What’s Going on With Two Location Trade Shows in One Week?
ION GNSS and INTERGEO Clash For Attendees...
We don’t usually run an opinion piece as our lead story in Location Business News. However, this week two location conferences were held at the same time, which forced companies to make hard decisions during a worldwide pandemic.
INTERGEO 2021, traditionally a GNSS survey conference that has grown to include such unmanned systems as autonomous vehicles and drones, is being held in Hannover, Germany, this week. At the same time, the Institute of Navigation’s ION GNSS+, a more technical conference with several policy sessions (one where companies “show the flag” and not necessarily do much business) is in St. Louis, Mo.
While the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has ended many conferences or postponed them (or made a virtual one of CES, which we reported on earlier this year), it doesn’t mean that meeting planners should just go with the dates close to their past trade shows. Our advice to meeting planners: reach out to your competitors and try to schedule these conferences a few weeks apart.
While big news was few and far between at these trade shows, we have some of the product offerings in our briefs section below.
Keysight and Orolia Partner for 5G LBS Based On GNSS Technology
Keysight Technologies [KEYS] has partnered with Orolia to offer 5G location-based services (LBS) based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technologies. The companies’ partnership allows Keysight to extend its test product portfolio with advanced GNSS (A-GNSS) functionality, the company said.
Keysight’s LBS [products] enable users to address 5G new radio (NR) conformance requirements mandated by both the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and PTCRB, said Muthu Kumaran, Keysight device validation solutions business general manager, in a statement.
The companies say their technology allow chipset and device makers to verify functionality for accurate mobile phone positioning within a geographic area. The big deal here is that mobile operators can use GNSS technologies and non-GNSS technologies, such as beamforming, angle-based positioning and round-trip time (RTT), to deliver personalized services and support emergency calls, the company said.
Contact: Charles Jones, Orolia, (585) 450-2889, charles.jones@orolia.com, www.orolia.com.
Qualcomm Enhances Location Suite to Meet FCC Regulations
Qualcomm [QCOM], saying it was complying with FCC E-911 regs, has enhanced its Qualcomm Location Suit to integrate the company’s Snapdragon Mobile Platforms and Snapdragon Modem-RF Systems to support emergency location services.
The enhancements, which include improved horizontal and vertical positioning information, are part of its location platforms that power many millions of mobile devices in the U.S — and has supported emergency location services in the U.S. and globally for two decades, the company said.
Qualcomm, assisted by third-party vendors who specialize in vertical positioning, says it will meet the new FCC E-911 regulations, which have been a sore subject to many of the carriers.
Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.comfor more news and an archive of stories.
🚗 Why Positioning Is Also Vital for Level 3+ AVs. “Clearly, falsely identifying a vehicle’s location to enable autonomous driving functionality in unauthorized locations can put lives at risk. As a result, the localization function used to enable Level 3+ autonomous driving applications can be subject to stringent safety and integrity requirements.”
🚲 BMW’s E-Bike Concepts Are Motorcycles Outside the City, Bicycles Within. “Just a concept, but BMW’s geofencing solution is already a reality.”
🚚 Tracking the Final Mile: Why Real-Time Tracking Is Important for Retail Success. “Real-time tracking is one of the best ways to ensure customer satisfaction with the current demands for delivery.”
🙁 U.S. Generals Planning for a Space War They See as All But Inevitable. An industry expert said that satcom would probably be an enemy’s first target…but it why wouldn’t it be GPS?
😉 Google and Apple Maps Rival Explains Why Their ETA Estimates Are Always Off. “Delivery firms need reliable ETAs while ride-hailing and other firms dealing with commuters want to get their customers from one place to another as fast as possible.”
🛩 Asio Technologies Offers Safe Navigation Backup to Drones Denied GPS.
🙁 Waze, Coyote and TomTom will no longer display some police checks as of November.
Advertisement
Have you ever been reluctant to reveal your personal email address online or in person?
The answer is almost universally YES! So, if you happen to be one of those who thinks twice about these matters, ManyMe might be the answer to your worries.
Location Industry Briefs
Send your news to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.comfor more news and an archive of stories.
HERE and RouteSmart Extend Partnership
RouteSmart has extended its deal with HERE Technologies to build improved route optimization and mapping products for the newspaper, postal and parcel, public works, and utility industries markets.
RouteSmart, which has worked with HERE since 2003, uses such HERE services as Planned Known Incidents and Historical Traffic Patterns to gain continuous insights from the data and provide more detailed and refined results, the company said.
RouteSmart customers can use HERE Map Creator to edit their own maps, to note when roads, routes, places and house numbers change to improve and enhance the accuracy of their routes.
Contact: Jordan Stark, HERE, (312) 316-4537, Jordan.stark@here.com.
Taoglas Signs Distro Deal With Distrelec
Taoglas has signed a new distribution agreement with Distrelec to bring its components, RF, antenna, cables and connectors to Distrelec’s worldwide customers. Taoglas, which delivers standard and custom engineered antennas and RF components, uses cellular, GPS/GNSS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, NFC/RFID, LPWA, ISM band and satcom applications.
Contact: Emma Walsh, Taoglas, 353 (0)87 317 0897, mediarelations@taoglas.com; Chris Rush, Distrelec, chris.rush@distrelec.com.
Mapbox Navigation SDK 2.0 Ready For Android and iOS
According to a company blog, Mapbox Navigation SDK 2.0 is now available for both Android and iOS. “Following the public preview in March 2021, Nav SDK 2.0 has grown and matured and is now available to start getting ready for a production deployment for mobile applications in the Google Play and Apple iTunes App Store,” the blog said.
According to the blog, the SDK provides an extensive set of features for a thorough navigation experience for developers: a more powerful location engine, enhanced camera functions, 3D buildings, improved localization, user feedback interface, predictive caching and free drive mode.
Hexagon/NovAtel Says Fendt Machines Have Their GNSS Receiver
Hexagon/NovAtel have announced that Fendt machines in North America, Europe and the Middle East are equipped with NovAtel's SMART7 GNSS receiver. The receiver, which can withstand harsh environments, offers precise precision for agriculture, the company said.
The SMART7 uses multi L-Band tracking to access TerraStar Correction Services globally, the company said. The receiver is also resilient to radio frequency interference, the company said.
Contact: Jessica Fielding, Hexagon/NovAtel, (403) 919-3388, jessica.fielding@hexagon.com, http://www.novatel.com/agriculture.
Velodyne and TOPODRONE Sign Deal
Velodyne [VLDR] has announced a multi-year agreement to provide its lidar sensors to TOPODRONE, using Velodyne lidar sensors. The lidar has enabled TOPODRONE to bring high-precision mapping and 3D modeling to demanding environments including farms, forests, infrastructure and more to support development that advances economic and sustainability goals, the company said.
Both companies, which are exhibited at INTERGEO 2021, integrate Velodyne’s Puck, Puck Hi-Res, and Ultra Puck as the 3D data perception and mapping sensors the survey solutions: TOPODRONE 100 LITE and TOPODRONE 200 ULTRA. These products can be installed on drones, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and backpack systems for mobile laser scanning, the company said.
Contact: Velodyne, velodyne@codewordagency.com, www.velodynelidar.com.
Spirent Launches GNSS Foresight
Spirent Communications [SPT] has launched its Spirent GNSS Foresight, a cloud-based product that allows operators know in advance where and when GPS or GNSS positioning is reliable for unmanned and autonomous journeys, the company said. GNSS Foresight predicts where and when unmanned vehicles, air taxis, and drones can operate safely and dependably beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), especially in urban areas where buildings frequently obstruct GNSS signals, the company said.
Spirent says the service, show at ION GNSS+ in St Louis, is the first of its kind and addresses one of the key issues facing developers and operators of unmanned aerial (UAS) and autonomous vehicles. “Because GNSS performance can be unpredictable in urban and suburban areas due to signals being obscured or blocked by buildings, autonomous systems have not been able to rely on GNSS for accurate positioning,” the company said.
Contact: Janet Peng, Spirent Communications, 86 (10) 823 30055 ext. 160, janet.peng@spirent.com.
Greater Than and TomTom Work on Collision Study
The AI risk analysis and SaaS company Greater Than and TomTom have developed a proof of concept (POC) to assess the potential to globally predict where, when and why road accidents occur, the companies said. The companies aim to expand and leverage vehicle data to better understand how to enhance road safety and lower carbon dioxide emissions caused by road users, the company said.
Greater Than says its AI has identified more than 7 billion different driving behaviors and assesses which behaviors are high risk and most likely to be involved in an accident. This data analysis is particularly valuable for commercial enterprises within the insurance and mobility sectors. In conjunction with the anonymized vehicle data from TomTom, Greater Than now aims to take its risk prediction even further, the company said. The study is expected to be completed before the end of 2021.
Contact: Eva Voors, Greater Than, 46-708 884 880, eva.voors@greaterthan.eu,
www.greaterthan.eu.
People
Vinli has named former Verizon Telematics [VZ] boss Kevin Moore as their new executive vice president of sales. At Verizon Telematics, Moore focused on leading global efforts with OEM truck and automotive manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, Volvo, Nissan, Ivecco, and others, the company said.
Contact: Vinli, www.vin.li.
Jobs
Javad GNSS is looking for new talent to join their team! JAVAD GNSS.
