Cracking the Code of 5G Indoor Tracking: What We Learned from Real-World Tests

The Geo5G project, a teamwork effort between Firecell, Stellantis, Axians, Euroutils, Miodex, TMF, AW2S, and Sequans, is making big strides in 5G-powered location tracking. 

The latest breakthrough brings a major win: the first-ever open-source method for pinpointing locations using 5G signals, making it easier and cheaper for industries to locate devices with extreme accuracy.

What’s the Big Deal About This New 5G Location Tracking?

Most of us rely on GPS (the Global Positioning System) for navigation, but GPS struggles indoors and in dense cities where tall buildings block signals. Alternatives like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can help, but they aren’t always precise. That’s where 5G technology steps in.

The Geo5G team has introduced Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDoA)—which is a fancy way of saying that 5G signals sent from a device reach multiple 5G towers at slightly different times. By calculating these tiny time differences, we can pinpoint the exact location of the device—no extra hardware needed! This makes it perfect for industries like self-driving cars, warehouse automation, and smart factories, where knowing exact locations in real-time is a game-changer.

Why Is This Critical for Stellantis and Airbus?

Stellantis and Airbus – who are involved and provide locations for a few of the Geo5G testbeds – both operate in environments full of metal structures. From car bodies and assembly lines to aircraft cockpits and fuselages. These materials create significant signal penetration challenges, making traditional GPS or Wi-Fi unreliable for precise tracking.

Moreover, the new tools used in factories that require wireless connectivity to report back the right torque of screws are expensive and often misplaced. It’s not uncommon they slide under pallets or get lost in large production halls. With real-time geolocation these missing tools can be instantly located, reducing costly downtime.

Another game-changing feature is geofencing. Equipment and tools can be programmed to work only in specific areas—if they are taken outside a designated space, they automatically shut down. This is not only a theft deterrent but also improves worker safety. In environments where heavy machinery and human workers share space, geofencing ensures that certain tools will not operate in pedestrian walkways, preventing potential accidents.

How Did We Prove It Works?

Firecell has been deploying with its partner in multiple test environments to validate this technology:

• Virtual Testing with MATLAB: A great starting point to verify the technology in a controlled environment, but it always delivers results under perfect conditions—which is rarely the case in real-world scenarios.
• EURECOM Testbed: Firecell’s Private 5G network was set up outdoors, allowing full control over modifications like adjusting antennas and repositioning radios. While this setup was flexible, it still didn’t fully represent real-world challenges since the biggest issues arise indoors. However, being close to Firecell’s headquarters made collaboration with EURECOM researchers much easier.
• Stellantis Testbed: This testbed, installed by Axians at Stellantis’ Mattern Lab in Montbéliard, provided a mix of indoor and outdoor environments. Partners could modify radio positions, but any major changes had to go through Axians, making the process a bit slower and more structured than other test sites.
• Airbus Testbed in Méaulte: Perhaps the most complex environment, fully indoors and notoriously highly controlled facility. While Firecell owns the test equipment, we are not allowed to change any of its positioning. This site will continue testing until July 2025, providing long-term data on how 5G tracking performs in a real-world industrial setting.

As a result, these different test environments have provided invaluable insights, proving that 5G-based location tracking is not just theoretical—it’s practical and ready for real-world deployment.

Claude Seyrat, CEO of Firecell, on Why This Matters

“This open-source breakthrough is a major step forward for 5G-based location tracking. By making this technology available to everyone, we are giving businesses and researchers the chance to build exciting new location-based applications. The Geo5G project is all about making precise, real-time location tracking available and affordable to industries everywhere.”

Ready for Action: Geo5G as Your Platform for Innovation and Scalable Deployment

Our journey through diverse environments—from the adaptable outdoor setup at EURECOM to the controlled complexity of Airbus’ indoor facility—has reinforced a crucial truth: there is no one-size-fits-all solution for 5G indoor tracking. Each environment presents unique challenges, whether it’s antenna positioning, managing multipath reflections, or balancing the frequency of data updates.

Through these experiments, we have developed a robust framework that leverages a dynamic pipeline of algorithms to process the 5G messages and output a 3D position, as well as a unique expertise on how to run such a system. As we advance, our focus increasingly turns to integrating AI into this pipeline, enabling us to refine configurations autonomously and synthesize insights from multiple foundational algorithms.

While there is still much to learn, our ongoing collaborations with customers and partners are invaluable. They drive us to push boundaries and bring forward practical, high-precision 5G indoor tracking solutions that meet real-world industrial needs.

Interested to work together? Let’s connect and discuss how to implement our learnings in your Private 5G project, using Geolocation!