IRVINE AITCHESON of Nokia looks at how advanced mapping technology is supporting location-aware applications and services and helping to make driving more eco friendly.
The COP17 Convention on Climate Change held in Durban in December refocused attention squarely on green initiatives. Reducing fuel consumption is a key ecological issue and evolving navigation and location technology is supporting the global move towards increasingly eco-friendly vehicles.
The standard navigation system alone can have a significant ?green? impact by helping drivers reduce both fuel consumption and emissions. But navigation systems are beginning to go much further by calculating routes which minimise fuel consumption. Known as green routing, this feature uses information on digital maps ? such as the NAVTEQ Map - to identify hills, sharp bends, start and stop sequences, traffic lights, speed changes and other factors which are known to impact fuel efficiency.
To be at its most fuel efficient, the car needs to be driven smoothly with a minimum of speed or gear changes. Fuel is continually wasted by accelerating unnecessarily ? for instance, just before a bend or roundabout ? or using the wrong gear on a steep hill. This takes us to the next step ? green driving which is designed to influence the way we drive and hence improve fuel efficiency. By anticipating what is ahead on the road using the same digital map data as navigation systems, the driver is advised what speed or gear is appropriate.
Green driving programmes currently mainly advise drivers on how they should be driving but some cars do already offer features which are automatic.
Dynamic and accurate 3D imaging
We are surrounded by 3D images on televisions, cameras, games consoles and, of course, on navigation devices. 3D technology makes our devices visually more dynamic but also opens the door to exciting developments such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
Maps with ADAS attributes offer a unique level of 3D road geometry accuracy, which is already used for safety and comfort related applications. Cruise Control, for example, typically helps drivers maintain a constant speed. When faced with hills, these systems may downshift for the climb but when the crest of the hill is imminent, it may be easily be reached by easing the throttle and staying in a more efficient gear. New Predictive Cruise Control Systems use digital map data to ?look ahead? and decide on the best throttle position and gear for a hill or even a bend.
An accurate digital map, combined with GPS positioning, becomes the ?eyes of the car? and can detect appropriate (or inappropriate) speeds when approaching a sharp bend. The more reliable the map, the more it can be used to help the car anticipate what lies ahead.
NAVTEQ True is a cutting edge approach to map collection technology developed not only to enable the higher levels of quality required for advanced applications such as ADAS, but also to support full 3D representation and new visual experiences (such as augmented reality) on our navigation screens. It uses a combination of LIDAR; panoramic and high resolution cameras; and GPS and IMU positioning equipment - all collected data is geo-referenced, so imagery and 3D digital data points can be superimposed together
Staying connected
Technology has turned us into a society, which expects information to be instantly available at our fingertips. This connectivity has led to the development of a host of exciting location-based services, which have digital mapping at their foundation. It all started with traffic information, which is now the number one, online service expected by drivers but others are fast emerging. For example, Multimodal navigation combines navigation for drivers with pedestrian guidance featuring detailed local information, which enables people to navigate efficiently on foot or via public transport systems. The journey is then completed with indoor maps, which are also now beginning to appear on the market to guide people around complex interiors such as shopping malls or large sporting venues.
Today?s fast moving society spends a great deal of time on the move and the demand for precise and accurate positioning at all times is growing along with the demand for more and more location-aware applications and services. Digital map data is the cornerstone, which enables positioning and therefore supports a host of exciting developments - and will continue to do so in the coming years.
The COP17 Convention on Climate Change held in Durban in December refocused attention squarely on green initiatives. Reducing fuel consumption is a key ecological issue and evolving navigation and location technology is supporting the global move towards increasingly eco-friendly vehicles.
The standard navigation system alone can have a significant ?green? impact by helping drivers reduce both fuel consumption and emissions. But navigation systems are beginning to go much further by calculating routes which minimise fuel consumption. Known as green routing, this feature uses information on digital maps ? such as the NAVTEQ Map - to identify hills, sharp bends, start and stop sequences, traffic lights, speed changes and other factors which are known to impact fuel efficiency.
To be at its most fuel efficient, the car needs to be driven smoothly with a minimum of speed or gear changes. Fuel is continually wasted by accelerating unnecessarily ? for instance, just before a bend or roundabout ? or using the wrong gear on a steep hill. This takes us to the next step ? green driving which is designed to influence the way we drive and hence improve fuel efficiency. By anticipating what is ahead on the road using the same digital map data as navigation systems, the driver is advised what speed or gear is appropriate.
Green driving programmes currently mainly advise drivers on how they should be driving but some cars do already offer features which are automatic.
Dynamic and accurate 3D imaging
We are surrounded by 3D images on televisions, cameras, games consoles and, of course, on navigation devices. 3D technology makes our devices visually more dynamic but also opens the door to exciting developments such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
Maps with ADAS attributes offer a unique level of 3D road geometry accuracy, which is already used for safety and comfort related applications. Cruise Control, for example, typically helps drivers maintain a constant speed. When faced with hills, these systems may downshift for the climb but when the crest of the hill is imminent, it may be easily be reached by easing the throttle and staying in a more efficient gear. New Predictive Cruise Control Systems use digital map data to ?look ahead? and decide on the best throttle position and gear for a hill or even a bend.
An accurate digital map, combined with GPS positioning, becomes the ?eyes of the car? and can detect appropriate (or inappropriate) speeds when approaching a sharp bend. The more reliable the map, the more it can be used to help the car anticipate what lies ahead.
NAVTEQ True is a cutting edge approach to map collection technology developed not only to enable the higher levels of quality required for advanced applications such as ADAS, but also to support full 3D representation and new visual experiences (such as augmented reality) on our navigation screens. It uses a combination of LIDAR; panoramic and high resolution cameras; and GPS and IMU positioning equipment - all collected data is geo-referenced, so imagery and 3D digital data points can be superimposed together
Staying connected
Technology has turned us into a society, which expects information to be instantly available at our fingertips. This connectivity has led to the development of a host of exciting location-based services, which have digital mapping at their foundation. It all started with traffic information, which is now the number one, online service expected by drivers but others are fast emerging. For example, Multimodal navigation combines navigation for drivers with pedestrian guidance featuring detailed local information, which enables people to navigate efficiently on foot or via public transport systems. The journey is then completed with indoor maps, which are also now beginning to appear on the market to guide people around complex interiors such as shopping malls or large sporting venues.
Today?s fast moving society spends a great deal of time on the move and the demand for precise and accurate positioning at all times is growing along with the demand for more and more location-aware applications and services. Digital map data is the cornerstone, which enables positioning and therefore supports a host of exciting developments - and will continue to do so in the coming years.
The latest European Fibre To The Home (FTTH) market panorama for the full year of 2011 was presented this week at the FTTH Conference in Munich. At the conference, it was shown that since June last year, Europe has added more than 600 000 new FTTH subscribers, with Lithuania rising as much as 3%.
FTTH adoption is clearly growing across Europe, in spite of the current economic climate: FTTH/B roll-out has progressed at an annual rate of 41% in 2011, with more than 5.1 million FTTH/B subscribers and nearly 28 million homes passed at end-2011.
In the ranking of leading FTTH economies with more than 1% penetration of households, the top three haven't changed since the previous edition, with Lithuania (28.3% penetration), Norway (14,7%) and Sweden (13,6%) in the lead. Countries that have significantly improved their positions include Norway, number two, which confirms that Scandinavian countries remain dynamic, Latvia, and Turkey, now ahead of Italy. Hungary has dropped two positions, now lagging behind Estonia and Portugal.
Household penetration in Lithuania has gone up a full 3% since the previous edition, in Norway, the rise amounted to 2% and in Sweden just 0.4%. Compared to the last market panorama, the average increase in the top 10 countries was 1.23%.
Although Spain is not included in the FTTH Ranking , it is likely to be included in the foreseeable future as it has witnessed the largest growth for 2011, with +184%.
"It is good to see that FTTH adoption continues to grow, even in times of economic uncertainty", states Hartwig Tauber, Director General of FTTH Council Europe. "However additional efforts are required to bring Europe on track to reach the Digital Agenda 2020 ultra-fast broadband targets with fibre-enabled connections."
The UN's Broadband Commission for Digital Development has stated that every country should have a national broadband plan by 2015, claiming Internet should be seen as a human need and a right, and that broadband contributes to economic growth and job creation. And the European Commission proposes to spend ?9.2 billion from 2014-2020 on high-speed broadband and related services, with ?7 billion available for investment in infrastructure.
The reshuffle of FTTH leading economies remains an ongoing process, and now time is of the essence to secure a sustainable future for the European economy.
Pure Distribution, a South African based telecommunications distribution company in association with Cubic Telecom has announced the Maxroam SIM card, a prepaid, GSM mobile voice and data travel SIM card service.
The Maxroam SIM card, which will be available through the Flight Centre channel nationwide, has no connection charges and will save you up to 90% on Data Roaming when travelling abroad, provide access to voice and SMS coverage in over 230 countries and data coverage in up to 130 countries.
Compatible with standard and micro SIM slots in any unlocked mobile phone or tablet device, the Maxroam SIM card is convenient and simple.
The prepaid functionality allows for easy sign up with no contracts and no surprise bills upon your return. An added feature is the convenience to keep all your local cell phone numbers and the ability to add all your local landline numbers from each country you visit.
Managing your account from your mobile workstation is made simple with an online facility where you can recharge, upload credit, check your balance and handle all other account related details.
Kosie Nagel, Land and Air Contractor for Flight Centre said, ?We are always looking at ways to ensure the experience each and every customer receives of ours makes their travelling easy and memorable. We know that contacting family and friends at home is the inevitable for most travellers so being able to offer them a solution like Maxroam further improves our service delivery to our clients.?
JP Hunke of Pure Distribution said of the announcement, ?We are so excited to be working with Flight Centre, an international company with a significant local footprint and even more thrilled to be able to have Flight Centre as our partner at launch.?
A project by the Department of Trade and Industry?s Regional Spatial Development Initiative (RSDI) will soon provide free online maps to help attract investors to Southern Africa.
The RSDI, which is being implemented for the dti by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, provides technical assistance to help attract investors to specific development corridors. The project, under the leadership of programme co-ordinator Graham Smith, has identified areas where investment in flagship projects and infrastructure is likely to catalyse further investment and growth.
The current focus is on Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Tanzania. Projects include the Maputo Corridor, where Billiton?s Mozal aluminium smelter was a flagship project, and the Trans-Kalahari route between South Africa and Namibia.
Providing good spatial information has always been an important part of the initiative,? says GIS Project Manager Zukhanye Mayekiso, ?but making that information easily available has been a challenge. It?s been stuck in spreadsheets, reports and other static documentation. Technology improvements in the past few years have now made it possible to bring all that information together in a single map-based web interface.?
The online maps will show several different levels of information,? says Mike Steyn of service provider Aspire Solutions, which is building the map portal and database. ?Basic info like geography, hydrology, roads, power and IT infrastructure will be available to all.
Stakeholders and partner organisations will also have access to more detailed information including existing and planned projects, trade flows and master plans.?
As well as mapping existing investment projects and infrastructure, the interactive map will include links to photographs, documents and other media. Users will also be able to submit their own project profiles for inclusion on the map.
Maps are a very powerful way to organise and present information,? says Mayekiso. ?Because humans are primarily visual thinkers, we are able to take in much more information from a map than we are from a written document or set of tables. This project will help to showcase the RSDI?s work to the world.?
payD nominated for GSMA Mobile World award
Local mobile-centric company, Oltio has announced that it has been nominated for the Best Mobile Money Innovation for its switch platform, payD, in the annual GMSA Global Mobile awards.
payD, which was launched in 2011 removes a significant obstacle to the mainstream adoption of e-commerce in South Africa by transforming a user?s mobile phone into a remote point of sale (POS) device. The technology is also used by Oltio parent company MTN for its Eazi Recharge pre-paid airtime top-up service which already has over 110,000 users.
The GSMA Global Mobile Awards are the most sought after in the global communications industry and more than 170 independent analysts, journalists, academics and subject matter experts throughout the world participated in the judging of the 2012 awards.
Says Oltio?s head of new business development, Dave Parratt: ?Just being nominated is an honour for us. It is recognition that our commitment to innovation and in particular, making e-commerce accessible to more South Africans, is paying off.?
We believe that payD has the ability to fundamentally change how consumers conduct online transactions and the more than 170 merchants who are already working with us using this platform, agree. ?
?Reflecting the intensity of competition and innovation across the mobile ecosystem, we saw a record 600 entries and an exceptionally high quality field of contenders vying for this year?s Global Mobile Awards,? said Michael O?Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. ?It is a significant achievement to have made the shortlist, and our warmest congratulations go to all the nominees announced today. We look forward to the unveiling of the winners at the Mobile World Congress next month.?
Judges for the Best Mobile Money Innovation category looked at the following elements in judging the nominations:
- Genuinely innovative - that is different from other similar services deployed in the market
- Entry provides a seamless, simple to understand and use mobile-based commerce experience for users
- The product?s reliability, consistency and value to the user
- Availability in at least one mobile market
- Evidence of user take up
- Conformity to appropriate standards and regulatory codes of practice
Earlier this week, SES launched its 50th satellite into orbit. The a 20-kilowatt SES-4 is the most powerful in the SES fleet and will serve as a replacement for the NSS-7 over the Atlantic Ocean.
On Valentine's Day, the SES-4 satellite roared into space on board an ILS Proton Breeze M booster today at 1:36 am Baikonur time (20:36 CET and 14:36 EST on February 14th, 2012). After a 9-hour, 12-minute mission, the Breeze M upper stage of the Proton rocket successfully released the SES-4 satellite directly into geostationary transfer orbit.
SES-4 is a 20-kilowatt satellite manufactured on the flight-proven Space Systems/Loral 1300 platform with 52 C-band and 72 Ku-band transponders. It has C-band beams serving the eastern hemisphere of Europe and Africa, full coverage of the Americas, and a global beam to support mobile and maritime customers. Four high-power, regional Ku-band beams provide service to Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, as well as North and South America with extensive channel switching capability between C- and Ku-band transponders for enhanced connectivity.
SES-4 is the 50th satellite in the global SES fleet and also the largest, most powerful SES satellite to date. It will replace the NSS-7 satellite at 338 degrees East longitude and provide replacement as well as incremental capacity at this well established SES orbital slot over the Atlantic Ocean.
Romain Bausch, President and CEO of SES, declared: ?SES is delighted to see the 50th satellite in its fleet successfully launched after two unfortunate Proton-related launch delays. We thank the launch teams of Space Systems/Loral, ILS, Khrunichev and SES for their dedicated work. Their relentless efforts ensured ultimately a total success. After thorough in-orbit testing, SES and its customers can now look forward to SES-4 providing new, state-of-the-art satellite capacity across three continents.?
?With today?s successful launch of SES-4, we marked several more milestones with our longtime customer SES, including the 20th SES satellite launched on ILS Proton and the 50th satellite in the SES fleet. It is also our 70th ILS Proton launch since the first launch with SES? ASTRA 1F satellite in 1996. It is an honor for ILS and Khrunichev to be entrusted with launching the powerful SES-4 satellite and all of the past and upcoming ILS Proton missions for SES,? said ILS President, Frank McKenna.
John Celli, President of Space Systems/Loral, stated: ?I would like to congratulate SES, ILS and Khrunichev on this successful launch and to recognize the teams from all of our companies who have worked so hard to assure a perfect launch. Space Systems/Loral is very pleased to help support SES? fleet expansion and its ability to provide communications services across the world.?
16 Feb 2012 by Editor | Filed in Mobile 
Operators are currently confronted with an insane demand for mobile data and as a result, need to start looking for possible solutions to add more capacity. This is the sentiment of Ruckus Wireless.
According to Michael Fletcher, Sales Director for Ruckus Wireless, Sub-Saharan Africa, to solve the problem at hand now there are three ways the industry can address it - increase capacity of the affected network resource, offload the network resource to relieve congestion, or do both. ?The move to smaller cells to augment existing macro networks is widely viewed as a potential panacea to the access radio network congestion, but it also creates a new one ? backhaul. Today, this has become one of the telecom industry?s biggest debates especially as mobile operators look to achieve the capacity required by the rapidly rising mobile Internet bandwidth demand.?
Getting Smaller
It is for this reason that mobile operators need to start thinking differently about the way they want to achieve this. Small cells are low-powered, multi-radio access points such as cellular/Wi-Fi/backhaul that improve indoor and outdoor coverage to increase capacity and offload traffic. Even though small cells benefit 3G service deployments today, their importance will only grow as the industry moves towards higher capacity like 4G or LTE, especially in urban environments.
Adds Fletcher; ?This is because as network operators continue to increase coverage and capacity and look to offload data to relieve traffic pressures, they also increase the stress on their cell site backhaul connectivity,? adds Fletcher. ?Another viable option is using licensed spectrum as it is better suited for carrying mobile data traffic, but when using licensed spectrum, there are some limitations, these spectrum bands are expensive and frequently not available for licensing. In this case fiber is clearly the preferred backhaul option for mobile operators but in some instances could be non-viable as it is too expensive, disruptive and time consuming. And therefore traditional cellular backhaul solutions must be rethought in the context of moving to smaller cells.?
Wanted: New Backhaul Options
Mobile operators need to find a sustainable backhaul technique, which meets all the requirements. The new backhaul option needs to be well suited for dense urban environments as well as for close-to-the ground equipment, and lastly need to make small cells more viable.
In light of these, Ruckus Wireless suggest that unlicensed smart Wi-Fi be used as a viable and affordable option to solve the cellular traffic problem and here is why this could be the answer to the pending problem:
Wi-Fi has evolved to become an ideal solution for the small cell backhaul problem, that is, if done properly
New Wi-Fi technology has been developed especially aimed at the congestion of the mobile networks; the new technology combines integrated adaptive directional antennas with smart meshing technology and predictive channel management. The combination of these technologies makes the use of Wi-Fi accessible for all users.
Backhaul links can be automatically moved to a better channel with less interference thereby identifying higher data rates. This is definitely a more affordable solution and with greater resiliency in crowded urban environments which are in dire need of more capacity.
Wi-Fi backhaul technology is currently being built into small cell nodes housing cellular and Wi-Fi access ? with a fairly small footprint. This allows operators to deploy a single box to provide Wi-Fi access, cellular access and backhaul together.
Ultimately with small cells and better backhaul, mobile subscribers should enjoy higher speeds with more coverage in more places. In turn, mobile operators can reduce subscriber churn and increase revenue by having visibility into both cellular and Wi-Fi traffic ? giving the customers more options to connect in more places,? concludes Fletcher.
Under the strain of a mobile data onslaught, the move to small cells is opening the door to new and unexpected uses of smarter Wi-Fi.
Operators are currently confronted with an insane demand for mobile data and as a result, need to start looking for possible solutions to add more capacity. This is the sentiment of Ruckus Wireless.
According to Michael Fletcher, Sales Director for Ruckus Wireless, Sub-Saharan Africa, to solve the problem at hand now there are three ways the industry can address it - increase capacity of the affected network resource, offload the network resource to relieve congestion, or do both. ?The move to smaller cells to augment existing macro networks is widely viewed as a potential panacea to the access radio network congestion, but it also creates a new one ? backhaul. Today, this has become one of the telecom industry?s biggest debates especially as mobile operators look to achieve the capacity required by the rapidly rising mobile Internet bandwidth demand.?
Getting Smaller
It is for this reason that mobile operators need to start thinking differently about the way they want to achieve this. Small cells are low-powered, multi-radio access points such as cellular/Wi-Fi/backhaul that improve indoor and outdoor coverage to increase capacity and offload traffic. Even though small cells benefit 3G service deployments today, their importance will only grow as the industry moves towards higher capacity like 4G or LTE, especially in urban environments.
Adds Fletcher; ?This is because as network operators continue to increase coverage and capacity and look to offload data to relieve traffic pressures, they also increase the stress on their cell site backhaul connectivity,? adds Fletcher. ?Another viable option is using licensed spectrum as it is better suited for carrying mobile data traffic, but when using licensed spectrum, there are some limitations, these spectrum bands are expensive and frequently not available for licensing. In this case fiber is clearly the preferred backhaul option for mobile operators but in some instances could be non-viable as it is too expensive, disruptive and time consuming. And therefore traditional cellular backhaul solutions must be rethought in the context of moving to smaller cells.?
Wanted: New Backhaul Options
Mobile operators need to find a sustainable backhaul technique, which meets all the requirements. The new backhaul option needs to be well suited for dense urban environments as well as for close-to-the ground equipment, and lastly need to make small cells more viable.
In light of these, Ruckus Wireless suggest that unlicensed smart Wi-Fi be used as a viable and affordable option to solve the cellular traffic problem and here is why this could be the answer to the pending problem:
Wi-Fi has evolved to become an ideal solution for the small cell backhaul problem, that is, if done properly
New Wi-Fi technology has been developed especially aimed at the congestion of the mobile networks; the new technology combines integrated adaptive directional antennas with smart meshing technology and predictive channel management. The combination of these technologies makes the use of Wi-Fi accessible for all users.
Backhaul links can be automatically moved to a better channel with less interference thereby identifying higher data rates. This is definitely a more affordable solution and with greater resiliency in crowded urban environments which are in dire need of more capacity.
Wi-Fi backhaul technology is currently being built into small cell nodes housing cellular and Wi-Fi access ? with a fairly small footprint. This allows operators to deploy a single box to provide Wi-Fi access, cellular access and backhaul together.
Ultimately with small cells and better backhaul, mobile subscribers should enjoy higher speeds with more coverage in more places. In turn, mobile operators can reduce subscriber churn and increase revenue by having visibility into both cellular and Wi-Fi traffic ? giving the customers more options to connect in more places,? concludes Fletcher.
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