2006 October 5

This issue sponsored by

ESRI

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Editor's Introduction

This week I discuss the challenges involved in designing GPS receivers for consumer applications and profile eRide, a company that specializes in doing that. I also point out an article about a new system to select business locations, correct a small error in last week's issue, and round up news from press releases.

— Matteo

eRide and Furuno to Jointly Develop High Sensitivity GPS Receiver Chip for Consumer Applications

Developments in GPS (Global Positioning System) technology directly affect GIS, primarily for two reasons. First, because GPS receivers are a key means of collecting much GIS data, such as street centerlines. Second, because the explosion in the availability and use of consumer-grade GPS receivers—in PDAs (personal digital assistants), PNDs (personal navigation devices), car navigation systems, and, most of all, cell phones—drives demand for digital maps and, through LBS (location-based services), for related GIS functionalities.

The central challenge in the design of consumer-grade GPS receivers is optimizing the competing requirements for sensitivity, accuracy, size, cost, and power requirements. Sensitivity is particularly important for consumer devices because they are used mostly indoors and in urban areas, where buildings form "urban canyons" that block the signals from several GPS satellites. When a receiver is not sufficiently sensitive, the services it supports are often unavailable; this translates into a poor user experience and slows down consumer adoption of the technology.


GM-83 GPS receiver chip, manufactured by Furuno under license from eRide

Two weeks ago Furuno, a Japan-based manufacturer of GPS receivers and other electronic equipment, announced an alliance with eRide, a U.S. company that specializes in developing GPS receivers for consumer applications. The two companies are jointly developing a single-chip GPS receiver with -161dBm sensitivity, the highest in the industry, and a 1-second time-to-first-fix (TTFF). Furuno has invested $5,000,000 in eRide and has licensed eRide's technology, which it will distribute worldwide. In addition to conventional static GPS positioning, eRide's architecture assists the GPS receiver by downloading data from a network using a cell phone's GPRS modem. Japan's largest cell phone carrier has adopted eRide's technology and, starting next year, third generation cell phones in Japan will use it to provide a caller's location to emergency dispatchers, under a directive similar to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's E-911 mandate.

Read more …

Briefly Noted

CNNMoney.com reports that a physicist has developed a new method to quantify the relationship between businesses and has applied it to find optimal locations for stores.

Department of Corrections

In last week's News Briefs I gave an incorrect URL for LandAir International. The correct URL is www.landairmap.com.

News Briefs

Please note: I have culled the following news items from press releases and have not independently verified them.

  1. CONTRACTS & COLLABORATIONS

    1. North West Geomatics Ltd. has completed three forestry projects in the northern United States and Canada with the new Leica ADS40 Generation II sensor system. Read more …

    2. Workers on a major underground construction project in New York City are depending on surveying instruments from Leica Geosystems to ensure the safety of personnel and structures as part of an automated deformation monitoring system. Read more …

    3. Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (MDU) has selected Telvent Miner & Miner 's Fiber Manager Application as its solution for viewing and editing fiber optic information. Read more …

    4. SANZ has been awarded a multi-faceted contract to supply comprehensive data management solutions to the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). Read more …

  2. PRODUCTS

    1. CARIS has released Hydrographic Production Database (HPD) version 2.4. Read more …

    2. Pharos Science & Applications, Inc. has launched the Drive GPS 135, the Drive GPS 140, and the Traveler GPS 525+ personal navigation devices. Read more …

  3. CONFERENCES

    1. Azteca Systems, Inc. has moved the 2007 Cityworks User Conference to May 22 - 24, to ensure that it wouldn't interfere with participants' plans for Memorial Day weekend. Read more …

    2. Officials from Google, the Regional Transportation Authority of Chicago, TriMet and other related concerns are joining forces on a Transit Forum to present, debate, and plan new potential open source transit projects at the second annual Government Open Source Conference (GOSCON '06), set for October 12-13 in Portland, Oregon. Read more …

    3. Surveyors, engineers, and professionals in related industries have the opportunity to highlight their GIS projects at the fifth annual Survey and GIS Summit to be held June 16-19, 2007, in San Diego, California. Read more …

  4. PEOPLE

    1. GeoAnalytics Inc., an IT consulting firm that specializes in the planning, design, and implementation of enterprise information systems, has hired Hank Garie as the Director of State and Federal Practice. Read more …

    2. GeoDecisions has appointed Andrew H. Freckmann as business development manager. Read more …

    3. Galdos has appointed Jim Farley as Vice President to lead its Sales and Strategic Marketing group. Read more …

    4. Topcon Positioning Systems has named Dale Jefferson of Maysville, Kentucky, software business development manager. Read more …

  5. OTHER

    1. Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) has successfully tracked GIOVE-A signals from the first Galileo test satellite with its production receivers GR-3 and Net-G3. Read more …

    2. At the ninth ESRI Regional User Conference in Montreal, Quebec, September 26-27, ESRI Canada presented an Award of Excellence to the Corporation of Urgences santé (Urgences santé). Read more …

    3. Municipio de Tampico, in Tamaulipas, Mexico, has won a 2006 BE Award for its Integrated System of Cadastre Administration project. Read more …

    4. Guests attending this year's Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress and Exhibition in London, England, are invited to visit the Applanix Mobile Mapping display being exhibited within the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade pavilion. Read more …

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Matteo Luccio, Editor
GIS Monitor

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