Indoor Location

Qualcomm has built an end-to-end platform called IZat, which delivers ubiquitous, always-on location through precise mobile- and network-based indoor positioning. It leverages Qualcomm’s broad technology portfolio, consisting of global navigation satellite system (GNSS), Wi-Fi, sensor and cloud-based assistance solutions, and includes the most widely deployed location core, already found in more than one billion devices and hundreds of mobile networks worldwide. Indoor location is the next step in revolutionizing and monetizing the mobile experience, and Qualcomm is leading the way.

Key Messages

• To achieve high quality indoor location results, Qualcomm chipsets have been designed to take advantage of the many sensors built into a mobile device, as well as the WiFi signals at a given location.
• Use cases for precise indoor location include local services discovery, proximal “push” advertising and content, finding people and items of interest, and even consumer analytics.
• Qualcomm Atheros’ location technologies have shipped in more than one billion devices operating in mobile networks worldwide.
• The IZat location platform includes infrastructure technologies that enable Wi-Fi networking customers to deliver location-aware networks. Qualcomm Atheros’ latest 802.11ac and 802.11n access point solutions feature advanced Wi-Fi-based positioning calculations to pinpoint locations with greater accuracy. These APs, coupled with interaction from a server component either provided by the AP vendor or accessed from the cloud or a venue’s server, provide the complete system for enablement of indoor location.
• Qualcomm Atheros is working closely with Cisco to optimize the indoor positioning capabilities of its Mobility Services Engine, to enhance service discovery and location-based apps in venues such as shopping malls, hotels, airports, college campuses and entertainment destinations.
• Indoor positioning systems require multiple network and mobile technologies, maps, applications and middleware working together. Qualcomm Atheros is collaborating with industry leaders to streamline the way location data is shared across elements of the ecosystem, and to accelerate the deployment of indoor location systems and services that deliver real value to businesses and consumers.
• IZat is based on a proprietary technology that ensures the best performance on a Qualcomm platform, specifically for the mobile-based solution. For network-based positioning, all mobile devices from any handset OEM can take advantage of indoor location capabilities if the network AP is IZat-enabled.
• The IZat mobile based positioning solution is available now, and it has been in trial implementations for well over a year already. This debuted on the Qualcomm 8960 platform and will be propagated on all new chipsets going forward. The IZat network based positioning solution is available for all AP customers and partners starting Q1 2013.