“Polaris Wireless’s approach to wireless E911 and location-based technology is refreshingly straightforward. The Polaris system provides accuracy, regulatory compliance, proven performance and rapid deployment-all at reduced expense to wireless carriers. The company’s laser-like focus on providing a simple and reliable E911 solution will surely benefit network operators, subscribers, public safety agencies and the public at large. In addition, the Polaris solution provides a simple solution to those carriers already deploying another E911 technology who want to take advantage of location-based service revenue without delaying or derailing their E911 implementation strategy.”

Andy Seybold, Senior Partner, Outlook 4Mobility

March 24, 2004

Wireless Week Official CTIA Show Daily

LBS Outfits Zero In On Technology

by Karen Brown

With enhanced 911 requirements looming and interest in location-based services rising, multiple players are trying to hone in on carrier contracts at the CTIA show.

Systems using GPS may dominate, but there also is no shortage of companies offering systems that use the carriers' cellular identification data to fix a subscriber’s position relative to nearby base stations. These systems boast the advantage that they don’t require costly GPS hardware upgrades to millions of consumer handsets. However, they face challenges with accuracy in less dense networks.

One such player is Cambridge Positioning Systems, which announced a deal with a one-time competitor as well as entry into a major Chinese market.

HIDDEN IN THE MATRIX Cambridge claims its primarily GSM-based Matrix technology, consisting of software and a central server, can produce more accurate, faster responding and less expensive location systems than leading GSM-based product offerings. Based on trials of the technology, Matrix can locate users well within 100 meters of their actual position and costs about $1 per user.

“We have designed from the start a location technology for mobile systems,” said CEO Chris Wade. “All of the satellite guys are taking technology that was basically designed for missiles and trying to make it work—and the result is a bit kludgy.”

Cambridge came to the show with a significant partnership forged with Andrew Corp. to develop high-accuracy location products for the GSM and 3G markets.

“Traditionally, they have been a significant competitor of ours and now, they are seeing the light and will begin licensing our technology,” Wade explained.

At the same time, Cambridge announced two deals that will give it a foothold in Chinese markets. One is with network systems provider ZTE Corp. to begin testing location-enabled handsets in Beijing in preparation for a major market launch there.

It also inked a deal with Beijing-based Wisemax. a mobile services developer, to jointly target the Chinese wireless market.

REMOVING TRIANGULATION Another company offering a cellular location-based technology requiring no hardware upgrade is Polaris Wireless. The Santa Clara-based company won its first U.S. deployment with Triton PCS earlier this year, and on Monday, it announced it pulled down a second contract with Rural Cellular Corp.

Unlike the Cambridge system, Polaris does not rely on base station triangulation to get a fix on users. Instead, it begins by creating a computer-modeled virtual map of a coverage area, modeling the predicted signal strength from handsets at any given point on the grid. From there it creates a database, which resides on a server in the local network. When seeking a user’s position, it matches the signal information from the handset with the database model.

The technology consists of the predicted signature database toolkit to build the database and the PSD manager, and a server that manages the changes in the network, so that the map information remains accurate as the network topology changes.

While time is needed on the front end to model the local network, in the long run, the Polaris system can be set up faster and more cheaply than GPS or competing systems because it doesn’t add as much complexity to the network, nor does it require any change to user handsets, according to President and CEO Minlio Aflegra. For a city the size of San Francisco, it could take a week, while a site such as California could be mapped in a month.

“This will lead to much faster deployment—for a nationwide network like Cingular or T-Mobile, it could be less than a year,” Allegra said.

Allegra said the Polaris system’s accuracy meets the FCC E911 Phase 11 standard, which requires that network-based locator systems be accurate within 100 meters in 67 percent of cases, and within 300 meters 95 percent of the time.

“Because we use the location information in the network, we can locate 100 percent of the handsets,” he added.

The technology is now available for TDMA networks, and next month, a CDMA version will begin shipping. Plans are to ship the CDMA system by the end of the year, followed by a CDMA 2000 version in 2005.

While Polaris is deploying as a stand-alone system, carriers that have bought into assisted CPS systems can use it as an overlay to improve location accuracy, Allegra said.

“We treat assisted GPS information as another input into our location engine,” he noted. “We are very excited about that. Going forward, assisted GPS is rolling out in CDMA, and we think it will eventually come to GSM.”

Both companies are also combating the common perception that cellular-ID location technologies can’t pinpoint users as accurately as GSM-based competitors.

Wade argued that isn’t the case in most circumstances. The Matrix technology is able to see as many as 10 base stations simultaneously, and “there never really is a shortage of base stations to find,” he said. “In most networks, we are always able to find at least three.”

It is more difficult to lock positions in rural areas where base stations are more widely spaced, and at present, Polaris still isn’t as accurate as some competing GPS technologies, Allegra acknowledged. But he quickly pointed out that GPS systems also have problems locating positions in buildings.

In rural networks “we are not quite like assisted GPS, I have to admit. But e are moving in that direction,” Allegra said. “When we crack that, we will make a big announcement because that will be significant.”

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