just be Apple's long-talking style. In this ambiguous situation, Apple's response has become the key to solving the case.

On August 6, Apple finally officially responded to the Beidou positioning system for the first time. Apple's official reply to the "Global Times" stated that "the iPhone 11 positioning system does use data from Beidou satellites."

With this statement, the reasoning came to an end: Apple did not block Beidou, and the iPhone did use Beidou data.

Apple mobile phone hardware and software support Beidou

In the case of "Apple has not publicly supported Beidou", some people have also questioned whether Apple's hardware is not good?

In the Apple mobile phone, the GNSS module responsible for satellite positioning is independent of the CPU and is integrated in the Qualcomm or Intel baseband chip. When the positioning function is realized, the baseband chip receives the satellite positioning information and calculates the position data, and then sends it to the CPU chip for processing.

Therefore, as long as it is confirmed that the baseband chips of Qualcomm and Intel support Beidou, it can be confirmed that the iPhone supports Beidou.

As far as Qualcomm is concerned, all 4G LTE basebands support GNSS positioning systems including Beidou. As far as Intel is concerned, the XMM7660 used by the iPhone 11, the XMM7560 used by the iPhone XS, and the XMM7480 used by the iPhone X have also clearly stated that they support GNSS and Beidou.

Therefore, when the iPhone uses Beidou, the hardware is absolutely up to the standard.

In terms of software, since the compatibility and sharing of frequency bands and data formats have been coordinated among the four major GNSS systems, smartphones do not need to make complicated changes for the nascent Beidou positioning system and can be easily used.

In the case that the software and hardware are all up to the standard, is the iPhone deliberately blocking Beidou?

A source said, "The iPhone has indeed been deliberately blocked, but it is not a 'personal vendetta'.

"When Beidou did not complete the networking, the signal coverage was not wide enough, and there were still problems such as the incompatibility with the mainstream navigation systems in frequency and the big difference in code rate. In this way, Beidou became a 'difficult to get started' newcomer in the navigation system family. An internal Apple employee revealed that it was mentioned in Apple's official documents that the iPhone had performance problems using Beidou signals, so Apple blocked the Beidou signal."

Is it really a performance issue? How many years ago is this? The EDN editor does not agree with this.

If it is said that in the early days of Beidou's development, the signal quality was poor due to the limited number of satellites launched. However, when Beidou has developed to this day, it has formed an obvious technical advantage over other positioning systems, and it is fully supported by both software and hardware. It is not logical to talk about it. Such a small problem as the Beidou receiver design does not pose a challenge to Apple at all, otherwise why is Apple alone not supporting it?

Therefore, if the iPhone does not support Beidou, there is only one reason behind it, that is, "no plan to support it". So, what is the reason for not supporting?

iPhone does not support Beidou, or because of legal reasons

A Zhihu netizen @dog pointed out the crux of the problem. He pointed out that the iPhone series does not support Beidou so far, which is the result of a combination of product logic and legal reasons. The United States requires that every satellite positioning receiver that receives signals from foreign systems (that is, except GPS) in its territory apply for a license, just like a radio license. There are exceptions, such as the Galileo system as a whole applied for an exemption from this rule, and the GLONASS system generally has no manufacturers to comply with this rule due to historical problems. But in any case, Beidou did not apply for an exemption. It doesn't matter where your device is sold, as long as your device can be physically carried to the US, then you are subject to this restriction. The common practice of the Android camp is to add a geofence to the driver of the gnss module. Once the device arrives in the United States, the Beidou signal will be automatically blocked. Apple obviously believes that artificially shielding and weakening a system that should be globally available in some areas is not in line with their product logic, so they did not directly provide Beidou support. Can you imagine that Apple's product page is marked as supporting Beidou, except in the United States?

In fact, Apple has done this once. Taking the iPhone 6s as an example, the exemption for the Galileo system has not been applied for at the beginning of the sale, so Apple does not support the Galileo system globally. The exemption officially took effect in November 2018. Apple then rolled out an update that added support for the Galileo system globally. So now you look at the spec sheet for the 6s, which includes Galileo. Beidou's future route should be the same. Or maybe Apple changes its mind and chooses to add geofencing like the Android ecosystem.

Then, a netizen @米布OO came to refute, "Apple obviously thinks that artificial shielding in some areas to weaken a system that should be globally available is not in line with their product logic." I feel that Apple's open software and hardware functions in different regions are not The same is very consistent with Apple's logic or the logic of almost all equipment manufacturers.

So is there esim in China? Is there any itunes store in China? Are FaceTime voice calls available in China? Is there any callkit in China? Is the ECG function of aw available in China? Is it because these functions cannot be used in China for some reason, so the global Apple has been castrated?

And how do you explain that Samsung, Nokia HMD, OnePlus, ASUS ROG and other manufacturers' mobile phone product specifications on the US official website clearly state that they support BDS or Beidou.

On the whole, the editor of EDN agrees with @dog's statement. Here is a new piece of evidence.

It is said that the iPhone positioning system uses data from Beidou satellites, which does not mean that it is fully supported. In fact, the editor of EDN downloaded a certain positioning app with a colleague's iPhone X, and found that he could see the trajectory of the Beidou satellite. On the Android series mobile phones, you can clearly see the distribution of satellites by downloading an app such as GPStest.

Sean Barbeau, the developer of the app, talks about a similar situation in "Why Galileo is not seen in United States?".

He said European users began seeing Galileo satellites as early as October 2016, even before Galileo officially started operations. He thought he would be able to see the Galileo satellites on his own equipment in the United States, but he had no such luck. And as Galileo started offering Early Operational Capability (EOC), he still didn't see Galileo on his phone.

At first, he just thought the American version of the phone couldn't see the Galileo satellites. Later, it became clear that when he was flying from Europe to the United States with GPSTest running on his mobile phone, the Galileo satellite could be seen in Europe, but after crossing the US territory, the Galileo satellite disappeared.

What is the reason for this? He noted that U.S. users cannot see the Galileo satellites in GPSTest, not due to any device or satellite technology limitations, but due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations.

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) Title 47? Chapter I? Subchapter B? Part 25? Subpart B? Section 25.131?(j) states:

A receive-only earth station operating with a non-U.S. licensed space station should submit FCC Form 312, requesting a license or modification, before operating the station.

Apparently, mobile devices are considered "receiving earth stations only", while Galileo satellites are "non-US" licensed space stations. Therefore, before the Galileo system can be used in the United States, the EU must obtain a license to operate such stations in the United States, or ask for an exemption, in order to be exempt from this policy…

Then, the editor of EDN did a Google search and found the press release of the US FCC's approval of the Galileo navigation satellite system in 2018, but the Beidou news was not found at all. This also confirms from the side that Apple does not support Beidou, at least in the United States. Apple does not support Beidou in the world, maybe it is just the reason for taking a unified product line.

Summarize

To sum up, in the short term, especially in the current situation of tension between China and the United States, including the upcoming iPhone 12, Apple mobile phones in the United States are likely to continue to not support Beidou technology. It can also be seen in the 5G commercial spectrum competition event. However, with such strong voices from Chinese users, the editor of EDN believes that it is still possible for the iPhone 12 to adopt a geo-fencing technology similar to the above, and to open support for Beidou in China. For other versions of the iPhone's support for Beidou, it may also be updated after the new system comes out.

Shenzhen Meichuangxin Technology TI ST ON ADI Zhong Sheng 18038076660