Implications for Satellite Navigation Pervasive in T-Mobile-SpaceX Partnership
Big innovation coming for PNT, automotive industry
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Last week’s announcement by T-Mobile TMUS 0.00%↑ president and CEO Mike Sievert and SpaceX founder Elon Musk to bring cell phone connectivity worldwide has implications for satellite navigation. Leveraging Starlink, SpaceX’s constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, and T-Mobile’s wireless network, the companies plan complete coverage in most places in the United States—even in the most remote locations that were not reachable by cell signals.
Last year, researchers said they developed a method to use Starlink signals to accurately locate positions on Earth—much like GPS does. The researchers used signals from six Starlink satellites to pinpoint a location with 8-meter accuracy.
“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. One of the major thrusts in 5G is to support IoT and location is part of that,” said GNSS industry expert Logan Scott. “Ultimately, I expect this partnership will have an extreme impact on [positioning, navigation and timing] as well. SpaceX has stated an intent to get into PNT and this is one of the key stepping stones in my opinion. Get ready for some major innovations in the way we do PNT.”
Scott said the YouTube video (shown above) the companies released shows a surprising amount of tech detail. “Current 5G standards support ‘non-terrestrial network’ NTN capabilities where the cellphone is a standard model just like the one you buy right now. This teaming arrangement uses some of T-Mobile's mid-band spectrum to provide links to version 2 Starlink satellites, initially for SMS and texting applications,” he said. “The ESA-phased array antenna is 5 meters by 5 meters, according to Musk, which means the downlink signal is really hot by GNSS standards.”
In the automotive industry, the partnership has spurred discussions about how far 5G will reach as today’s autonomous driving relies on ‘line of sight’ situational awareness for a single vehicle.
“The proliferation of 5G networks enables new V2V and V2X technologies for vehicles to see beyond line of sight and communicate with other vehicles, pedestrians, and transportation infrastructures such as roads, intersections, and crosswalks,” said Smarter AI founder Chris Piche. “And now the new T-Mobile / Starlink 5G satellite agreement will eliminate coverage gaps and enable V2V and V2X autonomous driving nationwide.”
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FCC Investigation Shows Location Privacy Issues Not Going Away
Last week’s decision by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to investigate how mobile carriers use and share location data is a signal that privacy issues are growing—not decreasing. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said she is asking the agency’s Enforcement Bureau to launch a new investigation into mobile carrier’s compliance with federal rules that require carriers to disclose how they use and share geolocation data.
“Our mobile phones know a lot about us. That means carriers know who we are, who we call, and where we are at any given moment,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “This information and geolocation data is really sensitive. It’s a record of where we’ve been and who we are. That’s why the FCC is taking steps to ensure this data is protected.”
Rosenworcel publicly shared the responses from the nation’s 15 top mobile carriers following a request for information in July about “their data retention and data privacy policies and practices.”
In another government news, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Idaho-based data broker Kochava for selling geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that can be used to trace the movements of individuals to and from sensitive locations. The FTC’s lawsuit wants to halt Kochava’s sale of sensitive geolocation data and require the company to delete the sensitive geolocation information it has collected.
Kochava purchases “vast troves of location information derived from hundreds of millions of mobile devices,” the FTC said.
Flap About Instagram’s Precise Location Feature
In other privacy news, there has been a recent uproar about Instagram’s ‘precise location’ feature that users say allows apps to know your exact location. The company said that the setting, which has been around since iOS 14 in 2020 and Android 12 in 2021, is only used internally so people can use location tags, map features and are not shared with third parties.
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MiX Telematics Acquires Trimble’s Field Service Management Business
In a deal that will add more than 40,000 subscribers to its base, MiX Telematics MIXT 0.00%↑ has agreed to acquire Trimble’s TRMB 0.00%↑ Field Service Management's (FSM) business. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, could be worth as much as $9.5 million, according to published reports.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based MiX Telematics, which earned $678,000 in the second quarter on $35.1 million in revenue, sees the acquisition as “a strategic priority” to scale its North American telematics subscriber base.
“The MiX and Trimble Field Service Management teams are working very closely together to ensure a seamless transition. The combination adds significant scale to our North American telematics subscriber base while diversifying that business into additional industry verticals,” said Stefan Joselowitz, MiX Telematics president and CEO, in a statement. “North America is a strategic priority for MiX, and we are well positioned to pursue M&A opportunities to bolster our regional organic growth investment."
For its part, Trimble said its sale of FSM, part of the company’s Transportation business unit, will “not have a material financial impact on the segment” or its overall financial results.
PointPerfect GNSS Augmentation Service Launched in South Korea
Thalwil, Switzerland-basde u-blox [UBXN] has announced that its PointPerfect GNSS augmentation services launched today (Sept. 1, 2022). The company says it’s the first precise point positioning, real-time kinematic solution to be commercialized in the country.
The service, accessible through Thingstream, provides GNSS augmentation data service for such applications as unmanned aerial vehicles, service robots, machinery automation, micro mobility and other navigation apps. In addition, the service supports automated driving and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), lane-accurate navigation and telematics, the company said.
The service, which is delivered through the internet or L-band satellite systems, offers decimeter-level positioning accuracy in seconds, the company said. It uses the SPARTN message format with MQTT IoT delivery protocols, the company said.
Contact: Natacha Seitz, u-blox, 41 76 436 0788, natacha.seitz@u-blox.com, www.u-blox.com.
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Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Top News:
🙁 Tile Bashes Apple's New Airtag as Unfair Competition. “Tile has been a strong Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ critic since it learned that [the company] would soon launch its own device to take on Tile’s leading lost item finder beacons.” The company testified to the U.S. Congress as a part of an anti-trust investigation into Apple (stay tuned for more next week).
Maps:
😥 Snap Plans to Lay Off 20 percent of Employees. According to sources, this includes members of its maps team. Snap’s SNAP 0.00%↑ stock has declined 80 percent this year.
👍 Amazon + Roomba = Indoor Map Vacuuming? Discuss. James Killick: “Yes, in case you didn’t know iRobot’s latest vacuums automatically create an indoor map of your home.”
😒 Wireless Android Auto and Google Maps Are a Match Made in Driving Hell. “Google GOOG 0.00%↑ has a lot to work on when it comes to real-life usage of wireless Android Auto and its own services.”
👌 Meta META 0.00%↑ Sponsors MapLibre Organization:
🤨 Google Maps Alternative Updated With New Location Features. “Huawei’s devices are no longer allowed to run Google Maps after the company was blacklisted by the U.S. government back in May 2019, so the Chinese tech giant had no other option than to invest in its very own alternative.”
🥇Mapbox Recognized on Fast Company's Fourth Annual List of the 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators.
Location:
📱 Samsung Rolls Out GPS Fixes for a Bunch of Legacy Devices. “The update is rolling out to nine older Galaxy devices and, in most cases, it only includes GPS stability improvements. But the changelog for the Galaxy Alpha states that the update also includes some security improvements.”
Financial:
✔ BeWhere Holdings Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2022 Results.
✔ Innoviz Comes On The Top In Q2 - A Part II Of Lidar Cash Runway.
✔ GTX Corp Reports Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results.
✔ TrackX Reports Q3 2022 Financial Results.
✔ Ituran Location and Control Reports Second Quarter 2022 Results.
Connected and Autonomous Vehicles:
😣 Otonomo To Lay off Dozens of Employees After Losing Over 90% Of Value. “Otonomo, OTMO 0.00%↑ which was issued during the wave of IPOs of companies in the autonomous vehicle sector alongside REE REE 0.00%↑ and Innoviz INVZ 0.00%↑, is on its way to the title of "the worst Israeli IPO of 2021", after its stock plunged from a value of $1.26 billion in the IPO to only $62 million.”
😮 Smart Cars' Biggest Safety Risk? They're Boring To Drive. “Overseeing a self-driving car for long stretches can be tiring, especially because drivers often don't have anything to do.”
🤔 Ford Patents App to Tell Pedestrians When Autonomous Vehicles Won't Stop for Them. “Ford F 0.00%↑ filed a patent last month for a smartphone app that would allow cars operating in self-driving mode to communicate with pedestrians via their phones. We’ve seen this idea before, despite being pretty terrible, and it’s the latest salvo in the war against pedestrians, bicyclists and anyone too poor or hippie to be in a car.”
🚘 SiriusXM Can Help Cops Locate Your Car. “Not every car with SiriusXM SIRI 0.00%↑ has this tracking capability—only those with SiriusXM Guardian and/or UConnect Access services enabled.”
🚗 Sonatus Joins Renesas R-Car Consortium. “The R-Car Consortium enables customers to identify and engage with the partners whose solutions will help them to build advanced connected car and ADAS solutions.”
Drones:
🛩 UK, Norway send $9 million in Teledyne Flir drones to Ukraine. “The UK and Norway are sending more than $9 million worth of Teledyne Flir Black Hornet micro drones to Ukraine to aid the nation’s battle against Russia’s invasion.”
🤞 TSA Testing New Drone Detection Technology at LAX. “The TSA is now testing new technology that will detect, track, and identify drones entering restricted air space around LAX.”
Location Industry Briefs
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Telit Acquires IoT Startup Mobilogix
Telit [TTCNF] has acquired Mobilogix, a California-based startup specializing in custom IoT solutions. Mobilogix offers IoT products for telematics, micro-mobility, healthcare, construction and agriculture. Upon closing, Mobilogix will relocate personnel and offices into Telit's new Irvine, Calif., headquarters. Telit will become Telit Cinterion, after its acquisition of the Thales IoT Modules business.
In other company news, Telit said that Verizon VZ 0.00%↑ certified its LN920 global M.2 modules for use on its mobile broadband network. Both versions of the LN920 include global bands, WCDMA fallback and on-board GNSS receiver, the company said.
Contact: Leslie Hart, Telit, (919) 415-1510, leslie.hart@telit.com, www.telit.com.
Telenav Named No. 1 Navigation Engine Provider
Telenav has announced that it has been named the No. 1 in market share among 24 North American navigation engine suppliers S&P Global Mobility. Telenav, which counts Ford F 0.00%↑ and GM GM 0.00%↑ among its customers for location-based services, signed on several major Chinese EV manufacturers that are looking to expand their sales beyond China.
Contact: Sanjay Khatri, Telenav, (408) 410-3331,sanjayk@telenav.com, www.telenav.com.
OneNav Releases Test Data Showing High Accuracy Results
Silicon Valley-based oneNav has released field test data that it says improves urban GNSS position accuracy by two to three times at a 95 percent confidence level. The pureL5 GNSS receiver customer evaluation system on average produced 5-meter or better accuracy in San Francisco financial district driving tests, the company said.
The company contends that an AI engine using L5 signals is better than a similar engine using L1 signals—because the L5 signal is able to resolve non-overlapping reflections that L1 cannot. Other oneNav pureL5 GNSS CES field tests currently are in process with major OEMs and silicon companies in South Korea, China, Europe and throughout California, the company said.
Contact: Ellen Kirk, oneNav, (650) 678-0240, info@onenav.ai, www.onenav.ai.
Trimble and CLAAS Develop Precision Farming System; Trimble Buys Bilberry
Trimble TRMB 0.00%↑ and CLAAS have developed a next-generation precision farming system for the company’s tractors, combines and forage harvesters. The precision farming system includes the new CLAAS CEMIS 1200 smart display, GPS PILOT steering system and the SAT 900 GNSS receiver, the company said.
The CEMIS display uses Trimble's new embedded modular software architecture for positioning, steering and ISOBUS technology for a connection to control and monitor implements in the field, the company said. Based on the Trimble NAV-900 guidance controller, the CEMIS 1200 connects with the GPS PILOT system and SAT 900 GNSS receiver.
In other company news, Trimble signed an agreement to acquire privately-held Bilberry, a French technology company specializing in selective spraying systems for sustainable farming. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Contact: Trimble, www.agriculture.trimble.com.
Globalstar Partners With Globalsat for Latin America IoT Solution
Globalstar GSAT 0.00%↑ has partnered with Globalsat Group to deploy a jointly developed IoT solution to monitor renewable energy stations located in remote areas of Latin America. The initial deployment will include 23,000 devices throughout the region with an expectation of additional opportunities, the company said. Globalstar, which introduced its SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger in 2007, has been working with Global sat since 2019 on solutions in mining, oil and gas, and government industries in Latin America.
Contact: Denise Davila, Globalstar, investorrelations@globalstar.com.
Quectel Module Earns T-Mobile Certification
Quectel Wireless Solutions has announced that its 5G NR module RM520N-GL, compliant with 3GPP Release 16 standards, has been certified to operate on T-Mobile’s TMUS 0.00%↑ 5G and LTE-A networks in the United States. The certification allows customers to commercially deploy home gateways, industrial routers, industrial automation devices, unmanned delivery vehicles, robots, drones, consumer and industrial laptops and other next generation IoT applications on T-Mobile’s 5G and LTE-A networks, the company said.
Based on Qualcomm’s QCOM 0.00%↑ SDX62 platform, the RM520N-GL supports both 5G NSA and SA modes, as well as R16 enhanced features such as ultra-high bandwidth, millisecond-level latency, 5G network slicing, the company said. The module is backwards compatible with LTE-A/3G networks and features integrated GNSS for location services.
Contact: Ashley Liu, Quectel, media@quectel.com, www.quectel.com.
AeroVironment Acquires Planck Aerosystems
AeroVironment AVAV 0.00%↑ has acquired San Diego-based Planck Aerosystems, a provider of advanced unmanned aircraft navigation solutions. Planck’s products include embedded technologies and such integrated unmanned aircraft systems as Autonomous Control Engine.
ACE allows autonomous takeoff and landing from moving platforms in GPS-denied environments, the company said. The deal’s financials details were not disclosed.
Contact: Jonah Teeter-Balin, Avinc, (805) 520-8350, ext. 4278, https://investor.avinc.com/contact-us.
Autosled Launches GPS Navigation Feature
Autosled has released “turn by turn” GPS navigation for its mobile transporter application. The latest version of Autosled’s Transporter App follows truck routes and includes alternate routes for each load, the company said. Transporters can retrieve all relevant details for each vehicle shipment within the mobile application, the company said. With the addition of Autosled’s new turn by turn navigation tools, drivers no longer need to switch between the app and external maps or navigation systems, the company said.
Contact: Peyton Hoffman, for Autosled, (757) 748-4533, peyton.hoffman@autosled.com, www.autosled.com.
Garmin Integrates Tread Navigator into Off-Road Vehicles
Garmin International GRMN 0.00%↑ has announced that Arctic Cat, a Textron TXT 0.00%↑ company, selected it to outfit its new Wildcat XX Black Hills Edition vehicles with 5.5-inch Tread navigators beginning in model year 2023. The powersport device features turn-by-turn trail navigation with OpenStreetMap (OSM) and USFS Motor Vehicle Use Maps.
The navigator comes preloaded with topographic maps, U.S. public and private landowner information and subscription-free Birdseye Satellite Imagery, the company said.
Contact: Mike Cummings, Garmin, (913) 397-8200, media.relations@garmin.com.
Move-X Offers Cicerone LoRa/GNSS Board
Move-X’s new Cicerone LoRa/GNSS Board is a high-performance, low-power, Arduino MKR-compatible development board that is based on the MAMWLE LoRa Module and the u-blox MAX-M10S GNSS module. The Cicerone board features GNSS, long-range wireless connection and high-performance MCU processing, the company said.
The Cicerone board allows users to build tracking applications with meter-level accuracy and to communicate long-range, low-power data via LoRaWAN, the company said.
Contact: Move-X, 39 338 2639556, info@move-x.it, www.move-x.it/cicerone-board.
Nextech Adds Lidar to Indoor Navigation Solution
Nextech AR Solutions [NEXCF] has announced that its ARway indoor navigation solution is now adopting Lidar technology to create hyper accurate meshes for its metaverse spatial mapping software. This move to Lidar technology enhances the ability of ARway to create high quality meshes and spatial mapping solutions, the company said. ARway can now leverage Lidar technology to produce a highly-detailed 3D digital twin for use by creators in its Map Studio Portal, the company said.
Contact: Lindsay Betts, Nextech AR Solutions, investor.relations@Nextechar.com
(866) 274-8493, ext. 7201.
Geoforce Offers Two New Asset Trackers
Geoforce has announced the launch of two new asset trackers that offer flexible coverage options, long battery life and durability, the company said. The new GT2c (cellular) and GT2h (cellular+satellite hybrid) trackers join the company’s satellite-only GT2s tracking solutions.
The GT2c device operates on LTE-M low-power cellular IoT networks. The GT2h device offers a hybrid solution that operates on cellular networks and automatically switches to Iridium when cell coverage is lost, the company said.
Contact: Maddison Tailor, Geoforce, (469) 421-2487, mtailor@geoforce.com, www.geoforce.com.
ABAX Partners With Greater Than
ABAX has selected Greater Than as an AI-analysis platform partner for the commercial insurance market in Norway. ABAX is offering the new technology to its B2B fleet customers. Greater Than predicts crash probability and CO2 impact per driver in real-time, the company said. Greater Than and ABAX entered their partnership in the spring of 2022 to transmit vehicle data via an API connection to cloud-based AI data analytics for business development modeling, the company said.
Contact: Eva Voors, Great Than, 46-708 884 880, eva.voors@greaterthan.eu, www.greaterthan.eu.
Advantage Automotive Analytics Launches GPS Mitigation Solution
Advantage Automotive Analytics has debuted the Evo UL, a connectivity GPS risk-mitigation solution. Evo UL provides buy here-pay here dealers and Subprime finance professionals an unlimited connectivity GPS solution that monitors and protects automotive collateral with no contracts, recurring carrier fees, or renewal charges, the company said.
Contact: Advantage Automotive Analytics, www.advantagegps.com.
Forza X1 To Integrate Telematics Platform Into Boats
Forza X1 FRZA 0.00%↑ has announced that it has signed a development contract with Osmosis Telematics to integrate a platform that will allow remote diagnostics for service, receive quicker feedback for product enhancements and run over-the-air software updates. Forza has put in its first order for ten Osmosis telematics units, some of which will be used during the testing phase of the Company's FX1 electric boats, the company said. Other features include GPS boat tracking, battery level, water performance and environmental conditions.
Contact: Glenn Sonoda, Forza X1, investor@forzax1.com, www.forzax1.com.
QMed Partners With Medical Tracking Solutions
QMed Innovations has announced a partnership with Medical Tracking Solutions (MTS) to integrate the company’s IoT-based location and temperature data into the iTraycer case and inventory management platform. The solutions seeks to improve and locate lost trays and inspection and calibration tracking, the company said.
Contact: Farzin Khaghani, QMed Innovations, (401) 619-6898, fkhaghani@qmedinnovations.com, www.qmedinnovations.com.
People
CalAmp CAMP 0.00%↑ announced that Chief Financial Officer Kurt Binder will be stepping down to pursue another opportunity. If a CFO is not appointed by Oct. 1, 2022, then Cindy Zhang, Senior Vice President of Financial Planning will become interim CFO, the company said.
ITS America has announced that National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy and the USDOT’s deputy assistant secretary for research and technology and chief science officer Dr. Robert Hampshire will be keynote speakers at the ITS World Congress in September.
Position Imaging has named Lucas Carvalho as Senior Vice President of Operations. Carvalho was Executive Vice President of Corporate Resources at BAMSI.
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