Rx Networks to help establish new European location service
Mobile location technology and services company Rx Networks has announced that it will, along with four European industry leaders, be developing a European-based location service.
The consortium of companies includes Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, STMicroelectronics (the largest European developer of semiconductors and microsystems), and Novero (a major actor in the European machine-to-machine market).
This action is funded in part by Horizon 2020, which is co-ordinated by the European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Agency.
The new offering will provide a full suite of GNSS assistance and location services with a particular emphasis on the innovative uses of EGNOS and Galileo signals, taking advantage of Galileo signal specificities.
The service will deliver real-time Assisted GNSS based on the SUPL 2.0 standard as well as Rx Networks’ XYBRID RT. The platform will also use XYBRID RT to offer Cell-ID/Wi-Fi positioning and chipset-independent extended ephemeris using Rx Networks’ GPStream PGPS. Multi-constellation support will include Galileo, GLONASS, and GPS with the ability to expand to other constellations as required.
With planned availability in late December 2015, the service will be one of the first commercially available Galileo assistance data services, with free developer access to foster new and innovative location applications. The service is expected to become a key enabler of European based machine-to-machine applications, including eCall and public safety initiatives such as E112.
“Managed and operated within Europe, this will not only showcase Galileo technology, but also fully equip the EU with location capabilities previously only available from foreign sources,” said Yves Capelle, head of the Space Systems and Applications Business Unit of Telespazio France. “By bringing together five companies with deep mobile positioning expertise, it will also be one of the most modern and comprehensive location enablement platforms, designed to address location-based services from social media to industrial and emergency services.”
