"Just as buildings make a unique visual impression, they also impart a unique radio shadow loss at each mobile location to signals from surrounding base stations. The Wireless Location Signatures method makes use of the unique shadowing properties of buildings to determine where a mobile is. Other methods, such as GPS and TDOA, were created for line-of-sight propagation conditions and are degraded or defeated by shadowing. The Polaris Wireless Location Signatures System makes use of what is a unique feature of cities, rather than trying to force a line-of-sight solution into the shadows."

Professor Henry L. Bertoni, Polytechnic University

Key Dates

  • Founded – 1999
  • Series A funding – 2001
  • System testing 2001-2003
  • First Commercial Deployment – 2003
  • Series B funding – 2004

Headquarters

  • Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Offices in Seattle, WA, USA

Products

The Polaris Wireless Location Signatures products are based on the following components:

  • The WLS Location Engine
  • The Predicted Signature (PSD) Database Manager
  • The Predicted Signature Database (PSD) Toolkit

Patents

  • Seven granted for location algorithms
  • 17filed and pending approval

Target Market

  • Wireless carriers in North America, Europe and Asia

Investors

  • Draper Fisher Jurvetson
  • Draper Richards
  • Centre Palisades Ventures

Board of Directors

  • Manlio Allegra, Chairman, President and CEO
  • Jan Neels, former President AirTouch International
  • Josh Stein, Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
  • Michael Banks, General Partner, Centre Palisades Ventures