New Wireless Location Devices Believed To Be The Smallest In The World
New high accuracy wireless location devices – believed to be the smallest in the world – will shortly go into production following the announcement of a partnership between CPS (Cambridge Positioning Systems Ltd) and Chinese wireless technology manufacturer East Sunaton.
The low-cost, self-contained devices – smaller than the size of a credit card –incorporate a GSM/GPRS modem, battery and CPS’ software-only Matrix location technology and deliver fast, sub-100m accuracy in all environments.
Initially, the two companies will collaborate on a major contract to supply PCMCIA cards for tracking laptops. In time, East Sunaton will develop a number of form factors incorporating CPS’s Matrix software for use in the enterprise and telematics sectors globally.
Unlike satellite-based location systems, Matrix works by measuring the time difference between radio signals within the GSM network. As such, the new devices will not require the additional hardware for positioning required by GPS-based devices and the associated increases in size, cost and power consumption.
The announcement marks a significant step forward for CPS in the rapidly expanding 200m strong Chinese GSM market. Recent extensive trials of its Matrix technology in Beijing proved highly successful with consistently accurate results returned from indoor, dense urban and suburban locations throughout the city.
CPS CEO Chris Wade said: "China is one of our most promising markets – both in terms of size and opportunity. There has been explosive growth in the mobile market and in turn this has created strong demand for location and tracking solutions from the business and emerging telematics community.
"East Sunaton are already a well established player in the region with strong links to operators, the broader manufacturing community and the government. They share our commitment to deliver powerful – and compact – high accuracy solutions to one of the world’s most exciting marketplaces."
Based in Shenzhen high technology region, East Sunaton CEO Tony Xiong said: "Our goal is to become a leading supplier of a wide range of wireless applications including public safety, traffic monitoring systems and environmental services. We are dedicated to GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA technologies. CPS is a leading supplier of location service technology and its Matrix client software and the Matrix Server software offer the necessary flexibility to support the widest range of applications. It will help us to deliver a range of products to different kinds of customers. CPS also has a full migration roadmap from 2G to 3G, and we look forward to a long term and successful partnership."
About CPS:
CPS is the high accuracy location enabler for the wireless world. Through consistent innovation, we have developed new ways of helping people pinpoint their whereabouts - via a standard GSM mobile handset. Our technology is called Matrix – a unique software-only solution that combines sub-100m accuracy with rapid time-to-fix and consistent performance across all environments.
Standardised for GSM, Matrix can be rolled out easily and rapidly to meet operator needs for new and differentiated location-enabled services. And because Matrix is software only, it means deployment costs are less than $1 per subscriber – the most competitive high accuracy solution available.
Source: press release
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