Spirent Communications today announced that it signed an agreement with Beijing based, China Telecommunications Technology Labs (CTTL) for assisted-GPS testing in China.
The market for GPS-enabled handsets is set to boom over the next four years, with more than 550 million units shipping in 2012, market research firm ABI Research said today.
Other players in the consumer GPS market may be getting nervous about forecasts, but not Nokia, at least when it comes to unit volumes. The European mobile phone giant's CEO confirmed today what the company said earlier in the year with regard to its GPS-enabled devices: it expects to ship some 35 million this year.
Much of this year's CTIA revolved around the increasingly location-based social culture of the Millennial Generation. But LBS is frequently finding its way into other walks of life, from bird-watching to emergency management.
Once we understand wireless carriers' structure, operating model, and financial drivers, then plans and prospects for location-based services will become more apparent. Much hinges on a spectrum auction now underway, expected to garner $20 billion. Carriers want LBS to drive a big return on this investment.
Although GPS is an efficient tool for deformation monitoring, it also is an expensive one for large projects. The authors developed a remote-controlled monitoring system using an electronic switching device for multiple antennas to monitor steep slopes at the Xiaowan hydropower station in China.
New marvels of miniaturization — the fabrication and performance of chip-scale atomic frequency references — will be moving from the lab to the factory any day now.
Finding the ideal way to use GPS technology in tourism can be as tricky as booking the perfect vacation. Useful devices for visitors being offered at popular tourist attractions come in many forms, from handhelds that trigger to specific sites to three-wheeled mini-cars with programmed tours on board.
Accelerating deployment of location-based services requires reducing the energy-per-fix (EPF) to a minimum, as continuous tracking shortens cell-phone battery life. This article focuses on realizing a low-current RF front end, minimizing RF active time, and developing an intelligent GPS middleware layer to determine whether a low EPF is likely or necessary.
