What our first major commercial milestone really means
Today (3rd December 2020), is a big day for the Focal Point team. We’ve announced a major company milestone by signing a deal with u-blox, one of the world’s largest providers of positioning and wireless communications services. They can now integrate our patented Supercorrelation technology into their next generation GNSS chips - and so dramatically improve the accuracy and reliability of devices that contain them.
So whether you drive a car, wear a sports watch, order take-out for delivery, use a device to navigate - our tech is paving the way for these everyday to work smoother, more accurately, and at lower power drain, PLUS we’re excited to see the next generation positioning-dependent technologies that Supercorrelation will enable - from autonomous vehicles to truly smart cities.
Crucially too, our technology solves a critical weakness in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) caused by multipath interference. This occurs when satellite signals bounce off buildings and landmarks, causing GNSS receivers to calculate incorrect or low integrity positioning. The end result for us users is that annoyingly familiar blue dot on our phone or device being in the wrong place, moving in the wrong direction, or having a large error ellipse.
Emerging from an underground station is one way to confuse your wearable device or scupper a navigational route.
For autonomous vehicles it can mean signal blackouts or errors in positioning that could place the vehicle in the wrong lane or worse.
For sports and fitness wearables, our tech provides significant improvements in both the accuracy of distance travelled and that important line on a map. We can also achieve a faster time to first fix, getting you ready to run in record time.
Map plot from live tests in London that show the route of a vehicle driven through Canary Wharf, and the difference between performance of the position provided by a standard smartphone GNSS chip, and the same data run through our Supercorrelation software
Alongside the ability to reject multipath interference, Supercorrelation also enables the detection and rejection of GPS spoofing signals - an increasing concern for autonomous vehicles, ships and aviation.
Here’s what our CEO, Ramsey Faragher had to say:
“We are tremendously excited to be working alongside a market leader such as u-blox. Our mission is to improve every positioning system on the planet and we have taken a giant step forward in that vision with this deal. Positioning systems are so critical to our world, and we look forward to seeing the next generation of products and services that will be enabled by this higher level of accuracy, reliability and security.”
U-blox CEO Thomas Seiler commented:
“The addition of Supercorrelation technology into our chips is part of our continuing focus on low power consumption, higher accuracy and security for industrial and wearable GNSS applications.”
Under the terms of the licensing deal u-blox can now integrate our award-winning Supercorrelation technology into its chipsets and modules.
To request a copy of the press release and supporting image, or if you’d like to find out more about this announcement, please drop a note to press@focalpointpositioning.com