Broadcom delivers on-chip GeoFencing and indoor positioning

We've talked a lot about GeoFencing recently. GeoFencing is the technology behind location-based reminders and location-based promotions, but more importantly, it transforms mobile apps to being proactive based on location, instead of acting only when invoked by users. GeoFencing is being researched and developed for indoor location applications, mobile app discovery, and more.

But GeoFencing brings technical challenges. Constantly monitoring a phone's location to see when it enters or leaves a GeoFence drains the CPU and the battery. Checking only every minute risks not catching a GeoFence crossing in time. Additionally, GeoFencing needs to integrate GPS, indoor location systems, and other location positioning methods, depending on the phone's location and capabilities.

To answer these challenges, Broadcom has just released a GNSS chip (supporting GPS and other location systems) that includes built-in hardware-based GeoFencing. Their aim is to support GeoFencing without battery drain, with the hard work being done by the chip, not software.

We predicted in our comprehensive GeoFencing report that GeoFencing support would move to chips, and reported there on GeoFencing research by Qualcomm and other chip makers. With their new chip, Broadcom has staked a claim in this huge new area. Their chip integrates GeoFencing with not only GPS, but also Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, sensor fusion, Near Field Communication (NFC) and other location positioning approaches.

Broadcom says that they will be showing their location innovations at MWC next week.

For more on GeoFencing, see our comprehensive report on ongoing R&D in the area, which enables you to learn about developments before they reach market. Also of interest is our comprehensive report on indoor location positioning technologies.

Sensor-fusion indoor location system in over 30 malls in Singapore

SingTel just deployed indoor mapping and navigation from Swedish start-up SenionLab in over 30 shopping malls in Singapore, with 20 more in planning, in the biggest single deployment we've seen yet of customized indoor location technology. The most significant aspect of this deployment is that this is one of the first commercial deployments of indoor location technology that uses a new technology approach called "sensor fusion," which uses sensors in smartphones (gyroscope, compass, accelerometer, ...) to track location by sensing the phone's movements. Most indoor location systems determine location by measuring the signals of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots or cellular antennas, but this risks looking choppy as the phone waits for the radio signals to change to detect the next place it is. Sensing motion using phone sensors makes the system work more smoothly, regardless of radio signal details. (The SenionLab solution does use Wi-Fi signals as well, to compe...

Nokia indoor location positioning research shown at MWC 2012

Grizzly Analytics has been looking closely at indoor location technology, both technology research at major companies and technology solutions available to store-owners and other site managers . At MWC we expected that indoor location would be prominent, and we weren't disappointed! We had the pleasure of seeing a large number of demonstrations of indoor positioning in action. This is the first of several blog posts looking at these demonstrations, starting with Nokia. First I'll give some explanation, then below is a video showing Nokia's demo in action and hearing comments from their researchers. Nokia has been researching indoor location technology for years, and the technology has advanced each year but not yet reached market. Their demo is, in a word, breathtaking, in the speed and precision at which it tracks people walking around the room. People are seen on a computer screen or phone screen, in real-time, moving as they walk around the demo room flo...

See great indoor location tech from the 2017 testbed

The videos from the Indoor Location Testbed at GeoIoT World 2017 are now released! Here is your chance to see how these solutions performed in our real-world evaluation, in the videos below. The testbed evaluated each solution by walking around a real-world venue, the GeoIoT World 2017 conference, measuring performance at 10 pre-selected points. Click here for the testbed report, which analyzes each solution's performance in a wide variety of metrics, including real-time accuracy, accuracy stabilization, consistency, latency, floor change, first fix, setup time & more. Let's start with BlooLoc's tag-based solution, which achieved accuracy under 2m in real-time and under 1.5m after stabilization: Then let's look at the infrastructure-free solution from GipsTech , which achieved accuracy under 2m without using any beacons or radio signals: Next is GipsTech's solution with BLE added: Next is BlooLoc's phone-based solution: Fin...

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