The new GPS architecture from CSR (the tech company, not the sugar refiner or the maker of Gyprock) taps additional satellite systems, plus mobile phone towers and Wi-Fi access points, to improve navigational accuracy.
During a meeting in CNET's offices, Kanwar Chadha, chief marketing officer of CSR Technology, noted that all content is becoming location aware, and that smartphone apps and navigation devices can tailor information to a user's personal surroundings. Taking advantage of that trend, Chadha's company, which provides GPS chips for navigation devices, has developed a new generation of products that can pinpoint locations both outdoors and indoors.
As an initial step towards improving accuracy, the company's SiRFstar V architecture not only uses the US Global Positioning System satellites, but also taps into the Russian Glonass, European Galileo and Chinese Compass satellite positioning systems to determine locations.
Navigation devices using the new SiRFstar V architecture will be able to more quickly and accurately determine locations, as they can also access the newer satellite positioning systems. Chadha said that CSR had to give its new products the ability to receive the different frequencies of the other satellite networks to enable the additional location-tracking ability.
To further refine location, SiRFstar V also uses mobile phone towers and Wi-Fi signals. Tower triangulation is nothing new, but using Wi-Fi signals can lead to better navigation in dense, downtown areas where buildings block satellite reception. They can also enable portable nav devices to work indoors. CSR will maintain a database of Wi-Fi access points with their locations. Once a smartphone or other navigation device senses a Wi-Fi signal, it can upload the access point's ID to CSR and receive the associated coordinates.
CSR has two platforms that will take advantage of the SiRFstar V architecture: SiRFusion and SiRFprima II. SiRFusion is designed for personal devices optimised for indoor navigation. CSR is counting on proliferation of devices using SiRFusion to crowdsource its database of Wi-Fi access points and their locations.
The promise of SiRFusion is that devices will help people to find their way around large indoor complexes, such as indoor shopping centres. A SiRFusion-equipped smartphone could help someone navigate from David Jones to Oporto, for example.
The SiRFprima II platform is designed for automotive implementation, and is less focused on indoor navigation. But it could still use phone towers and Wi-Fi signals to help a driver to find his way in a parking garage.
Although CSR announced the new architecture and platforms today, there has been no announcement as to what specific products will carry the new navigation technology.
Via CNET
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