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In this instalment of our GNSS in Asia series, we look at how the close cooperation between the GNSS.asia China team and China’s LBS association is resulting in big opportunities for EU companies.

With an explosive annual growth rate forecast at 46% up to 2020, the Chinese Location-Based Services (LBS) market is a huge and relatively accessible market for European players. Although the gaming and marketing segments are the most promising for cooperating with Chinese partners, chipset manufacturers like ST and Bosch are also seeing success.

More so, since 2016 bike-sharing has boomed in China, which thrives on the use of GNSS-provided positioning and thus is positioned as a key opportunity for EU players. As reported by Forbes in a July 2017 article, Beijing-based bike-sharing start-up ofo, recently received $700 million in financing to expand its network of inexpensive and environmentally friendly bike shares that rely on mobile apps for renting and GPS for tracking. Likewise, Mobike, a close competitor, drew $600 million in financing in June, bringing its total for the year up to $1 billion.

Spearheading the development of China’s LBS market is the GNSS and LBS Association of China (GLAC). Founded in 1995, GLAC is a professional non-profit organisation focused on GNSS applications and LBS services at the national level. The association boasts more than 2,000 members, including universities, research institutes, enterprises, manufacturers and geospatial data providers – to name only a few.

GLAC works in close partnership with the GNSS.asia China team, looking for opportunities to bring LBS players from Europe and China together. Specifically, the partnership is responsible for organising a range of events targeting the GNSS community in China and Europe and working to raise awareness about Europe’s GNSS programmes (EGNOS and Galileo) throughout GLAC’s extensive industry network. The GSA-funded GNSS.asia project is dedicated to developing and implementing GNSS industrial cooperation between European and Asia-Pacific GNSS industries, with a focus on the downstream market.

“Over the past several years, we have taken great strides to capitalise on GLAC’s extensive industry network as a means of facilitating cooperation agreements between Asian and European companies,” says Davof Xu, EU SME Advocacy and Working Group Coordinator at the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

Spreading the word on E-GNSS

To promote E-GNSS and industrial cooperation to a broader extent across China, GNSS.asia, along with GLAC, have been ‘testing the waters’ for interest in China’s top GNSS cities. For example, last year they organised the International Forum on GNSS & LBS and the 11th China Satellite Navigation Operations Conference in Shenzhen, which welcomed over 50 participants. The two also partnered to host the International Forum on GNSS Applications – GNSS Connects the World at the 5th Annual GLAC Conference in Chengdu.

“These events were successful in that they allowed us to identify possible local partners and stakeholders that we need to facilitate concrete cooperation in the regions,” says Xu. “What’s very encouraging is that many of the attendees were open to the possibility of industrial cooperation between Europe and China, especially as it pertains to applications.”

GNSS.asia also attended the Beidou + Space-based Information Application Summit, which was organised by GLAC and held in Harbin.

Looking ahead

To continue to build on this momentum between China and the EU, the GNSS.asia China team plans to expand its cooperation with both GLAC and GCE. They are also helping to organise GLAC’s EU tour and facilitate the creation of concrete industrial partnerships. In April 2017, for example, a mutual meeting between GLAC and the GNSS Centre of Excellence (GCE) was held in Prague with around 20 participants. “Here, both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation and exchanges on creating new transportation-focused applications, especially for the ITS, Road and Aviation sectors,” says Xu.

The GNSS.asia China team is also busy coordinating opportunities for industrial exchanges and matchmaking through GLAC’s Action Plan of Hundreds of Cities, Hundreds of Applications. The Plan aims to promote GNSS technology and applications, as well as the development of satellite navigation and location services industries, through the integration of regional and industry location networks.

“The Plan promotes GNSS applications across multiple industries, field and cities,” explains Xu. “Of particular interest to European companies is the Plan’s focus on vehicle navigation and positioning related services, along with applications pertaining to the urban construction and management, mapping, and maritime sectors.”

Multi-constellation goes mainstream

With the launch Galileo Initial Services, GNSS.asia is closely following its adoption among GLAC’s networks. According to Xu, Chinese chipset companies like CEC Huada Electronical Design Co. Ltd, Unicore Communications Inc., and Mengxin Technology have all developed Galileo-enabled chipsets. Furthermore, some Chinese mobile phone manufactures, including Huawei, have started using Galileo-enabled chipsets within their devices.

“As multi-constellation is now the mainstream, Chinese companies are becoming increasingly interested in including Galileo into their applications and devices in order to provide better accuracy for their customers,” says Xu. He adds that this is especially true as Chinese companies become more internationalised and expand into overseas markets. “It is not difficult to find examples of Chinese GNSS companies acquiring international companies,” adds Xu. “For instance, Unistrong acquired Hemisphere in 2015, and the technology has been well promoted in the Chinese market since then.”

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

In this instalment of our GNSS in Asia series, we look at how the close cooperation between the GNSS.asia China team and China’s LBS association is resulting in big opportunities for EU companies.

With an explosive annual growth rate forecast at 46% up to 2020, the Chinese Location-Based Services (LBS) market is a huge and relatively accessible market for European players. Although the gaming and marketing segments are the most promising for cooperating with Chinese partners, chipset manufacturers like ST and Bosch are also seeing success.

More so, since 2016 bike-sharing has boomed in China, which thrives on the use of GNSS-provided positioning and thus is positioned as a key opportunity for EU players. As reported by Forbes in a July 2017 article, Beijing-based bike-sharing start-up ofo, recently received $700 million in financing to expand its network of inexpensive and environmentally friendly bike shares that rely on mobile apps for renting and GPS for tracking. Likewise, Mobike, a close competitor, drew $600 million in financing in June, bringing its total for the year up to $1 billion.

Spearheading the development of China’s LBS market is the GNSS and LBS Association of China (GLAC). Founded in 1995, GLAC is a professional non-profit organisation focused on GNSS applications and LBS services at the national level. The association boasts more than 2,000 members, including universities, research institutes, enterprises, manufacturers and geospatial data providers – to name only a few.

GLAC works in close partnership with the GNSS.asia China team, looking for opportunities to bring LBS players from Europe and China together. Specifically, the partnership is responsible for organising a range of events targeting the GNSS community in China and Europe and working to raise awareness about Europe’s GNSS programmes (EGNOS and Galileo) throughout GLAC’s extensive industry network. The GSA-funded GNSS.asia project is dedicated to developing and implementing GNSS industrial cooperation between European and Asia-Pacific GNSS industries, with a focus on the downstream market.

“Over the past several years, we have taken great strides to capitalise on GLAC’s extensive industry network as a means of facilitating cooperation agreements between Asian and European companies,” says Davof Xu, EU SME Advocacy and Working Group Coordinator at the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

Spreading the word on E-GNSS

To promote E-GNSS and industrial cooperation to a broader extent across China, GNSS.asia, along with GLAC, have been ‘testing the waters’ for interest in China’s top GNSS cities. For example, last year they organised the International Forum on GNSS & LBS and the 11th China Satellite Navigation Operations Conference in Shenzhen, which welcomed over 50 participants. The two also partnered to host the International Forum on GNSS Applications – GNSS Connects the World at the 5th Annual GLAC Conference in Chengdu.

“These events were successful in that they allowed us to identify possible local partners and stakeholders that we need to facilitate concrete cooperation in the regions,” says Xu. “What’s very encouraging is that many of the attendees were open to the possibility of industrial cooperation between Europe and China, especially as it pertains to applications.”

GNSS.asia also attended the Beidou + Space-based Information Application Summit, which was organised by GLAC and held in Harbin.

Looking ahead

To continue to build on this momentum between China and the EU, the GNSS.asia China team plans to expand its cooperation with both GLAC and GCE. They are also helping to organise GLAC’s EU tour and facilitate the creation of concrete industrial partnerships. In April 2017, for example, a mutual meeting between GLAC and the GNSS Centre of Excellence (GCE) was held in Prague with around 20 participants. “Here, both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation and exchanges on creating new transportation-focused applications, especially for the ITS, Road and Aviation sectors,” says Xu.

The GNSS.asia China team is also busy coordinating opportunities for industrial exchanges and matchmaking through GLAC’s Action Plan of Hundreds of Cities, Hundreds of Applications. The Plan aims to promote GNSS technology and applications, as well as the development of satellite navigation and location services industries, through the integration of regional and industry location networks.

“The Plan promotes GNSS applications across multiple industries, field and cities,” explains Xu. “Of particular interest to European companies is the Plan’s focus on vehicle navigation and positioning related services, along with applications pertaining to the urban construction and management, mapping, and maritime sectors.”

Multi-constellation goes mainstream

With the launch Galileo Initial Services, GNSS.asia is closely following its adoption among GLAC’s networks. According to Xu, Chinese chipset companies like CEC Huada Electronical Design Co. Ltd, Unicore Communications Inc., and Mengxin Technology have all developed Galileo-enabled chipsets. Furthermore, some Chinese mobile phone manufactures, including Huawei, have started using Galileo-enabled chipsets within their devices.

“As multi-constellation is now the mainstream, Chinese companies are becoming increasingly interested in including Galileo into their applications and devices in order to provide better accuracy for their customers,” says Xu. He adds that this is especially true as Chinese companies become more internationalised and expand into overseas markets. “It is not difficult to find examples of Chinese GNSS companies acquiring international companies,” adds Xu. “For instance, Unistrong acquired Hemisphere in 2015, and the technology has been well promoted in the Chinese market since then.”

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

Speaking at a dedicated session entitled ‘Applications: Earth Sciences and Geo-Information’, part of EUREF’s annual symposium, representatives of the mapping and surveying sector discussed the various synergies between GNSS and Earth Observation and their use for providing real-time information about the state of the Earth’s troposphere.

EUREF, the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) Reference Frame Sub-Commission for Europe, is dedicated to the definition, realisation and maintenance of the European Geodetic Reference Systems. Included in this mission is the development and maintenance of the EUREF GNSS Permanent Network (EPN), which is a ground-based GNSS infrastructure for scientific and practical applications in positioning and navigation. EUREF provides standards and guidelines to European National Mapping Authorities in order to harmonise the definition and adoption of national coordinate reference systems.

“Geodetic techniques measure the situation on the earth’s surface, and modern space technologies extend these observations to orbiting satellites,” says Professor Alessandro Caporali of Italy’s University of Padova. “As a result, today the position of particular sites on the earth’s surface and its variation is known to the sub-millimetre level for the period of decades.” He also explains how these techniques are sensitive to many occurrences within the earth’s system, including changes in atmosphere, movement of tectonic plates and the state of solar radiation. 

Professor Caporali is working with EUREF in establishing a European system of latitude and longitude via GNSS-based techniques. Temporal changes of these coordinates, of the order of few mm per year, are used to understand the motions taking place on the earth’s surface. To do this, the organisation has established a range of GNSS ground stations to compute coordinates. Previously, these stations relied on GPS and GLONASS, but are now also incorporating Galileo signals – an effort that they are collaborating with the GSA on.

GNSS data integrates well

Areas where GNSS stations move towards each other are recognised by a decreasing relative distance and indicate a compression of the upper Earth crust. Likewise, areas of extensional or shear stress can be identified by analysing the relative displacements in time of GNSS stations at scales of some tens to one hundred km. This deformation measured at the surface is directly linked to deformation at depth, inferred from seismograms whenever an earthquake occurs, or by field surveys and geological mapping. For earthquakes of a magnitude greater than six, GNSS sites exhibit coordinate changes of several centimetres, depending on their distance from the hypocentre.

“The seismic displacement of GNSS sites is very helpful in constraining the coordinates of the hypocentre and other parameters of the causative fault,” says Professor Caporali. “GNSS data integrates very well with data provided by InSAR satellites, such as the recent Sentinel satellites, which are very sensitive to the vertical deformation.”

Important Galileo contribution

The propagation of microwaves from the GNSS satellites to an Earth-based receiver is affected by the electronic content in the ionosphere and by the pressure, temperature and humidity of the troposphere. Hence, an added value of the GNSS data is the direct measurement of the free electrons in the ionosphere, which is directly related to the solar activity and has profound impacts on everyday life (e.g. radio communications). “In the past, ionosphere sounding radars from a limited number of dedicated and expensive installations were used,” adds Caporali. “Now, low cost GNSS receivers with dual frequency capability make this research much cheaper and more detailed.”

“Galileo’s contribution is extremely important and fits well into our objectives, particularly as to the need for precise positioning” concludes Caporali. “I look forward to further close cooperation with the GSA.”

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

Speaking at a dedicated session entitled ‘Applications: Earth Sciences and Geo-Information’, part of EUREF’s annual symposium, representatives of the mapping and surveying sector discussed the various synergies between GNSS and Earth Observation and their use for providing real-time information about the state of the Earth’s troposphere.

EUREF, the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) Reference Frame Sub-Commission for Europe, is dedicated to the definition, realisation and maintenance of the European Geodetic Reference Systems. Included in this mission is the development and maintenance of the EUREF GNSS Permanent Network (EPN), which is a ground-based GNSS infrastructure for scientific and practical applications in positioning and navigation. EUREF provides standards and guidelines to European National Mapping Authorities in order to harmonise the definition and adoption of national coordinate reference systems.

“Geodetic techniques measure the situation on the earth’s surface, and modern space technologies extend these observations to orbiting satellites,” says Professor Alessandro Caporali of Italy’s University of Padova. “As a result, today the position of particular sites on the earth’s surface and its variation is known to the sub-millimetre level for the period of decades.” He also explains how these techniques are sensitive to many occurrences within the earth’s system, including changes in atmosphere, movement of tectonic plates and the state of solar radiation. 

Professor Caporali is working with EUREF in establishing a European system of latitude and longitude via GNSS-based techniques. Temporal changes of these coordinates, of the order of few mm per year, are used to understand the motions taking place on the earth’s surface. To do this, the organisation has established a range of GNSS ground stations to compute coordinates. Previously, these stations relied on GPS and GLONASS, but are now also incorporating Galileo signals – an effort that they are collaborating with the GSA on.

GNSS data integrates well

Areas where GNSS stations move towards each other are recognised by a decreasing relative distance and indicate a compression of the upper Earth crust. Likewise, areas of extensional or shear stress can be identified by analysing the relative displacements in time of GNSS stations at scales of some tens to one hundred km. This deformation measured at the surface is directly linked to deformation at depth, inferred from seismograms whenever an earthquake occurs, or by field surveys and geological mapping. For earthquakes of a magnitude greater than six, GNSS sites exhibit coordinate changes of several centimetres, depending on their distance from the hypocentre.

“The seismic displacement of GNSS sites is very helpful in constraining the coordinates of the hypocentre and other parameters of the causative fault,” says Professor Caporali. “GNSS data integrates very well with data provided by InSAR satellites, such as the recent Sentinel satellites, which are very sensitive to the vertical deformation.”

Important Galileo contribution

The propagation of microwaves from the GNSS satellites to an Earth-based receiver is affected by the electronic content in the ionosphere and by the pressure, temperature and humidity of the troposphere. Hence, an added value of the GNSS data is the direct measurement of the free electrons in the ionosphere, which is directly related to the solar activity and has profound impacts on everyday life (e.g. radio communications). “In the past, ionosphere sounding radars from a limited number of dedicated and expensive installations were used,” adds Caproali. “Now, low cost GNSS receivers with dual frequency capability make this research much cheaper and more detailed.”

“Galileo’s contribution is extremely important and fits well into our objectives, particularly as to the need for precise positioning” concludes Caporali. “I look forward to further close cooperation with the GSA.”

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The main objective of the Horizon 2020-funded MOBNET project is to locate victims during natural disasters and emergency situations such as earthquakes, hurricanes or large snowstorms using EGNSS (both Galileo and EGNOS) and DCT (Digital Cellular Technologies). Its system assumptions were presented at TRANSCOM 2017 in Slovakia at the start of June.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are playing an increasingly important role in Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) missions such as border surveillance and law enforcement. However, quickly locating isolated individuals in the event of a natural or man-made disaster still poses a significant challenge. Consequently, there is a need for an effective system for people location that can be used by PPDR services in difficult terrain.

Tailor-made solution

In response to this need, MOBNET is designing a technologically advanced Search and Rescue (SAR) system that will help to locate isolated victims in the event of an emergency. A concept for a UAV was created based on lessons learned from past experience and on the results of a survey conducted among targeted users. This will ensure that the project delivers a solution that is tailor-made to their needs. This survey is ongoing; to participate click here.

MOBNET is developing a solution to these challenges by leveraging:

• Mobile phones’ ubiquity in today’s society. In 2016, mobile phone penetration had reached 99.7% worldwide, rising to 126.9% in developed countries;
• The high-quality timing synchronisation capabilities that Galileo provides worldwide and EGNOS provides in European countries, which means that the UAVs will be positioned with high precision;
• The cost and performance gains of SAR operations using UAVs. With no pilot on board, UAVs can enter dangerous environments, can stay in the air for long periods with the same reliability, and can perform various types of analysis.

Taking advantage of these three features, MOBNET uses DCT to detect the presence of people (locating their mobiles) and help rescuers in their search. Moreover, the use of EGNOS and Galileo services allows the system to accurately position the UAVs and time tag the ranging estimates with high accuracy, so that MOBNET is able to quickly find the trapped person.

MOBNET combines observations from several drones, each equipped with an EGNSS module and a new DCT module. The drones, flying over the area of interest, use the MOBNET DCT module to detect the victims: i.e. the signals from their mobile phones are used to detect the position of a possible victim. The on-board EGNSS module provides accurate position and time information. MOBNET benefits from the high level of accuracy of the time reference that Galileo satellites provide.

Used in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the EGNSS information makes accurate positioning possible in any kind of terrain, which makes the system very useful for first responders and other targeted users in situations in which it is difficult, dangerous or even impossible to access the affected areas. A great advantage of the system is that it can help save people’s lives without risking the integrity and security of the first responders’ services.

User-driven

Research is driven by the end-user and industrial partners to ensure that it addresses the needs of the PPDR services. A prototype will be developed to illustrate the potential for a fast and reliable SAR system that works at long distances. The developed system will leverage Galileo and EGNOS capabilities and will strengthen the position of European industry in the field of rescue services.

The solution does not intend to replace traditional methods used by search and rescue teams, such as rescue dogs, geophones and specialised cameras, but to support these activities and to maximise the probability of successfully locating victims. The system will be tested in field conditions in November 2017.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

In this part of our series on GNSS in Asia, we look at the opportunities for European companies within India’s Smart Cities Mission.

Launched in 2015 by the Indian government, the Smart Cities Mission for Urban Development aims to transform 100 Indian cities into sustainable, safe and citizen-friendly environments. With a budget of USD 15 billion, GNSS applications will play a pivotal role in realising this vision, providing solutions for improving energy efficiency, waste management and urban mobility.
GNSS in India

As home to the world’s 10th largest economy, India has long-term ambitions to develop its capacity as a GNSS provider. Led by the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the entity responsible for the country’s GNSS activities and systems, India currently has two national systems:

1. Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS): an autonomous regional satellite navigation system being developed by ISRO and under the control of the Indian government.
2. GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN): an initiative working to establish SBAS over India. This is a joint programme between the Airports Authority of India and ISRO. The system is already operational.

Even with these systems, India lacks the applications and interest that one sees in, for example, Europe with EGNOS. “In India, we simply don’t have this level of awareness or the applications, in fact hardly any applications exist,” says Indian Industrial Relations Association (IIRA) Managing Director Varadarajan Krish. “This is where the opportunities for European companies are.”

Opportunities in Smart Cities

Although there are opportunities across all sectors, there is a significant gap in GNSS applications relating to the Smart Cities Mission and, in particular, the road and rail sectors. The ambitious Smart Cities Mission is a nation-wide urban renewal and retrofitting programme that aims to develop 100 cities into citizen-friendly and sustainable models.

According to Krish, GNSS will play a major role in realising these goals. “GNSS.asia has already created awareness about the technologies and best practice models available in Europe so that these smart cities can plug into them as and when the need arises,” he says. The GSA-funded GNSS.asia project is dedicated to developing and implementing GNSS industrial cooperation between European and Asia-Pacific GNSS industries, with a focus on the downstream market.

One component of these smart cities that is of particular interest to European companies is rail. With the Indian government having authorised direct foreign investment in India’s railways in 2013, there is now a unique chance for European rail companies to leverage their one-of-a-kind know-how. In fact, thanks in large part to the efforts of GNSS.asia, companies like Thales, GMV, Telit, ABB and Siemens have already succeeded in executing projects in India.

An ideal partner

What companies like Thales and GMV, among others, are finding out is that with India’s strong technology background, it makes for an ideal partner. “Whereas European companies can bring the experience and GNSS know-how, India can meet them halfway with the technology that is needed to power these applications,” says Krish.

To facilitate this partnership, Krish and the GNSS.asia India team bring delegates from EU companies to New Delhi for organisational meetings. As one of the main challenges facing EU companies looking to get a foothold in India is the complexity of working with the Indian government, GNSS.asia – India helps guide them through the necessary steps.

“Thanks to the relationships we have with many government agencies, GNSS.asia was recently able to help several large European companies fix meetings with the national Railway Board,” says Krish. As a result of this work, they have since successfully landed contracts and projects.”

But it’s not only large multinationals that are benefiting – any European company can take advantage of GNSS.asia’s services in India. “Big or small, every EU GNSS company should consider investing in India as there are many opportunities for GNSS, both in infrastructure under the Digital India campaign and in manufacturing under the Make it in India initiative,” says Krish.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).