GPS World

Category: Applications

  • Synergizing smartphones’ onboard GPS capability with KML files

    By Jay Satalich, P.L.S., GISP

    At Caltrans District 7 in Los Angeles, we use the onboard GPS capability of smartphones to navigate in real time to the locations of proposed aerial targets and National Geodetic Survey (NGS) control stations.

    Keyhole markup language (KML) files are created in the office using desktop GIS, then downloaded to smartphones for use in the field. We create KML files specifically for use by our surveyors during every aerial mapping project within Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

    FIGURE 1. Highway Interchange displayed on a smartphone using Google Earth App for Android, (ground targets in blue, flight information for pilots in red and green). Airborne GPS positioning aids in controlling aerial photography as the pilot navigates from exposure to exposure. A flight management system automatically triggers the camera or sensor once it reaches the exposure station in the air.
    FIGURE 1. Highway Interchange displayed on a smartphone using Google Earth App for Android, (ground targets in blue, flight information for pilots in red and green). Airborne GPS positioning aids in controlling aerial photography as the pilot navigates from exposure to exposure. A flight management system automatically triggers the camera or sensor once it reaches the exposure station in the air.

    KML is an extensive markup language (XML) notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within Internet-based, two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth — originally named Keyhole Earth Viewer.

    The aerial target layer also shows the proposed locations of stereo model limits on the smartphone. A stereo model is the overlapping portion of two adjacent aerial images. Each typically has a 60 percent overlap with its adjacent image, so it can be viewed and mapped in stereo. The ground control is combined with the airborne GPS to provide the orientation of the individual exposures, and it establishes the coordinate space of that imagery for any subsequent products.

    Having the stereo model limits as a data layer becomes a handy piece of information in the event an aerial target must be relocated because of unfavorable field conditions. The heads-up capabilities of GPS aboard the smartphones and KML files can also show the easiest path to reach either target location or control stations. The NGS control station layer hyperlinks to the NGS website, so the field surveyor always has the recovery note available in an electronic format.

    The field surveyors are also given hardcopy maps of the target locations and control stations, but those are now only used as a backup to the KML files loaded onto the smartphones.

    FIGURE 2. Phone Screen with station description from NGS database (above).
    FIGURE 2. Phone Screen with station description from NGS database (above).
    FIGURE 3. The user arrives here via a hyperlink from another screen (FIGURE 2).
    FIGURE 3. The user arrives here via a hyperlink from another screen (FIGURE 2).

    We have found that leveraging the onboard GPS capability of smartphones with GIS-based data layers in the field has increased production. Using smartphones provides the surveyors with information more concisely and clearly. This information enables surveyors to make better decisions in the field.

    One example is identifying inaccessible areas. If the field surveyor sees that an aerial target can be moved to a different location that provides easier access, it can save time and guesswork.

    This information is also valuable in rugged areas because the field surveyor may need to identify the location of hiking trails or while surveying in the desert, or identify the location of aerial targets in areas that are either lightly inhabited or have few landmarks. The project surveyor can tailor datasets specifically to project needed by the field surveyors.

    Once the aerial targets have been placed and the NGS control stations recovered, the field surveyors then position the aerial targets and control stations using carrier-phase GNSS. This gives us the centimeter-level accuracy needed to control the aerial photography during our mapping projects.

  • NASA helps maintain International Terrestrial Reference Frame with GNSS

    News courtesy of NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center

    The surface of Earth is constantly being reshaped by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, changes in sea levels and ice sheets and other processes. Since some of these changes amount to only millimeters per year, scientists must make very precise measurements of the landscape and ocean in space and time in order to study their evolution and help mitigate their impacts.

    The foundation for these precision measurements is the terrestrial reference frame, which serves the same purpose as landmarks along a trail. Earth-orbiting satellites and ground-based instruments make use of this reference system to pinpoint their own locations and, in turn, those of the features they are tracking. It is also the hidden framework relied upon by aircraft to determine their locations and by mobile phone apps that provide maps and driving directions. And it is a fundamental reference for interplanetary navigation of spacecraft.

    NASA helps maintain the worldwide standard called the International Terrestrial Reference Frame, or ITRF, and recently contributed to an update issued by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service’s International Terrestrial Reference System Product Center at the Institut National de l’Information Géographique et Forestière (IGN) in Paris.

    “The new release lays the groundwork for more detailed studies than ever before of global changes in Earth’s ocean, ice sheets, land and atmosphere,” said Stephen Merkowitz, manager of NASA’s Space Geodesy Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

    Earth-observing satellites — such as the Jason 3 spacecraft, launched in January through a U.S.-European partnership, and the upcoming ICESat-2 mission — will be among the beneficiaries of the new standard.

    Officially called ITRF2014, the update released in late January is the ninth ITRF issued since 1992. More than a thousand observing stations run by NASA and other scientific institutions worldwide contributed to it, collecting data through 2014.

    Global in nearly every sense of the word, the ITRF is made up of specific geographic positions around the world, along with information about how each one drifts over time. This is important because the positions move relative to each other, with some drifting more rapidly than others. The reference frame includes details about how quickly and in which directions the positions are expected to move.

    Some of the drift happens because of the motion of Earth’s tectonic plates, which is well understood. Drift motions may also include the gradual rebounding of land that was covered by ice sheets during the last ice age, as well as land subsiding due to climatic effects or human activity, such as withdrawal of groundwater. Less predictable are changes due to earthquakes. Large quakes will cause a sudden shift in position and also may alter the drift rate or direction at that location. Recent versions of the reference frame have started to include these effects.

    “An important feature of the latest International Terrestrial Reference Frame is that the model has a more sophisticated way of incorporating the effects of earthquakes,” said Chopo Ma, a geophysicist at Goddard who was involved in producing and analyzing data for the latest reference frame.

    Helping to improve the ITRF is one of the primary goals of NASA’s Space Geodesy Project. Four measurement techniques are used by stations worldwide to collect data for the reference frame.

    In Satellite Laser Ranging, or SLR, precise measurements are made by sending short laser pulses from ground stations to Earth-orbiting satellites equipped with suitable reflectors. The distance is calculated from the time it takes for the pulse to complete the round trip back to the ground station.

    The second method is called Very Long Baseline Interferometry, or VLBI. Ground stations spread across the globe observe dozens of quasars, which are distant enough to serve as stable reference points. By carefully timing when the signals from the quasars are recorded by each station, the precise geometry of the antenna network can be deduced, and Earth’s orientation in space and its rotation rate can be measured.

    The technique known as Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite, or DORIS, takes advantage of the Doppler effect, which is what we hear when an ambulance’s siren changes pitch as it drives toward or away from us. The frequency of a radio signal from a DORIS beacon experiences the same effect while traveling from Earth to an orbiting satellite. By measuring the frequency change, it’s possible to work backward to figure out the distance from the beacon to the satellite.

    The final method makes use of the Global Navigation Satellite System, known as GNSS — a network that includes GPS and other navigation satellites. Radio signals are broadcast by GNSS satellites and received at many locations worldwide.

    “The big advantage of GNSS is the dense network of stations distributed around the world,” said Richard Gross, who manages the Terrestrial Reference Frame combination center at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “For the reference frame, on the order of a thousand GNSS stations contribute position measurements.”

    Because there are GNSS receivers at the stations that perform the other three measurement techniques, GNSS also provides a method for tying together all four approaches. And when scientists worldwide want to measure how the ground is moving, they access the reference frame by using GNSS to determine their positions.

    In preparation for the new reference frame, research teams worldwide carried out data analysis, looking at between 20 and 30 years of data for each method. Scientists at Goddard and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, coordinated the data analysis for VLBI, SLR and DORIS, and JPL contributed GNSS data. All of the geodetic data for the reference frame have been archived at the NASA Crustal Dynamics Data Information System, located at Goddard, and distributed to users worldwide.

    Looking forward, NASA is upgrading the stations in its Space Geodetic Network. The Space Geodesy Project at Goddard is managing these upgrades, and work is already under way at stations in Hawaii and Texas. The upgraded stations will help fill in geographic gaps in the global system, helping to improve future versions of the reference frame.

    In addition, scientists are looking at other possible approaches for combining the four data types to produce an improved reference frame. Research on advancing the ITRF is conducted not only at IGN, but also at JPL’s Terrestrial Reference Frame combination center and at a similar center at the Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut in Munich. Each center produces its own independent solution, which scientists will compare to see what they can learn from different approaches.

    “We renew the International Terrestrial Reference Frame every few years because it’s more than a set of geographical positions,” said Frank Lemoine, a Goddard scientist involved in producing and analyzing data for the new standard. “It’s a projection about what will happen to those positions in the future, and our ability to extend the reference frame into the future gets better and better over time.”

    — By Karen C. Fox, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

  • Driverless future revealed at upcoming conference

    May flip transportation industry more than Henry Ford did

    The future rollout of the autonomous vehicle will disrupt transportation in way not seen since the automobile’s introduction. A new conference, Driverless, March 22-23 at the Crown Plaza Hotel-San Francisco Airport will explore future autonomous vehicle markets and policy; outline technological and cultural challenges; detail legal, cyber and privacy issues; and assess the investment opportunity in this potentially game-changing technology.

    Silicon Valley — not traditionally an automotive center — is the new autonomous driving hotspot, as computer and software firms rapidly develop solutions and prototypes. Teaming with established automakers, new ventures and established Silicon Valley giants alike are testing systems worldwide for both passenger cars and commercial fleets. The Driverless conference takes advantage of its proximity to the computing capital to draw influential speakers and knowledgeable, motivated attendees in a high-level gathering.

    Headshot: Alain Kornhauser
    Headshot: Alain Kornhauser

    In the future panel, titled “The Way Ahead: The Road to Autonomous Driving,” industry experts assess the technological challenges facing full-blown autonomous driving. Who leads the effort to reduce component prices? What is the single most important decision that will unleash for ubiquitous rollout?

    Panel members include: Adrian Pearmine, National Director for Smart Cities and Connected Vehicles, DKS Associates; Alain Kornhauser, Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering, Director, Transportation Program, Princeton University; Grant Mahler, Advanced Technology Engineer, BMW Group; Mike Jellen, President and COO, Velodyne; and Randall Iwasaki, Executive Director, Contra Costa Transportation Authority

    Headshot: Alain Kornhauser
    Headshot: Alain Kornhauser

    Kornhauser recently stated that autonomous vehicles will, like Ford’s Model T nearly a century ago, disrupt transportation. “Other disruptive technologies include intermodal container shipping, personal rapid transit, the rise of intelligent transportation systems and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Challenge 10 years ago that flipped the industry from automated highways to the automated vehicle,” he said at the Transportation Research Board annual meeting. “It may flip the transportation industry more than Henry Ford did.”

    Headshot: Mike Jellen
    Headshot: Mike Jellen

    BMW, with its longstanding interest is assisted driving (see 2007 GPS World article, Pass/No Pass, is also a leader in autonomous driving. BMW Group, consisting of BMW, Rolls Royce, MINI and BMW Motorrad, recently powered the first self-driving car in China. Baidu, “the Chinese Google,” announced in December that its autonomous car successfully navigated a complicated route through Beijing. According to the company, the modified BMW 3-Series drove an 18.6-mile route around the capital city that included side streets as well as highways. The car made left, right, and u-turns, changed lanes, passed other cars, and merged onto and off the highway.

    A Mapping Panel at the Driverless conference will feature HERE and San Francisco-based Civil Maps. Maps will be integral to any company’s strategy to introduce autonomous vehicles to the roadway.

    Headshot: Randall Iwasaki
    Headshot: Randall Iwasaki

    HERE recently unveiled its HD Live Map, an advanced cloud-based map asset. Ready to be deployed in connected vehicles in North America and Western Europe, HD Live Map creates a highly detailed and dynamic representation of the road environment, enabling a vehicle to effectively “see around corners” beyond the reach of its on-board sensors.

    In 2015’s largest location-industry deal, three German luxury auto manufacturers, Audi, BMW and Daimler, purchased HERE for $2.8 billion from Nokia.

    Civil Maps launched its lidar to GIS online platform at last year’s Esri User Conference. The software extracts and classifies features from 3D laser scans for export to popular GIS software. By leveraging proprietary artificial intelligence graph search powered by a supercomputer, Civil Maps says that its approach reduces turnaround times by 75 percent and yields more accurate maps than human-based processing, providing a streamlined approach to asset management and planning.

    Other panels at the Driverless conference focus on:

    • Why Are Autonomous Vehicles Hot?
    • The Autonomous Vehicle Investment
    • Autonomous Vehicle Project Updates
    • Driverless Product Liability, Cyber Security and Privacy Issues

    Driverless Conference Schedule. The full-day program on Wednesday, March 23, will feature 30 speakers from BMW Group, Peloton, USAA, Farmers Insurance, Velodyne, HERE and many others. The conference begins with an early evening reception on March 22, and ends with a similar reception on the 23rd, featuring exhibits from top companies.

    Register here to attend. Driverless will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel-San Francisco Airport, which has some of the lowest hotel rates in the Bay Area. Registration and hotel reservation rates go up March 9.

    Sponsorships and displays are still available. Contact Global Technology Communications, (303) 369-3230, or email [email protected].

  • Ford commits to tripling autonomous vehicle investment

    Ford took center stage at the Mobile World Congress (MCW) for a series of announcements. CEO Mark Fields unveiled the new Kuga SUV and confirmed that Ford’s SYNC 3 connectivity technology is coming to Europe. SYNC 3 allows drivers to control audio, navigation, and climate functions plus connected smartphones using simple, conversational voice commands. MCW is being held Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.

    Fields also said Ford commits to tripling its engineering investment in semi-autonomous vehicle technologies as the company continues to expand its Ford Smart Mobility plan.

    Fields discussed Ford’s transition from an automotive company to an auto and a mobility company through Ford Smart Mobility — the company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience, and data and analytics.

    “As we look to the future, it is clear we are on the cusp of a revolution in mobility – from car sharing to autonomous driving to the customer experience,” Fields said. “Technology and innovation provide us with the opportunity to address these trends and to make people’s lives better by changing the way the world moves.”

    The Kuga will offer several new technologies and updates, including Ford’s new SYNC 3 communications and entertainment system and innovative driver assistance technologies. The Kuga has hands-free perpendicular parking; an enhanced version of the Active City Stop collision avoidance system; an adaptive front lighting system; and intelligent all-wheel drive.

    Ford’s drive toward a fully autonomous consumer car includes rolling out traffic jam assist and fully active park assist in the next three years.

    Ford CEO discusses the company's move to fully autonomous vehicles at MWC.
    Ford CEO Mark Fields discusses the company’s move to fully autonomous vehicles at MWC.

    Traffic Jam Assist helps the driver with steering, braking and acceleration in heavily congested traffic situations on motorways. Fully Active Park Assist helps drivers by steering and controlling the transmission, throttle and brake to seamlessly pull into a parking spot at the touch of a button.

    Further semi-autonomous technologies already introduced by Ford include Pre-Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection, a camera- and radar-based system that detects vehicles and people in the road ahead; and Intelligent Speed Limiter, which could help prevent drivers from exceeding speed limits, and potentially from incurring costly speeding penalties.

    Ford is seeking to deliver autonomous capability that does not require driver input described by the SAE International as Level 4 of automation. At this level of capability, autonomous vehicles will likely be offered first in climates that support optimal sensor performance and in areas that have been mapped in high-resolution 3D. Ford has tested fully autonomous vehicles in winter weather, including snow.

    “We are committed to making autonomous vehicles available for millions of people,” Washington said. “Within well-defined areas and with favorable environmental conditions, we predict that fully autonomous driving will be possible within four years, and that autonomous vehicles will play a significant role in making travel safer, more enjoyable, and more accessible.”

  • Harman offers connected car program for service providers

    Harman International Industries has announced 10 new workflow, content and data service providers for the company’s Open Service Delivery Platform for the connected car.

    Harman made the announcement at the Mobile World Congress, taking place Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.

    The service providers can provide automakers and drivers with a wide range of accurate, context-based and relevant services including real-time traffic and location-based services, shopping, parking, streaming audio and live news.

    Service providers include TomTom, Parkopedia, AccuWeather, Yelp, INRIX, CustomWeather, Deezer, AccuRadio, Wcities and NPR. The new services will be available to automakers for their connected car configurations.

    The Service Provider Program is a worldwide initiative available to workflow, content, data and service providers who are looking to bring their services to automakers, vehicles, drivers and passengers faster, while focusing on near-term opportunities in the automotive industry.

    By leveraging the industry’s leading enterprise cloud services platform, automakers can deploy a variety of services including infotainment and navigation, new software features after vehicle sale, vehicle data to predict part failures, forecasting for preventative maintenance, and analysis of warranty claims, Harman said.

    The Harman Service Delivery Platform is a comprehensive foundation with a collection of core services, third-party services and management features, fully integrated with vehicle systems and updated seamlessly over the air.

  • Team Schriever celebrates GPS heritage

    News from 50th Space Wing Public Affairs

    In honor of the space program that benefits more than 3 billion users worldwide, the 2nd and 19th Space Operations Squadrons celebrated the second annual GPS Heritage Gala Friday, Feb. 19, at the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

    The two squadrons perform the satellite command and control mission for the GPS constellation. The gala celebrated GPS’s achievements as well as honored the people, both past and present, who enable the program’s success.

    Source: GPS World Staff
    Attendees give a standing ovation to Tech. Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr. after he shared his story during the GPS Heritage Gala Del Toro was the guest speaker. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Julius Delos Reyes)

    Lt. Col. Todd Benson, 2 SOPS commander, opened the ceremony and said, “What an incredible evening. I think this is well deserved…This is a great opportunity to come together and I am truly humbled to be in a company of our guests tonight.”

    Benson also acknowledged the GPS milestones since last year’s gala, including the four spacecraft added to its now 41-satellite constellation.

    “My hat’s off to all of you who played a role in that,” he said.

    With the theme, “Setting the Gold Standard,” the event featured Tech. Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr. as the keynote speaker. Del Toro is a Tactical Air Control Party specialist responsible for calling in airstrikes while on the frontline. He received severe burns when an improvised explosive device exploded near him while he was on a patrol in Afghanistan in 2005.

    He said GPS has come a long way. “People think it is just a navigation service, but they don’t realize the military aspect and how it impacts us.”

    Del Toro said, “I wouldn’t be here without GPS. A lot of my teammates would probably not be here without GPS. I want you to know that you make a big impact to us as operators. We truly respect you.”

    He also parted with a message of teamwork and hope to the GPS community.

    “When I got hurt, [my wife] saw every one of my teammates from all parts of the world visit me. She saw TACP Airmen I had just met a year prior at Osan Air Base, fly out to see me. She realized why I love the Air Force. We are family; we take care of our family. And I truly appreciate that,” Del Toro said.

    Del Toro also borrowed from Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech and said, “A lot of you may think I have gotten a bad break but I am the luckiest man out here because I work with the greatest men out there. I have a wife who gives me strength. I have a son who’s all my motivation. So yeah, I might have gotten a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.”

    As part of the event, the 2 and 19 SOPS also presented the GPS Lifetime Achievement award to Jay Uebelhart for his continued 30 years of service to the success of GPS; and the 2015 Greatest Contributions to GPS Launch to Marc Drake for the launches of GPS SVN 71, 72 and 73 in 2015.

    Lt. Col. Samuel Baxter, 19 SOPS commander, concluded the event and said, “We truly love our job because we are entrusted with arguably the most famous satellite constellation there is. But more than that, we get to work with such dedicated people – Airmen, civilians, contractors. You all serve an important role.”

  • CartoDB unveils tech to extract Deep Insights from location data

    deep-insights-demo4

    CartoDB, a world leading company for location intelligence, data analysis, and visualization, has launched Deep Insights, a technology layer that enables the visualization, dynamic filtering, and exploration of large location datasets at unprecedented scale and scope.

    With CartoDB’s Deep Insights technology, datasets can be enriched or augmented by existing geospatial data from various sources with a diverse number of fields, such as census information or administrative boundaries. Once data is processed by Deep Insights, users can further filter, pan, zoom and granularly narrow in on data to view trends and patterns that, in traditional reports, would otherwise go unnoticed.

    Deep Insights is also equipped with a suite of interactive widgets and command controls so users can tailor the interface for the best experience. It can be implemented to stand-alone or configured and integrated with users’ own application workflow.

    “The launch of Deep Insights involves a redefinition of the role of geospatial data visualization and analysis in maps, empowering the way people analyze and interact with massive amounts of existing data. For CartoDB it was the next logical step to follow,” said Sergio Álvarez Leiva, CPO, CartoDB. “The creation of a new visualization technology capable of identifying trends and patterns with big data, literally making the invisible visible.”

    CartoDB is launching Deep Insights at Mobile World Congress, being held Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain. The company is demonstrating the technology in partnership with Mobile World Capital, an organization dedicated to bringing mobile transformation to the city of Barcelona. Deep Insights will be used to analyze the influx of tourism in Barcelona and identify opportunities for increased revenue through tourism per location. The collaborative project will leverage three sets of data, including data on key touristic spots, social media activity, and payments from BBVA bank.

    Deep Insights is made available through a single, user-friendly interface that allows users to explore location-related insights visually on a map. It has a fixed pricing structure to allow for unlimited scale with no cap on usage, starting at $100 for 1GB in memory data.

  • ORBCOMM expands M2M, IoT capabilities for fleet management

    ORBCOMM Inc., a global provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, has added to its fleet management portfolio.

    Announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) are the new cellular-only SkyWave IDP-782 device and the viaFleet web application for tracking, monitoring and managing trucks, railcars and other mobile assets. MWC is being held Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.

    By leveraging ORBCOMM’s fleet management solutions, fleet operators can reduce fuel costs, optimize travel routes, monitor driver behavior, minimize idle times and ensure cargo and driver security, the company said.

    ORBCOMM’s cellular-only SkyWave IDP-782 device is designed for vehicle tracking and driver monitoring applications specifically for areas where cellular coverage is widely available. This device provides customers the same functionality and flexibility as the dual-mode version at a more economical cost for cellular-only applications.

    ORBCOMM’s comprehensive viaFleet application enables fleet operators to see the location of mobile assets in real-time, monitor driver behavior, streamline vehicle maintenance schedules, communicate with drivers and much more. With an intuitive, easy-to-use graphical interface, the viaFleet application works with the IDP-782 to display the location of assets on a map in real time, tracks asset movements with breadcrumb reports, and supports advanced reporting capabilities on speeding events, dwelling times, geofence access and asset health, allowing customers to significantly improve operational efficiencies and productivity.

    In addition, ORBCOMM recently introduced several other innovative wireless solutions. These products and services enhance ORBCOMM’s M2M and IoT solutions portfolio, which span from device to dashboard, for system integrators, end user customers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) across a wide variety of industries.

    The ORBCOMM OGi modem, which has a footprint smaller than a credit card, is the smallest and lowest cost IDP modem built to date and is targeted for mission-critical applications that require low latency. The versatile modem’s design provides customers with unrivaled ease of use, flexibility and quality of service based on their unique application needs, including message size, delivery speed, geographic coverage and regulatory requirements. Both ORBCOMM’s OG2 and OGi modems use the same electrical and application interfaces, including the connectors, power input and programming environment. This interchangeable format enables OEM customers to plug-n-play satellite connectivity utilizing the ORBCOMM VHF network or the Inmarsat L-band network without the need to redesign their M2M solutions.

    The ORBCOMMconnect subscriber management portal gives ORBCOMM customers complete comprehensive control over wireless services and connected devices, while reducing the complexity of managing and integrating multiple connectivity offerings. Customers can access three satellite and seven Tier One cellular networks in one comprehensive platform, optimizing M2M and IoT service delivery and subscriber management, enabling better business planning and helping to reduce and control costs.

    ORBCOMMmobile is a mobile app that integrates with ORBCOMM’s M2M and IoT applications, including ORBCOMM’s cold chain monitoring solution and the ORBCOMMconnect portal. ORBCOMM’s mobile app runs on both iOS and Android devices to facilitate easy access to ORBCOMM solutions and technology in real-time and remotely outside of the traditional office environment.

    ORBCOMM Enterprise Connect is an end-to-end 4G xLTE wireless failover solution for distributed enterprise, financial, hospitality and retail locations that need reliable, high-bandwidth WAN connectivity for M2M and IoT applications. The solution works with integrated routers from industry-leading hardware manufacturers as a back-up to existing broadband connections in the event of a primary network communications failure. The affordable turn-key solution combines world-class connectivity, hardware, management capabilities along with network and deployment support. ORBCOMM Enterprise Connect allows both large and small enterprises to conduct business efficiently and reduces risks of downtime, reduced productivity, lost revenue and customer experience issues.

    To learn more about ORBCOMM’s latest innovations, visit Booth G11 in Hall 8.0 at Mobile World Congress.

  • Auto industry adopts GSMA embedded SIM specs for connected cars

    Automotive and transportation companies are supporting the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification to help accelerate the growth of the connected car market, according to the GSMA.

    Automakers. The interoperable specification has been backed by international brands including General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Renault Nissan, Scania and Volvo Cars, and will enable automakers to remotely provision connectivity over the air to vehicles with an operator of their choice.

    It will help to deliver a range of in-vehicle services such as real-time navigation, infotainment, insurance and breakdown services, as well as telematics and remote diagnostics. The use of the specification will also help to quickly connect vehicles with local operators, regardless of where the cars are manufactured.

    Mobile Operators. To date, 22 mobile operators worldwide have commercially launched solutions based on the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification. New operators to launch commercial solutions include AIS, América Móvil, KPN, MTN, Rogers Wireless, Swisscom, Taiwan Mobile, Telenor, TIM as well as members of the Bridge Alliance and the Global M2M Association.

    The adoption of an interoperable specification will reduce fragmentation and help the industry to take advantage of the Internet of Things, an addressable market estimated to be worth US$1.1 trillion by 2020 according to Machina Research4. Bell Canada, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Indosat, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Tele2, Telefónica Brasil, Telefónica Group, TeliaSonera and Vodafone have already made commercial solutions available to the market.

    “The GSMA Embedded SIM Specification has progressed from the first availability of commercial solutions to industry adoption in a very short space of time. The automotive sector is set for huge growth and it is clear that a common, global standard will help mobile operators to provide scalable, reliable and secure connectivity to vehicles regardless of location,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer, GSMA. “This approach will help car manufacturers offer any type of in-car connected service through a single SIM, which can be provisioned with the profile of a mobile operator once the car is shipped, as well as at the end of a contract, without the SIM needing to be changed.”

    The connected car market is set for exponential growth. Gartner Research has forecast that one in five vehicles will have some form of wireless network connection by 2020, equating to more than 250 million connected vehicles in service.

    Additionally, Machina Research estimates that the total number of connections in the connected car market will grow at a CAGR of 31 per cent from 182 million in 2015 to 693 million in 2020.

    Analyst house Berg Insight also notes that in-vehicle embedded telematics systems shipped 1.9 million units in 2014, a figure that is expected to reach 15 million by 20203.

    “Jaguar Land Rover is putting connectivity at the heart of its vehicles to deliver a range of safety, security, convenience and infotainment features for our customers. The GSMA Embedded SIM Specification allows Jaguar Land Rover to reduce manufacturing complexity, adapt to changing regulatory frameworks and work with the best mobile operators, on a country-specific or regional basis, improving the customer offering to deliver the next generation of connected services over the lifetime of our vehicles,” said Mike Bell, Global Connected Car Director, Jaguar Land Rover.

    “The GSMA Embedded SIM Specification solves a number of fundamental issues in auto manufacturing principally in-market localisation and lifecycle management that enable us to provide an efficient, robust and global product,” said Fredrik Callenryd, Senior Business Strategy Manager, Scania CV AB.

    “The Renault – Nissan Alliance is a global industry innovator for technology for mainstream and mass-market consumers. Supporting the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification will help sustain our innovations by enforcing a reliable and stabilized solution and enable us to offer more flexible and agile solutions. We will be able to offer our customers ease of use and a high quality of service which are Renault – Nissan’s main objectives,” commented Alexandre Corjon, Renault-Nissan Alliance Global VP, Electrics Electronics & Systems Engineering.

    GSMA Intelligence research highlights that 76 percent of global M2M connections are now serviced by mobile operators that are deploying or are committed to the GSMA solution, underscoring the momentum behind the specification.

    GSMA Connected Living Programme at Mobile World Congress 2016

    The GSMA’s Connected Living Programme will showcase the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification at Mobile World Congress, Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona. There will be a number of live demonstrations of the specification in the GSMA Innovation City located at Stands 3A11 and 3A31 in Hall 3, Fira Gran Via, including scenarios from Bridge Alliance and the Global M2M Association.

    There will also be a number of workshops, seminars and presentations highlighting the impact of the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification on the international market.

    The GSM Association (GSMA), formed in 1995, is an association of mobile operators and related companies devoted to supporting the standardizing, deployment and promotion of the GSM mobile telephone system. It represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 of the world’s operators with 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

  • InvenSense demonstrates MEMS sensor platform at MWC

    InvenSense Inc., a provider of micro-electrico-mechanical (MEMS) sensor platform solutions, is showcasing the company’s latest innovations in its Internet of Sensors platforms and solutions for mobile, smart home, wearable, industrial, and automotive segments in Hall 2 — stand 2C16MR — at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC). MWC is being held in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 22-25.

    InvenSense brings innovative human-like interfaces, including motion, audio and software solutions in both consumer and industrial devices. This year, InvenSense is progressing the idea that the Internet of Sensors is the next wave of intelligent sensor system-on-chip (SoC) solutions and that they connect any conceivable consumer electronic and industrial device and allow them to behave, react and think autonomously.

    InvenSense’s pioneering of Internet of Sensors motion, audio and software solutions are synergistic with consumer electronic devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) requisite to track behavior, enhance contextual awareness, and help sensor-driven decision analytics.

    InvenSense will showcase:

    • SensorStudio and the InvenSense FireFly development kit, a sensor prototyping and development platform for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
    • Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) solutions for drones, digital still cameras, smartphones and more.
    • Invensense’s TrustedSensor IoT Security Solution, showcased by Intrinsic-ID, a leader in the field of Cyber Physical Security Systems as a provider of “Physical Unclonable Functions” (PUF).
    • InvenSense’s continuous heart rate monitoring with vital sign monitoring system solution, delivering accurate Heart Rate Measurement (HRM) while walking, running, biking, and gym activities.
    • The new CoursaSports.com, a cloud-based sensor Software as a Service (SaaS) fitness tracking platform for smartphone and smartwatch health and fitness applications.
    • The new CoursaRetail.com, an infrastructure-free, indoor-location analytics for Bricks & Mortar, enabled from your mobile app on customers’ phones and capturing sales from missed conversions on previous visits.

  • PNT Roundup: Inertial market outlook, 3D grows lidar, RoboParachute drops

    Intertial

    Inertial effort underway for MGUE

    The U.S. Air Force’s Joint Service Systems Management Office (JSSMO) has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation an order to support embedded GPS/inertial navigation system (INS) pre-Phase 1 modernization efforts.

    Integration of inertial technology with GPS systems across all military platforms — some, such as munitions, are already so equipped — could have far-reaching effects. The move reflects the military’s concern over GPS vulnerabilities in challenged environments.

    The Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) program is developing M-code-capable GPS receivers, which are mandated by Congress after fiscal year 2017 and will help to ensure the secure transmission of accurate military signals.

    Under the $4.8 million order, Northrop Grumman will perform trade studies, assess the state of development of MGUE for upcoming applications, and contribute to architecture development for next-generation GPS/inertial navigation systems.

    The JSSMO is responsible, among other things, for a GPS lab in the Department of Defense that helps develop and test software for GPS systems used throughout the military.

    One of the systems it maintains is the Blue Force Tracker (BFT), which is used by all military branches and can track friendly units regardless of their location. Not only can the system see where the unit is located, it can also determine whether or not a unit is moving and what form of transportation it is using.

    Aviation Use. The updated GPS/inertial navigation system will also comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen air traffic control requirements that aircraft flying at higher altitudes be equipped with Automatic Dependence Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out by January 2020. ADS-B Out transmits information about an aircraft’s altitude, speed and location to ground stations and to other equipped aircraft in the vicinity. The modernized system is expected to be available for platform integration starting in 2018.

    Inertial market to top $8.9 billion by 2020

    The inertial navigation system (INS) market is projected to grow from $4.64 billion in 2015 to $8.87 billion by 2020, according to a January 2016 reported from research firm ReportLinker. Factors driving the global INS market include the increasing number of aircraft, technological advancements in navigation systems, increasing demand for accuracy in navigation, and availability of smaller components at lower cost.

    “Commercial platform application segment to witness the highest growth during the forecast period,” says the report.

    Key applications considered in the market study are naval, airborne, land and commercial platforms. The overall INS market is dominated by the naval platform segment. However, the commercial platform segment is projected to grow at a comparatively higher CAGR during the forecast period of 2015 to 2020, primarily driven by the demand for new aircraft in response to the burgeoning rise in air travel and congestion of airspace.

    Recent advances in inertial technology have replaced the mechanical components with electronic ones, particularly micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS). Overall focus has remained on increasing the accuracy and reducing weight of the INS.

    The major companies profiled in the report include Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), Sagem (France), Rockwell Collins (U.S.) and Thales SA (France), among others.

    Lidar

    Lidar market grows with 3D

    Anew market report on light detection and ranging (lidar) technology says that the demand for lidar is increasing in line with an increase in the demand for 3D scanning and 3D imagery.

    According to the report, the global lidar market is anticipated to expand at 15 percent annually from 2014 to 2020, growing from a value of $225 million in 2013 to $605 million in 2020.

    Lidar enables direct measurement of 3D structures and underlying terrain with high resolution and high data accuracy. The adoption of lidar technology is slowly penetrating in various government sectors such as roadways, railways and forestry management, among others.

    However, the lidar market faces challenge related to the complexity in interpreting the output data, because of the lack of data-set standardization.

    The 80-page research study is titled LiDAR Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014–2020, available for sale from Transparency Market Research.

    The lidar market can be segmented based on types into airborne and terrestrial lidar and based on applications into coastal, forestry, transportation, infrastructure, defense and aerospace, transmission lines and flood mapping, among others.

    Geographically, the lidar market is dominated by North America owing to high adoption of advanced 3D imagery technologies by the U.S. government. Europe follows with a minimal difference in the market share. A large number of key players are based in Europe and are involved in making innovations to meet the requirements of consumers in different applications.

    The report has been segmented by type, application and geography. It also includes the drivers, restraints, opportunities and value chain of the global lidar market.

    Imagery

    RoboParachute drops

    The U.S. Army’s Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) has developed a new capability exploiting a navigation alternative to GPS. In recent tests, JPADS were dropped from planes, and immediately determined their location using optical sensors to compare local terrain with commercial satellite imagery. The new system demonstrated navigation to its intended point, using nothing but imagery to guide it. The new JPADS also works with little knowledge of the aircraft’s location at the drop point.

    JPADS, largely guided by GPS, has already proven its importance in supplying troops with necessary materials and equipment, relying less on vulnerable convoys.

    Contractor Draper will continue developing the system to eliminate current obstacles, such as cloud cover that degrades the vision-aided navigation system’s ability to compare vision sensor inputs with satellite imagery. These imagery-data analysis technologies could be used to help guide military freefall paratroopers and autonomous aerial vehicles.

  • Pole Star, MOCA provide MWC 2016 with geolocation

    Pole Star, with its end-to-end scalable indoor solution, and MOCA, with its location-based mobile engagement platform, are the official providers for the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2016, being held Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.

    Pole Star’s technology integrated with the MOCA solution provides visitors, exhibitors and organizers with geolocation and context-aware marketing services. The joint solution is based on three service levels that combine users’ geolocation with other data to expand the value of contextualized messages.

    The combination guides visitors through the 240,000 square meters of the Mobile World Congress, providing personalized notifications based on proximity along with an intelligent recommendation system aimed at enhancing networking efficiency.

    Using geofencing, the exhibitors will be able to interact with attendees and attract them to theirs booths.

    Finally, indoor location analytics brings a powerful analysis tool to the event organizer, providing the necessary knowledge to understand the behavior and preferences of attendees.

    Pole Star is exhibiting in Hall 5, Stand 5B41, French Tech Pavillon. MOCA is exhibiting in Hall 8.1, stand B75.