The GSA’s recently released GNSS User Technology Report aims not only to foresee how location will be used in the years to come, but also how it will influence the design of positioning systems. Download your copy today!
Imagine in the not-so-distant future setting your morning alarm based on real-time
traffic estimates and having your coffee brewed accordingly, ready and waiting for you as you head out the door.
Always apologising for forgetting to send Mom flowers on Mother’s Day? No worries, soon your phone will send you an automatic reminder and provide your autonomous car with directions to the nearest floral shop. No time to shop? Then just send a drone to deliver the flowers for you.
This isn’t science fiction. In the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data, trends in geo-positioning and information technology (IT) are simply inseparable. After all, IoT is built on the premise that it will know where the ‘things’ are. In fact, already today nearly half of all available mobile applications use location information – a significance that will likely only increase. However, according to the GNSS User Technology Report, this will only happen if the positioning systems of the future provide:
- Ubiquitous positioning: the ability to choose the optimal combination of sensors and networks to become environment-independent.
- Automation and ambient intelligence: sufficient reliability to enable such autonomous operations as driving, sailing, parking, landing, etc., by sensing the environment and adapting to it in real time.
- Security: not only in the sense of a solution’s reliability and safety, but also by responding to growing concerns about privacy.
“What this report shows is that no single positioning method or technology – or magic combination thereof – can serve as ‘the answer’,” says GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. “After all, the technology that’s right for pedestrian navigation probably isn’t the best fit for use with an unmanned vehicle.” Des Dorides explains that the reason for this is that all positioning requirements exist within a given context, including the physical and radio-electrical environment, user dynamics and power, size and weight constraints. “It is this context that determines what positioning technologies are required,” he says.
Your guide to the shaping the future
With this ‘future’ and understanding of what is required to reach it in mind, the GNSS User Technology Report aims not only to foresee how location will be used in the years to come, but also how it will influence the design of positioning systems. The need for ubiquitous positioning, automation and ambient intelligence and security are impacting all aspects of receiver design – from antenna frequency range to signal processing channels. Furthermore, the implementation of disruptive techniques, such as vector and cloud processing, is making it possible to achieve greater performances in keeping battery life at acceptable levels. On top of this, other positioning technologies and signals of opportunity are being used alongside GNSS to offer enhanced experiences. For example, sensor technology is advancing in parallel with GNSS technology, making the vision of smart dust – a widely deployed network of low power and low cost microsensors – closer to becoming a reality. GNSS antenna designers are expected to complement this solution with more robust, smaller and multi-purpose antennas.
Many of these innovations are already becoming accessible, as confirmed by the leading GNSS technology providers featured in the Report. But what all this really means – and as the Report makes abundantly clear – the GNSS user equipment landscape is a rapidly evolving one, with a market that is more diversified than ever and where new models are being introduced at an unprecedented rate. With this development being driven by the growing performance requirements of innovative applications and developments in the semiconductor industry, now is the time to take advantage of the enhanced capabilities offered by new and modernised GNSS systems and services. And the GSA’s GNSS User Technology Report is your guide to doing so.
The Report is free and can be downloaded here.
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