Patents suggest ‘indoor location’ the next mobile maps battleground

elizabeth woyke

Globe and Mail Update

Published Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 3:30PM EST

Last updated Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 3:32PM EST

Indoor location positioning looks poised to be the next hot mobile service with its ability to enable smarter mobile offers and more accurate local searches. Google has an early lead but an analysis of patent filings points to a number of technology companies fighting for supremacy in this emerging space.

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It has always been difficult to accurately track a person?s location indoors. Since GPS is a satellite-based system, devices require a ?line of sight? to satellites to operate. GPS generally does not function indoors and is particularly weak in large, enclosed spaces like shopping malls, museums and big offices.

One solution is indoor positioning, which works by analyzing radio signals from cellular antennae and/or Wi-Fi hotspots or by tracking a device?s movement through sensors such as gyroscopes and compasses. Google recently brought indoor positioning out of the labs with the late November release of a ?My Location? feature in Google Maps. Google says the feature, which is currently only available on Android phones, can track a user?s location within several meters in select malls and airports.

Though Google was the first to debut indoor positioning, other companies have been developing similar technology for years. A new report from technology research firm Grizzly Analytics rated five companies (Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Qualcomm and Research In Motion) as having ?mature? indoor positioning research. The New York-based firm ranked the companies by the breadth of their research and the number of years they?ve been working on indoor positioning, said founder Bruce Krulwich in an interview.

Of the five leading companies, Mr. Krulwich sees Microsoft and Nokia as the most likely to challenge Google in indoor positioning. He expects Microsoft and Nokia to launch a service sometime in 2012, perhaps tagged to Microsoft?s ?Tango? Windows Phone update. Both companies have significant experience in indoor positioning. Microsoft has researched how to determine location using special radio beacons as well as by analyzing Wi-Fi signal strength. It has also experimented with what Mr. Krulwich calls movement tracking. That involves tracking a device as it moves away from a known location, such as a door to a building (which can be pinpointed via GPS because it is outdoors).

Beyond its research, Microsoft holds granted patents in indoor positioning. Mr. Krulwich counted at least five Microsoft patents related to determining phone location using wireless access points, radio beacons, device movements and other radio signals.

Nokia?s indoor positioning work is equally sophisticated with patents going back to at least 2006. In September 2006, Nokia filed a patent on ?Direction of Arrival? detection. That strategy leverages ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology to estimate location. In fall 2007, Nokia also filed three patents related to determining location via Wi-Fi signal strength.

Over the years, Nokia has publicized some of its indoor positioning research, such as in this 2009 video and this Nov. 2010 demonstration at its Nokia World show. In April 2011, Nokia released a demo video that shows an integrated outdoor/indoor navigation system. In November, in response to Google?s Google Maps update, Nokia stepped up publicity about its research and revealed it is now using Bluetooth beacons instead of the older ultra-wideband technology.

Given their resources, Mr. Krulwich believes that if Microsoft and Nokia pool their mapping assets, as they have pledged to do in upcoming Windows Phone devices, they could offer the industry?s strongest indoor positioning service. ?Both have made such investments in this area, they would have a leg up if they can get a combined system out to market,? said Mr. Krulwich.

Mr. Krulwich was also struck by the indoor positioning research conducted by wireless chipmaker Qualcomm and BlackBerry maker RIM. Since 2010, Qualcomm has filed at least eight patents related to indoor positioning, including work touching on Wi-Fi hotspot triangulation and motion tracking via sensors. Mr. Krulwich believes Qualcomm is investing in indoor positioning because it plans to incorporate indoor location features in its cellphone chips ? perhaps motion tracking abilities in its sensor processing chips and signal triangulation in its radio frequency (RF) chips.

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