Verizon's Hyper Precise Location Available in 100 Major U.S. Markets
Location Service Now Available to Customers in a "Vast" Geographic Area
Verizon [VZ] last week announced it launched a real-time kinematics service called Hyper Precise Location (HPL) in more than 100 major U.S. markets. The big deal is that they are doing it…and offering location capability 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.
While a lot of focus of HPL, it seems, is going to autonomous and other automotive applications, the company said it can support such technologies as delivery drones, robotics, HD-mapping, agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, critical asset tracking and high value shipping.
Verizon recently teamed with automakers to demonstrate vehicle-pedestrian safety scenarios made possible through HPL, 5G Edge and C-V2X, the company said.
HPL enables location accuracy within 1-2 centimeters, for users on 5G and 4G networks, the company said. Location Business News asked Verizon what GNSS or other location companies they were working with, but the company didn’t respond by our deadline.
Since partnering at CES 2020, HERE Technologies, which has worked with Verizon on HPL testing, are focused on several projects, including:
Improving accuracy and latency of positioning for road safety.
Addressing navigation difficulties in areas with poor signals through Visual Positioning Services (complementary to RTK/GNSS, end-user agnostic).
Z-level precise positioning for above and below ground levels (track first responder through different floors, guide drones through airspace).
“Verizon and HERE have been working diligently in the areas of Collision Avoidance and Visual Based Positioning to support vehicle autonomy,” said Herve Utheza, HERE senior director, emerging technology.
Key Takeaways:
While UK’s Vodafone may be working diligently testing a location service in Europe, Verizon already has one for the U.S. market.
User location data is never stored or shared.
Contact: Matt Conte, Verizon, (917) 848-3040, matthew.conte@verizon.com; Jordan Stark, HERE, jordan.stark@here.com.
Polte Working with Deutsche Telekom to Test IoT Location Technology
Dallas-based Polte, which has completed initial 4G/5G cellular location field trials, is partnering with Deutsche Telekom (DT) to run large-scale customer pilots of the company’s location API throughout Europe.
Customers participating in the pilot are looking for a solution to meet diverse tracking use cases, indoors and outdoors, across industry verticals from logistics to aviation, said Ed Chao, Polte CEO. “The focus of our testing with DT is primarily asset tracking,” he said.
Customer pilots are planned for this month on Cat-M (LTE-M) and NB-IoT networks in Germany--with a phased approach across Europe, the company said.
Polte has previously worked with the German telecom giant through DT’s IoT Solution Optimizer, a planning and design tool for asset tracking, smart city services and other applications. Polte’s role in this project was the integration of location technology into the ecosystem, Chao said.
Key Takaways:
Time to commercialization will be dependent on the results of this commercial validation phase, the company said.
The project is in a commercial validation phase, piloting with several DT IoT customers requiring universal asset visibility.
In related news, Deutsche Telekom has certified the first two products from Würth Elektronik and added them to its “IoT Digital Shelf”. It includes the GNSS modules Erinome I and Erinome II.
Polte also launched its CoreRes, which works with connected devices that do not meet the requirements for SuperRes.
Contact: Christina Gaines, Polte, (949) 527-0923, christina@polte.com, www.polte.com.
Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com.
😢 GPS is Endangered by Misguided FCC Decision Made During the Trump Administration? Washington Post: “GPS is vulnerable to interference from ground-based transmissions, yet last April the FCC unanimously granted an application by Ligado Networks, based in Reston, Va., to offer a ground-based 5G service in spectrum, much of which is next to spectrum allocated for GPS.”
Location-as-a-Service Solution to Bring Global Supply Chains into View. Qualcomm Technologies and Cloudleaf are locating and tracking products and assets.
😒 No One Was Driving Tesla in Fatal Crash. It’s not Level 5, people…regulation coming?
White Paper: Millimeter-Wave Arrays for 5G Applications. Taoglas talking 5G requirements.
✔ 5 Key Trends in GPS. Immersive experiences?
🤷♂️ Chip Shortages Could Run Through 2022. This is getting ugly.
TomTom Earnings Call Transcript. Good insight on what the company brass is saying/thinking.
Parkopedia sees a strong in-vehicle parking services market in China—download the latest survey results.
👍 Want to get the scoop on lane-level navigation? Geoflex is sponsoring a 45-minute webinar on May 6.
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Ridecell Rolls Out IoT Automation
San Francisco-based Ridecell rolled out its Fleet IoT Automation, which it says is the first IoT-driven automation platform designed for fleet-based businesses. Fleet IoT Automation features data insights with digital vehicle control that allows business teams to respond to revenue opportunities and resolve problems, the company said.
Ridecell Fleet IoT complements existing fleet management systems and connected vehicle and telematics platforms, the company said. For fleets where theft is a problem, stolen vehicles would automatically be immobilized while the system issues a location report to authorities, the company said. Some of Ridecell’s partners include Penske, AAA's Gig Car Share & Rental service, and Toyota Europe.
Contact: Natalee Gibson, Ridecell, (415) 682-9292, press@ridecell.com, www.ridecell.com.
Sierra Wireless Rolls Out Acculink Cargo for Asset Tracking
Sierra Wireless [SWIR] launched Acculink Cargo that allows companies to track the location and condition of high-value and sensitive assets, the company said. With a monthly fee, the new service allows companies to get “near real-time status” of assets worldwide.
Acculink Cargo can alert customers if an asset is exposed to light, changes in temperature, humidity, shock, or other conditions that might spoil or otherwise damage it. In addition, the product offers users specific geolocation, light, temperature, humidity, and shock conditions they want to monitor for each shipment, the company said.
Contact: Louise Matich, Sierra Wireless, (236) 979-2154, pr@sierrawireless.com, www.sierrawireless.com.
Good Way Offers Indoor Positioning Product
Good Way's new Smart Indoor Positioning Solution offers a centralized management portal with visualized charts, sensor-driven data notification and comprehensive event logs for real-time and historic information, the company said. The product is integrated with Wirepas Mesh technology allows meter-accurate zonal grade location tracking services.
Contact: Eunice Chuang, Good Way Technology Co.,Ltd, +886 89191200 ext: 811, Eunice_chuang@goodway.com.tw, https://siot.goodway.com.tw.
HORSCH and Trimble Partner for AG Market Autonomy Products
HORSCH and Trimble [TRMB] said they are partnering to develop products that will enable enable autonomy in agriculture to go after ag-based autonomous machines and workflow markets.
The partnership’s first phase will include bringing automation to the complex planning, machine control and logistical challenges faced by sprayer operators to improve machine performance and reduce operating errors, the company said. The companies say this new performance will reduce a driver’s workload. With this increase in automation, a driver can perform additional in-cab tasks during active field work, the company said.
Contact: Lea Ann McNabb, Trimble, (408) 481-7808, leaann_mcnabb@trimble.com, www.trimble.com.
Konexial Announces GoFind Trailer Tracking Service
Konexial announced its GoFind service, which provides the company’s My20 Fleet users with access to advanced solar-powered GPS trailer tracking and sensing IoT devices to monitor their assets and freight cargoes. Konexial’s My20 Fleet uses next-generation telematics technology to log a driver’s location, hours of service and available capacity, the company said.
Contact: Will Haraway, Backbeat, william@backbeatmarketing.com, (404) 593-8320, www.konexial.com.
iTraq Expands Cargo Tracking Capabilities
Redmond, Wash.-based iTraq said its Butterfly cargo tracking system has been granted onboard approval from 13 airlines. The iTraq Butterfly is the industry’s first recyclable cargo tracking device that can be reused in multiple shipments with a new cardboard integrated-battery case, the company said.
Butterfly uses WiFi, GPS satellite technology, and cellular triangulation to track and monitor shipments and high-value assets worldwide.
Contact: Roman Isakov, iTraq, (510) 255-5550, press@itraq.com, www.itraq.com.
Septentrio Launches GNSS/INS Product Line
Septentrio launched a line of GNSS/INS receivers called AsteRx-i3 for integration into systems that require robotic navigation or sensor fusion.
The AsteRx-i3 product family offer high accuracy positioning with 3D orientation and dead-reckoning functionality, the company said.
Contact: Septentrio, www.septentrio.com.
Nestwave Grabs 2.4 Million Euro Financing
Nestwave received a 2.4-million-euro round of financing from the European Innovation Council, the European Commission's newly established venture capital fund, from current investors Sofimac Innovation and The Faktory Fund. The new financing allows Nestwave to accelerate the rollout of its hybrid-signal global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and cellular positioning technologies, the company said.
Contact: Jeremy Hyatt, Green Flash Media, (949) 607-9000, pr@gflashmedia.com, www.nestwave.com.
CalAmp Says Hendy Will Offer Stolen Vehicle Recovery Device
CalAmp [CAMP] said United Kingdom-based Hendy car retail group will offer its customers the option of having a Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) device from Tracker fitted to their vehicle. Tracker features VHF with GPS/GSM technology to make the units resistant to GPS/GSM jamming.
Contact: CalAmp, http://www.calamp.com.
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