A leading engineer for China's indigenous satellite navigation system said a new navigation system would be used in guiding traffic and monitoring sports venues during the Beijing Olympics in summer 2008.Ran Chengqi, deputy director of China Satellite Navigation Engineering Center, said the Compass Navigation Satellite System, which consists of five positioning satellites orbiting the Earth, will help alleviate traffic problems during the Olympics by providing detailed positioning information to individual drivers.
The home-grown navigation system, coded as Beidou in the Chinese pronunciation for the compass, can not only pinpoint precise locations of moving vehicles, but also tell drivers real-time traffic on routes to their destinations, Ran said at an international navigation industry forum in Shanghai.
