Qualcomm enables Skyhook’s WPS on gpsOne platform
Skyhook's WPS solution will deliver Wi-Fi positioning for gpsOne and enable hybrid location positioning capabilities on select future platforms.
Skyhook's WPS is a software-only system that produces accurate location information by detecting Wi-Fi access points and comparing them against a known database of geo-located points. By combining Qualcomm's gpsOne solution – the most widely deployed A-GPS solution available – with Skyhook's location technologies, Qualcomm will enable future mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators, third-party service providers and application developers to utilise a single, integrated hybrid positioning solution.
"With more than 400 million gpsOne-enabled handsets in the market, Qualcomm's technology enables the vast majority of location-aware mobile devices on the market today," said Jason Bremner, senior director of cellular products for Qualcomm."Combining Skyhook's technology with our gpsOne offering will enable users to obtain location fixes much more rapidly and provide for a more ubiquitous LBS experience whether indoors, outside or in complex environments such as urban areas."
Multi-mode GPS and Wi-Fi are being increasingly deployed in mobile devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PDA's and fleet management systems. They provide enhanced positioning availability and accuracy for the growing number of location-based applications and services.
Qualcomm intends to distribute WPS as a component of its gpsOne platform in order to enable true, multi-source hybrid location positioning – combining WPS, GPS, assisted-GPS, and cellular positioning methods on mobile handsets, laptops and other devices. The addition of Skyhook's WPS technology to Qualcomm's gpsOne solution will offer more benefits to users of wireless navigation than any other singular positioning solution can offer today.
Qualcomm and Skyhook can and will be able to support current in-production devices through an upgrade (Qualcomm is already working on this with a Tier 1 manufacturer) and as a standard component of future
chipsets. Current users will be able to upgrade via a firmware upgrade.
