NextGen GPS

Modern navigation tech-GPS and MAPS-will shape the future. Here's how...and what you need to look for when buying GPS devices and solutions

Saturday, July 05, 2008

By far the most happening field these days is Navigation. For ages we have been hearing about how easy it will be to find routes to your destination and as a popular TV commercial states 'Never get lost again.' Finally it's starting to become a reality, largely because GPS is now easily available to masses.
Availability of stand-alone GPS navigation devices and built-in GPS inside smartphones are two common reasons for the growing popularity of navigation tchnologies. Not to forget the fact that maps are now easily available and in many choices as almost every vendor is looking to encash upon in the opportunity with its own maps. With maps it's not just that you can easily find routes or plan your travel effectively through desktop maps. Many other interesting applications of map have come up.

In this story we will first tell you all you must know about GPS. Then we will take a look at how war of maps online as well on mobile platform is shaping up and tell you about the latest navigation solutions.

What is GPS?
GPS is short for Global Positioning System. It is a technology for anyone who wants to know where they are, where they have been or to find out how to get somewhere. To start using it, all you need is a GPS receiver. There are no charges apart from the initial cost of hardware. If you decide to go for navigation with detailed maps, then there is usually a one-time charge for that as well.

The Basic Premise
Imagine the earth to be covered with horizontal and vertical lines; the horizontal ones called latitudes (or parallels, since they are all parallel to each other) and the vertical ones called longitudes (or meridians; they converge at the north and south poles). These lines are further divided into minutes and seconds. Knowing the latitude and longitude of a place, you can get there using GPS.

There is a network of 24 NAVSTAR (Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging) satellites orbiting the earth, powered by the sun, and put in place by the U.S. Dept of Defense. They've been in orbit since 1978, pre-dating even the personal computer! Their orbits are so arranged so that at any given point in time and at any place on the surface of the earth, at least four satellites will be 'visible' to a GPS device. A GPS device can then pinpoint its location on the earth's surface (its latitude and longitude) by measuring its distance from these satellites. The process by which it does this is called triangulation.

How it works
For a GPS device to calculate a location (its latitude and longitude), it needs to know where the satellites are and how far away they are. Supposing it gets a fix on one satellite first and it calculates the distance to the satellite as 12,000 kms. By that logic, it could be anywhere on the surface of an imaginary sphere with a radius of 12,000 kms and with the satellite at the center. Once four satellites get locked on, all these imaginary spheres will intersect at only one common point: the current location. There are variations too: A-GPS, or Assisted GPS uses GSM cell locations to augment tracking; WAAS or Wide Area Augmentation System uses satellites and ground stations that provide GPS signal corrections, increasing accuracy. There can be an unlimited number of simultaneous GPS users. This is because a GPS device only receives signals transmitted from the satellites to coordinate a location. They do not communicate with the satellites.

Limitations
GPS works everywhere on earth, except inside buildings, basements, in caves and underwater. GPS reception is also affected by weather and cloud  conditions. Interruptions in signal may also occur when you're driving through a tunnel or standing stationary between very tall buildings.

Microsoft Virtual Earth offers 3D Bird's Eye view of selected locations, to give users 'almost there' feeling while exploring maps

Accuracy
Recreational GPS devices are built to offer good performance at a low price. Hence accuracy is not the prime concern. These consumer use devices (and the navigation devices that you see today) which have an accuracy of about 20–40 meters. GPS units used by surveyors usually have an accuracy of one meter. More accurate GPS systems used by the world's militaries can have accuracy down to one centimeter. This is accomplished by using GPS in conjunction with accurate altimeters and differential GPS (with the GPS unit interacting with base stations in addition to satellites). Some other uses: it's not just location though, GPS can be used for a variety of purposes. UK based RaceLogic uses it in their VBox equipment for accurate vehicle performance measurement (speed, acceleration, and deceleration). This equipment is used by automobile testers, manufacturers and racing teams worldwide.

GPS can also be used for location tracking of moving vehicles; which can in turn be used for recovery of stolen cars, to help a customer accurately track courier deliveries, to help a taxi company keep track of its cabs or to help a shipping company monitor its shipments. Recovery of stolen vehicles is the newest trend to catch on in India. With a small, hidden GPS receiver in your car, you will accurately be able to pinpoint its exact location if stolen, and recover it with ease.

Different facets of navigation

CommunicAsia saw companies taking navigation quite seriously-from mapping companies launching their own devices to companies driving UFO-like vans to capture 3D images CommunicAsia '08 also saw one of the biggest and best-renowned companies providing GPS devices to handset manufacturers, reveal its own independent phone offering. The Cayman Islands based Garmin Corporation announced the launch of the Nuvifone, positioned as the world's first mobile device that 'fully' integrates GPS and mobile phone functionality. Its all touch screen display plane comes integrated with 3.5 G capabilities and data connectivity, in-built internet browser, and its unique 'personal navigation' application. The home screen of the Garmin Nuvifone has Call, Search, and View Map options, a first of its kind offering where the emphasis is clearly on navigation and GPS. The interesting USP of the device is the fact that it comes by default with a car docking unit and the moment the device is placed on the dock, the GPS application is automatically turned on , displaying the relevant map depending on your location co-ordinates. As long as the device is stationed in its car dock, all calls are automatically handsfree. The 'Where am I' button accessible at all times displays the exact geographical co-ordinates and helps the user with information on the closest hospital, ATM, shopping arcade etc. The in-built camera of the Nuvifone automatically records the time and geographical co-ordinates and tags it to the image file, besides allowing moving visuals to be recorded at the 'autoset' mode. The survey van fitted with 4 cameras that record routes, co-ordinates and landscapes real-time On one hand, GPS service companies like Garmin are migrating to selling their own devices independently, but companies like Tele Atlas, that essentially provide satellite maps for Location Based Services (LBS), who incorporate the maps on their devices or websites, are strengthening their foothold by creating machines that capture 3D maps, aimed at giving the end user, a closer to life mapping application. Tele Atlas for instance has created a survey vehicle captures street-level details using its UFO-like camera units mounted atop the bright orange van. Of the four cameras, two are focussed to the front aimed at capturing images within 45 degrees range, to resemble the driver's eye view. One on either side record the moving landscapes in the vicinity. The data is collated real-time and incorporated as 3D images in to the map of the city. Tele Atlas is currently running the van around South East Asia, enroute to India in the coming months. For a more cost effective solution, smaller navigation companies are going the Software-as-a-service (SaaS) way using the already existing mobile networks to gather data related to location and places, putting them together for low end mobile devices. For instance, Singapore based Surround Networks has created a solution for businessmen on the move, who need information about prospective clients in the vicinity of their presence. This information can be personalized to everything from restaurants, companies of a specific genre, stores, hospitals, and even information on promotional offers at departmental stores for sales executives who handle the accounts in FMCG companies. The data of course is limited to what the mobile service provider has, and the location co-ordinates have limited accuracy.

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