Skip to main content

TCS acquires Loctronix

Indoor location technology start-up Loctronix has just announced that it is being acquired by TeleCommunication Systems (TCS).

 

Seattle-based Loctronix has developed a wide range of highly technical methods for location positioning. Their algorithms improve both motion sensing and radio-based location measurement. The company had previously been working to have its technology implemented in chips or device hardware, because of the level at which their algorithms operate, but this appears to be pivoting in light of their acquisition by TCS.

A partial list of their innovative technologies include:

  • DAIN: Doppler Aided Inertial Navigation, including sensor fusion motion sensing and step estimator
  • SCP: Spectral Compression Positioning
  • RSS: Radio Signal Strength Profiler
  • MEP: Mobile Explorer Platform

TCS is quietly a true leader in mobile location systems, with systems deployed on both feature phones and smartphones worldwide, primarily in conjunction with carriers, but most often white labeled under other brand names. For this reason, people outside of the industry often have not heard of TCS's name, even if they have used TCS systems.

Most of TCS's location technologies to date have relied on well-known algorithms running on cellular networks. Acquiring Loctronix will give them a boost in hard-core technologies for both their traditional areas of radio-based positioning and also motion sensing.

TCS is a big player in the growing area of E911, determining the location of mobile callers to emergency numbers. While this is less "sexy" an area than routing store customers to the products they want to buy, it's a critical piece of the evolving mobile infrastructure, and one that has significant resources behind it. E911 is also mandated by governments worldwide, so it's a market that's sure to grow.

Grizzly Analytics wishes good luck to Loctronix in their new corporate home, and also to Loctronix in absorbing and deploying the advanced technologies they're acquiring.

TCS's acquisition of Loctronix is the latest of several acquisitions of indoor location companies in 2015. ByteLight was acquired by Acuity, HP acquired Aruba reportedly with an eye on their indoor location technology, and ShopKick was acquired by SK Telecom at the end of 2014. The area is heating up and coming to the fore of mobile innovation!

See here for more on Grizzly Analytics coverage of over 150 indoor location companies.






Popular posts from this blog

33 Indoor Location Technologies at Mobile World Congress 2017

The number of companies exhibiting indoor location technologies at the 2017 Mobile World Congress (MWC) skyrocketed to 33! Before MWC started, we released our Guide to Indoor Location at MWC, with 23 companies: During the conference we notified our guide recipients of 10 other indoor location exhibitors that we saw. ( Sign up here to receive our guide and to be on our mailing list for next year's MWC.) This is many more indoor location related exhibits that previous years. The area is growing by leaps and bounds! Our recent report on indoor location technologies analyzed and profiled almost 200 companies! Here are some videos, so you can see the technologies in action, followed by a list of the other indoor location companies that were at MWC. First up is Philips Lighting, with high-accuracy indoor location positioning based on LED light modulation and visible light communication (VLC) technology: Next comes Estimote, makers of Bluetooth (BLE) beacons, who int...

Indoor Location, GeoFencing and Retail (Updated w/ video)

We've written a lot about indoor location technology , which is bringing location services indoors where GPS doesn't work. And we've written more recently about GeoFencing , a new location technology that enables smartphones to display content or take other actions when entering a specified area. And a few weeks ago we wrote about a company that was bringing the two together . Now Aisle411 has entered the ring, adding GeoFencing to their indoor solution . And they're bringing GeoFencing to life in the retail store industry . Aisle411's solution lets you navigate your way around a store to find specific products on the shelves. You can even enter your whole shopping list, or the items you need for a recipe, and the app will guide you around the store to buy everything you need quickly.   And here's where the GeoFencing comes in:  As you near certain products, you'll get offers for related products on your smartphone screen. They might be as s...

33 Indoor Location Related Start-up Acquisitions

  Acquisitions Continue in the Indoor Location Industry; Grizzly Analytics Shows Price Growth at the High End and Continuity at the Low End New York, NY, February 22, 2021 - Despite the recent pandemic, M&A deals in the indoor location area have maintained a steady pace of 4-5 deals a year. At the high end of the spectrum, prices have increased to up to $400 Million for the highest priced recent deal and $165 Million for the second highest. At the lower end, many earlier stage companies have been acquired in the $2-3 Million range. A newly updated report from Grizzly Analytics gives prices and strategic details for 33 acquisitions in the indoor location area.  While the highest priced indoor location acquisitions have historically involved chip-based technologies, recent acquisitions have been more varied. “A few years ago the focus of indoor location M&A was all around pure localization technologies. The biggest deal to date is in fact for a chip-based localization ...