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StickNTrack is using European GNSS powered Location Based Services to help pet owners quickly find a roaming pet.

“We designed StickNTrack to locate objects that are remote, outdoor and do not have their own power supply,” says Kristoff Van Rattinghe, Partner at Sensolus, a Belgium-based offline analytics company working on existing Internet of Things technologies.

Using GPS, Sensolus developed StickNTrack, a low-power tracking device that can be stuck on almost any asset. The device is compact and provides the hourly position of objects for up to three years. Using the cloud-based web platform that comes with the device, users can manage settings and track location, trajectory, utilization, and even temperature of non-powered assets.

Ready for Galileo

StickNTrack has a plan for utilizing Galileo as soon as possible, something that Rattinghe says he is excited about. “Galileo will help improve positioning in challenging environments such as urban canyons,” he says. “In positioning, you need to get your line of site with satellites as quickly as possible, so the more satellites the better for accuracy purposes.”

         Read this: Location Based Services Market Report

He says with four satellites Sensolus was able to develop a workable device, but with seven they will be able to improve and create an even more accurate and reliable product. “As Galileo adds more satellites to existing constellations, it reduces the time needed to determine an asset’s exact location,” he says.

The device can be used for businesses to track assets, such as vehicles, boats, and more. Rattinghe says companies can save money by knowing exactly where their materials are and how they’re being used. It can also be used in agriculture to track behavior of livestock over time.

An Extended Leash

One of the trackers most popular uses though is with personal assets. Pet owners can stick the device to their dogs’ collars, for example, and Rattinghe says it can even be used to keep track of children or elderly people. He says the cloud-based application is what makes it so easy to use across different assets.

        Watch this: Location Based Services Videos

“A lot of devices existing today are on a smartphone, but I don’t see dogs traveling with smartphones, so we actually build the application into the collar where it can track the position and send it automatically to the Internet.”  The device can then be located by satellite and users can check the status on their phone, computer, or have results emailed to them. “You have direct access to the positioning,” Rattinghe says.

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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).

Members of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) Market Development team sit down for a Q&A on the latest GNSS market trends and inside look at the GSA Market Report.

As part of a recent GPS World webinar, members of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) Market Development team sit down for a Q&A on the latest GNSS market trends and inside look at the GSA Market Report.

Who will be the winners in multi-GNSS use in consumer-grade devices? Will it be GPS alone, GPS/Galileo, or some other pair or set?

The benefits of multi-constellation are clear and have been recognized by consumer chipset manufacturers. Currently, more than 20% of all chipsets support four constellations. Due to the advantage of interoperability, GPS/Galileo could be the winner in the long-term. However, regulatory measures ensure that Glonass and Beidou have a large consumer base and market role as well.

What do you see as the most significant GNSS market trends for the next three years?

1. Integration of various technologies and constellations for better performance.
2. An increased role of smartphones in both the consumer and professional markets.
3. An increased role of the Asia-Pacific region in global GNSS demand and supply.

What will the Commercial Service (CS) look like and how will it be integrated into the already existing competitive market of GNSS Services for High/Very High Accuracy (HA) positioning?

CS-HA will be based on Precise Point Positioning (PPP), a technique that provides accurate positioning using detailed physical models and corrections, as well as precise orbit and clocks. It will deliver corrections in real-time across the globe through GALILEO E6. It will also offer triple frequency with a much faster convergence time for surveying applications with achievable accuracy in comparison to Real-Time Kinematic (RTK).

         Also read: GPS World Webinar Talks GSA’s Market Report

Users will benefit from the CS authentication service (CS-Auth), which utilises signal and data from actual satellites and not from any other source. This anti-spoofing technique provides a higher level of trust for users. 

CS High Accuracy and Authentication will both be provided to the private sector, and are currently being developed with industry players in mind. They will be launched in a transparent way under equal conditions for all interested market participants.

When, if ever, do you foresee low-cost, chip-scale multi-frequency GNSS receivers, and what effect will this have on the 'professional' Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) board business (e.g. Novatel etc…)?

We expect low-cost, multi-frequency chipset/receivers to appear on the market in the next few years. The driving market segment for this technology will be automotive and other machine-to-machine applications where the power consumption is less of an issue than that of consumer devices. 

This trend, driven by the need for accuracy and availability of position and timing with emerging connected and automated vehicle applications, will be accelerated by the availability of L5/E, GPS and Galileo’s second civil frequency.  Availability on both constellations will permit a virtual second frequency constellation in the very near future. This technology will also be available for professional applications where the OEM board business is currently positioned.

That being said, we expect the high precision/professional segment to continue to innovate and reach even higher performances, maintaining a market position that answers to more demanding professional users not completely covered by low-cost, multi-frequency GNSS receivers.

How will the Galileo initial services impact the development of the GNSS industry?

The industry is prepared. Almost 40% of all receiver models are Galileo enabled. Accuracy and availability will be improved, especially in urban canyons. Tests have shown that Galileo adds value in difficult environments, and this will increase with a higher number of satellites.

What are prognoses about the integration of the future GNSS receivers with Enhanced Loran (eLORAN)?

The “multisystem performance standards for shipborne receivers”, finalized last March by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), looks at the integration of the different available and future satellite navigation systems (e.g. BeiDou and Galileo), as well as terrestrial systems (e.g. e-Loran) and augmentation systems (e.g DGPS or SBAS) in the maritime market segment.

         Read the Report: GSA GNSS Market Report 2015

The inclusion of at least one terrestrial radio navigation system as a mandatory requirement may cause difficulty for manufacturers, as there is currently no terrestrial radio navigation system available worldwide. If it is not mandatory, then it depends on each receiver manufacturer to include eLoran as a back-up to GNSS based on a market strategy.

What is the impact of wearables on the GNSS market?

The wearable band market exploded in the first half of 2014, recording a 700% year-to-year increase. High end smart watches feature assisted, multi-constellation GNSS capabilities combined with 3G or better connectivity. North America and Europe are the leading regions in terms of shipments. Shipments of wearables, including GNSS fitness devices, smart watches and glasses, will further increase to 14 mln units by 2023.

How will Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drones, impact regular GNSS receiver business?

As stated in the report, the market for UAVs is not quantified in this edition, but other sources estimate it at about $7 bln, with forecasts predicting a steady increase of annual revenues over the next decade.

We have not observed any cannibalization with other GNSS devices. On the contrary, UAVs can support market growth, allowing new applications to emerge in different markets: surveying, mapping, scientific research, film and photography, agriculture, communication, etc.

Further development of UAV applications is conditioned by the need of new regulations and technical improvements.

What are the main challenges for the widespread adoption of the higher performance GNSS receivers in the Road market? Which region will see the adoption first?

Higher performance receivers in the road segment will be linked to safety critical applications, or those that possess the potential to directly or indirectly cause harm to humans, destruct the system, or damage the environment. Connected vehicles and autonomous driving are included in this group.

These applications represent a disruptive and revolutionary innovation, which needs to surpass a number of regulatory, economical, technological and social challenges. For instance:

• Software still requires further development and testing in real case scenarios
• Security is still an issue and requires further technology development
• Liability models must be defined to identify responsibility in accidents
• Public opinion still shows concern, especially in security and reliability
• Consumers show interest, but do not seem willing to spend a premium price for self-driving technology
• Governments need to define new regulations and liability policies

Based on these uncertainties, it is not easy to guess which region will be the first to adopt. U.S. looks to be the most straightforward scenario for the following reasons:

• More flexible than Europe in regards to policy and regulations related to road transportation
• World leader in automotive sales
• Automotive usage is more popular than in Europe/Asia

In the European context, the UK government is making an impressive investment in pilot projects for driverless cars.

More Information

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).

With more than 4 billion GNSS devices on the global market today, Location Based Services (LBS) devices make up the majority of that number – a number that is expected to grow in coming years. The European GNSS Agency (GSA) takes an inside look at the LBS market, the latest trends and the challenges ahead.

Smartphones, tablets, tracking devices, digital cameras, portable computers, fitness gear, and more all use GNSS positioning for navigation, mapping, and determining consumer preferences. More so, safety applications benefit from accurate emergency caller location tracking, and LBS also assists in enterprise by providing mobile workforce management and tracking solutions. In social applications, LBS provides friend locators, and GNSS helps entertain users through gaming and augmented reality.

No End in Sight

According the GSA’s latest GNSS Market Report, the LBS market continues to grow, with high-end devices now commonly making use of multi-constellation and hybrid positioning. There are currently 3.1 billion GNSS-enabled devices, a number that is expected to increase to 5.2 billion by 2017.

Smartphones represent the majority of these devices, with tablets coming in second, and other GNSS-enabled devices accounting for about 100 million devices in 2013. Growth of the smartphone market is attributed to versatility and a growing affordability, and to a robust second-hand market, which carries over more than 50 million devices per year from North America to developing countries.

In 2013, smartphone shipments saw a tenfold increase from 2007.  Tablets saw a 640-percent increase between 2010 and 2013, and the wearable band market also saw a large surge in the first half of 2014, increasing 700-percent from the year before. The market for smartphones is forecast to grow by 6.2-percent per year through 2023, with 2.5 billion units shipped each year by that time. By 2023, the installed base of GNSS devices will reach almost 9 billion units.

Apps for Everything

Behind the growth of the smartphone market is a mass development of successful apps. On average, users download more than 70 apps per device. Downloads of apps that rely on positioning data will reach 7.5 billion by 2019, an increase from 2.8 billion in 2014. Almost half of the current apps on the market today are context-aware applications leveraging on local information, with games and entertainment representing the largest category. The GPS treasure hunt game Geocaching was one of the first location-based games on the market, and today it is played by 6 million users. This is just one example of the many games that integrates positioning, augmented reality, maps, and real environments. 

    Read this: GSA’s LBS News Stream

Now, app developers are showing an interest in using location data as an enabler for enterprise, consumer and public safety services. For example, location data can support fraud management and secure authentication services, and can be used for advertising and analytic applications.

In addition, EGNOS improves GPS accuracy by reducing the negative impact of ionosphere on the calculated position, which could benefit consumer applications that make use of more accurate location information in remote areas where network-based methods are not as effective.
Galileo Set to Improve Availability 

Difficult environments like urban canyons or indoors can pose significant challenges in regards to location accuracy, due to multipath obstructed views of satellites. Because people often use LBS within these types of environments, it is important that accuracy be improved.

Galileo satellites will further improve signal availability, enhancing continuity of service for BLS in these environments. Galileo, through contributing to multi-constellation solutions, can help satisfy the need for higher accuracy in demanding applications such as personal tracking.

Europe Strong in Apps

The LBS segment is currently dominated by non-EU players, with Asian companies leading handset revenues and North American companies holding the majority of the chipset market. The Asia-Pacific region is the largest regional LBS market in terms of devices, with a total of 480 million shipments in 2013 compared to 285 million in North America and 195 million in Europe. This is attributed to fast-paced economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Also see: LBS Case Studies and Success Stories

European players are strong in applications development. The European “App Economy” generated EUR 17.5 billion in revenues and employed 1.8 million people in 2013. By 2018, it is expected to contribute EUR 63 billion to the EU economy and employ 4.8 million people.

Beyond national borders, EU policy measures on roaming tariffs are fostering the usage of smartphones and apps, and price reductions of more than 80-percent since 2007 resulted in a 630-percent increase in the roaming market.

Overall, it is a time of expansion and innovation for LBS, one that will be helped even further by the introduction of Galileo. 

More Information

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).