Verizon Builds Precise Positioning Capability With Senion Acquisition
Verizon to offer customers indoor wayfinding, geofencing and location sharing
Verizon [VZ] has acquired Senion—expanding the company’s precise positioning offerings to include indoor wayfinding and geofencing, among other features.
Senion’s indoor positioning platform offers machine-learning fusion technology to deliver sub-meter accuracy for precise position and navigation of indoor areas, the company said. The company’s indoor platform has been installed in factories and malls to allow customers to locate and assess the movement of people machines and IoT-capable equipment.
“Sensor fusion and indoor positioning are foundational components for these next-generation capabilities,” said Verizon’s Jeff Frantz, Location Technology executive director, in a statement. Frantz said that Verizon will use Senion’s technology within its 5G platform.
Senion, headquartered in Linkoping, Sweden, and San Francisco, said its employees have joined the Location Technology team within Verizon New Business Incubation. The new unit’s goal is to scale new automation businesses via 5G.
In April, Verizon announced it had launched a real-time kinematics service called Hyper Precise Location (HPL) in more than 100 major U.S. markets. The company’s location capability is offered nationwide as software as a service (SAAS). HPL, offered through Verizon’s ThingSpace platform, can be coupled with the company’s 5G Edge capabilities, the company said.
Key Takeaways:
Senion, a major player in indoor positioning and navigation, customers include Ericsson, Dubai Mall, Mall of Americas and others.
Senion’s Indoor Positioning System has been installed at 300 locations globally.
Verizon’s decision to add indoor location and navigation to its customer offerings is another indication that this market is growing.
Contact: Erica Dilk, Verizon, (720) 483-4341, Erica.Dilk@verizon.com.
Ligado Gains L-Band Spectrum Approval for 5G Deployment
Ligado Networks has received approvals from the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a wireless industry global standard-setting entity, for new technical specifications that will enable its L-band spectrum to be deployed in 5G networks.
The 3GPP approval is a step towards the company expanding its L-Band vendor ecosystem and to deploy a new mid-band spectrum in 5G networks in the United States, the company said.
“The 3GPP green light gives us what we need to accelerate our commercial ecosystem activities and expand Ligado’s roster of partners to deploy this much-needed spectrum for U.S. businesses and consumers,” said Doug Smith, Ligado CEO, in a statement.
It’s been a long road for Ligado to gain regulatory approval for its mobile broadband network. Despite strong government and GPS industry objections, in April 2020, the FCC approved the company’s proposed modification to its spectrum. Opponents say harmful interference to the GPS signal would occur from Ligado’s planned spectrum use.
The FCC, on Jan. 19, 2021, voted down a proposal by U.S. government agencies to stop its decision that allows Ligado to deploy a nationwide mobile broadband network. At that time, such companies as Lockheed Martin [LMT], Iridium Communications, Air Line Pilots Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, International Air Transport Association and Airlines for America filed petitions to ask the FCC to reconsider Ligado’s bid.
Key Takeaways:
3GPP approvals of Band 24 will enable vendors to build 5G and LTE products compatible with Ligado’s mid-band spectrum, the company said.
In October 2020, the company raised nearly $4 billion to develop and deploy the L-Band in 5G networks.
Contact: Ashley Durmer, Ligado, (703) 390-2008, Ashley@ligado.com.
Other Location News:
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👍 GPS III’s Long Journey Is Picking Up Speed. Last week’s launch, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, places the 24th GPS satellite with M-Code Capability in orbit.
🤷♂️ Athletes will be subject to GPS monitoring, says Tokyo 2020 CEO. “Olympic athletes will be subject to GPS monitoring as will members of the media.”
✔ Top Telematics Provider Acquires Biggest Competitor. “CMT now provides telematics services to 21 out of the 25 largest auto insurers in the [United States].”
👌 GM To Spend $35 Billion On EVs And Autonomous Vehicles. So the autonomous vehicles market isn’t overblown?
🤞 Scale.AI Launches Mapping Project. “They will now compete with Nvidia, which recently acquired DeepMap, a leading company in that space.”
👍 USAA to buy usage-based insurer Noblr. “Noblr has the capability to detect and track risky driving actions as well as miles driven using the sensors within a smartphone.”
👏 Experiencing Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West through the lens of digital reality. “Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, was able to capture the magnificence of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio, with the world’s smallest and lightest 3D scanning camera, the Leica BLK360.”
June 24, 2021, 10 a.m. PDT and CET
Join JAVAD for this month's workshop, in partnership with AllSat, exploring TRIUMPH-3 in example survey applications.
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Location Industry Briefs
Send your news to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com.
u-blox Updates Positioning Module, Rolls Out Cycling Computer
Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox [UBXN] announced a firmware update for its ZED-F9R positioning module, bringing centimeter-level positioning to robotic lawnmowers, e-scooters, and shared bicycles. The u-blox ZED-F9R-02B was designed for use in autonomous and industrial applications in challenging signal environments such as dense cities, the company said.
In other company news, u-blox and iGPSPORT have announced the iGS320 cycling computer, which builds on the u-blox M10 positioning platform. The cycling computer leverages the u-blox M10 platform’s ultra-low power consumption, compact size, and its ability to track four global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), the company said.
Contact: Natacha Seitz, u-blox, 41 76 436 0788, natacha.seitz@u-blox.com.
HERE Partners With Tata Consultancy Services
HERE Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services are partnering to bring real-time location-based services and analytics TCS’ IoT-enabled SaaS suite, TCS DigiFleet. HERE’s location platform will enable TCS to provide its customers with up-to-date map visualization, historic and real-time route optimization, geocoding and end-to-end supply chain visibility, the company said. Other features include navigation, route assistance, vehicle health management for automotive fleets and last mile delivery for enterprises across the global supply chain and the e-commerce sector, the company said.
Contact: James Overstall, HERE, 49 171 533 4418, james.overstall@here.com.
CalAmp Subsidiary Partners With Electric Vehicle Seller
CalAmp [CAMP] said its subsidiary, LoJack Italia, has partnered with the Koelliker Group, which imports and sells electric, connected and intelligent vehicles. Through the partnership, all SERES 3 C-SUV electric vehicles, recently launched by Koelliker, will be pre-installed with LoJack Connect, the company said.
If a crash occurs or the car is stolen, real-time assistance via a smartphone is available. In the event of a collision, CrashBoxx crash response services deliver real-time crash notification to loved ones and immediate assistance to the motorist from LoJack's 24/7 Security Operations Center, the company said.
Vehicle Tracking Systems Gets $70 Million Investment
Vehicle Tracking Solutions announced a $70 million investment from LLR Partners. The capital will be used to grow IntelliShift, a division of VTS, by expanding in North America, the company said. Founded by current CEO and President John Cunningham and his wife Karen in 2002, VTS offers telematics and fleet management products. IntelliShift offers a cloud-based fleet and safety management platform.
Contact: Emily Holt, for VTS, eholt@pancomm.com.
NASA Awards CYGNSS Contract
NASA has awarded a contract to the University of Michigan for the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS). The $39 million contract, with includes eight microsatellites, allows scientists to understand and predict hurricanes, NASA said.
Contact: NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/cygnss.
InvenSense Sensor Gains NextNav Certification
NextNav said the InvenSense ICP-10111 barometric sensor is the first to achieve NextNav Certified status. The NextNav Certified process independently verifies the InvenSense sensor accuracy measurements, providing strong performance assurance for hardware manufacturers utilizing the certified components. “TDK barometric pressure sensors deliver highly accurate altitude measurements to meet emerging application needs such as E911,” said Uday Mudoi, InvenSense director of product marketing, in a statement.
Contact: David Almoslino, InvenSense, (408) 501-2278, pr@invensense.com.
Anglia Partners With Taoglas
Anglia Components has partnered with Taoglas for IoT components including RF, antenna, cables and connectors. Taoglas offers external and embedded antennas including cellular, GPS/GNSS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, NFC/RFID, LPWA, ISM band and Satcom applications, the company said. Anglia, based in the United Kingdom, distributes semiconductors, optoelectronics, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components.
Contact: Michelene Hircock, Anglia, 44 (0)1945 47 47 47, michelene.hircock@anglia.com.
Luminous Cyber Gets SBIR Grant
Luminous Cyber Corp. has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Air Force. The funding, provided through the Air Force Research Laboratory’s AFWERX program, will allow the company to roll out its, Location Information System (LIS), as a secure alternative to GPS/GNSS, targeting requirements for assured position, navigation and timing (A-PNT), the company said. Luminous Cyber’s LIS combines “time difference of arrival” (TDOA) algorithms with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and network analytics to provide position and time in GPS/GNSS-denied environments, the company said.
Contact: Vivian Kelly, for Luminous Cyber Corp., (703) 509.5412, viviankelly@interprosepr.com, https://luminouscyber.com.
People
HERE Technologies named Jason Jameson as senior vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific. Jameson is replacing Stanimira Koleva who left HERE to pursue a new opportunity, the company said. He joins HERE from IBM where he held various executive leadership roles.
The company also named Charity Rumery as general manager of the Americas. In her new role, Charity will be responsible for driving customer-focused growth opportunities for the HERE platform and HERE partners throughout North and Latin America, the company said. Rumery previously served as vice president of automotive & industrial (A&I) at HERE.
Contact: Jordan Stark, HERE, (312) 316-4537, Jordan.stark@here.com.
Ford [F] named former Groupe Renault executive Franck Louis-Victor to head the company’s New Businesses Platform team. Louis-Victor, 48, who will start with Ford on July 1, will be in charge of the company’s autonomous vehicles and mobility services, as well as Ford’s incubator, Ford X.
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