Case study:

The business of assisted GPS and how Nokia

is becoming the key player in this market

Prepared for:
Prof. Dr. Eng. M. Abdul Awal

Prepared by:
Md. Zaheedul Islam

051611045

ETE-451.1
Assisted GPS :

Assisted GPS is an improved version of conventional GPS and it has revolutionized mobile
navigation systems across the globe. The A-GPS system relies upon an assistance server to
accurately resolve the location of a device. A-GPS system is commonly used in mobile phones to
provide real time navigation services. The Global Positioning System works on the principle of
trilateration to determine the coordinates of a point on earth. In this principle a satellite is
considered to be at the center of a sphere and the mathematical treatment of three such
spheres/satellites gives the intersections of the spheres which are used to determine the
coordinates. By including one more sphere/satellite in the analysis the point can be located more
precisely. The distance between the point on earth and the satellite is computed by transmitting a
packet of data tagged with the sent time and by subtracting this from the time the packet was
received, we get the time of transit. Assuming the packet traveled at the speed of light, we can
estimate the distance of the satellite which serves as the radius of the sphere.

The standalone GPS system is susceptible to atmospheric conditions and multipath errors which
tend to prolong the time to first fix. This is not appropriate for real time navigation and
emergency applications. A-GPS offers a solution to this problem with an architecture that makes
use of data connectivity to an Assistance server located at a place with strong signal connectivity
with the satellites. There are two possibilities here. 

 The assistance server may transmit orbital parameters and atomic time information to the
mobile phone via the network. The GPS receiver in the mobile phone correlates this data
with the fragmentary data received directly from the satellites thereby increasing its
sensitivity and resulting in a quicker time to first fix.
  The mobile phone with limited processing capabilities can delegate the processing
function to the more sophisticated assistance server by sending the weak fragmentary
data to the processing server that has good satellite signal and receive the position
information from the server through the network.

A-GPS is a feasible option to provide navigational services in an urban environment with tall
buildings and high radio interference. On the flipside the service provider will charge the
subscriber for network data traffic using GPRS/3G. [1]

Assisted GPS
Although individually inadequate in providing a real-world commercial location solution,
network and GPS solutions actually complement one another rather than competing against each
other. For example, in rural and suburban areas, not many base stations can locate the handset,
but a GPS receiver can often see four or more satellites. Conversely, in dense areas and inside
buildings, GPS receivers do not detect enough satellites, but the wireless handset can detect two
or more base stations. 

A-GPS provides a user with the ability to obtain a location in places where standalone GPS may
not work. In these circumstances, the user’s position is calculated using information provided by
the network. The information can be in the form of time aiding (to narrow the search range of
GPS signals), approximate location information or GPS ephemeris data. In most A-GPS systems,
signals are collected at the receiver and sent to the network server where a location is calculated
using network provided aiding information. The aiding information from the network augments
the ambient GPS signals, resulting in better location fixes in environments such as urban canyons
and inside buildings. While this technique provides the superior coverage needed for applications
such as E-911, it has two disadvantages. First, network assistance is required to calculate a
position, making it useless in areas where no aiding information is available. This might include
areas with no cellular coverage or even areas without compatible aiding servers in roaming
environments. Second, the user’s location is calculated on the network, not at the receiver,
creating potential privacy issues for consumers. In addition, doing position calculations in
network servers makes A-GPS impractical for applications like continuous navigation, which
requires position updates once per second since data traffic would be excessive and loss of
network connectivity will cause consumer frustration. 

One possible approach proposed by GPS researchers is to have a multimode location technology
which would allow a GPS receiver to intelligently switch between different modes, ranging from
a standalone mode through various aided modes to determine a position based on the application
and signal strength environment. This approach would optimize the use of airtime and flexibility
depending on the situation. A typical multimodal platform is designed to work with any
underlying network protocols, including those where precise time is not available in the network.
A multimodal location technology typically offers the following:
(a) Enhanced sensitivity, standalone positioning mode, in which location is computed and
displayed locally on the handset. This method utilizes no assistance information from a
server or a network and no wireless network connectivity is required. As a result, it is
 ideal for applications that require continuous or frequent position data in the handset
where wireless network connectivity is not available or needed by the user (e.g. to protect
the privacy). 

(b) Network connected, high sensitivity autonomous positioning mode, whereby location
is computed on the handset and sent to a sever, which can provide location sensitive
content and services such as mapping information or location of closest gas station. This
is a flexible solution for many types of handheld devices where no aiding server is
available. 

(c) Mobile centric, network-aided positioning mode, in which location is computed at the
handset utilizing aiding information from the wireless network or other sources. This
mode improves time to first fix and receiver sensitivity and is a reliable solution for high-
priority location assistance applications. 

(d) Network-centric, aided positioning mode, in which location computation is calculated

completely by the server, based on information collected at the handset and the aiding
information received from the wireless network or other sources. This mode extends GPS
availability and is used in some E-911 implementations.
As carriers implement a range of location based services, location technology must move beyond
network resource-intensive applications such as A-GPS. The multimode location technology
which has been pioneered by SiRF (GPS chipset company based out of San Jose, N.America)
offers carriers the flexibility and scalability they need to offer a wide range of LBS with minimal
network impact. 
Handset Architecture
Figure 1 is a typical “handset view” of a network assisted GPS system. The conventional
tracking loops are replaced by snapshot memory and fast convolution processing.

Figure 1 Block Diagram of a typical DSP based GPS processing system

At the request of either an external application, or the handset user, the server sends information
on satellites in view at the handset’s approximate location, including Doppler predictions. After a
snapshot of GPS satellite RF data has been stored in the handset memory, the DSP processes the
data and returns the pseudorange measurements to the server, along with other statistical
information. This snapshot approach allows the handset to gather GPS data when it is not
transmitting, thus eliminating potential self-interference. Each of the messages between the
handset and the location server is small (50-100 bytes). This represents a significant reduction in
required communications bandwidth when compared to delivering differential corrections,
almanac, ephemeris and/or satellite trajectory data to the handset. Figure 1 Block Diagram of a
typical DSP based GPS processing system 

In the system described in Figure 1, received data is down-converted to a suitably low (~ 2MHz)
intermediate frequency, digitized and stored in a buffer memory. This data is then operated upon
using a programmable DSP IC. Unlike continuously tracking hardware correlator-based
receivers, this snapshot processing technique is not subject to the fluctuating levels and changing
nature of the signal environment. 

This server-aided GPS approach has been pioneered by Snaptrack (The company is now a part of
Qualcomm) and improved upon conventional GPS performance by sharing processing and
database functions between the mobile GPS receiver/processor (client) and a remote
infrastructure (the server and reference network). The result is a highly sensitive, cost-effective,
low-power, GPS receiving system that provides first fixes in a few seconds from a cold start,
even when conventional GPS is unworkable or unreliable. 

Summary
Both network and standalone GPS location technologies have inherent weaknesses, resulting in
reduced accuracy, decreased availability and higher implementation costs. Assisted GPS utilizes
the complimentary nature of both approaches to overcome situational weaknesses experienced
by either network or GPS approaches working alone. The benefits of Assisted GPS approach
include maximum availability, increased sensitivity, higher accuracy, lower complexity and a
rapid time-to-first-fix. Apart from United States, large-scale adoption of this approach is
beginning to happen in Japan where conventional GPS fails to perform in urban canyons like
Tokyo. Attempts are being made to ensure that this technology is supported on a multitude of
wireless networks deployed worldwide such as GSM, CDMA, TDMA, 3G etc. Successful
compliance of the E-911 mandate by the end of 2004 will give more tooth to these advancements
especially in United States. User experience and economics of incorporating this approach in a
client/server environment will eventually drive this technology. [2]

Google maps:
Google Maps (for a time named Google Local) is a basic web mapping service application and
technology provided by Google, free (for non-commercial use), that powers many map-based
services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps
embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API. It offers street maps, a route
planner for traveling by foot, car, or public transport and an urban business locator for numerous
countries around the world. According to one of its creators (Lars Rasmussen), Google Maps is
"a way of organizing the world's information geographically".

Google Maps uses the Mercator projection, so it cannot show areas around the poles. A related
product is Google Earth, a stand-alone program for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux,
SymbianOS, iPhone OS, and Google's own Android OS which offers more globe-viewing
features, including showing polar areas.

Google Maps for Mobile

In 2006, Google introduced a Java application called Google Maps for Mobile, intended to run
on any Java-based phone or mobile device. Many of the web-based site's features are provided in
the application.

On November 28, 2007, Google Maps for Mobile 2.0 was released. It introduced a GPS-like
location service that does not require a GPS receiver. The "my location" feature works by
utilizing the GPS location of the mobile device, if it is available. This information is
supplemented by the software determining the nearest wireless networks and cell sites. The
software then looks up the location of the cell site using a database of known wireless networks
and cell sites. The Cell-site location method is used by triangulating the different signal strengths
from different cell transmiters and then using their location property (retrieved from the online
cell site database) to aid My Location in determining the user's current location. Wireless
network location method is calculated by discovering the nearby WiFi hotspots and using their
location property (retrieved from the online WiFi database, in the same way as the cell site
database) to further discover the user's location. The order in which these take precedence is:

GPS-based services

WLAN-based / WiFi-based services

Cell transmitter-based services

The software plots the streets in blue that are available with a yellow icon and a green circle
around the estimated range of the cell site based on the transmitter's rated power (among other
variables). The estimate is refined using the strength of the cell phone signal to estimate how
close to the cell site the mobile device is.

As of December 15, 2008, this service is available for the following platforms:

Android

iPhone OS (iPhone/iPod Touch)

Windows Mobile

Nokia/Symbian (S60 3rd edition only)

Symbian OS (UIQ v3)

BlackBerry

Phones with Java-Platform (MIDP 2.0 and up), for example the Sony Ericsson K800i

Palm OS (Centro and newer)

Palm webOS (Palm Pre and Palm Pixi)

On November 4, 2009, Google Maps Navigation was released in conjunction with Google
Android OS 2.0 Eclair on the Motorola Droid, adding voice commands, traffic reports, and street
view support. The initial release is limited to the United States.

Comparable services

Bing Maps – Microsoft's mapping service with road maps and aerial/satellite imagery

TerraServer-USA – public domain (older than five years) satellite imagery via Microsoft servers

Bing Maps for Enterprise - formerly Microsoft Virtual Earth

deCarta - Drill Down Server - web services platform offers AJAX, Flash, iPhone APIs for
mapping, geocoding, routing and reverse geocoding services.

Géoportail – a French rival offering detailed aerial photographs of French territories

MapQuest

Multimap.com

OpenStreetMap – a royalty free, editable map of the world

Ovi Maps – a service offered by Nokia that allows synchronizing with user's mobile phones

Pictometry – a birdseye imagery provider which can be integrated into all mapping programs

Seat Pagine Gialle – an Italian competitor offering detailed satellite pictures of Italian territories
and navigable street level panoramas of Rome (similar to Street View)

Terralink International

ViaMichelin

Yahoo! Maps[3]

Ovi maps:

Ovi Maps (Ovi meaning "a door" in Finnish) is a free mapping product and service by Nokia for
its mobile phones and smartphone multimedia devices. Ovi Maps includes voice guided
navigation for both pedestrians and drivers for 74 countries in 46 different languages and there
are maps for over 180 countries giving you the largest global coverage.

Inception
The Nokia Maps product Smart2Go, later renamed Nokia Maps and now Ovi Maps, initially
came into existence after Nokia made the smart2go application free to download when it
acquired the German route planning software company Gate5 in August 2006.Nokia Maps was
expanded later, when Nokia acquired Chicago, Illinois based, digital map supplier NAVTEQ
Corp. to build further on their smart2go mapping application.Maps is part of the Ovi brand of
Nokia's Internet based online services. Ovi Maps provides offline maps which have the
advantage of not requiring an active data connection or even network coverage on the handset.

On January 22 2010, Nokia released a new version of Ovi Maps (v3.03) that allowed free turn-
by-turn navigation for the following cellphones (as of January 31, 2010): Nokia X6, Nokia N97
mini, E52, E55, E72, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic,
Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia 5230. Nokia will add more smartphones to the
compatible devices list.but it is unclear if phones prior to S60v3 FP2 phones without internal
GPS will ever be included. Nokia Ovi Maps have currently 27 million users, which is expected
to double. Nokia has over 84 million GPS-enabled devices in the market[citation needed]. Nokia
has established one of the largest audiences for mobile location-based services. By the end of
2011 the market is expected to be getting toward 200 million.

Features:

The latest version of Ovi Maps includes:

 Driving and walking turn-by-turn directions in 74 countries

 Real-time traffic information in 10 countries
 Maps for 180 total countries around the globe
 Support for 46 different languages
 Text-to-speech notifications
 6,000 3D points of interest
 Third-party content such as ViaMichelin and Lonely Planet
 Location-aware social networking
 Maps can be preloaded
 Weather service[4]

Why and how Nokia made it possible?

This move has the potential to nearly double the size of the current mobile navigation
market.The new version of Ovi Maps includes high-end car and pedestrian navigation features,
such as turn-by-turn voice guidance for 74 countries, in 46 languages, and traffic information for
more than 10 countries, as well as detailed maps for more than 180 countries.

"Why have multiple devices that work that work in only one country or region? Put it all
together, make it free, make it global and you almost double the potential size of the mobile
navigation market ," explained Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Nokia. "Nokia is the
only company with a mobile navigation service for both drivers and pedestrians that works
across the world. Unlike the legacy car navigation manufacturers, we don't make you buy maps
for different countries or regions even if you're only visiting for a few days. We offer both
navigation and maps free of charge, with all the high-end functionality and features that people
now expect."

"The large-scale availability of free-of-charge mobile phone navigation offerings using high-
quality map data will be a game changer for the navigation industry," said Thilo Koslowski, Vice
President Automotive and Vehicle ICT at Gartner. "Such offerings will accelerate mass market
adoption for navigation solutions and shift innovation focus to location-based services that go
beyond traditional routing benefits.

For Nokia, removing the costs associated with navigation for drivers and pedestrians allows the
company to quickly activate a massive user base to which it can offer new location features,
content and services. This is part of Nokia's strategy to lead the market in mobile maps,
navigation and location-based services. The move is also in line with Nokia's vision that the next
wave of growth will be centered onthe location-aware, social internet -- as the 'where' people are
doing things becomes as important as the 'what' they are doing.

According to research firm Canalys, the number of people worldwide using GPS navigation on
their mobile phones was approximately 27 million at the end of 2009. With this announcement
Nokia potentially grows the size of this installed user base to about 50 million by enabling
smartphone owners, with compatible devices and devices that will be made compatible shortly to
activate free drive and walk navigationthrough a simple download of the new Ovi Maps. Nokia
will further grow this base as it quickly adds more smartphones to the compatible devices list.
Canalys also estimated in 2009 that the installed base of smartphones with integrated GPS was
163 million units worldwide, of which Nokia accounted for more than half (51%) having shipped
cumulatively 83 million GPS devices.

"This is a game changing move. By leveraging our NAVTEQ acquisition, and our context
sensitive service offering, we can now put a complete navigation system in the palm of your
hand, wherever in the world you are, whenever you need it - and at no extra cost," continued
Anssi Vanjoki. "By adding cameras at no extra cost to our phones we quickly became the biggest
o
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w
h
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camera manufacturer in the world. The aim of the new Ovi Maps is to enable us to do the same
for navigation."[5]

Money flow diagram of AGPS(in the context of BD:

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