SnapTrack, Inc., developer of Wireless Assisted GPS(TM) (WAG) location systems and a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), today announced the commercial availability of its SnapCore(TM) multi-mode GPS wireless location product, adding a new dynamic capability to its family of advanced WAG location solutions. SnapCore, a baseband GPS solution, offers three different modes of operation, combining SnapTrack's proven high-performance WAG architecture with stand-alone GPS functionality. SnapCore is designed to outperform all conventional GPS solutions on the market, providing accurate location information for wireless products used both inside and outside of wireless network coverage, and supporting a range of location service infrastructure implementations. The SnapCore multi-mode GPS navigation solution enables on-demand location services, such as emergency location safety features and mobile yellow pages, in almost any network configuration and in nearly any signal environment, ranging from wide open spaces to dense urban canyons -- even inside buildings.
"The SnapCore multi-mode GPS solution demonstrates SnapTrack's commitment to lead the industry in the development of high-availability, all terrain, cost-effective wireless location technologies," said Steve Poizner, president of SnapTrack. "With the SnapCore solution, our partners and licensees have the flexibility to use the same technology across multiple products and multiple air interfaces, tailored to operate in the mode most suitable for their particular application. This flexibility, coupled with the outstanding performance in each mode, means this solution can be used for current products such as phones and PDAs as well as for a wide variety of emerging product applications such as child safety tags, health and personal security devices, computer games, asset tracking devices and a host of others."
The patented SnapCore solution is available today, having been field tested and packaged for technology licensing. SnapCore enables the tight integration of WAG into any wireless communication device by embedding logic gates into components that already exist in the device or by implementing the gates on a small integrated circuit placed alongside existing components. To ensure quick and reliable system level integration, SnapCore is fully supported by SnapTrack's SnapSmart(TM) location server software.
By leveraging SnapTrack's proven algorithms for multipath mitigation, sensitivity enhancement, and fast response time, and combining this with new GPS processing techniques and a massively parallel GPS signal processing engine, SnapCore provides unmatched GPS acquisition speed and sensitivity while minimizing cost, space and power. These features provide optimum performance in all three modes of operation:
-- SmartServer mode -- a server-based mode, in which the position
calculations are performed in the
location server with GPS
measurements provided by the SnapCore
product embedded in the
mobile terminal. In this mode,
SnapCore simultaneously
provides 5-to-10 meter outdoor
accuracy, 3-to-5 second cold
start times, and 20dB sensitivity
enhancement beyond most
conventional GPS systems, with the
distribution of the
location information managed by the
wireless network. This
mode can be readily combined with
other location techniques
(i.e., network ranging information,
altitude aiding
information, etc.) to provide a
better overall location system
than GPS alone.
-- ThinServer mode -- a mobile terminal-based mode, in
which the
position calculations are performed
in the mobile terminal
with some assistance from a location
server. In this mode,
SnapCore simultaneously provides
10-to-15 meter accuracy,
3-to-5 second cold start times, and
20dB sensitivity
improvement beyond many conventional
GPS systems, with the
distribution of the location
information managed by the
handset.
-- Autonomous GPS mode -- a mobile terminal-based mode
requiring
no location server or network
support, with the distribution
of the location information managed
by the handset. In this
mode, the SnapCore GPS processing
engine simultaneously
provides, without any wireless
assistance, a 10-to-20dB
sensitivity advantage and a much
faster time-to-first-fix as
compared to many other conventional
GPS solutions. This mode
allows the user to benefit from
location information even when
not connected to a wireless network
or when connected to a
network that does not support a WAG
implementation.
The SnapCore architecture includes many features that allow for easy integration
into a variety of wireless device frequency plans and architectural
configurations. Key features include:
-- Patented, massively parallel processing architecture that provide the most sensitive GPS architecture available today
-- Advanced processing techniques that provide industry-leading cold start times in all modes
-- Link-aware(TM) operation that utilizes time and frequency information from the wireless network to further enhance performance and GPS processing speed
-- Three operational modes that provide location information in any wireless infrastructure implementation
-- Fault detection and isolation that improve accuracy and eliminate bad position information
-- Specially designed architecture that optimizes reliability and yield in fluctuating signal environments
-- Software-based timing algorithms that enable air-interface independence and WAG operation in unsynchronized networks
SnapTrack's Personal GPS(TM) wireless location technology fuses the intelligence and power of networks in the mobile environment with the accuracy and coverage of the Global Positioning System. Based on SnapTrack's thin-client Wireless Assisted GPS system, SnapTrack's solutions improve upon conventional GPS by combining information from GPS satellites and wireless networks to accurately and reliably pinpoint a wireless phone. While traditional GPS receivers may take several minutes to provide a location fix, SnapTrack's system generally locates callers within a few seconds. Callers are typically located to within 3-20 meters in a wide range of challenging call environments where normal GPS will not work, including inside houses and moving vehicles, under heavy foliage, and in downtown urban street canyons. SnapTrack's unique Location on Demand(TM) feature also ensures a caller's privacy, putting location information in the hands of the user, not the network.
SnapTrack's technology products permit the design of cellular phones, pagers, PDAs, and other wireless devices that operate in multiple GPS navigation modes, allowing out-of-network location coverage and a variety of thin-client applications. SnapTrack's wireless location technology products require no additional cell sites or modifications to existing network equipment and are designed to have minimal impact on cost and handset form factor. Furthermore, SnapTrack's technology is air-interface neutral and is applicable in any two-way wireless system: cellular/PCS, satellite, or paging; 800/900 MHz or 1800/1900 MHz; GSM, CDMA, TDMA, PDC or 3G air interfaces.
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