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Blog: Chris Harlow on ITSearch The Harlow Report Archives
The military relies heavily on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), but GPS access is easily blocked by methods such as jamming. In addition, many environments in which our military operates (inside buildings, in urban canyons, under dense foliage, underwater, and underground) have limited or no GPS access. To solve this challenge, Adaptable Navigation Systems (ANS) seeks to provide GPS-quality PNT to military users regardless of the operational environment.
The military relies heavily on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), but GPS access is easily blocked by methods such as jamming. In addition, many environments in which our military operates (inside buildings, in urban canyons, under dense foliage, underwater, and underground) have limited or no GPS access. To solve this challenge, Adaptable Navigation Systems (ANS) seeks to provide GPS-quality PNT to military users regardless of the operational environment.
ANS addresses three basic challenges through its Precision Inertial Navigation Systems (PINS) and All Source Positioning and Navigation (ASPN) efforts: 1) better inertial measurement units (IMUs) that require fewer external position fixes; 2) alternate sources to GPS for those external position fixes; and 3) new algorithms and architectures for rapidly reconfiguring a navigation system with new and non-traditional sensors for a particular mission.
Complementing DARPA’s Micro-PNT program, which is developing chip-scale inertial sensors that are navigation grade or better, PINS is developing an IMU that uses cold atom interferometry for high-precision navigation without dependence on external fixes for long periods of time. Atom interferometry involves measuring the relative acceleration and rotation of a cloud of atoms within a sensor case, with potentially far greater accuracy than today’s state-of-the-art IMUs.
However, because even long-duration IMUs require an eventual position fix, the ASPN effort is developing sensors that use signals of opportunity, which are non-navigation signals from sources like television, radio and cell towers, and satellites, as well as natural phenomena, such as lightning.
Integrating and tuning different sensors, maps and other components into a navigation system is expensive and slow, resulting in platform and mission-specific solutions. To address this integration challenge, the ASPN effort is also developing new fusion algorithms and plug-and-play processing architectures for rapid integration and near-real-time reconfiguration or upgrading of sensors, IMU devices, maps and databases on a navigation system. By allowing flexible combinations of existing and new navigation sensors, ASPN seeks improvements in accuracy, robustness and cost of navigation systems across a wide range of platforms, environments and missions.
Both PINS and ASPN are currently in Phase 2 of development, and are working toward subsystem field demonstrations on a variety of platforms in FY14, followed by an end-to-end system demonstration of GPS-independent PNT planned for FY15.
first published week of: 03/30/2015
DeLorme ... announced the availability of new enterprise plans and services that will make it easier for business and government customers to track, monitor and communicate with workers in remote locations using inReach personal satellite communicators
DeLorme’s inReach handheld devices provide interactive SOS alerting, GPS tracking and locating and two-way text messaging, anywhere on the face of the Earth through the global Iridium satellite network. When coupled with DeLorme’s enterprise portal, inReach satellite communicators provide an ideal solution for oil and gas, mining, forestry, utilities and telecommunications companies, as well as disaster relief, law enforcement, medical teams and government agencies with operations over wide areas beyond cellular coverage.
"Safety and security of workers in the field is an increasing concern," said Jim Skillings, vice president of commercial products for DeLorme. "Despite the growth in terrestrial wireless networks, there are still many open spaces that are off the grid. Our inReach satellite communicators provide a vital lifeline for workers wherever they go, and our enterprise plans provide a wealth of value-added features for companies and organizations with inReach users around the world."
Networking, Team Tracking and Two-Way Messaging Features
The DeLorme secure enterprise portal provides convenient centralized management and networking of deployed inReach devices. A DeLorme enterprise customer can track hundreds of inReach users simultaneously from multiple locations, organize groups of users, initiate or switch off remote tracking for any unit, adjust response intervals, ping device locations, communicate via two-way text messaging with inReach individuals or groups and record tracks, locations and messages. System admin can manage groups, customize user IDs and monitor data usage for each group or device. Encrypted messaging is also possible as an option. The inReach team-tracking feature allows users to view the locations and communicate directly with other users.
DeLorme also provides a convenient Web-based API tool for enterprise software developers, enabling each organization to customize the system for its specific needs.
inReach differs from other emergency satellite transmitters, in that it provides full two-way communication. When an SOS call is initiated from the inReach, the message goes through the Iridium satellites to an international search-and-rescue (SAR) coordination center. Within minutes the user gets a text message acknowledging the SOS message and asking for more information. This allows the SAR authorities to determine if it is an accidental false alert and to assess the nature of the emergency so they can respond with appropriate resources. Throughout the rescue process, the user and SAR responders can engage in continuous text messaging back and forth.
first published week of: 02/09/2015
DeLorme announced the availability of new enterprise plans and services that will make it easier for business and government customers to track, monitor and communicate with workers in remote locations using inReach personal satellite communicators.
“Safety and security of workers in the field is an increasing concern”Jim Skillings, vice president of commercial products for DeLorme
DeLorme’s inReach handheld devices provide interactive SOS alerting, GPS tracking and locating and two-way text messaging, anywhere on the face of the Earth through the global Iridium satellite network. When coupled with DeLorme’s enterprise portal, inReach satellite communicators provide an ideal solution for oil and gas, mining, forestry, utilities and telecommunications companies, as well as disaster relief, law enforcement, medical teams and government agencies with operations over wide areas beyond cellular coverage.
"Safety and security of workers in the field is an increasing concern," said Jim Skillings, vice president of commercial products for DeLorme. "Despite the growth in terrestrial wireless networks, there are still many open spaces that are off the grid. Our inReach satellite communicators provide a vital lifeline for workers wherever they go, and our enterprise plans provide a wealth of value-added features for companies and organizations with inReach users around the world."
first published week of: 02/16/2015
Geolocation Leader Converts GPS-Obtained Latitude/Longitude Coordinates from Mobile Devices to Useful, Relevant Information for Marketers
To get the most out of geotargeted campaigns, marketers need relevant, real-time location-based data to help create a smoother customer journey. With that in mind, Digital Element has introduced GeoMprint, a new reverse geocoding solution targeted at mobile device traffic.
“On their own, GPS coordinates mean little to companies, but the wealth of geolocation information that can be gleaned from that data is very beneficial for marketing and other business purposes.”Rob Friedman, executive vice president, Digital Element
Offered as a web service, GeoMprint takes GPS-obtained latitude/longitude coordinates and converts that data into more useful geographic information such as ZIP/postcodes, cities, regions, etc. for businesses. This allows mobile users to automatically receive more localized content, messages, advertising and promotions. Unlike other solutions, GeoMprint does not involve any contingencies that require a map to be used in tandem with the geolocation data output. GeoMprint also does not restrict the number of queries.
“The profusion of mobile devices continues to allow us to creatively engage with consumers in unique ways,” said Rob Friedman, executive vice president, Digital Element. “Users accessing mobile websites are more likely seeking information or wanting to take action immediately, so companies are constantly challenged to create a more relevant, point-in-time experience. On their own, GPS coordinates mean little to companies, but the wealth of geolocation information that can be gleaned from that data is very beneficial for marketing and other business purposes.”
Without reverse geocoding, when mobile users opt in to location-based services (in app) or share their locations (mobile web), the latitude/longitude coordinates are the only pieces of information returned which essentially amount to numbers and decimals. With GeoMprint, those coordinates are automatically converted into more expanded, understandable, and useful geolocation data that can be applied to targeted advertising, content localization, geographic rights management, fraud prevention, and more.
“Digital Element developed GeoMprint with today’s businesses in mind and is leveraging its more than 15 years of leadership in the geolocation space to bring to market yet another cost-effective, accurate and reliable solution that addresses evolving needs in the mobile space,” said Friedman. “We listened to clients who were asking for consistency in geographic responses when targeting users across devices. Combining our new GeoMprint offering with our flagship NetAcuity solutions lets us deliver multi-pronged location strategies that enable brands to reach more connected consumers in relevant ways.”
first published week of: 08/24/2015
DigitalGlobe a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions, today reported that, as a result of its annual satellite life review, it will extend the useful lives of two of its satellites: WorldView-1 and WorldView-2. The company has also assigned an initial useful life to its newest satellite, WorldView-3 that is slightly longer than the original use lives assigned to WorldView-1 and WorldView-2.
The extended use lives will drive improved capital efficiency, lower capital expenditures, and better cash flows for DigitalGlobe. WorldView-1 will be extended by 2.5 years to 13 years, a 24% lifespan improvement, and WorldView-2 will be extended two years to 13 years, an 18% lifespan improvement.
“We have now completed an extended period of investment in building out the world’s leading earth observation capability,” said Jeffrey R. Tarr, CEO of DigitalGlobe. “Extending the useful lives of our satellites will further reduce the capital required to sustain this unmatched capability over the long term. We expect this to result in a less capital intensive business model, improved free cash flow and returns, and improving shareholder value.”
first published week of: 01/05/2015
DigitalGlobe, Inc. a provider of commercial high-resolution earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions, today announced a new product focused on the growing community of location-aware application developers. DigitalGlobe Maps API is a simple, cost-effective, subscription service for embedding satellite imagery, maps and other geospatial content into mobile and web apps.
Geospatial information is now a key feature of many consumer apps and powers a wide range of business intelligence tools. DigitalGlobe satellite imagery is already an essential part of the most popular online mapping services – now DigitalGlobe has an offering to serve the thriving community of consumer and business developers who have not leveraged DigitalGlobe content in the past. DigitalGlobe Maps API enables developers to enhance their applications with accurate, current, high-resolution satellite imagery and detailed map layers. Full information, documentation, and sample code is available on our developer portal at developer.digitalglobe.com.
“The launch of DigitalGlobe Maps API and our new developer portal is the culmination of a series of strategic investments and partnerships that focus on allowing our customers to build our imagery, maps, and analytics into their applications and customer solutions,” said Jeffrey R. Tarr, DigitalGlobe CEO. “By streamlining access to our industry-leading content and enabling subscription services like Maps API, we are positioned to unlock a large and vibrant new customer base and expand our Location Based Services business.”
To power the Maps API, DigitalGlobe partnered with Mapbox, which provides an SLA-backed, scalable and reliable platform for distributing DigitalGlobe’s world-class imagery and is already a trusted brand for developers seeking to integrate map content into their applications.
DigitalGlobe Maps API delivers the best commercially available satellite imagery as well as street, elevation, and terrain maps into web or mobile applications. In particular, Maps API offers DigitalGlobe’s premium +Vivid Basemap, the most beautiful and consistent visualization of our planet, as well as regularly refreshed images of the most dynamic places on earth. DigitalGlobe curates all this content in the cloud from where it is delivered directly to end-users, allowing developers to avoid dealing with hosting and focus on building great apps.
DigitalGlobe Maps API displays satellite imagery that is more current and more visually consistent than other map APIs. As owners of the imagery content, DigitalGlobe is uniquely positioned to offer licensing terms that allow developers the flexibility to build applications that derive information from imagery or download it for offline use.
More information about DigitalGlobe Maps API, as well as all our other developer tools, is available on our new developer portal, developer.digitalglobe.com/. continued…
first published week of: 08/17/2015