Today Online has posted a pretty good article that explains in layman’s terms the difficulties in getting accurate location measurements from GPS: Debunking That All-Seeing Myth
Here’s why, even with the latest GPS tech, you may lose your way in Shenton Way
Five European organisations have set up a consortium named GREAT (Galileo Receivers for mass market) to develop enabling technologies for mass market receivers for Galileo services.
The GREAT project is developing the advanced technologies required for the next generation of positioning receivers – to be used with the new Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System.
The project is operated by a Consortium of leading developers around Europe and is funded by the Galileo Joint Undertaking within the European FP6 Framework.
The Consortium includes:
The GREAT project is managed by the Galileo Joint Undertaking, through EU FP6 funds.
Source: Electronics Weekly.
Here’s a tragic story from the Chicago Tribune about a motorbike rider who died because his mobile phone calls to 911 couldn’t be traced: Biker Dies When Cell Calls Can’t Be Traced.
Unfortunately, the technical aspects of the article are quite poorly researched. For example, the article claims that in order to be located, “a cell phone user’s telephone also has to have more recent, compatible technology”. I guess they’re referring to A-GPS here, but there are plenty of other ways to locate a phone accurately enough to enable a successful search and rescue. Technologies like E-OTD, TA/NMR, and U-TDOA all work fine with older phones.
The article is correct, though, in highlighting how slow some network operators have been in rolling out their E-911 systems. As McHenry County Commissioner Mary Lou Zierer says, “You don’t realize the importance until something like this happens, where a gentleman probably could have been saved if we could have pinpointed him.”
A review of the A-GPS equipped LG VX8300 from Verizon Wireless has been posted over at Top Tech News.
Features of the handset include:
Personal Navigation and Tracking Lead Profitable LBS Applications in Europe, Says Berg Insight – Berg surveyed more than 200 LBS professionals, asking which applications they have already deployed and which positioning technology they think will be the most important in coming years. The most common applications today are information services like yellow pages and weather services, followed by navigation and tracking applications.
A handful of worries spawned by problems found in the factory have prompted the Air Force to delay launching the next Global Positioning System satellite.
The Lockheed Martin-built GPS 2R-M1 spacecraft was supposed to fly from Cape Canaveral this month aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. But issues arose involving internal components, causing officials to put the brakes on launch plans.
This will be the first of the new GPS 2R satellites, increasing the power of existing GPS signals and adding new military and civilian signals to boost accuracy and reception.
More about GPS satellites:
The GPS constellation features 24 primary and several backup satellites flying into six orbital groupings 11,000 miles above Earth. The Air Force continues to launch new satellites as replacements to keep the critical navigation system in good health. Twenty-nine satellites are functioning in orbit today.
TruePosition today announced a hosted solution for wireless location, designed to help rural carriers meet the FCC’s E911 Phase II requirements.
This type of hosted solution is great for smaller wireless carriers, as it helps them avoid the upfront capital cost of mobile location infrastructure. It also removes the ongoing burden of maintenance and operation of the equipment.
This particular service seems to rely primarily on the network-based U-TDOA (Uplink Time Difference Of Arrival) location technology.
More AGPS handsets are on the way…
Designated the HP iPaq hw6500 series, the GSM/GPRS/EDGE devices are aimed at exploiting opportunity represented by the remaining sentiment towards pocket PC/exchange devices as well as the desire amongst corporate and SME users to have instant, always-on email in the same fashion as the popular BlackBerry from Research in Motion.
…
It is understood that the new hw6500 series will come in two versions — with or without a 1.3 megapixel digital camera. The device will also make use of a new global positioning position (GPS) technology called AGPS that works twice as fast as existing GPS systems.
Feel free to link to product reviews etc in the comments below.
From PalmInfoCenter
The Treo 650 looks like a great phone/PDA combo. Various reviewers seem quite impressed with the bundled software and its ease of use. Nice to see another A-GPS enabled phone on the market, too:
The GSM Treo has a quad band wireless radio that uses the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies. The CDMA model uses a digital dual-band CDMA/1xRTT radio operating on the 800/1900 MHz bands. The GSM model also support high speed EDGE networks with data speeds averaging up to 135 kilobits per second (kbps). It also features E911 compliance with a built in GPS chip that is solely used for the enhanced E911 emergency location service.
One issue seems to be the availability of WiFi drivers, which is a disappointment. According to the article, prices start at USD$449, and range up to USD$699 for the unlocked GSM model.
If you have a Treo 650, please do post your comments below. Feel free to also post links to other reviews and/or good places to buy them.
E-OTD Whitepaper from ZDNet.
E-OTD is one of a small number of location determination technologies adopted by US cellular operators to meet the FCC E-911 mandate. In E-OTD, the mobile handset or device performs the calculation to determine its location based on signals received from cellular base stations. However, those operators in the US who have adopted E-OTD in their GSM networks have so far been unable to meet the FCC’s location performance requirements and have been granted more time to make E-OTD work.
Even this extra time may not be enough, because neither the cellular operators nor their technology suppliers appear to have identified the root cause(s) of E-OTD’s problems, and hence there is no timescale or budget to fix them. AT&T Wireless has already raised the possibility that even the extension which the FCC has granted it may not be enough. E-OTD’s problems are now causing alarm in the emergency services community, and there are calls from some bodies for the technology to be scrapped. Meanwhile, in Europe no operators have plans for a full implementation of E-OTD in their networks.
Queen Elizabeth II handed the Commonwealth Games baton to Aussie supermodel Elle MacPherson in a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace on March 15. The baton contains a GPS unit and two cameras, allowing anybody who’s interested to track its progress on the official Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Baton Relay web site.
Not particularly riveting viewing, but I guess it’ll get more traffic as the Games get closer and grow in the media spotlight.
From America’s Network.
This is the first offering from a new partnership between Nextel and MapQuest. Services available include a “find me” service to allow a user to pinpoint their location on a map on their phone, services to locate nearby restaurants, hotels, airports, hospitals, etc, as well as maps and navigation directions.
There is also a web-based component to the service, which allows users to share their location anywhere on Nextel’s nationwide network with friends and family. The web site can also be used to track their location history, for example to document a road trip.
From America’s Network.
The FCC appears to be standing firm on their Dec 31, 2005 deadline for wireless carriers to implement E911 solutions.
Sprint, Nextel Communications and Verizon Wireless are pursuing handset-based solutions, while Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile USA are pursuing network-based solutions.
According to NENA:
There are still issues with getting Tier 3 carriers (mostly rural) to meet the deadline. The biggest obstacle appears to be cost. Several groups of Tier 3 carriers have banded together into the “Tier III Coalition” to lobby for exemption from the FCC requirements.